#41

Glad someone else said this. Probably my highlight of the whole album, although I went for Mayonnaise as the best track.

3 Likes
#42

Itā€™s between this and Mellon Collie, but they have quite distinct feels from each other and some prefer the more shoegazey elements of this

1 Like
#43

Definitely is for me. I couldnā€™t get on with Mellon Collie either tbh (pretty much my end point for Smashing Pumpkins involvement) but this, for me at least, is a totally different ball game. I know that theyā€™re sometimes a bit of a running joke on here, but around this time (Siamese Dream and Pisces Iscariot era) they were so, so good.

Reckon Iā€™m going for a strong 9. Not one of my absolute all time favourites and donā€™t listen to it that much these days, but the best tracks from this and PI are pretty much as good as 90s indie / alternative rock gets.

4 Likes
#44

Yeah. Iā€™m a long way from being a Smashing Pumpkins megafan, but this is a properly hilarious take

2 Likes
#45

Giving it a 9, Corgan never bettered it but itā€™s a very good zenith.

6 Likes
#46

nah, there is no excess on that album, it might be technically proficient but every note is necessary. think it is part of the reason their peers, the music press, the indie scene snubbed them a fair bit, as they didnt know how to parse it, that technical ability could be married with great songwriting and emotional expressiveness, rather than just being self indulgent, went against the ethos of the time

1 Like
#47

Anybody mind if I put it on now?

3 Likes
#48

An easy 10. I think @Bamnan nailed it: thereā€™s something unique about the sound of this album that made them stand out at the time and has not been replicated since.

4 Likes
#49

10/10.

Perfect album.

2 Likes
#50

Who else was brave enough to write songs in a major key with distortion like Cherub Rock at the time?

3 Likes
#51

9 for me, just loses 1 point because thereā€™s a definite sense of anti-climax to the final 3 tracks. But itā€™s still probably the single best alt-rock album of the early 90s, maybe the entire decade.

#52

Just done the same. So, so good.

2 Likes
#53

Yeah everyone i know personally consider this their best a long way. Chollie is too bloated and full of pomp en circumstances that never sat right with me

1 Like
#54

An unashamed 10. Peak Pumpkins - though I might reach for Mellon Collie more often for its sheer breadth, Siamese Dream is their essence distilled; a fuzzed out, wall of sound eruption of youthful joy before the cynicism and drugs took their toll. A lot is made of Corganā€™s control-freak tendencies, and while much is true (rerecording almost everyoneā€™s parts himself, for example), he still knew when someone else could do something he couldnā€™t - the intro to Mayonaise, for example - a solo only James Iha could come up with, and still one of the most beautiful things ever to come out of Alternative Rock, let alone the Pumpkinsā€™ ouvre.

2 Likes
#55

That little melodic drop at 1minute in hummer is really beautiful, thatā€™s what I think they did best just these little melodic trills that feelā€¦wellā€¦melancholicā€¦not about virtuosity but a presence of mind in the music to include moments like that. You could see many bands making similarly structured songs without little embellished moments which are all over this album and give it its flavour.

3 Likes
#56

Big this! The second verse of Rocket is a great example too.

I think Rocket is pretty underrated. Perfect pop song.

4 Likes
#57

Not voting until the poll is edited to include a 12/10 option.

1 Like
#58

Disarm is a really powerful song, easy to ignore the subtext of that song because of corganā€™s arguably OTT vocal performance

4 Likes
#59

Find it hard enough to believe that there are people who like music who donā€™t love this album, but the fact that there are Pumpkins fans who think thereā€™s even a bum note on this album, let alone a boring track, has me utterly perplexed.

Was able to pick Geek USA as best track only because the choice is so arbitrary (every single sixteenth note across the entire album being both essential and perfectly placed).

2 Likes
#60

I adore Hummer. But Mayonnaise just pips it.

2 Likes