Classic Albums #6: Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins
 

Every time I finish listening to this album, I feel like I love everyone. Including Porkie and the grumpy old man next door. Love's Forever Changes has the same effect on me. I think both albums are about the most perfect statements on universal love that I've ever heard in music.

When are people going to move forward, I ask? Just a little will do.

Iha is most definitely rocking on his album.

"Cherub Rock" and "Rocket" are my favorites.

I refuse to budge.

Yeah. I know this is weird, but the whole first side reminds me of the tormented vampire, Louis, in Interview with the Vampire (the book Louis, not the Brad Pitt version). I was reading the book at the time I first heard Siamese Dream, but for some reason I connected sentiments in those first four songs or so with the character's feelings. I can't say why exactly anymore though.

*no comment*

Give it a chance, Rob. Siamese Dream wants to be your friend.

Siamese Dream is my favourite Smashing Pumpkins record.

same, its a great album!

Mine's Mellon Collie.., it has such lovely acoustic songs.

AND get your behind on msn plz.

yea, yeah, me too.

their best, the production on it is quite flawless, and it doesn't dip like some of the low spots on Mellon Collie (which i think could have better then this one, but 28 songs is too many to expect every single one to be good)

I also really like Gish. I have to admit, SD is where I left the Pumpkins, though. Their catalog post-SD just doesn't do it for me.

Gish is awesome, there are some good bass lines on that one.

Yeah, Gish has an Eastern Indian vibe I like.

Siamese really is transcendental. I got it when I was eleven, I recall. I suppose it's one of the few things since then I've stuck with loving (sorry, Linkin Park). I recently gave it a place on my mp3 player to assure even more plays. Each song earns at least eight out of ten.

I love it! One of my favourites. Long live Silverfuck!

This record makes my top five records of all time.

The lush production, outerspace guitarring, fuckin' outta this world guittaring... I love Billy Corgan. I don't really care much for everything after this record, but Siamese Dream is divine.

Peices Iscariot is almost as good. It contains "Starla", my favorite Pumpkins moment (the second being "Drown" from the Singles soundtrack), as well as some of my other SP faves.

Good shit.

Don't sleep on PI.

its certainly no classic.

One of my favorite records. I like Mellon Collie more, but it's my favorite album of all time, so...
Soma, Cherub Rock, Quiet, Silverfuck, all sorts of good stuff. Even the more acoustic stuff is great, Disarm was the very first song I ever learned how to play and sing at the same time.

Wanna give us some reasons? I really like Pisces Iscariot a lot too. More than Mellon Collie actually.

Siamese Dream>Gish/Pisces>Mellon Collie>Adore (I really want to get into that album, and it has grown on me, but not enough).

I don't have the Machina albums.

Noone's mentioned "Disarm", that is a great song. Best pumpkins acoustic. My favorite song by them has got to be "Real Love" off Machina II, though

It certainly is.

Mellon Collie may be my favorite, but Siamese Dream is right behind it.

Out of the many great songs, I think Silverfuck is my favorite.

I listened to the whole cd last night, so waking up and finding this topic has made me pretty happy.

Yeah, Silverfuck is great.

Any time of day or night, somebody somewhere is listening to Siamese Dream.

It is quite long though. Which is a bit like being a classic. Y'know, the old equation of Long = Good. Like Trout Mask Replica. Goes on for ages that does. Load of bloody old racket if you ask me, but there you go. Not like in my day, I tell you. You could hear the words in my d...[etc].

Can we please have an age limit of at least 20 years on these "classic" releases?
Smashing Pumpkins may typify a certain period, but I'm not ever going to call this album "classic," because no matter what, it still has Mr. Annoying Shrill As Fuck Whiner Boy's voice all over it.
I saw them around this time, and they were God-Fucking-Awful.

reasons why siamese dream is bad, hhmm well its by the smashing pumpkins for one. infact thats the only reason there need be but also because its quite self indulgent, overproduced and generally a billy corgan ego trip.

agreed, then he cut all his hair so we could call him "Billy the Bad-Voice, Bald-AssHole", well mr. ego couldn't take it when Pavement jokingly dissed his band and then as a response he decided to in turn openly diss a whole slew of indie bands (like SY, whom he called "indier-than-thou" but ironically at the same time actually influenced him, sadly...) that had little bearing on their projectary as the alterna-(s)hit band of the mid 90's.

Good Reasons I Think!!!

I remember seeing him on CNN (i think) a couple of years ago promoting his book of "poetry" (HAHAH!) in his bald head and what appeared to be a robe he was wearing and that voice... he should be the spokesman for Oscar Myer Weiners.

interesting, people actually don't like the smashing pumpkins because of billy corgan, not because of the music and it's quality.

anyhoo, i like it quite a lot. but the pumpkins are songs band, the proof is in that some of their best songs are b-sides.

I have a problem with the music, and especially the vocals. I was talking about his actual voice, not the person from whom The Voice emanates. He has a supremely annoying voice.
Though, now that you mention it, his stage persona at the show I saw in the early 90s was pretty insufferable.

sorry i skipped you, drone.

your comment about the voice is totally valid, that's the same reason i don't like björk, that and that she's trying to be a sugarcoated yoko ono.

also, you're kinda right about the 20 year rule, these classic album threads are going down to shit when people start posting their personal favorite albums as classics.

Billy can often sing completely off pitch live, but on the records I really like his voice actually.

soma! Its all about Soma!

Geek USA!

quiet

Hummer and Mayonaise ;)

My ranking would be Adore>Siamese dream>Pisces/Gish>Mellon collie>Machina

i think adore is their best, since it actually seems SOMEWHAT original and it doesn't really try to "Rock" like this one does. it annoys me. adore didn't annoy me. it wasn't as over-the-top. and i think to look at adore through a magnifying glass, it seems kind of boring, but it maintains a consistent and thought-out mood throughout. great album, honestly. siamese dream is probably second best, though. couldn't rate a third best, definitely not mellon collie, because it's .. terrible and way too long. jesus.

on that note, siamese has some stuff i really like. anyone else LOVE "hummer"? that's a fucking jam. the loud guitar "rock" stuff may be embarassing at times, but geek usa cherub rock silverfuck and hummer are GREAT..

actually, i take that back.. the best part of the album is that little feedback squeal in mayonaise.

but yeah. i dunno. just listened to siamese recently after not hearing it for years. surprised by how much i DIDN'T skip past. still, "shitvoice corgan" gets on my nerves and this album has some of the worst lyrics ever. but the production is good. there's like 100 guitars on every song!

...

so yeah. i dunno. good album. but classic? blah. and can we please not put up 600 classic albums a week to talk about? not only is it annoying, but these aren't classic albums at all. i think the misfits one is the only real classic we've discussed so far. oh well.

hahaha, i once again replied to this before reading the second page.

and i guess i agreed with a lot of you in my post..

except for this: disarm is the most godawful song ever.