The Smashing Pumpkins--Siamese Dream

The mythology, rumor, gossip, delicious stories, and everything that made the Smashing Pumpkins more than just your everyday rock band started here. Riding off the waves of their debut Gish and the relative tsunami that was the grunge and alternative explosion, The Smashing Pumpkins could not have been in a better position to seize the music world. That sort of pressure for a band that had spent years writing their material for their only other release was tremendous. The result would be frontman Billy Corgan sole efforts. Partly with the aid of drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, Siamese Dream would express the tumult and emotional backlash of being a rock star in a time when that was still edgy. More importantly, it sent the Pumpkins in a direction that would result in them being the gods of rock. Siamese Dream, released in the summer of 1993 - featuring Butch Vig again in the producer’s chair - carved a new road not only for the Smashing Pumpkins but for alternative music. It branched away from the path Nirvana was taking, focusing not on the punk in rock but dreamy and emotional qualities. Highly introspective, songs like "Spaceboy" and "Disarm" drip with Corgan’s fragility, without ever telling you what the dang problem is. That sort of emotional animosity gave the teenager listeners something to grab on to, something they could relate to. The Pumpkins also continued evolving their classic layered guitar work in songs like "Cherub Rock" and "Quiet," and achieved their first truly pop hit in "Today." Together with the rumors of drug use, romantic issues between guitarist James Iha and bassist D’arcy Wretzcy , and Corgan’s ever present depression; the album was a huge success. Debuting in the Billboard Top Ten and going on to sell four million copies over the next three years, Siamese Dream firmly placed The Smashing Pumpkins among the heavy-hitters and more importantly gave Corgan the artistic license to create what would come next.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com)