Tommy Lee Laying Tracks On New Smashing Pumpkins Album

By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on May 8, 2014 9:00PM

As if things couldn't seem to get any weirder at camp Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan and company have managed to hurl another screwball in our direction.

The band announced via its website that Motley Crue's Tommy Lee has been laying drum tracks for Monuments To An Elegy, one of two new Smashing Pumpkins releases slated for 2015. This announcement comes on the heels of news that the band will put out new material since 2012's Oceania, which came before Corgan's odd eight-hour ambient interpretation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha performance at his tea house Madame ZuZu's.

It seems like an odd pairing on the surface, since Lee's drumming was the focal point of Motley Crue. He had to be given the level of talent in the rest of the band. We wonder if Lee will be given the same kind of spotlight on Monuments. What we do know is Corgan has described the new album as "guitars, guitars and more guitars." So where does Lee fit in with all those guitars? If the material is as heavy as Corgan is leading us to believe, then hiring the hard-hitting Lee makes a little more sense. Corgan has hired a proven rock veteran to provide the battery to this album. And one thing we do know is that Corgan knows exactly what he wants, so he must think Lee can give it to him. Getting an ego like Lee's to fall in line like a good soldier is no small feat, and things could get ugly if they're not on the same page. Oh to be a fly on the wall for these sessions.

There is no word if Corgan and Lee plan to continue their relationship, or the whereabouts of Mike Byrne who manned the trap kit on Oceania. Whatever the outcome, it certainly will be interesting to hear the rock 'n' roll love child produced by this unlikely pairing.