by Lesley Aeschliman

Created on: May 09, 2011

Smashing Pumpkins’ second album, Siamese Dream, was released on July 27, 1993. The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and has sold over four million copies in the United States. In November 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Siamese Dream at number 360 on its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.

Siamese Dream opens with “Cherub Rock,” which was released as the first single from the album; it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and at number twenty-three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was also nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal at the 1994 Grammy Awards. The lyrics of the song have to do with lead singer and songwriter Billy Corgan’s relationship with how he perceived the indie-rock community, as well as the larger media. Musically, this song represents the sound of the band at that time, and it’s also the perfect opening song for an album. It’s also one of my personal favorite songs from Siamese Dream.

The next song on the album is “Quiet.” Contrary to its title, this is not a quiet song. It’s actually a very upbeat and hard song. Sonically, it segues perfectly from “Cherub Rock.” This is followed by “Today,” which was released as the second single from Siamese Dream; the song peaked at number four on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and at number twenty-eight on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It has an upbeat sound, but this is contrasted with the dark tone of the lyrics. Billy Corgan has stated that he wrote “Today” at a time when he was having suicidal thoughts. The song also has a very memorable music video, which features Billy Corgan as a disgruntled ice cream man. “Today” is another one of my personal favorite songs from Siamese Dream.

“Hummer” starts with sounding like someone trying to tune a radio, but only getting static. The music starts to build, until it finally becomes a midtempo song. This is followed by “Rocket,” which was released as the fourth and final single from Siamese Dream. It’s another midtempo song, and a song that I enjoy from the album.

“Disarm” was released as the third single from the album; it peaked at number five on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and at number eight on the Billboard modern rock tracks. The song also had some airplay on CHR/Top

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>