The Smashing Pumpkins just announced their new album, ATUM, a 33-track rock opera led by the single "Beguiled," and in a new interview with Kerrang!, frontman Billy Corgan hailed the one guitar hero who never fails to inspire his riff-writing: Tony Iommi. Corgan's ties to the Black Sabbath guitarist run deep: In 2000, he lent guest vocals to the Iommi solo song "Black Oblivion," off the riff master's 2000 solo album, Iommi.
"Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, he's my hero, and Tony wrote those riffs that, when you hear him, it's like a movie," the head Pumpkin enthused. "In my mind, I always call it 'Cosmic Sabbath.' When I would listen to Sabbath, I felt like I was peering into the universe. That's the way it made me feel, even as a little kid. So for me, a great riff has to kind of make you feel something bigger. So if I'm not in the mood, it just feels weird. There's the thin line between cartoonish and owning the space. Bands like [Judas] Priest and Sabbath, and even Accept — which the riff [of the new Smashing Pumpkins single 'Beguiled'] reminds me a little bit of — [they all have] something about fucking owning the metal. It's like, you've gotta believe it."
