Siamese Dream

Certain Songs #2274: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Spaceboy”

January 23, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

. . .

It must mean something, but I don’t exactly know what, that Billy Corgan got two of Siamese Dream’s most affecting ballads out of his fucked-up childhood, and each one is completely different from the other.

“Disarm,” the one about his abusive parents. is an absolutely anthemic piece of music, building inexorably towards its climax. But the other, “Spaceboy,” stays etherial and quiet throughout.

Certain Songs #2273: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Mayonaise”

January 22, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

. . .

As legend — not to mention a bunch of stories at the time — has it, the sessions for Siamese Dream were fraught, to say the least. In a lot of respects, it a miracle that they finished the record at all. Not only was Billy Corgan suffering from writer’s block and suicidal ideation, guitarist James Iha & bassist D’arcy Wretzky had recently broken up. Oh, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain had become a heroin addict, often disappearing for days at time, which was a problem, since he was the only other member that the dictatorial perfectionist Corgan would let play on the record.

Certain Songs #2272: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Disarm”

January 21, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

. . .

The third single from Siamese Dream, after “Cherub Rock” and “Today,” “Disarm” showed that Billy Corgan had more on his mind than finding new and interesting guitar tones.

And after five songs where The Smashing Pumpkins brought the crunch, the acoustic guitar plus strings “Disarm” was exactly the kind of curveball Siamese Dream needed en route to becoming a classic record, as it somehow was both lighter than air and bigger than mountains.

Certain Songs #2271: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Hummer”

January 20, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

While Siamese Dream had a bunch of singles and radio songs, I also loved it because of some of the longer, artier cuts. Not all of them, of course: “Soma” is too somnambulant by half and I’ve always liked “Silverfuck,” it does shoots its wad a little bit early.

But “Hummer” is the shit: nearly 7 minutes of glorious noisy prog meandering, anchored by a riff thats splits the difference between “Today” and “Rocket,” only thicker and meatier than either.

Certain Songs #2270: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”

January 19, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

. . .

We’ll always have Siamese Dream.

Given the near-30 years of craziness that followed it, nowadays Siamese Dream seems even more like a miracle, practically dropping out of nowhere during the summer of 1993 to join Last Splash and Exile in Guyville in dominating the back half of that year for me.

Of course, there were the haters, who said that it was too polished, too metal, too proggy, and you know what? They were right! It was too polished, too metal, too proggy. That that was the point! One of the key reasons Siamese Dream was so great is that it sounded so great: Billy Corgan and genius producer Butch Vig somehow layered a million guitar parts without it ever getting thick and muddy.