90's / 00's Region - #12 Smashing Pumpkins vs #53 Bad Religion

[IrishCanadian25]

2nd Round 90's / 00's Region Match

#12 Smashing Pumpkins vs #53 Bad Religion

Please take into account the entire body of work of the artists, their mark on the music industry and/or society as a whole, their influence on other artists, lyrics, music, etc. If you have not already done so, please review the rules of the tournament and the Wrestlezone Forums. Have fun!

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[X]

WOW Bad Religion is getting a rough draw here. I fucking LOVE the Smashing Pumpkins, but they don't even compare to Bad Religion in any way shape or form. Billy Corgan is one of the most underrated musicians of his era, but the Pumpkins had only three good albums (granted they were all classics) while Bad Religion has remained one of the longest-standing punk bands and one of the most commercially successful punk bands of all time. Further more, they've branched out far more into different styles since and were a HUGE influence on the alternative rock and punk-pop that dominated the airwaves and MTV in the 90s.

Greg Gaffin further more is a fucking God. His voice is instantly recognizable in that classic sense, and he is EASILY one of the most talented lyricists I have ever seen. Seriously, read the lyrics to just about ANY Bad Religion song, and you'll be stuck in your seat at how poetic and obscenely intelligent this man is. Not to mention he's the founder of Epitaph, the biggest punk/metal label in the world right now.

Whether it's BR's first album (the immensely underrated hardcore classic "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?") and it's raging hardcore classics, or the alternative rock/punk that was YEARS ahead of it's time on the classic album "Suffer", Bad Religion have done it all, and still remain a very popular act.

Whereas the Smashing Pumpkins sizzled out after Mellon Collie and everyone knows it. Billy Corgan has done nothing of substance since that album, and the other members of the band have gone on to accomplish nothing. Gish, Siamese Dream & Mellon Collie are all classic albums, but I could name three Bad Religion albums that equal those albums right off the top of my head, and that wouldn't even be naming all of BR's classic genre-bending albums.

So I went with BR here. They're not going to win it, but don't sleep on these guys people.

Enjoy this video; not only is the song amazing, but read the lyrics that flash on the screen as well, proof of this guy's downright insane writing ability.

[youtube]h-VyWe0sm0I[/youtube]

 

[IrishCanadian25]

"I Wanna Conquer the World" is such a classic, XFear. Awesome song to post. That and "Sanity" are two of my favorites.

Even though X touts the merits of Bad Religion from their early albums, I got into them around "Stranger Than Fiction." Both that and "The Grey Race" were fantastic top to bottom albums, touched on a range of emotions and topics, and showed more different skills in the band. 21st Century Digital Boy was my first song from them, and I've been hooked since. "Sorrow" is also a classic.

 

[X]

Yeah I prefer their work up to around Generator and Stranger Than Fiction best, but that's not to say there later work isn't awesome. Shit, I've yet to hear a bad album released by the band, their ALL worthy of a purchase.

You can really do no wrong here with Bad Religion. Unfortunately they are facing a mega-band like the Smashing Pumpkins here.