July 27, 1993 - Siamese Dream

A month and a half after my last release and a little over two years since their debut "Gish", The Smashing Pumpkins released their second album "Siamese Dream" on July 27, 1993. After a fairly succesful debut, "Siamese Dream" launched the Pumpkins into superstardom and it reached #10 on the Billboard charts, despite this being a tumultuous time for the band with Billy Corgan experiencing depression and writer's block, Jimmy Chamberlin struggling with heroin addiction and James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky recently ending their relationship. Due to all this turmoil Corgan recorded some of Iha's and Wretzky's parts himself and also co-produced the album with Butch Vig. Let's see what the latest Smashing Pumpkins is all about!

The album kicks off with "Cherub Rock", which would become one of several very popular singles off this album. It starts with a quiet guitar riff and slowly and nicely builds until Chamberlin kicks into a nice loud drum beat and Corgan and Iha sync up for a loud and pretty cool main guitar riff. Corgan begins the first verse in a bit of a quiet voice but when he goes loud he sounds pretty good holding some long notes. After the first verse they roll right into the second and after that verse we finally hear the chorus, with Billy singing "let me out" along with the catchy guitars. After this they nicely build up to the guitar solo as we hear some pretty distorted and cool lead guitar overtop the catchy main riff. Corgan starts another nice verse while the solo is still wrapping up and it flows very nicely until they play a final chorus and then end the song on a very nice, heavy note. A pretty cool way to kick things off! Up next is "Quiet" and it has a very distorted guitar opening before Chamberlin nicely sets things up and they settle into a groovy main riff that just keeps rolling along. The guitar is pretty simple, but it's also pretty catchy and Corgan sings another verse with both quiet parts and some nice louder vocals. The riff breaks down nicely as they hit the chorus and Corgan sings a soft chorus overtop before they thump back into the main riff. Another cool verse and chorus later it's solo time and I'm not sure if it's Corgan or Iha Iha whoever it is lays down a really great solo that has a few faster parts, but mostly just sounds really epic and awesome. This flows perfectly into a final verse and there's some more cool guitar during the final chorus before they close things out. Track 3 was another massively successful single, titled "Today" and it starts with a quiet guitar riff before the rest of the band joins in to complete this slow main riff that is somehow both soft and heavy at the same time! Corgan begins a high-pitched verse that is pretty pop-y but it fits the mood perfectly as the verse starts quiet and soft but then shifts back to the slow, heaviness as things continue. They roll right into another very catchy verse that follows the same soft-to-heavy formula and then we hear a pretty simple guitar solo that is barely a solo at all, followed by a few "I wanna turn you on"s from Corgan before we reach a final verse with some cool guitar bits to end this short single. A decent little tune, but it's my least favourite so far. The next song is just under seven minutes long and is called "Hummer". It begins with a trippy, almost Middle-Eastern guitar (that sounds a bit like the last album I reviewed) and Wretzky starts up a nice bass riff to keep the pace before things nicely segue into the slow main riff led by some long droning guitar notes. We're treated to an early guitar solo that sounds pretty sweet and it leads right into the first verse as Corgan sings nicely overtop a light but solid guitar riff. They return to the heavy, droning notes for the chorus and after another verse and chorus Corgan sings a similar but new verse to break things up a bit and then they nicely slam back into the main riff. At about the 4:30 mark the mood shifts, but they do it very naturally as we now hear a light drum beat and some interesting light guitar. Corgan begins a new verse overtop this light backdrop and he sounds pretty good softly singing overtop. After this verse we hear a cool guitar solo that is offbeat from the main riff but whoever it is is playing some pretty cool stuff. This takes us right to a very beautiful finish as this song took a turn, but it was an interesting turn. Track 5 is another single titled "Rocket" and it's driven by a simple and smooth lead guitar riff and Wretzky and Chamberlin match the mood with a nice rhythm section. Corgan sings a light verse overtop and it flows right into a similar chorus with some solid slow guitar. Corgan occasionally raises his voice and hits some high notes, but they stick mostly to the main riff on this, easily the least succesful of the singles. They do end the song on a nice note that leads into the sound of a rocket blasting off. The next song is "Disarm" and it is the final single and another one that would become immensely popular. Corgan leads the way by himself at first, playing a cool acoustic guitar riff and Chamberlin adds some epic bells at key moments that sound pretty cool. Billy begins the verse in his lighter voice but he shows some real emotion throughout this song as we hear his voice waiver and flutter. It has a pretty sad mood, but it's really nicely done and it sounds even more beautiful once some strings join in as they enter the chorus. Corgan sounds great and I like his delivery of the line "the killer in me is the killer in you". The strings take the spotlight briefly as we hear some slow but beautiful stuff and then it's right into the end of the verse and onto several choruses, this time with the strings even louder and more prominent. This takes us right to the end of the song, and it's a pretty epic way to close out this song. It's certainly not a headbanger, but it is definitely a cool song. Track 7 is "Soma" and one of Corgan or Iha starts us off with another slow and light guitar riff before the other one comes in and plays a different, higher guitar riff that meshes very nicely. Chamberlin adds a light drum beat, Wretzky plays some solid bass, and Corgan sings a light verse to complete this soft main riff. Billy sings higher in the chorus and they nicely play another verse and chorus before things take a wonderful turn. A short guitar solo starts that sound solid and then things very nicely snap into a heavier version of the main riff with some much louder guitars and drums. They play a loud verse and chorus and then it's time for a full solo as we hear some pretty cool guitar from either Corgan or Iha. We then hear a final nice and loud chorus before they return to the soft opening part to finish things off. Another pretty cool tune! The next song is called "Geek U.S.A." and it's driven by a heavy rhythm guitar riff that sounds pretty sweet as the other guitarist comes in with some short, high stuff that sounds pretty epic as well. Corgan sings a nice verse overtop the heavy main riff and it flows right into a nice fast-paced chorus with some cool lead and rhythm guitars from Corgan and Iha. After another solid verse and chorus things break down into a much slower, much lighter riff with Chamberlin playing some nice slow drums and Corgan singing softly overtop to match the new mood. The music stays slows but shifts to their usual hard rock style as they nicely, slowly jam out this new riff. They speed things up again as they nicely tie things back to the main riff and after another chorus we hear a short, erratic guitar solo that sounds solid and it devolves nicely at the end. Wretzky plays a cool new bass riff and this sets the stage for a nice, heavy new riff as the guitars join in and Corgan sings a final verse overtop some cool, distorted guitars to end another pretty cool song. Track 9 is "Mayonaise" and Corgan and Iha open it by themselves, playing two different light guitar riffs that go together pretty well. After 45 seconds or so Chamberlin joins in on drums and he plays in Wretzky nicely on bass as they complete this simple, droning main riff. Corgan sings a solid verse overtop and they continue to jam out this riff for a bit until we finally reach a solo. It's nothing flashy, but it matches the mood nicely and is a decent solo that takes us to an acoustic version of the main riff. Corgan sings nicely overtop the acoustic and they crash seamlessly back into the heavier main riff. They play a final long verse and then end the song as it began with the two guitarists lightly playing us out. Up next is "Spaceboy" and it opens with just Corgan, playing a cool acoustic guitar riff and singing softly, single-handedly captivating as each note seems to hang in the air as we wait for the next to come. For something so simple, he makes it sound pretty epic and he continues his nice soft singing once the rest of the band finally joins in to nicely shape this soft but cool chorus. The band falls away again as Billy leads another nice verse and after they come back for another chorus they continue to slowly jam out this riff as Corgan does some great vocals that alternate between loud and emphatic to soft and beautiful. The song appears to be over but there's a weird clip at the end of a woman talking about not having sex and masturbating. A very strange way to end what was otherwise an interesting tune. Track 11 is the longest on the album at just under nine minutes and it's called "Silverfuck". One guitarist kicks right into the main riff, which is a cool fast-paced riff that sounds nice and heavy. Chamberlin joins in with some nice fast drums while the other guitarist plays a slower riff at first, but soon Corgan and Iha sync up for a very loud and pretty sweet main riff. We hear just drums and bass for the quiet verse but they nicely return to loud for the chorus that has some nice yelled vocals from Billy. After the chorus it's a great instrumental part with some awesome guitars and this eventually fades to a quiet, new part. Corgan sings softly overtop and the distorted guitars sound cool overtop the light rhythm section. This goes on for several minutes and things sound very space-y, like you're lost in the clouds. Corgan sings an echo-y "bang bang you're dead, hole in your head", a few times and then they very nicely snap back into the loud chorus. We hear another cool instrumental part with more great guitars from both Corgan and Iha and this takes us to the finale where it ends in a nice heavy breakdown that spills into absolute madness! There are tons of crazy sounds and things sound both very heavy and very trippy. A great way to close out a pretty sweet song and we hear Billy say at the end "Alright, this take, don't give a fuck". Then it's onto the shortest song on the album, "Sweet Sweet", and it's driven by a happy-sounding guitar riff that sounds decent and Corgan sings a nice verse to match it. They play through a couple verses and then they wrap it up, short and sweet (sweet). The final song on the album is "Luna" and one guitarist plays a light electric guitar riff, while the other keeps the pace with an acoustic guitar riff and they mesh together nicely for a soft main riff. Corgan sings a soft verse to match the mood and finally the rhythm section joins in for the chorus. It remains for the next verse and after another chorus we move to a new part that has a strings section and Corgan singing softly and occasionally loudly about being in love. This brings us to the end of the track and while it was a solid little tune it was a weird way to end the album.

That is the end of "Siamese Dream" and I thought it was a really good album. Whether they were rockin' hard or playing soft, The Smashing Pumpkins did a great job throughout this whole album. "Geek U.S.A." was my favourite but "Silverfuck" was pretty good too and there were several other great headbanger as well. Combine that with some cool light guitar work and Billy Corgan being an amazing singer/songwriter and you've got yourself a pretty sweet album. I thought "Gish" was pretty good, but I think "Siamese Dream" is even better! That's two for two, what will the Pumpkins serve up next?