The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
A review of Siamese Dream, a highlight of not only The Smashing Pumpkins' career, but of rock in the nineties.
Along with the drumroll of opening track Cherub Rock comes the sense that something monumental is about to unfold. So begins The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 release and second album Siamese Dream, the album that was to cement the career of one of the most successful rock bands of the decade.
The singles off the album (Cherub Rock, Today, Disarm and Rocket) enjoyed, and indeed still do, high rotation and gave the band a solid fan base. However it is Hummer with its heartbreaking outro, Soma and its sudden change from sweet lullaby to rock epic and Mayonaise with its devastating lyrics, that make this album unforgettable.
Frontman Billy Corgan’s vocals range from breathless whisper to scathing snarl and saturate each song with an earnestness that is at times hauntingly beautiful and at others almost too much to bear. Lyrically, Siamese Dream packs a mighty punch. The spoken ‘Bang, bang you’re dead, hole in your head’ from Silverfuck is positively chilling, whereas Corgan’s uncertainty of self is apparent with lines such as ‘Fool enough to almost be it, cool enough to not quite see it’ and ‘Rumoured to the straight and narrow, while the harlots of my perils scream’ (Mayonaise).
The use of a sitar and Mellotron on Luna and the prominence of strings on Disarm add an extra dimension to Siamese Dream and create a dream-like atmosphere that, while beautiful, contains much sorrow, fragility and vulnerability.
That’s not to say that they can’t rock with the best of them. Jimmy Chamberlain’s furious drumming on Geek USA and the frenetic guitars provided courtesy of Corgan and James Iha (oh so good for lounge room air guitar action) ensure that there is always enough bite to class Siamese Dream as a rock album first and foremost.
The Smashing Pumpkins reached a broader audience with their next album, the double-disc Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but it is Siamese Dream with its ability to change pace and mood within and between each song, that renders it a benchmark album of the 90s and one of The Smashing Pumpkins’ finest moments.
This article originally appeared on FasterLouder.com.au. I am no longer associated with that website and, as copyright owner, have moved it here for permanent record.
Along with the drumroll of opening track Cherub Rock comes the sense that something monumental is about to unfold. So begins The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 release and second album Siamese Dream, the album that was to cement the career of one of the most successful rock bands of the decade.
The singles off the album (Cherub Rock, Today, Disarm and Rocket) enjoyed, and indeed still do, high rotation and gave the band a solid fan base. However it is Hummer with its heartbreaking outro, Soma and its sudden change from sweet lullaby to rock epic and Mayonaise with its devastating lyrics, that make this album unforgettable.
Frontman Billy Corgan’s vocals range from breathless whisper to scathing snarl and saturate each song with an earnestness that is at times hauntingly beautiful and at others almost too much to bear. Lyrically, Siamese Dream packs a mighty punch. The spoken ‘Bang, bang you’re dead, hole in your head’ from Silverfuck is positively chilling, whereas Corgan’s uncertainty of self is apparent with lines such as ‘Fool enough to almost be it, cool enough to not quite see it’ and ‘Rumoured to the straight and narrow, while the harlots of my perils scream’ (Mayonaise).
The use of a sitar and Mellotron on Luna and the prominence of strings on Disarm add an extra dimension to Siamese Dream and create a dream-like atmosphere that, while beautiful, contains much sorrow, fragility and vulnerability.
That’s not to say that they can’t rock with the best of them. Jimmy Chamberlain’s furious drumming on Geek USA and the frenetic guitars provided courtesy of Corgan and James Iha (oh so good for lounge room air guitar action) ensure that there is always enough bite to class Siamese Dream as a rock album first and foremost.
The Smashing Pumpkins reached a broader audience with their next album, the double-disc Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but it is Siamese Dream with its ability to change pace and mood within and between each song, that renders it a benchmark album of the 90s and one of The Smashing Pumpkins’ finest moments.
This article originally appeared on FasterLouder.com.au. I am no longer associated with that website and, as copyright owner, have moved it here for permanent record.
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