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Smashing Pumpkins: The Essential Album-by-Album Guide

Twenty years of rock from alternative nation's most anthemic outcasts.

Rolling Stone

Posted Nov 27, 2008 8:46 AM

GISH (1991)
Key Tracks: "I Am One," "Siva"
Quick Take: Smashing Pumpkins began as an art project that featured Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy playing along with a drum machine. When the band added drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, they morphed into a noisy, propulsive alternative metal machine. Gish — produced by Butch Vig just before he cranked out Nirvana's Nevermind — establishes the Pumpkins' core sound: distorted arena rock riffs buzzing below Corgan's tortured whine. Nearly two decades later, "Siva" still sounds like a definitive alt-rock anthem.

Gish (Caroline/Virgin)

SIAMESE DREAM (1993)
Key Tracks: "Rocket," "Today," "Disarm"
Quick Take: With alt-rock in full swing by '93, the Pumpkins returned with their definitive album Siamese Dream. As the story goes, Corgan re-recorded most (if not all) of the guitar and bass parts on the record, leaving only he and Jimmy Chamberlin as players (which would foreshadow the reunion version of the band). Siamese Dream yielded some monster radio hits in "Cherub Rock," "Today" and "Rocket," and tracks like the orchestral "Disarm" and the epic "Silverfuck" delved further into Corgan's flair for the dramatic. Even minor cuts like "Hummer" and "Quiet" sound sharp and powerful.

Siamese Dream (Virgin)

PISCES ISCARIOT (1994)
Key Tracks: "Starla," "Landslide"
Quick Take: Put together to capitalize on the success of Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot collects a handful of b-sides and outtakes from the sessions that yielded the previous two albums. Though the songs were cut over a period of five years, the album holds together pretty well. Corgan's cover of "Landslide" became an alt-rock radio hit, while "Blew Away" showcased the songwriting and vocal stylings of James Iha. For a group of leftovers, it's surprisingly essential.

Pisces Iscariot (Virgin)

MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS (1995)
Key Tracks: "Zero," "1979," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
Quick Take: Following Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide, Billy Corgan was in the running to take his place as alternative nation's man-at-arms. Corgan responded with one of the most elaborate, ambitious albums of the grunge era in the double-disc Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Though the core doesn't wander too far away from what fans were used to ("Zero," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Bodies" all sound like slightly bigger versions of Siamese Dream songs), but it's the experiements in new wave ("Love"), thrash ("X.Y.U."), chamber pop ("Thirty-Three") and whatever "We Only Come Out at Night" is are the tracks that set it apart. Mellon Collie remains the biggest selling album, earned seven Grammy nominations and contains a number of deep cuts (including "Galapagos" and "Cupid de Locke") that are beloved in the Pumpkins catalog.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Virgin)

THE AEROPLANE FLIES HIGH (1996)
Key Tracks: "Transformer," "Set the Ray to Jerry"
Quick Take: Corgan took the concept of a b-sides album and blew it up to widescreen size, as The Aeroplane Flies High collects the five extended-play singles from Mellon Collie and tosses them in a cool-looking vinyl style box. The 33 songs included on the set are a lot more scattershot than the previous b-sides collection, mostly owing to the schizophrenic nature of the Mellon Collie sessions. The covers on the "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" single — including a stomping version of the Cars' "You're All I've Got Tonight" — are fun and interesting, and "Transformer" is as good as any hit single Corgan has written.

ADORE (1998)
Key Tracks: "Ava Adore," "Perfect"
Quick Take: During the epic tour for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room. Chamberlin ended up in the hospital (and later jail), while Melvoin died. The Pumpkins fired Chamberlin and soldiered on without him. The band recorded two soundtrack singles that focused a lot more on electronic instruments, and that approach culminated in Adore, which was essentially Corgan playing Depeche Mode songs. There are moments of beauty, but Adore is an uneven exploration of a new sound.

Adore (Virgin)

MACHINA/THE MACHINES OF GOD (2000)
Key Tracks: "Heavy Metal Machine," "Stand Inside Your Love"
Quick Take: A clean and sober Jimmy Chamberlin returned to the fold for MACHINA/The Machines of God, a record that on the surface seemed like a return to form but actually laid the groundwork for what the Pumpkins would become. Songs like "Heavy Metal Machine" and "The Everlasting Gaze" crank up the volume, add a lot more guitar crunch and dabble a bit in Corgan's latent prog urges. Unfortunately, the departures from the hard stuff — save for the shimmering "Age of Innocence" — don't particularly work. Bassist D'Arcy Wretzky left the band shortly after the recording of Machina and was replaced on the tour by former Hole member Melissa Auf der Maur.

MACHINA/The Machines of God (Virgin)

MACHINA II/THE FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF MODERN MUSIC (2000)
Key Tracks: "Cash Car Star," "Speed Kills"
Quick Take: In traditional Pumpkins form, they released a b-sides album to follow-up Machina. Machina II continues the story established in the first album and contains a handful of variations on tracks from that record. Of the true originals, only "Cash Car Star" provides hooky fun, but the most notable thing about Machina II was it's method of release: Corgan sent twenty-five copies of the album to members of the Pumpkins' online community with the directive to distribute it free online — something that was a fairly radical concept in 2000.

MARY STAR OF THE SEA (ZWAN) (2003)
Key Tracks: "Honestly," "Endless Summer"
Quick Take: Following a Pumpkins farewell tour, Billy Corgan got back together with Jimmy Chamberlin and recruited Slint guitarist Dave Pajo, Paz Lenchantin from A Perfect Circle and Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney to form Zwan. Mary Star of the Sea is an excellent collection of clean, clear-eyed pop songs that often come across as Smashing Pumpkins Lite. Corgan lets himself indulge in blatant rock star posing — one of the tracks is even called "Baby Let's Rock!" — but the songwriting is so sharp and compact that all is easily forgiven.

THEFUTUREEMBRACE (ZWAN) (2005)
Key Tracks: "Walking Shade," "To Love Somebody"
Quick Take: Corgan folded Zwan after a brief tour and set out to make his only solo album. Considering it's the only album where he's been on his own, it's surprising that TheFutureEmbrace is probably the weakest collection of songs in Corgan's career. His cover of "To Love Somebody" is pretty and interesting and "Walking Shade" has a subversive melody, but most of the album is bogged down in goopy keyboards and electronic bells and whistles that only acts as window dressing for weak tunes.

ZEITGEIST (2007)
Key Tracks: "Doomsday Clock," "United States"
Quick Take: Corgan announced he would reform Smashing Pumpkins via a full-page ad in two Chicago newspapers, though only he and Jimmy Chamberlin would return to the fold. After filling out the open slots, the band released Zeitgeist, an extremely dense and heavy album that channels Corgan's most metal urges. Though Corgan's pop sensability is not as sharp as it once was, "Doomsday Clock" and "Tarantula" are catchy, speedy tunes, and the titanic crunch of the rest of the album feels fresh. Corgan one-upped himself with the follow-up to Zeitgeist in the tight, gorgeous American Gothic EP and the anthemic "G.L.O.W.," a single released via Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Zeitgeist (Virgin)