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Siamese Dream
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Siamese Dream | |||||
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| Studio album by The Smashing Pumpkins | |||||
| Released | July 27, 1993 | ||||
| Recorded | December 1992 – March 1993 at Triclops Sound Studios in Marietta, Georgia, United States | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 62:17 | ||||
| Label | Virgin Records | ||||
| Producer | Butch Vig Billy Corgan |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
| The Smashing Pumpkins chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Siamese Dream | |||||
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Siamese Dream is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993 on Virgin Records. Songs on the album featured shoegazer-style production, and lyrical themes are influenced by frontman Billy Corgan's depression and relationships.
Siamese Dream was the band's breakthrough success, and was critically acclaimed. However, the recording environment was fraught with difficulties, with the band fighting constantly. Despite numerous problems that occurred during the album's recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard charts, sold over four million copies in the U.S. and over six million worldwide.[1]
Contents |
The Smashing Pumpkins are a band from Chicago, Illinois that formed in 1988. After the release and relative success of the band's debut, Gish, the Smashing Pumpkins were being hyped as "the next Nirvana".[2] The band was signed to Virgin Records, who owned Caroline Records, which the Pumpkins were signed to at that point.
However, the band was experiencing problems at the time; drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was undergoing an increasingly severe addiction to heroin, guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy Wretzky had recently broken up after dating, and Billy Corgan had become overweight, depressed to the point of contemplating suicide, and was suffering from writer's block.[3] Billy Corgan recalled that "after the first album, I became completely suicidal. It was an eight-month depression, give or take a month, and I was pretty suicidal for about two or three months."[4]
Siamese Dream was recorded mainly between December 1992 and March 1993. The band traveled to Triclops Studios in Marietta, Georgia for the album sessions. The decision to record away from their hometown Chicago was motivated by the band's desire to avoid local friends and distractions,[5] and to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections.[6] Butch Vig reprised his role as producer after working on their debut album Gish.
After he suffered a nervous breakdown, Corgan began visiting a therapist. Consequently his lyrics became more explicit about his trouble past and his insecurities.[5] "Today" was the first song written by Corgan for Siamese Dream.[3] He played the self-recorded demo to Vig, and received a positive reaction.[3] Soon afterwards, executives from Virgin Records came to observe the band after hearing about their problems, but were pleased with the demo.[3] On hearing the new recording, the executives were so delighted that they cancelled any future visits to the studio.
The reaction from the executives only served to put more stress on Corgan.[2] To counteract his depression, Corgan worked overtime, saying he practically lived in the studio for the recording of Siamese Dream. Butch Vig and Corgan would sometimes work on a 45-second section of music for two days, working 16 hour days for weeks at a time to achieve the sound Corgan wanted.[6]
The recording process was fraught with band tension. Vig noted that while some days were fine, on others the band members would not talk to one another. Vig said, "D'Arcy would lock herself in the bathroom, James wouldn't say anything, or Billy would lock himself in the control room." Corgan often painstakingly overdubbed rerecordings of Iha's and Wretzky's instrumental parts he had performed himself.[5] It was later rumored that Corgan played all the guitar and bass parts on the album. The band generally denies this, with Corgan stating that he only performed most of the guitar work because he could lay them down in recording easier and with far fewer takes.[6] Meanwhile Chamberlin would disappear for days on drug benders that caused everyone to fear for his life. After one incident where the drummer had disappeared for two or three days, Corgan "put the hammer down", according to Vig, and had Chamberlin perform the drum takes for "Cherub Rock" until his hands bled.[5] Due to Corgan's urging, Chamberlin checked into a rehab clinic.[6] Corgan told Spin later that year, "You know, I gave them a year and a half to prepare for this record [. . .] I'm surrounded by these people who I care about very much, yet they continue to keep failing me." Corgan explained that he began to take the actions of others personally; he said, "If you really think about it, of course, someone doesn't do the job because they're lazy, or they don't think it's important. But I took it as, 'You're not worth going home and working on the song.'"[7]
Virgin began to grow impatient with the album's recording as it went over budget and became behind schedule. The band, however, would not let the company cut corners if it meant compromising the sound.[6] By the time recording was completed, Corgan and Vig felt too emotionally exhausted to mix the record. Corgan suggested that engineer Alan Moulder (who had worked on the 1991 album Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, a band Corgan was a fan of) mix the album.[8] Eventually, the album was finished after four months and $250,000 over budget.[6]
The album's sound is due, in most part, to Corgan's vision. Vig said, "Billy wanted to make a record that people would put on and say, 'What the fuck was that?' [. . .] We wanted to have things going on in the left ear and right ear all the time".[5] One of Corgan's main goals was to create a sense of sonic depth, but, as Corgan said, "without necessarily using delays or reverbs - to use tonalities instead."[9] For the album, the guitars were layered multiple times. Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts.[10] Vig stated that as many as 100 guitar parts were compressed into a single song.[5]
The subjects of Corgan's lyrics on Siamese Dream varied. Corgan noted that most of his lyrics for the album were about his girlfriend and future wife Chris Fabian, with whom he had broken up with at the time he wrote the songs.[9] Corgan occasionally wrote about other subjects. In "Cherub Rock", the album's opening track, Corgan attacked the American independent music scene, for what he felt was its small-mindedness, via a series of metaphors.[11] "Spaceboy" was written as a tribute to his half-brother, Jesse, who suffered from a genetic disease.
Siamese Dream was released on July 22, 1993. The following week it debuted at number ten on the Billboard charts.[12] Stories of the album's recording had circulated in the music press. Corgan admitted there was some truth to accusations of tyrannical behavior, though he felt the press misunderstood the situation.[13]
Entertainment Weekly gave the album a "B" rating; reviewer David Browne praised the band for living up to industry expectations of being the "next Nirvana" and compared Siamese Dream favorably to Nirvana's Nevermind. Browne concluded, "In aiming for more than just another alternative guitar record, Smashing Pumpkins may have stumbled upon a whole new stance: slackers with a vision."[14] Critic Simon Reynolds disagreed; he wrote in his review for The New York Times that "fuzzed-up riffs and angst-wracked vocals are quite the norm these days, and Smashing Pumpkins lacks the zeitgeist-defining edge that made Nirvana's breakthrough so thrilling and resonant."[15] Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album a three star honorable mention, selecting "Geek U.S.A." and "Today" as highlights.[16]
Siamese Dream earned The Smashing Pumpkins their first Grammy Award nominations. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, and the group was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal at the Grammy Awards of 1994.[17]
In 2006, Q magazine readers voted Siamese Dream the 54th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 360 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork Media ranked it as the 18th best album of the 1990s.
The artwork for the album was initially going to be created by an outside artist, but after a series of disagreements with the label, Corgan was forced to step in at the last minute. The album booklet, composed of old photographs of both strangers and Corgan's family members with lyrics handwritten on top, was assembled by Corgan and his wife the day after their wedding. Corgan was not satisfied with the results.[18]
Shortly after the Pumpkins reunited in 2007, Corgan posted a message to the band's blog saying that they were "[l]ooking for girls from Siamese Dream album cover. [. . .] As you all know, they were quite young when the photo was taken. They are not conjoined anymore, as far as we know." The band's intentions for the search were never made clear, and the twins have not yet been located.[19]
All songs were written by Billy Corgan, except "Soma" and "Mayonaise" by Corgan and James Iha.
- "Cherub Rock" – 4:58 sample
- "Quiet" – 3:41
- "Today" – 3:19 sample
- "Hummer" – 6:57
- "Rocket" – 4:06
- "Disarm" – 3:17 sample
- "Soma" – 6:39
- "Geek U.S.A." – 5:13
- "Mayonaise" – 5:49
- "Spaceboy" – 4:28
- "Silverfuck" – 8:43
- "Sweet Sweet" – 1:38
- "Luna" – 3:20
Exclusive to Japan, was one bonus track:
- "Hikari Express" ("Pissant" from Pisces Iscariot, re-titled for the release)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | UK Album Charts | 4 |
| 1994 | Australian Album Chart[20] | 7 |
| 1993 | The Billboard 200 | 10 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Cherub Rock" | Modern Rock Tracks | 7 |
| 1993 | "Cherub Rock" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 23 |
| 1993 | "Cherub Rock" | UK Singles Chart | 31 |
| 1993 | "Today" | Modern Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 1994 | "Today" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 28 |
| 1994 | "Today" | UK Singles Chart | 44 |
| 1994 | "Disarm" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| 1994 | "Disarm" | Modern Rock Tracks | 8 |
| 1994 | "Disarm" | UK Singles Chart | 11 |
| 1994 | "Rocket" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 28 |
- The Smashing Pumpkins
- Billy Corgan – vocals, guitar, Mellotron on "Spaceboy", string arrangements, bass, producer, mixer
- James Iha – guitar
- D'Arcy Wretzky – bass, vocals
- Jimmy Chamberlin – drums
- Mike Mills – piano on "Soma"
- Eric Remschneider – string arrangements and cello on "Disarm" and "Luna"
- David Ragsdale – string arrangements and violin on "Disarm" and "Luna"
- Butch Vig – producer, engineer, mixer, string arrangements
- Mark Richardson – engineer
- Jeff Tomei – engineer
- Tim Holbrook – special technical engineering
- Alan Moulder – mixer
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Len Peltier – art direction
- Steve J. Gerdes – design
- Melodie McDaniel – photography
- ^ Rosen, Craig (1999-11-02). Pumpkins' "Dream". Yahoo! Music (Yahoo.com). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- ^ a b Thompson, Dave. "Local Geek Makes Good". Creem. January/February 1994.
- ^ a b c d Black, Johnny (Dec 2001/Jan 2002). The Greatest Songs Ever! Today. Blender.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ Shepherd, Julianne (2005-06-13). Billy Corgan: Pitchfork Interview. PitchforkMedia.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
- ^ a b c d e f Kot, Greg. "Pumpkin Seeds," Guitar World. January 2002.
- ^ a b c d e f Azzerrad, Michael. "Smashing Pumpkins' Sudden Impact". Rolling Stone. October 1993.
- ^ Greer, Jim. "Billy, Don't Be a Hero". Spin. November 1993.
- ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, p. 78
- ^ a b di Perna, Alan. "The Great Pumpkin". Guitar World. September 1993.
- ^ Aledort, Andrew. "Introduction," in Siamese Dream Songbook. Miami: Warner Bros. Publications, 1994.
- ^ Raggett, Ned. Cherub Rock - The Smashing Pumpkins. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
- ^ UB40? No, UB7!. EW.com (1993-08-13). Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ Mundy, Chris. "Strange Fruit: Success Has Come at a High Price for this Chicago Band," Rolling Stone. April 21, 1994.
- ^ Browne, David (1993-08-06). Believe the Hype. EW.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon. "Record Brief", The New York Times, 1993-11-14. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. Smashing Pumpkins. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
- ^ Rule, Sheila. "Sting Nominated To Receive 6 Grammys", The New York Times, 1994-01-07. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
- ^ Corgan, Billy. "In the Shadows of Ruins." The Confessions of Billy Corgan. 2005/05/30.
- ^ Smashing Pumpkins' Search for Siamese Twins (2007-07-17). Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
- ^ Chartifacts - Week Commencing: 23 July 2007. ARIA.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- Siamese Dream at Google Music