Most of this probably could have been handled, but at the time all four members of the band were dealing with their own individual problems that exacerbated what was happening in the Smashing Pumpkins world. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was completely addicted to heroin, and as such was cresting the ups and down associated with that. The band deliberately chose to record the album in Georgia away from their homes in order to be far away from local distractions, but mainly in an effort to break away from Chamberlain’s known drug suppliers, which worked for a short space of time before he was able to find new people in which to ingratiate his habit. Along with this, guitarist James Iha and bass guitarist D’arcy Wretzky had ended their romantic relationship, breaking up just prior to the band's performance at the Reading Festival in 1992. The messy end brought about a great deal of tension and feuding between the two during this period, though they were able to eventually work things out and work together on a friendly level beyond the release of the album. On top of this, though it was not revealed until a decade later, band leader Billy Corgan had been contemplating and planning his own suicide during the writing and recording of this album. He had disposed of most of his worldly possessions, and even fantasised about his own death, and wondering what music would be played at his funeral. Thus it must have been an extremely stressed atmosphere in and around the studio while all of this was going on. And it was under these conditions that Smashing Pumpkins tried to put together the album that would get them noticed on a world stage.
Given the turmoil going on within the individuals in the band, it is somewhat amazing that the finished product is as terrific as it is. Famed producer Butch Vig was onboard once again to help push the buttons, almost literally, and his experience and patience and drive can be seen to be instrumental in the finished product.
Billy Corgan wrote all of the songs, apart from two - “Soma” and “Mayonnaise” which were co-written with James Iha. Butch Vig was quoted as saying that Corgan wanted to produce an album that people would put on and say ‘what on earth is that?!’ And to do that it wasn’t just in the writing of the lyrics and the music, but the way that it was going to be recorded that made that difference. Because when you listen to songs such as “Quiet” and “Hummer” and "Rocket” there is an easy out to say that they are similar in quality and output, that they share a path where they start and end. And then there are songs such as “Silverfuck” and “Sweet Sweet” where the track almost becomes irrelevant as a song and becomes more an artistic overplay, where the formation of the track with several dozen overlays becomes the focus rather than the output of the song. Corgan stated that in the song “Soma”, there were over 40 guitar overdubs on the track. Butch went one better and claims that as many as 100 guitar parts were compressed into one song. I mean, there is art for arts sake, but why the complete overkill in this respect? The simple answer may well have been Corgan’s state of mind at the time, the complex answer is probably his desire to make a song and album that would truly amaze people at the time.
Recording was not a joy either. Though Chamberlain played all of the drums on the album, he would go missing for days at a time on benders, unable to be found. And tensions rose between Corgan and Iha and Wretzky when they discovered that Corgan was overdubbing or even wiping their guitar and bass contributions and re-recording them on his own. Wretsky was quoted much later as saying that he did so because he could record them better and in far fewer takes than she could, and that Corgan had done the same to her bass tracks on the first album as well. Meanwhile, the album went over schedule and over budget, as Corgan and Vig sometimes worked on small sections of each song for two days at a time to get it to their own view of perfection.
Despite the categorising of the album as a grunge album, the styles were markedly different. Pieces of songs such as “Soma” and “Geek U.S.A” have touches of heavy metal, while a progressive rock feel comes across in “Spaceboy” and “Luna”, and alternative rock in “Mayonaise”. Corgan has fingers in many genres of music as a musician and a fan, and he does utilise many of them in composing this album.
It was the two big singles that pushed this band to the heights it climbed to. “Cherub Rock” and “Disarm” both did massive business in singles sales, when those things still existed, and also proliferated the radio on both spectrums. They are still the gems of the album, but they lift the album rather than acting as the only shining lights. The album may ebb and flow, but their appearance only creates a greater understanding and love of the whole rather than just being a highlight.
Like most of you I suspect, I discovered Smashing Pumpkins on the radio, and it was the two aforementioned big singles that grabbed my ears and made me a fan. Getting the album took a little longer, but once I did it was in the phase of the musical world going completely bananas and me trying to get my head around that. It was not just Nirvana (who I enjoyed) and Pearl Jam (who I did not) taking on the world, but other bands that fans identified as grunge who were probably not so much. And that is definitely the case here on “Siamese Dreams”. There are certainly elements of grunge-induced music, but it is the wide variety including other forms of heavy rock and progressive elements that make it such an interesting album and listen. And it was something that Billy Corgan and his merry bandmates would continue into their next amazing album.
So when I did get this album, I knew those singles, and initially I had to get past them to appreciate what else lay within the walls of the music. And as I have mentioned before, that can sometimes be a difficult task. But once I had played this album a few times over, that all subsided and what I discovered was an amazing release, one that never ceases to amaze if you can just turn it up a touch louder in a quieter place, and hear everything that the band (well... Billy) plays in each song. Because each song does become a little like his own painting, with the layers and the colours that he has perfected. Even better, don a pair of headphones and really get the best out of it, because there is a lot their to dissect.
Many would argue this is The Smashing Pumpkins finest album. Others will go for the following album, and with good reason. Some like me tend to go for the slightly heavier concoction that came beyond that. But overall, this is one of those albums that people put in their ‘best ever from the 1990’s’. On that score, I think you’d have to agree that it is well and truly worthy of being on such a list.
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