Billy Corgan remembers the first time he heard Black Sabbath, recalling the strong effect it had on his young mind. Corgan was 8 years old when he found the heavy metal band. Corgan explained in an interview that, “My uncle was a drummer, He passed away very young, but he had this cool stereo and a bunch of progressive rock records like Yes and Jethro Tull. And the first record in the pile was Black Sabbath, Master of Reality.”
Corgan added that the 1971 album intrigued him and he right away asked his grandmother if he could play it. Stating that, “She gave me that look like, ‘I’m gonna get into big trouble from your uncle,’ And I talked her into it.”
He recalled, “The first song was ‘Sweet Leaf,’ You know, you hear the Ozzy cough or whatever, and then that sound comes in. And I was just like, it made me feel as if I was staring into the cosmos or something. I don’t know how else to explain other than I felt this kinda sense of agape. Like, ‘Wow, this is what God sounds like.’ So it’s the 8-year-old version of what God sounds like, but I’ve never found anything cooler.”
Corgan went on to admit that he has been chasing the Sabbath sound he heard when he was young. Meanwhile, the Smashing Pumpkins’ most recent album, Atum: Act One, was released on November 15th. It is only the first installment of a three part rock opera and acts two and three are set to arrive sometime in 2023.
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