The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music the Smashing Pumpkins would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy —who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 "Chicago Sun-Times" article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums "Adore" and "Machina" as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.