Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan "Pisses On" Radiohead, Praises Ritchie Blackmore

Billy Corgan, the outspoken Smashing Pumpkins frontman, decided to lay into Radiohead during a recent interview with Antiquiet.

For starters, he called them "pompous" and said they're a symbol of current culture of "valuation" that he despises.

"I can't think of any people outside of Weird Al Yankovic who have both embraced and pissed on rock more than I have," Corgan said. "Obviously there's a level of reverence, but there's also a level of intelligence to even know what to piss on. ... Because I'm not pissing on Rainbow. I'm not pissing on Deep Purple. But I'll piss on fucking Radiohead, because of all this pomposity. This value system that says Jonny Greenwood is more valuable than Ritchie Blackmore. Not in the world I grew up in."

He continued: "So I find myself defending things. Is Ritchie Blackmore a better guitar player than me and Jonny Greenwood? Yes. Have we all made contributions? Yes. I'm not attacking that. I'm attacking the pomposity that says this is more valuable than that. I'm sick of that. I'm so fucking sick of it, and nobody seems to tire of it."

With only a week remaining until the official release of their seventh full-length album, the Smashing Pumpkins are streaming Oceania in its entirety via iTunes. You can listen here.

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Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.