(April 4, 2000) — Even with the Smashing Pumpkins’ new album, “Machina/The Machines of God,” that has just come out, there are still people who do not know a whole lot about the Smashing Pumpkins. This is the solution to that problem; in celebration of Smashing Pumpkins’ new album, here is the story of the band. Smashing Pumpkins started out as a three-some with Billy Corgan, James Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky as the members. They formed their band in Chicago in 1987. Wretzky was a classically trained musician and played bass guitar. Iha was a budding rock star and plays the guitar. Jimmy Chamberlin played in a local jazz band and he plays the drums. Corgan’s father was an accomplished jazz musician and Corgan also plays the guitar and is the band’s main singer. In the summer of 1988, the owner of Metro, a rock club in Chicago, heard Smashing Pumpkins and booked them for a show. Their first show was on October 5, 1988. After performing several hometown shows and receiving one single, Smashing Pumpkins recorded their first album, “Gish.” The album was so musically heavy and was extremely popular. This album set the Pumpkins on the road to stardom. Their next album, “Siamese Dream,” lurched their stardom onward and the Pumpkins headlined Lollapalooza, a rock festival, in 1994. Smashing Pumpkin’s first double album was called, “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” This album included such hits as “Tonight, Tonight,” “Zero,” “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and “1979.” Even though this album brought the Pumpkins more success, it also brought them some problems as well. Even when Chamberlin left the band, the Pumpkins recorded “Adore” with three different replacements and drum machines. At this time, Iha and Wretzky started their own record label, but it did not work out. In 1999, Chamberlin rejoined the Pumpkins, but then Wretzky left. Former Hole bass guitarist, Melissa Auf Der Mar, replaced Wretzky. Also in 1999, Corgan wrote a score for the movie, “Stigmata” and the rest of the band and he perfected “ Machina/The Machines of God” so it could be released this year.