Smashing Young Man

When Collective Soul took off in 1994 with their song "Shine," Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins slagged them off, calling their frontman Ed Roland a "shameless rip-off artist." Corgan was referring to similarities between "Shine" and Smashing Pumpkins songs like "Rhinoceros," "Drown" and "Snail." On this track, Roland fires back, never mentioning Corgan by name but calling this Smashing Young Man "synthetic-like," and saying he lives in a "self-lit spotlight." Roland's guitar riff on "Shine" dates back to 1989, pre-dating the Smashing Pumpkins songs he was accused of stealing.

For a while, Ed Roland claimed, incredulously, that the song was not about Corgan but inspired by the British term "smashing," which he heard in England.