Smashing the Pumpkins

I can still remember the details of hearing the bands name for the first time.

GINGIN: bai, kadungog naka og smashing pumpkins?

ME: ha? kinsa na sila? Paluya nila og pangalan oi?!

I assumed that the band’s sound would suck because their name did’nt sound cool. I then borrowed a copy the Siamese Dream album from GINGIN and upon seeing the cover, I thought…man, the album designer must be gay…who in the right mind would put an image of two kids smiling on a rock album? It would’ve been understandable if it was two sexy ladies holding/riding an *insert something that interests teens here* object. But believing that one must try/hear anything once, I slapped it in a cassette player (yep, cd was still elite that time and I was not) and started to listen to the album.

Scene: lying in bed, staring at an empty ceiling

Side A:

Cherub Rock -  the song immediately blows me away, from the drum intro to the unique sound of their guitar melodies, to the disctinctive whine of the vocalist who I later found out, was Billy Corgan.

Quiet -  hmm…a slow song as the second track? Too early…or so I thought. The beat of the song was far from the meaning of the title. The drumline was like a jack hammer drilling in my head, the screaming-whine of the vocalist was eminating emotions of past hurts and lack of sleep.

Today - The carrier single of the album. The intro reminded me of a soothing sound coming from a baby’s crib. The song talks about today as the greatest day..I thought, wow an uplifting song in a rock album. Now that’s a welcome change.

Hummer - One of my favorite songs in the album. The song has a very dynamic feel to it, starting from subtle verses, then rising to guitar nirvana as the song ends. One trivia of this song is that at one part of the song, the guitar layers reached 40 tracks!

Rocket - At first, the song did’nt hit me as much as the other songs, but after a few weeks of hearing the song, it kinda grew on me.

Disarm - One of the most powerful songs in the album, and it did’nt even require distorted guitars to deliver a tremendous amount of emotion. An Acoustic guitar, strings and a haunting voice was all that was necessary to create a sad, powerful, ballad-like song.

Soma - A song that defines the meaning of sleeping awake. The verse feels like your waking inside a dream and hearing someone sing you a lullabye. The guitar solo of this song still sends shivers to my spine to this date…

Geek USA - At last, after two songs of extreme melodrama the album crawls out of audio depression and returns to what its all about…ROCK N’ ROLL!

Mayonaise - Wtf?! What is a sandwich spread doing in a rock album? I have tried countless times, but to no avail, to figure out why Corgan named the song mayonaise…Nevertheless, it is one of my favorite songs of ALL TIME. Listen to it and figure out why.

Space Boy - Another melodramatic song written for Billy’s mentally challenged brother Jesse. Could’nt totally relate to the song but I also do have a mentally challenge-ing brother, but he’s challenged in a different way (pilosopo, gahig ulo). *lol*

Silverfuck - A guitar driven song, with Jimmy Chamberlain’s signature drill-in-my-head drum line. It’s a good song to sing along with specially when you need to release some angst. (read: Boss)

Sweet Sweet - I believe this is a filler song, but still worth listening to.

Luna - It’s a beautiful love song hidden in the depths of Billy’s heart…to make us realize that we are still human after all, in need of love and to love in return.

This gem of an album is almost forgotten, as new bands and songs emerge like mushrooms in a wet morning and The Smashing Pumpkins have disbanded last 2003. Its sad how these songs will be hidden within the rock archives and never allowed to see sunshine again. However, legions of fans still remain faithful to the original sound of the Pumpkins, waiting for what will never come…the reunion of The Smashing Pumpkins.

Billy, James, D’arcy, Jimmy…thank you for music!