Siamese Dream is the second album for alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released on July 27, 1993 by Virgin Records, it was the band's breakthrough success. The album was critically acclaimed, but the recording environment was fraught with difficulties, with the band fighting constantly. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard charts, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone.
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BACKGROUND
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After the release and minor success of the band's debut, Gish, the Smashing Pumpkins were being hyped as "the next Nirvana". However, the band was experiencing problems at the time; drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was undergoing an increasingly severe addiction to heroin, James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky had recently broken up after dating, and Billy Corgan had become overweight, depressed to the point of contemplating suicide, and was suffering from writer's block. Billy Corgan recalled that "after the first album, I became completely suicidal. It was an eight-month depression, give or take a month, and I was pretty suicidal for about two or three months." Under the pressure and other complications, the Pumpkins entered the Triclops Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia to record the follow-up to Gish, Siamese Dream. Corgan once said that if Siamese Dream had not been a success, the band would have broken up.
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RECORDING
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The album was recorded mostly between December 1992 and March 1993. The band lived in Marietta during the sessions, as Butch Vig reprised his role as producer, after producing their first album, Gish. The decision to record so far away from their hometown Chicago was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid local friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. In this respect, the strategy failed, as Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and soon engulfed himself in the Atlanta underground drug culture and often was absent without any contact for days at a time.
"Today" was the first song written by Corgan for Siamese Dream. Corgan played the self-recorded demo to their producer, Butch Vig, and the band and received a positive reaction. Soon afterwards, executives from Virgin Records came to check up on the band after hearing about their problems, but were pleased with the demo. After hearing the new recording, the executives were so delighted that they cancelled any future visits to the studio.
The reaction from the executives only served to put more stress on Corgan. To counteract his depression, Corgan worked overtime, saying he practically lived in the studio for the recording of Siamese Dream. Butch Vig and Corgan would sometimes work on a 45-second section of music for two days, working 16 hour days for weeks at a time to achieve the sound Corgan wanted. Virgin began to grow impatient with the album's recording as it went over budget and became behind schedule. The band, however, would not let the company cut corners if it meant compromising the sound. Eventually, the album was finished after four months and $250,000 over budget. By the end of the recording, Corgan had written 50 songs for Siamese Dream.
The contemporary music press portrayed Corgan as a tyrant during the recording sessions. Corgan admitted there was some truth to the accusations, though he felt the press misunderstood the situation. It was rumored that due to constant fighting within the band, Corgan played all the guitar and bass parts on the album. The band generally denies this, with Corgan stating that he only performed a majority of the guitar work because he could lay them down in recording easier and with far fewer takes.
"Today" was the first song written by Corgan for Siamese Dream. Corgan played the self-recorded demo to their producer, Butch Vig, and the band and received a positive reaction. Soon afterwards, executives from Virgin Records came to check up on the band after hearing about their problems, but were pleased with the demo. After hearing the new recording, the executives were so delighted that they cancelled any future visits to the studio.
The reaction from the executives only served to put more stress on Corgan. To counteract his depression, Corgan worked overtime, saying he practically lived in the studio for the recording of Siamese Dream. Butch Vig and Corgan would sometimes work on a 45-second section of music for two days, working 16 hour days for weeks at a time to achieve the sound Corgan wanted. Virgin began to grow impatient with the album's recording as it went over budget and became behind schedule. The band, however, would not let the company cut corners if it meant compromising the sound. Eventually, the album was finished after four months and $250,000 over budget. By the end of the recording, Corgan had written 50 songs for Siamese Dream.
The contemporary music press portrayed Corgan as a tyrant during the recording sessions. Corgan admitted there was some truth to the accusations, though he felt the press misunderstood the situation. It was rumored that due to constant fighting within the band, Corgan played all the guitar and bass parts on the album. The band generally denies this, with Corgan stating that he only performed a majority of the guitar work because he could lay them down in recording easier and with far fewer takes.
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PRODUCTION STYLE
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The album's unique production sound is due, in most part, to Butch Vig, the producer of the album. For the album, the guitars were layered multiple times. Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. "Layering" is a technique in which a sound is recorded multiple times and the sounds are "layered" on top of one another so that they are played at the same time. It is the recording equivalent of an orchestra, except only one person is needed for the particular instrument to be layered.
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RESPONSE
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In 2006, Q magazine readers voted Siamese Dream the 54th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 360 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork Media ranked it as the 18th best album of the 1990s. "Siamese Dream" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammy Awards of 1994. Along with a nomination for Cherub Rock for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal, this was the Pumpkins' first Grammy nomination.
Two songs from Siamese Dream were included in Guitar World's list of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time. Readers voted "Geek U.S.A." at number 54, and "Cherub Rock" at number 97.
Two songs from Siamese Dream were included in Guitar World's list of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time. Readers voted "Geek U.S.A." at number 54, and "Cherub Rock" at number 97.
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source: Wikipedia
