"The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

[Soot and Stars]

Originally Posted by aeroplane

Favorite songs:

-Tonight
-1979

Both genius.

Both are great songs Aeroplane and the Melloncollie album was definitely the Pumpkins at their most accessible and mainstream.

[Soot and Stars]

So we finally have made it to the first official SP release:

GISH

Recorded: December 1990–March 1991
Studio: Smart Studios, Madison, Wisconsin (Butch Vigs Studio)
Time of Release: May 28, 1991
Label: Caroline (Subsidiary of Virgin)
Producers: Butch Vig, Billy Corgan
Band Members:
Billy Corgan-Vocals, Guitar, Production
James Iha-Guitars, Vocals
D'Arcy Wretzky-Bass Guitars, Vocals, Layouts
Jimmy Chamberlain-Drums
Peak Chart Position: 195
Official Released Singles: Siva, I Am One

First my personal thoughts and anecdotes. I didn't start with Gish. My Smashing Pumpkin experience start with the follow up, Siamese Dream. It took me a while to find out about Gish because at the time I only had MTV, word of mouth and shopping and browsing to delve into a bands catalog. Considering I lived in a small town, word of mouth and browsing at any store nearby didn't open me to many "finds" and it wasn't until I started traveling further out that I found that you could get "Everything" from an artist. I remember going to Circuit City for the first time and buying every Smashing Pumpkin single, remix EP, etc. I could grab. Gish was honestly the fourth Smashing Pumpkins album I heard and bought after Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I actually bought it right around the same time as the Aeroplane Flies High.... Box Set at a Strawberries. So yeah, even as a fan I was late on the Gish train.

You always tend to connect to the material you first hear from an artist but Gish has grown on me immensely and I have a high amount of respect for it. It's a very spiritual, tribal like album with a very slow melodic feel. If there is a Smashing Pumpkins album to just chill out to then it's this one. This is just the beginning as I'm going to try to break down this an every other album from all angles.

If you'd like feel free to share your thoughts and come along for the ride!

[METALPRIEST]

^^^ GISH!! When Billy had hair!!

This album carries a song that I like quite a bit...good memories!!

SIVA!! (very Sabbath)

[Soot and Stars]

What exactly is a "Gish"?

Just to show that every detail of a Smashing Pumpkins album means something I'll post a bit I just found out myself. I always associated it as something in an Asian vain, perhaps short hand for Geisha. Never looked it up until tonight. According to Wikipedia, it actually is connected to silent movie star

Lillian Gish


Lillian was most famous for being a lead in one of the most controversial yet respected films in all of history, the silent "Birth of a Nation". The connection comes from the stories Billy's mother would tell him about the star.

"My grandmother used to tell me that one of the biggest things that ever happened was when Lillian Gish rode through town on a train, my grandmother lived in the middle of nowhere, so that was a big deal..."
~Billy Corgan on where Gish came from

Billy also joked that the original idea was to call it fish but he didn't want the album to be affiliated with these guys:

Phish

[METALPRIEST]

^^ "These Guys"

I sort of remember the Lillian Gish story. Pretty cool really cause it makes the whole thing seem a bit darker.

Silent movies spook me out as it is.

[Soot and Stars]

Originally Posted by METALPRIEST

^^^ GISH!! When Billy had hair!!

This album carries a song that I like quite a bit...good memories!!

SIVA!! (very Sabbath)

Cool track! Not surprising as the band knew that having influences was a strength rather than a burden. They carried their influences proudly!
Here's some connections with Black Sabbath!

Smashing Pumpkins/Black Sabbath Connection


Here's a quote from Wikipedia about the love for the band and metal in general:

"Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist.[40][94] When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt", Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East."

Here's the Smashing Pumpkins covering "Iron Man"!

Iron Man


This shirt design off the Zeitgeist album seems like something Sabbath would dig!

[METALPRIEST]

OK That Sabbath cover was pretty bitchin'!!!!

Billy could probably sing the entire catalog. He has that "snear"

[Soot and Stars]

Originally Posted by METALPRIEST

OK That Sabbath cover was pretty bitchin'!!!!

Billy could probably sing the entire catalog. He has that "snear"

Definitely! I love that edge of him and the fact that it comes from a vocal that can be really angelic soft as well!

Here's an even better version:

Iron Man


and check out the last minute of this track for a little bit of Paranoid!

Jellybelly (old version)-Enter Sandman/Paranoid (tease)

[METALPRIEST]

That is a nicer version of Iron Man!!!

[Cosmic Harmony]

I just listened to "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" for the first time in it's entirety (a friend loaned it to me) and I've got to say that in comparison to "Siamese Dream" I was kind of bummed out over it. There were lots of solid tracks but then there were others like "Tales of a Scorched Earth" and "Where Boys Fear To Tread" that I was not very impressed with... :/

[Soot and Stars]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Harmony

I just listened to "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" for the first time in it's entirety (a friend loaned it to me) and I've got to say that in comparison to "Siamese Dream" I was kind of bummed out over it. There were lots of solid tracks but then there were others like "Tales of a Scorched Earth" and "Where Boys Fear To Tread" that I was not very impressed with... :/

With Tracks like Galapagos, Bodies, By Starlight, Muzzle and Porcelina of The Vast Oceans it's right up there with Siamese to me. I think the two tracks you named are great for being in their because they are the heavy end of the spectrum and it's all the variety of tone, style and mood that made that album the most epic in their catalog! I also think XYU which is ridiculously loud was a great addition to the album!

[Tray73]

Originally Posted by Soot and Stars

Definitely! I love that edge of him and the fact that it comes from a vocal that can be really angelic soft as well!

Here's an even better version:

Iron Man


and check out the last minute of this track for a little bit of Paranoid!

Jellybelly (old version)-Enter Sandman/Paranoid (tease)

Cool - great stuff

I like their cover of Rock On by David Essex



Watch Melissa go on the bass