Pitchfork

Once upon a time, a greatest hits album meant something. Not coincidentally, it was also the time that major labels were committed to artistry. So, for example, the Beatles had a greatest hits album. The Stones rightfully had a couple, as did Hendrix. Slowly, however, record labels turned straight corporate; a few years passed and the format began its gradual demise. Herman's Hermits released a greatest hits album. Then, Hall and Oates and Night Ranger. Before you knew it, Geffen, attempting to milk the last penny out of "Dance Hall Days," releases Everybody Wang Chung Tonight: Wang Chung's Greatest Hits.

While Billy Corgan's days of wanging chung with the Smashing Pumpkins have come to an end, his days of making money and feeding his ego off them are not. So it goes that the Smashing Pumpkins are prepped to release their first greatest hits collection this fall on Virgin, composed entirely of tracks from 1993's Siamese Dream. Okay, so the second part isn't entirely true; the band (read "Billy") has yet to figure out which tracks will go in the hits package. But it is this unbiased journalist's opinion that he would do well to avoid anything Corgan recorded with a bald head or while wearing a black smock. Whether the collection will be received as "Beatlesesque" or "Wang Chungy" is something only time will tell.

One thing certain to fall short of tolerable is the bonus CD set for limited release with the "hits." Artfully titled Judas O'Reylly, the bonus disc includes more than just pretentious spelling-- it features a wealth of Billy-sides drawn from the Melon Collie, Adore, and MACHINA sessions. And if that doesn't stiffen your nipples, it also includes "never before seen photos of the band," a move that seemingly would controvert the whole "corporate profit" theory.