The return of Smashing Pumpkins brings back not just one of the biggest alternative rock groups of the 90s – it also means the world is once again exposed to his forthright views on the world. This time he says he wants to "piss on" Radiohead.

The rebooted version of Corgan's band release their new album Oceania next week, and to warm up the world for his return, he has declared war on what he says is a "pompous" value system that elevates the Oxford band beyond their station.

He told Antiquiet: "I can't think of any people outside of Weird Al Yankovic who have both embraced and pissed on rock more than I have. Obviously there's a level of reverence, but there's also a level of intelligence to even know what to piss on. Because I'm not pissing on Rainbow. I'm not pissing on Deep Purple. But I'll piss on fucking Radiohead, because of all this pomposity. This value system that says Jonny Greenwood is more valuable than Ritchie Blackmore. Not in the world I grew up in.

"Is Ritchie Blackmore a better guitar player than me and Jonny Greenwood? Yes. Have we all made valuable contributions? Yes. I'm not attacking that. I'm attacking the pomposity that says this is more valuable than that. I'm sick of that. I'm so fucking sick of that. I'm so fucking sick of it and nobody seems to tire of it."

Before Oceania, Corgan had abandoned the notion of "albums" and had embarked on the tarot-inspired 44-song cycle Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. He has explained the U-turn by declaring the new album to be an "album within an album".