SMASHING PUMPKINS have formally detailed the long-awaited reissue and reformation of their 2000 masterpiece, “Machina/The Machines Of God”, and its companion album, “Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music”. This reimagined project, featuring extensive remixing and remastering, will be out in multiple formats on August 22 via UMe and through Madame Zuzu’s Tea Shop.
SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman Billy Corgan‘s Madame Zuzu’s tea shop in Highland Park, Illinois is exclusively offering an expansive 80-song vinyl box set featuring a 48-track “Machina” plus an additional 32 bonus tracks of demos, outtakes, and live performances, marking the first time these two records will officially be united. This vinyl box set is the only format available to listen to all 80 songs in its entirety.
Additionally, the rock band will release a 16-song reissue of the original “Machina/The Machines Of God” vinyl on August 22, and pre-orders will begin on June 27. UMe will also be releasing various 25th-anniversary remastered formats of “Machina/The Machines Of God”, including a black 180g 2LP vinyl reissue; a 180g limited-edition color 2LP in corona red/black, as well as CD and digital formats on August 22.
Corgan said: “It’s taken some 25 years to finally release ‘Machina’ as we in the band had hoped it would be, and with MadameZuzus.com as the only place one can get this expansive, 80-song collection, I personally could not be more proud.
“‘Machina’ was meant as our swan song, and it was truly a labor of love to bring it to fruition, however broken we were back then. But with the band about to embark on a global tour in 2025, as well as my solo tour with THE MACHINES OF GOD, this set stands as a celebration and testament of will, for the songs alone have helped James, Jimmy and I keep the faith.”
SMASHING PUMPKINS are set to kick off a month-long international tour beginning July 27 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Fans can find full tour details and ticket information on the band’s official web site. Meanwhile, Corgan‘s solo project, BILLY CORGAN AND THE MACHINES OF GOD, is currently wrapping up the final two headlining dates of their “A Return To Zero Tour”, with upcoming shows in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
SMASHING PUMPKINS are one of the most iconic, iconoclastic, and influential bands of all time, shaping alternative music and culture. Since forming in Chicago in 1988, the group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and garnered two Grammy Awards, seven MTV VMAs, and an American Music Award. Their catalog includes seminal offerings such as the platinum “Gish” (1991),the quadruple-platinum “Siamese Dream” (1993]),the diamond-certified “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” (1995),the platinum “Adore” (1998) and the gold “Machina/The Machines Of God” (2000). Rolling Stone cited both “Siamese Dream” and “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” among its “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time”.
It would also be impossible to envision alternative music and culture without SMASHING PUMPKINS‘ signature iconography such as the idyllic album artwork for “Siamese Dream”, the black Zero shirt, the laissez faire bliss of the “1979” music video, the gothic metamorphosis of “Ava Adore” or the multi-dimensional live shows that sell out worldwide to this day. 2018 saw SMASHING PUMPKINS unveil ”Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.” and launched the immensely successful “Shiny And Oh So Bright” tour, which packed arenas. Maintaining this momentum, the band released their eleventh full-length double album , “Cyr” (2020),representing yet another evolution, and more recently, “Atum” (2023),the sequel to 1995’s “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” and 2000’s “Machina/Machine Of God”. The band’s 2024 album, “Aghori Mhori Mei”, written in the immediate aftermath of “Atum”, sees a return to form for original members Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha, and harkens back to the band’s early 90’s canon; where guitars, bass, drums, and spiking vocals ruled.
