The 500 - #362 - Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 363

Album Title: Siamese Dream

Artist: Smashing Pumpkins

Genre: Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Indie Rock

Recorded: Triclops Studios, Marietta, Georgia

Released: July, 1993

My age at release: 28

How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite Familiar

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Cherub Rock

If you are a North American between the ages of 40 and 60, you probably went through a Smashing Pumpkins phase. Perhaps, like me, it was a brief affair or, like some of my friends, you were a committed Pumpkin-head, sticking with them beyond their 2001 break-up and through two reformations.

Smashing Pumpkins on their 2019 Reunion Tour

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" 

The first time I heard that question, I was a teenager and it was my father who was asking me. Now, many years later I admit to being in a funk; and good old dad was encouraging me to look ahead, beyond the daily drudgery of high-school classes. Like many psychologists, business professionals and educators, he realized that a personal vision, that includes specific goals and objectives, can be a good foundation for success. 

In 1988, following the break-up of his gothic-rock band, 21-year-old William "Billy" Corgan left Saint Petersburg, Florida and returned to his native home of Chicago, Illinois. He was content to take a job working at a record store because he also had a five year plan. He was going to create a successful rock band, and it would be called The Smashing Pumpkins.

Billy Corgan (1988)

For Corgan, the word "smashing" wasn't intended to be used as a verb, but rather as an adjective, copying the British slang for "excellent" or "wonderful". The "Pumpkins" part of the name was, at the start, inter-changeable with any noun. Corgan wanted a band that was "Smashing" and the word "Pumpkin" struck him as funny. He later said in an interview that it was really a joke...that stuck. Eventually, "The" was also dropped from the name.

Corgan's job at the record store was fortuitous, it was there he met guitarist James Iha. On July 9, 1988, six months after conceptualizing his plan, the duo performed at a Polish tavern called Bar 21. Corgan played bass, Iha was on guitar and they were backed by a drum machine.

Corgan (left) and Iha in earliest version of The Smashing Pumpkins (1989)

Eventually, D'Arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlain were recruited. Wretzky took over on bass, allowing Corgan to return to guitar. Chamberlain, a jazz drummer, was unfamiliar with the alternative rock scene, but his input resulted in the development of the Pumpkins' unique sound -- a hybrid of rock, heavy metal, psychedelia and post-punk. On October 5, 1988, the group took the stage together for the first time, and part of Corgan's vision had been realized -- he had his band...the next step was stardom.

(l-r) Wretzky, Chamberlain, Corgan & Iha

Major commercial success for the group came in the autumn of 1993, when their song Today, from Siamese Dream, went to the top of the charts. Today was the second of four singles released from that album, and it launched the group into superstardom.

Today -Jacket Cover rom the Extended Play Single Release 

Radio airplay of Today was also my first exposure to the group. I

was fascinated by the contrast the song presented. Catchy, upbeat and often buoyant melodies juxtaposed against dark lyrics. Corgan, who suffers from depression, wrote the song about a day in which he contemplated suicide. Paradoxically, the idea of ending it all made the day not only tolerable, but glorious. Later, when remembering that experience, Corgan chose to write the song with contrasting melodies and lyrics in order to highlight the irony of this macabre situation. 

The song, and the Pumpkins, captured the melancholy zeitgeist of teens and twenty-somethings at the turn of the century. Blender Magazine would later say: 

"Today achieved a remarkable status as one of the defining songs of its generation, perfectly mirroring the fractured alienation of American youth in the 1990s."

I too felt this angst and malaise in the early 90s and bands, like Smashing Pumpkins, served as a temporary panacea. Fortunately, by 1993, my five year plan was underway. I had applied to Teachers' College and, much like Billy, I would achieve my ambition soon after.

Listening to the record for this blog brought back many memories.  The music was much heavier than I remembered. I suspect that's because I listened to a lot of heavy rock at the time (As I alluded to a few weeks ago in my Rage Against The Machine Post). 

Hearing Siamese Dream again reminded me of another lifetime. It was if I was visiting an old closet, rummaging through clothes that don't fit anymore...literally and figuratively -- jackets and pants that serve as a reminder of a ghost I used to be.

That realization, of the passage of time. was amplified when I saw a picture of the two little girls on the album cover. For  the 25th anniversary of Siamese Dream the band reunited the pair, who had been recruited by Billy as the models for the photo shoot. They are both mothers, and in their thirties. Time marches on...enjoy Today..."Tomorrow's much too long."

Lysandra Roberts & Ali Laenger (l-r) in 2018 & 1993

Thanks for reading? 

What's your Pumpkin experience?