Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan Picks 11 Greatest Heavy-Metal Bands

[@ShawnIsley]

I once had a dream in which I met Billy Corgan and asked him why my favorite SP song was titled “Mayonaise.” He shared with me that it was his middle name. William Mayonaise Corgan. Very disappointed to find out the info in my dream was not true.

[@biasedjonny]

Oh my god lmao

[@keithbarlow9701]

Best comment for sure

[@ignoblesavage5559]

Nnnh, Patrick, Mayonnaise, same thing. Basically

[@davidl570]

Was it a Siamese Dream?

[@I_stay_away]

@@davidl570yes and yes

[@Monk4570]

I was heavily ready to ridicule this list, anticipating that Pantera wouldn’t be listed…. And then you started with them. Thank you

[@christophercaffery6029]

It was so awesome to see him place Savatage there! Made our day! Thanks to all of you who agreed and mentioned Savatage in these comments and ones I’ve seen all over on posts about Billy and this article! 🌹

[@rubicon-oh9km]

You are a big piece of their legacy Chris! My girlfriend and I saw you and the band at Janus Landing in Saint Petersburg in 1990. Trouble was the opening act. Still one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen my friend!

[@jasonrobison650]

So awesome Billy did that! Salute! Def in my top bands too!!!

[@wompa70]

Saw you guys at Plant City High School in 86 or so. Well, not y’all but the hearse y’all drove.

[@Beethoven5th]

I have heard that You guy's are working on a release called "Curtain Call" and will do a world tour in 2024. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!!!🎶

[@vassilisxerikos3908]

I still remember the day (around my 14th birthday) I bought the Greek edition of Metal hammer mag that had the news about Criss’ tragic death. You guys were very popular in Greece back then, Hall of the mountain king and gutter ballet videos were in heavy rotation on rock tv shows, and it was the first time I would experience the loss of one of my music heroes.

[@Rextum]

I like the fact Mr Corgan chooses both melodic hard rock bands and 80s extreme thrash metal. Metal is fairly versatile, so it is good to hear different styles represented.

[@sambell385]

Exactly instead of people naming the same five bands all the time

[@antoniovanhemert1165]

That is a Metalhead, liking the hard rock part upto the thrash metal. LIke I did, sure Judas, Maiden, Motorhead, etc but also The Boyz, The Godz. Girlschool, Holocaust. To many to list.

[@BeardedHobbyist]

I think people forgot that Billy was in a metal band before starting smashing pumpkins

[@toddmusic]

Corgan’s cool AF when positively talking about other musicians.

[@mancmayhem8165]

He knows good music. The only people he called out in the 90s deserved it... c'mon!

[@johncollins211]

They probably had to pay him to talk positively about other bands lol.

[@CygnusUren]

I agree, it's the only time he doesn't sound like a complete knob.

[@chrisrowan702]

@@mancmayhem8165 Exactly. Steve Malkmus is bitter. They made up, just like with D'arcy, and got kicked off the 2018 tour before it even started. When Billy offers an olive branch, and you fuck it up, that's 100% on you.

[@toddmusic]

@@mancmayhem8165 that’s fair.

[@jackiep5009]

Such a musical nerd. This is perfect. So articulate

[@mattdad8429]

Pleasantly surprised at the nod to Rainbow. Those first 3 Rainbow records are amazing.

[@stantonvalberg9814]

Blackmore and Dio were magic together.

[@mattdad8429]

@@stantonvalberg9814 Absolutely. I wish more musicians talked about early Rainbow because they were really, really good before Dio quit.

[@briankehew579]

Four albums if you count the live one!! And you must...

[@Fuxerz]

Never forget the drumming God, Cozy Powell rip

[@MarkNealon]

0:25 Pantera 1:06 Judas Priest 1:50 Rainbow 3:02 Accept 3:33 Black Sabbath 4:21 Dokken 4:59 Slayer 6:09 Mercyful Fate 6:50 Metallica 7:27 Savatage 8:10 Myrkyr

[@peterroumbas8805]

Nice list

[@przebudzonawyobraznia]

​@@peterroumbas8805 No Iron Maiden? 😂 Nice joke. I dont know even one song of Smashing Pumpkins but this list tell me that i have nothing to regret 🤣

[@FranciscoPalacios.CFH.]

PanterA 🥲🥲🥲🥲

[@azzamzamzam1822]

@@przebudzonawyobraznia No Kiss, No Alice Cooper, No Led Zep, No Ac/dc, No Thin Lizzy, No Black Sabbath, No Deep Purple, No Dio, No Motorhead, No Van Halen, No Iron Maiden, No Guns and Roses, Etc.............

[@MarkNealon]

@@azzamzamzam1822 Black Sabbath is in there. And he picked Rainbow, which had Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple and Ronnie James Dio from Dio. It was only 11 picks, he can't include everyone

[@fattahhardiwinangun333]

90s MTV hides the fact that Corgan was a Shredder and a Metal Head. I couldnt imagine them "Alternative Nation" react knowing One of Corgan's fave band is DOKKEN

[@fernandoramoa7079]

Billy Corgan is a walking encyclopedia of music. I noticed his vast knowledge back in the early days of MTV already whenever he was asked of the subject

[@mikenoface]

He worked at a record store pre-Gish.. and would just put on whatever he fancied and play acoustic guitar along to it. Plus his father being a musician probably got exposed to a lot of music at a young age that most of his peers would not have heard.

[@straitjacket5656]

he sucks

[@paulfaulkner2855]

Savatage and Mercyful Fate are 2 of my favorite bands, and I love all of Billy's picks, this could have easily been my list. But, Zeppelin deserves it more than Rainbow and Agalloch instead of Mykur. I don't even have a problem with Metallica but Megadeth is still better and more consistently good.

[@nebulous8389]

He's totally a music nerd who blends in all sorts of styles in his music.

[@Retro_Man_76]

@paulfaulkner2855 Zeppelin yes, but MOTORHEAD should not only be on the list, but way near the top

[@TreborPaulson]

“This August age of mine” Even doing a throw away list His poetic side still shines through

[@ricchardo]

It’s important to remember that despite his age, He’s still just a Rat in a cage 😂😂

[@TropicalGardeningCyprus]

Including Savatage in his list made me really happy. There is nothing more nostalgic to me than Gutter Ballet album, I grew up with it, Hall of the Mountain King and The Streets etc. that was my everyday fix 25-30 years ago.

[@qstaratma9096]

I saw John last week in Tampa.

[@vas_gzn]

Nice to see Savatage and Accept getting some appreciation ! Both very underrated bands!

[@FreeMTrider]

Absolutely.....I remember hearing these bands for the first time on KYDS.....out local high school pirate radio station here in Sacramento. Fast as a Shark was a staple. Then when Hall of the Mountain King came out, it was another level for them.

[@aidanbutcher8817]

Accept is like the German AC/DC. Udo would be a better replacement for AC/DC as a singer than Axle Rose would have been that time Brian stepped down.

[@jeremymiller3800]

He'll yeah!

[@hazardeur]

damn right dude. sava is great. one of the best and most unique metal bands ever and criss oliva is a god damn legend on the guitar

[@dirtyharry07]

Depends on what part of the world you're from. Here in Greece they were HAMMERED into us when I was a teenager (by older metalheads, magazines, music stores, etc)

[@iestyndavies7287]

Blown away by his inclusions of Dokken and Savatage, two of my all time favourite bands! Criminally overlooked greatness!

[@Jayce_Alexander]

He used a Dokken song as the intro to the NWA wrestling show a few years back.

[@harrisbeatsfrankou6304]

Savatage yes!

[@charlesc-r2926]

gotta be rockin to dokken

[@TheeWorldsGreatest]

Dokken are great, it's unfortunate they are lumped in with hair bands, but their musicianship is up there.

[@bmd735]

@@TheeWorldsGreatest they are because they played the game completely …

[@MLSmith53]

Thank you Billy for mentioning Savatage in your picks. In my opinion they were underrated band with an underrated guitarist in Criss Olivia. So sad he is gone but his music lives on with TSO ( TRANS SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) Most people don't know Savatage is a major part in the birth of TSO. Got to see them when they come to your city. Saw them in Dallas last year and they were awesome! Hope to see them again

[@johannjohann6523]

Absolutely. Great band that suffered from lack of proper marketing support from their label, and again proper engineering and production of their music in the recording studio. Such good music so poorly recorded. It was a real shame, and hurt the band because it didn't allow them to have a signature sound. The difference in recording and sound quality between albums varied too greatly. Shame they didn't sign with a better label that could see the quality and uniqueness of the band. I liked them more than Metallica back in the day.

[@paulkowalski7378]

Savatage are going to be releasing their latest and final album in 2024 titled "Curtain Call" followed by a final world tour! Classic band and way underrated

[@eamonnsweeney5744]

"quiet", "zero", "where boys fear to tread" or "bodies" are all massive riffs and heavy tunes, no shock that he loves metal at all. He's always been open about being a pantera fan.

[@pauliewalnuts829]

Gotta throw Silverfuck and Geek USA in there too. Geek USA sounds like groove metal to my ears. I get a White Zombie vibe from it.

[@coldmaster1034]

X.Y.U. man!

[@knife-chase]

His new music is metal too you should really check out the songs Hooray! and Night Waves off the new ATUM album!

[@balazskoszegi7729]

Dont forget jellybelly! The start of that song always rips my head off

[@kranmaster]

@@knife-chase 🤣

[@Gurkan-D.]

I didn't know he was such a pure metal head. great picks by an alternative music icon.

[@NooDLES411911]

You'll find that with pretty much every 90s musician, they're all inspired by the hard rock and metal of the 70s and 80s. Hell even Post Malone is a huge metal fan

[@Bawitdabadabangdadang]

Yeah he has good taste, I am surprised!

[@darthhaggis9252]

Not a pure metal head if Iron Maiden doesn't make the list

[@Ganbarizer]

When he was highschool age he was in a metal band called Hexxen. And I'm willing to be a lot of people in metal bands listen to SP as well.

[@Steve56179]

@@Ganbarizer Gish has some awesome metal solos on it too

[@nimhard]

Billy is, and was, always a metal soul. His Everlasting Gaze proves he is a metal god on his own. When he wants to do heavy stuff nothing can stop him.

[@ectoplasma5]

Plus Jimmy Chamberlin ! Some very heavy stuff on Machina 2 also.

[@MoosicDude]

@@ectoplasma5 I'm gonna address both, Jimmy's drumming in ending crescendo of Everlasting Gaze goes as hard as any metal drumming ever. The Pumpkins appreciated metal and injected heaviness that was very unique in their scene. The other guys I'd say are in this position are Alice in Chains who aren't metal but have basically been adopted because they're fucking sick and wrote some of the hardest riffs and darkest material of their day.

[@NarrowShouldersOpenMind]

Pistachio Medley is 40 minutes of discarded awesome metal riffs from the Mellon Collie era. He's so prolific it's unreal.

[@xwhite2020]

Gen X to the core. 70s 80s 90s were an amazing time for rock and metal.

[@Retro_Man_76]

You're absolutely right, but the bands playing metal in the 70's (and early 80's) are actually baby boomers. As a Gen X'r we got to enjoy all those decades of music growing up.

[@rdnrvn]

I wouldnt say 90s was an amazing time for metal. 70s and 80s though .. laid all the groundwork for what was to follow

[@xwhite2020]

@@rdnrvn Yes metal was well cooked by the 90s. Bar Pantera it was grunge, post grunge and punk. All essentially great rock.

[@ARyan-nf5my]

They were the golden era for most popular music, and I stress music but a trail always likely to get blazed damn fast

[@AceBeardman]

Nonsense ​@@xwhite2020

[@l.revisited5933]

Even more respect for Mr Corgan. Growing up I always felt attracted to both metal/ hard rock and alt rock, and Smashing Pumpkins kind of fused those worlds to me. When I saw Corgan talking about Rush in the Beyond the Lighted Stage documentary I knew then that it was no coincidence. A path from Black Sabbath to New Order...that's what makes Pumpkins what it is.

[@NooDLES411911]

It's incredible how much great varied music has been made with an electrics guitar, bass, and drums

[@R6-J4]

Just when you thought you couldn't love the guy more, this video drops.

[@georgeparasis8456]

Savatage for - the music - the lyrics - the album artwork and that killer John Oliva vocal range. RIP Chris.

[@crusheverything4449]

*Jon **Criss

[@mybluguitar6051]

When mikael akerfeldt, dave mustaine, and billy corgan all say Sad Wings of Destiny is their favorite judas priest album, you know its a masterpiece!

[@gregdavidson4374]

Amazing album. Great music, incredible vocals of course. Have it at number three (if pressed) behind Stained Class and Screaming for Vengeance

[@crusheverything4449]

Who needs them to validate Sad Wings of Destiny? All you have to do is hear the freakin’ album.

[@JasonPerdue-e9h]

I fucking love 70s era Judas Priest. Rocka Rolla is under rated, Sad Wings of Destiny is absolutely a masterpiece, Sin After Sin as well.

[@Wargasm54]

Can’t believe Dimebag gave you a guitar!! Epic. You should break it out and lay down “I’m Broken” at one of your shows 🤘🏻

[@paulodamora2106]

This is so good to hear from Billy. I share almost 100% of his taste for Metal.❤

[@Schenker01]

I love that he included Mercyful Fate! 😍🤟

[@PM-fs2eg]

Danish metal band from 1981 😀...Myrkur is Danish too by the way.

[@banyarling]

Something about their music still scares me like it did when I heard it for the first time in middle school, it's amazing

[@r4x2]

I mean, you kinda need to if you want to make a solid metal list.

[@biggiefitz6275]

🤘😈🤘

[@kyndred-ry5mm]

it's a must

[@christopherking9338]

That Cherub Rock video shot in Sonoma County, California is amazing!!!

[@davidadvertising]

Damn! What a knowledgable guy. Didn't expect Savatage or Rainbow there, amazing picks.

[@89joshuadavies]

The guy lived and breathed guitar as a kid

[@YaoEspirito]

Accept surprised me too!

[@Mineralbob]

The dude worked in a record store and was a total geek.. another reason he was such a good songwriter, taking bits and pieces from an encyclopaedic knowledge to form his own sounds and songs.

[@TheRnROutlaw]

So happy you mentioned Savatage! Such a underrated band who made some amazing albums! Hall of the Mountain King & Gutter Ballet are two of my go to records!

[@toddjones546]

It's great to see some overlooked bands on this list!

[@pauloantunes8372]

I love listening to Billy speak,he is so effortlessly eloquent. There is no pretence to his speech, no effort to self censor, or to consciously impress the listeners,the words just flow out of him with natural honesty and humility.

[@josephfrechette9916]

That's why I like Smash Pumkins. It's complex but not pretentious. Every single note has a purpose. To be honest I only really like one song off their latest album. But I can tell the album was written as much for the band as as the audience.

[@RunTFC]

Right, I wish more people spoke this way.

[@striderflys]

Completely agree

[@mccririck01]

This list got me listening to Savatage, Accept and the Fate. I have to say Savatage's Hall of the Mountain King is especially impressive - the guitars, the vocal performance, the little details, the heaviness and the overall theatrical performance make it a must listen imo.

[@jake.e.wanabee5333]

Mercyful Fate Melissa is a freaking Gem and one of the greatest albums. Hell, literally, Anything the King does is gold, still going at 70 odd years and triple bypass surgery. Invest in the King, the riffs are crushing and the vocals haunting. NIce 10 Billy. I would have also included Exodus - Bonded by Blood.

[@darthtaylor513]

Chris Oliva is one of my favorite guitarists.

[@jerryflashatey6660]

Pretty close to my list but maiden and Motörhead need to be in there

[@kornellius8698]

​@@jerryflashatey6660Billy did cover to Maiden in Zwan project

[@brycedownpitch]

In addition, the members of Savatage and their manager has a seasonal side project... Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

[@iplayesp]

Bro, when you said Accept, I jumped out of my chair. Those guys wrote some of the sickest riff driven songs EVER, and have been criminally overlooked IMHO. Kudos to Billy (William ;) ) for going deep man!

[@patjlinnane]

No one knows them

[@iplayesp]

@@patjlinnane lol. They were HUGE in Europe, and got some traction here with "Balls to the Wall", but not enough people in the states know who they are. Billy has good taste.

[@nemesisjuggernaut7920]

Absolutely love that Savatage is on his list! So underrated! Savatage went on to form Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Most people don’t know that. Accept is on my list too. Love Billy Corgan!

[@GNXXRAY]

There is no way that whole Siberian Orchestra is Trans… I’m not buying it.

[@nemesisjuggernaut7920]

@@GNXXRAY Bahahaha!

[@robhotman6339]

TSO is Savatage in drag.

[@RockDawg77]

@@GNXXRAY Dead Winter Dead's single "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" got played so much on the radio it gave birth to TSO. They started touring up and down both coasts. Saw them at one of their first shows. Almost impossible not to yell out Taunting Cobras part way into the show. lol Told Alex that during the table autograph signing after the show. Made his day. Good memories. From wikipedia's Dead Winter Dead entry: Dead Winter Dead is the ninth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1995. It is a concept album, that tells a story from the perspectives of a Serb boy, a Bosniak girl and an old man. The story of the album is set during the Bosnian War, which was ongoing at the time. This record gave the band an unexpected radio hit in "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)", and the band decided they wanted to explore this kind of music in a different way. Around this time, Paul O'Neill, along with Robert Kinkel, was interested in starting up what became the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was later re-released by TSO as "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 1994" on their first release, Christmas Eve and Other Stories.

[@mccririck01]

@@GNXXRAY Cis?

[@rockerwoman]

DOKKEN IS DAMN RIGHT! 🤘🏼🎶 I have had this argument that Dokken was a building block of heavy metal. Billy nailed that one.

[@davidala7877]

Dokken sucks

[@husq48]

🤣

[@bobbyjones7756]

Building block of metal ... 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

[@josejones7025]

Dokken were a shitty heavy metal band hair metal

[@charlestelk6526]

I've seen Dokken from early 80's to a few years ago and I keep hoping it gets better. They sucked in concert in the 80's and really suck now. Great studio albums back in the day but good gawd terrible now. Plus Don is a f'king ahole bar none. he can latch right on.....

[@Charlie_Alpha_Echo]

🤘🏼SAVATAGE are one of the greatest bands of ALL TIME!! SO criminally underrated! Fun fact for those who never heard of them: the band in the late 90s became what everyone knows now as the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. 🔥 They were the metal incarnation of QUEEN.

[@ryandiamond5871]

Trans Siberian also had Alex scholnick from testament , Lotsa metal singer , Jeff Scott soto etc, but yes savatage is huge influence to so many bands from Billie to obituary, nasty savage...and on and on.

[@SO-ym3zs]

Awesome songwriting and easily some of the best guitar and vocals in metal. Ridiculously underrated in metal history.

[@Ian-wh8ut]

wasnt there a Marillion connection there as well? with trans siberion orchestra also?

[@revwillyg6450]

Yep. TSO was the project of Jon Oliva and songwriter Paul O'Neill. It has strangely grown bigger than the memory of Savatage unfortunately. The Christmas tour every year includes several old Savatage songs

[@The1Jaguar]

A criminally underrated band! Incredible vocals and outstanding guitar work with a great song catalogue.

[@IronDuke_xX]

Genuinely floored at how well he knows really great Metal, big respect to you Billy

[@missiontotransition641]

NICE to see Billy was/is a Metal fan. I was never a huge fan of Pumpkins, but owned 2-3 cd's/cassettes. Nice stories with his favorite metal bands. I was most surprised and impressed with MERCYFUL FATE...a great metal band.

[@BeatSyncBytes]

Corgan is an amazing guitar player himself, his solos are just so out of this world

[@nebulous8389]

His new song Harmageddon very metal and has a one helluva vintage 90s corgan solo.

[@rwestvang]

Yeah.. Solo on Soma is God tier

[@CDChronicles]

Rainbow (Dio era) is my favorite all-time band/all-time favorite music and they are so underrated it's not even funny. Those first 3 albums are masterpieces. Big respect to Billy for including them on his list!

[@rainer9931]

Dio is truly the goat

[@buckeyechad1]

What an incredible interview! Slayer, Accept, Mercyful Fate, Sabotage! Seen the Pumpkins 3 times for the 1st 2 albums. I feel blessed even though I'm not religious lol

[@theLethalRabbit]

Billy Corgan picking Savatage was such a welcome surprise! Without a question one of the best metal bands ever, still not known to many (especially in the US, in Europe Savatage are well loved). "Gutter Ballet" is a masterpiece, as are many other of their albums: "Hall of the Mountain King", "Edge of Thorns", "Dead Winter Dead", etc.

[@wow_horac4663]

It was a pleasant surprise for me as well since I recognize the band and couldn't help but smile that they made his list. I only know them from the old file sharing days of the 90s. I happened upon Strange Wings and that led me to also check out Jesus Saves and Hall of the Mountain King. They were in my playlists for a few years during that time. Never dug deeper but really enjoyed what I had heard from them. Now if I run across them streaming or some other platform I pause to take a listen.

[@RockDawg77]

@@wow_horac4663 Check out Streets, Gutter Ballet, Hand Full Of Rain, pretty much anything Chris Oliva touched, Alex Skolnick was involved in. True legends of the metal scene.

[@dougulman6700]

Mr. Corgan has always been absolutely iron in his commitment to produce his vision , and the art he has been so faithfull to create. Unflinching and utterly unapollogetic. I am greatful to have had the oppertunity of being a fan. My thanks!

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

Thanks for mentioning Savatage. I got to know them and open for them a few times on Prov RI. Always welcoming and we drank a LOT of Alabama Slammers on the bus. Girls would like up to get in. Unreal times as I was 22 back in 86....

[@blacksunshine7485]

In all the years that I've been a Pumpkin fan, I've never heard Billy just lay out the fist of inspiration and just name the favourite bands. I would never have guessed Dokken would be in there. Or some other bands. This selection makes me love Pumpkins even more, if that's possible. Just keep the riffs coming!

[@westoftherockies]

dokken was a great heavy metal band, the songs were melodic and scorching especially with george lynch, but their songs were well written, nothing like hair metal bands with the cheesy sound.

[@blacksunshine7485]

@@westoftherockies Totally agree. And Don's voice was something to behold. His reach on Lightning Strikes Again was crazy. Love those guys.

[@broncofun5636]

No idea how the KZbin algorithm got me here, but a big “thank you” is in order!

[@carlosmoreno914]

Man Billy is so damn cool, very knowledgeable about music I love it

[@waltergibson-oe8yg]

Thank you so much for the inclusion of Savatage. They are a truly talented band and more people should know them.

[@matthewrobinson9955]

Savatage!!! I’ve always liked Billy and his music. Glad he gave a shout out to one of the the greatest bands ever.

[@virtuosooo]

Excellent list. Glad to hear Savatage mentioned. Def one of my favorites of all time.

[@chrisi.2117]

Wow, great and very diverse list! Nice to hear Billy is so knowledgeable about and a is a fan of metal. Thanks for all the great music you’ve made over the years, Mr. Corgan! :-)

[@ryandiamond5871]

I agree , keep in mind he's been at many " new fangled" festivals etc , but I believe this is a pretty true , good list from a dude , who is quite knowledgeable, about some quality metal , I'm sure he isn't much into metal at this time , but in his younger days he was probably atalot of shows and a fan.

[@dylanadams1455]

He has repeatedly said that his fuzzed out sound was a naive attempt to get Tony Iommi's sound using the gear he could afford at the time. I like it when you can hear an influence but it is just an element of someone's sound, so something new comes from it.

[@yankicanuk]

Love this list!! Most lists don’t include Rainbow, Dokken or Savatage & i’m so glad yours did

[@Coldwallbar]

I love Billy, Chuck Schuldiner, and Friedman. To me, the 3 most unique lead players I have ever heard.

[@Papi_SpringRoll]

So much respect for Mr Corgan, he’s a true musician, with great music, great taste, and a great appreciation and respect for other music genres

[@MarmiteTheDog]

Great choices! Also, Siamese Dreams is one of the greatest rock albums of the 90s - thank you!

[@FancyPrimate]

Dude. Great list. Accept is killer! Mercyful Fate changed music for me as a young man. I almost shed a tear when he said Savatage! I'm not familiar with the last one but I'll check it out!

[@tomasmartosvevoahre7799]

A really generous guy when talking about influences, he makes you go and listen to other people's records cause he speaks about them with true respect and love.

[@jaeden2806]

Solid choices, you can clearly hear the influences in his music. 😊

[@mikecox1974]

Fun fact Billy Corgan and Wayne Static were briefly in the same band many years ago in Chicago. Wonder what that band sounded like.

[@t.y.3966]

Always nice to hear some Mercyful Fate love!

[@inertialobserver5840]

Woah, I did not expect Savatage to be on the list! One of my absolute favourite bands of all time. Such a shame more people haven't heard of them

[@Charles-po7hj]

Oddly I've heard Smashing Pumpkins over the years and loved it, but here I am 57 yrs old, and really looking at Billy Corgan in 2025, hearing his picks today, especially Black Sabbath...and Mercyful Fate, etc... my respect for the man just went through the roof!

[@HammerHeart3229]

Love that Mr Patrick Corgan had Savatage in his top 11 favourite bands. Very underrated band and Hall of the Mountain King is one of my favourite albums of all time! It's one of those few albums that is perfect songwriting wise from start to finish in my opinion 🤘

[@himomsf2]

Power of the night is one of the best riffs !!! Such a great band

[@gustavomury9227]

Billy Corgan never ceases to amaze me. Savatage is the most criminally underrated band of all time and Criss Oliva is one of the greatest guitarists in rock! RIP

[@unicornsteaks6769]

A truly great and underrated (not exactly appealing to the masses) band. Probably why I didn't get tired of hearing them.

[@kearsargeChef_Gatherer]

Heard that

[@HammerHeart3229]

@@gustavomury9227 Agreed! Been a wrestling fan as well I like what Corgan is doing with the National Wrestling Alliance too! The lad lives an interesting life for sure, musician and a wrestling promoter! 😂 Saying that, I fancy doing a bit of Savatage for gym tomorrow now, I haven't given them a proper listen in ages so I'd say it's overdue!

[@JoaoPereira-fw1tz]

I was not expecting him to mention Savatage! Amazing band. Kudos to Corgan

[@pauldennis6069]

Bro, Slayer NYC shows were scary as F back in the day.

[@augsdoggs]

I knew he’d say Mercyful Fate and Slayer. Glad he did. Very surprised that he didn’t mention Celtic Frost. There was a SP song on one of their pre-Gish ep’s that actually broke into the opening riff of Circle Of the Tyrants. I remember hearing it in the 90’s and knowing that Billy is a true metal fan at heart.

[@chizorama]

Damn, I was about to make a comment about Celtic Frost, they were kinda obscure, didn't really garner a lot of attention, but I was hooked as soon as I heard Into the Crypt of Rays(didn't know the name as I dubbed it off a radio show, called it Apocalyptic Raid till I got the album). Was tragic to see them go hair metal, but they were dark as hell to start. Would also give a shout out to Venom, they were ahead of their time as well.

[@augsdoggs]

@@chizorama They returned to their roots again in the early 2000’s. The song I remember hearing is “why have you forsaken me “. It was really good.

[@elevenAD]

Dokken,Slayer,Fate, and Accept! Damn this made me like Corgan even more

[@barryvercueil2346]

Rainbow is an incredible addition. Definitely worth a listen.

[@brittscott4673]

I love Rainbow especially with JLT on vocals. Iron Maiden should be on his list at least by default they are too important to the development of metal.

[@Showup581]

Agreed

[@edmonddp]

Rising for me is the best 70s album ever

[@Fuxerz]

​@@edmonddpeasily the greatest

[@bned-hv3of]

A very good list! Love the mention of Savatage! They are one of my favorites as well! They were very influential towards prog and alternative!

[@altercell_]

could listen to billy for hours. always love when he does a video

[@eduardoabreu1785]

He was too humble to even mention he laid down vocals on a killer track from Tony Iommi's first solo album. It's called "Black Oblivion" in case you wanna check it out.

[@mottahead6464]

Mercyful Fate and King Diamond are Metal Gods. (By the way.... Billy really knows his metal).

[@elyaqui5324]

"really knows his metal" Why is that? Cause he likes All the Sh**y Metal Bands You Like?

[@Subiromba]

Corgan wrote some heavy riffs in the MCIS era, I bet he could have recorded a killer metal album if he wanted, especially with Chamberlin on the drums, such a beast of a drummer.

[@kingbidenmypres]

💯 where boys fear to tread is metal af

[@nebulous8389]

@@kingbidenmypres I was blown away by that song the first time I heard it, it rocks so hard in all its weird 90s glory!

[@TheSiameseDreamer]

XYU is fucking heavy

[@EricScroggs]

I’d LOOOOVE to hear him do a complete metal album in the vein of Black Oblivion from the Tony Iommi collaboration album.

[@nebulous8389]

@@EricScroggs he would make one helluva amazing record if he decided to do that...but he's so weird i dont see him doing that lol....but the next album is gonna be Rock N Roll. I think he's all snythed out after his last album lol

[@roybatty-]

Bro hit us with Pantera at #1. Respect.

[@CinemascapeReview]

walk.

[@Funrunner008]

Not even close

[@guitarcomet5]

Yeah, Pantera doesn’t deserve to be on this list.

[@WoahLookAtThatFreak]

​@@guitarcomet5What makes you say that?

[@guitarcomet5]

@@WoahLookAtThatFreak lack of talent, genuine, unique artistry.

[@dmoney8373]

What an absolutely awesome list, no complaints! Very cool he kicked Dokken and Savatage on there. Listening to guys like Billy who absolutely love music, and know it inside-out, is enthralling.

[@AngryRoleplayer]

Savatage is one of the best bands in history. Jon Oliva is a living genius. Extremely underrated. Pretty much every sava album is a masterpiece (except maybe later ones), and Jon Oliva's Pain albums are all diamonds

[@seekah1]

I need to give them another chance after this

[@mr.anderson6040]

The way he plays guitar the tone it's just incredibly amazing

[@HardChair]

Great video! I about flipped when he mentioned Savatage, and was surprised to see so many others were in the comments! Thought I was one of the few who remembered them. Cool that he likes Slayer, Accept, and Pantera too.

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

I remember Billy saying how much he appreciated Dimebag's playing back during the Pumpkin's heyday in the mid-90s. I believe he said that Dime was the main influence on his use of drop-D tuning on the Pumpkin's heavier songs.

[@gaetaboots9292]

Tony iomi came up with that Black Sabbath

[@whenfatkillsfat803]

It's definitely there on that "Destroy the mind..." section of An Ode to No One.

[@aavila1206]

⁠@@gaetaboots9292No. Tony came up with C# standard. The Melvin’s Buzz Osbourne rediscovered drop D tuning, which he showed to bands in the 80s like Soundgarden etc who popularized that tuning and it spread everywhere throughout the 90s.

[@Nothing-zw3yd]

George Lynch is the reason I started playing guitar 38 years ago. On my 12th birthday, my grandfather brought me to the record store at the local mall and told me I could pick out one cassette. I picked out a Fat Boys cassette. My brother was with us, and he pulled Breaking The Chains out and said that he'd heard this was a good album. I got that instead. I listened to the first side, didn't really grab me, so I brought it back to the store, and the dick who ran the store said he'd only trade me for the same cassette, so I was stuck with it. I went home, gave it another chance, and when I got to Paris Is Burning, the last song on side two, I was hooked. Changed my life in the best way.

[@kooskansloos4834]

I love how he shows Pantera some love!

[@jayjaytee9944]

Wow some surprising picks, good job Billy!

[@tjp3rd]

What an awesome all encompassing list! The appreciation of SAVATGE is something I totally love and agree with

[@GlassJ0e]

Solid list with new stuff to go discover.

[@titusbc]

His interview with Rick Beato was awesome. Very well spoken. LOve the SP!

[@rf3foto]

Wow, I am amazed at Billy's choices. For some of these bands, I always thought I was the only one who remembered them or gave homage to the greats for all different reasons. Hats off for this list, Savatage, Accept, and Sabbabth as the kings, you basically did a real rock and roll metal hall of fame list for the different categories and reasons. Loved this!

[@Dave_Wight_The_Rock_Oracle]

the list was not bad, adding some nobody band at the end was cheese. leaving out maiden, Blizzard of ozz, mistakes. Adding Dokken, curveball

[@toddlesiak3837]

@@Dave_Wight_The_Rock_Oracle Maiden should be on everyone's list!!!

[@craigpatrick1]

Seeing Pantera evolve from an opening act to what they became in the 90s is my most memorable moments in my teens and early 20s I was lucky to see them a dozen times or more!

[@gigibouse2316]

Super impressed with your picks Billy Corgan. Pantera is one of my all-time favorite bands, Accept is great, Rainbow, Dokken, I saw Slayer at the Hollywood Palladium on the Reign in Blood tour, Priest, Sabbath. Fantastic!

[@jaimeflor4181]

There was always a hint of metal in the Smashing Pumpkins, whether it was through Corgan’s solos or the 2-4 heavier songs on their albums. There’s actually an old video of Corgan as a teenager playing crazy lead guitar. He actually has a few guitar solos that are very difficult to play.

[@timvanrooy9665]

Anyone, including I, can take issue with individual picks on this list, but I’ve always sought out interviews or segments featuring Billy Corgan. He’s never afraid to fearlessly express himself & he has so much thoughtful insight about bands, musicians, & the schematics within the music business. He has gotten a ton of undeserved flak for all the same reasons, but I love hearing what he has to say; it makes me respect his approach to music even more.

[@hevihoo]

Mad respect for Mr. Corgan coming up with such a great picks. I mean e.g. Savatage has never gotten the attention they should have. JP, BS, Slayer, Pantera always get their due respect but 70s Rainbow was in their own way as important. And when they became a more mainstream hard rock act they didn't lose all the magic and underlying darker and heavier tones(Straight Between the Eyes being a truly underrated album). Accept and MF are also respected but not that highly regarded as they should. And Lynch's playing always brought a bit harder edge to the Dokken music. Not that awkward pick. Don may not have been the most technical of singers but he had a unique sounding voice and combined with Jeff's backing vocals created such great harmonies in their songs.

[@vaekkriinhart4347]

Don Dokken was a decent singer, but its his songwriting that makes him great.. And btw, Scorpions hired him to sing background vocals on their 'blackout' album so, he must be pretty good

[@r.g.armstrong2688]

I’m so happy he did mention Dokken. I didn’t expect it and that’s cool he gave them their importance.

[@matsnilson7727]

I wasn't expecting Savatage on the list, but they definitely deserve more recognition. 👍

[@TitoGrillo]

This was a super interesting list! Loved seeing Myrkur and Savatage in it =)

[@1badsteed]

Rockin with Dokken! Excellent metal band. I dig all the choices you made especially ACCEPT!!!

[@jsebastian9547]

Very cool to see Billy give props to myrkur. There's been a lot of people claiming she's not legit, but her take atmospheric Black Metal is spot on, plus with Christopher Rygg riding shotgun on some of her stuff, that's about as legit as it gets.

[@drew3030]

No shit, if Garm of Ulver is involved that has to be worth paying attention to.

[@whackronomicon]

Billy was Rockin with Dokken!😅 And outside of guitar circles, Lynch was also criminally underrated.

[@nickmacdx]

Accept ... Good to see them getting recognition Never heard Billy talking before, and his calming voice and knowledge make mecthink he's the kind of guy I could listen to talking at length

[@railander]

What a great surprise to hear he mentioning Savatage! Myrkur is a great mention too, I love her.

[@SteveLesko]

Very knowledgeable. Knows his bands. Hats off to you Mr. Corgan.