Fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Billy Corgan, The Smashing Pumpkins emerged as an alt-rock band in the nineties alongside grunge groups Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Their music is a mix of prog rock, goth, heavy metal, dream pop and psychedelia with a powerful heavily layered sound, driven by distorted guitars alongside Corgan’s whining angst-ridden vocals.

‘Siamese Dream’ was the Pumpkins’ second album release after 'Gish' and made at a time when the band was already near break-up, with Corgan battling a severe depression and writer’s block and other members with their own sets of problems. The sessions were wrought with friction with Corgan finally winding up playing almost all the instruments (except for the drums) himself. Despite these issues, their final output turned out to be one of the finest alt-rock albums of all time debuting on the Billboard Top Ten and selling over four million copies in three years.  'Siamese Dream' stands alongside albums like 'Nevermind'  and 'Superunknown' as one of the decade's most influential rock albums.

The album kicks off with Cherub Rock a stellar opener with a drum roll intro followed by tight guitar clips and a volcanic blast of a guitar lead. This then shifts to a woozy, sprawl that slowly builds up and is followed finally by Corgan’s vocals .Corgan’s soloing runs the entire gamut, from squeals highs to guttural lows. Cherub Rock, Today, Rocket and the symphonic track Disarm that became an altrock radio staples at the time. Quiet and Geek U.S.A are standout hard rockers along with other epics like Hummer, Soma and Silverfuck.

The album is interlaced with a few soothing tracks as well Mayonnaise, Spaceboy and Luna. Little phrases that stick in your mind well after the songs are over would be “let me out,” “I shall be brave,” and “the killer in me is the killer in you…”

As a whole, 'Siamese Dream' proves to be an incredibly consistent album.  A highly recommended listen.

Release Date: 27^th July, 1993

Duration: 1:02:17

Genre: Alternative Rock

Label – Virgin

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Anil Sukhia

Anil Sukhia grew up in the 60s, listening from the tender age of 9 to the music of the Rolling Stones (Aftermath) and the Beatles (Abbey Road) with dollops of Chris Barber, Nat King Cole, Pat Boone and Eartha Kitt thrown in the mix on his father's (another major music buff) cassette player .He's been a diehard muzak addict ever since, with taste ranging from rock and blues to jazz. He currently has a collection of around 1000 CDs. He also restarted collecting vinyls in 2017 and has now become a serial collector with 300 odd vinyls’ already in the house. On holidays you might find him crate digging for rare vinyls in the alleys of Dubai, Delhi, Istanbul, Moscow or Berkeley.