Adore (album)
Encyclopedia
Adore is the fourth album by American alternative rock
band The Smashing Pumpkins
, released in June 1998 by Virgin Records
. After the multi-platinum success of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
and a subsequent yearlong world tour, follow-up Adore was considered "one of the most anticipated albums of 1998" by MTV
. Recording the album proved to be a challenge as the band members struggled with lingering interpersonal problems and musical uncertainty in the wake of three increasingly successful rock
albums and the departure of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin
. Frontman Billy Corgan
would later characterize Adore as "a band falling apart".
The result was a much more subdued and electronica
-tinged sound that Greg Kot
of Rolling Stone
magazine called "a complete break with the past". The album divided the fan base and sold only a fraction of the previous two albums. However, the album was well received by critics, and became the third straight Pumpkins album to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. After a brief tour and promotional window, Chamberlin rejoined the band and work began on a new album, Machina/The Machines of God
.
", the band zeroed in on electronica.
As the sprawling and massively successful Infinite Sadness tour wound down, Billy Corgan found himself facing many difficult issues, including musical burnout, the absence of his "best friend and musical soul mate in the band" Jimmy Chamberlin, the end of his marriage, and the death of his mother to cancer
.
In this period, the band released two new singles on movie soundtracks—"Eye
" and "The End Is the Beginning Is the End
". Both songs incorporated electronic elements, yet retained the hard rock
elements of the band's previous material; one reviewer called the two singles "balls-out, full-energy chargers" and wrote off the Pumpkins' previous remarks that the upcoming album would "rock" less.
However, the new album material Corgan was writing consisted mainly of simple acoustic songs. Corgan, James Iha
, D'arcy Wretzky
, and Matt Walker
spent a few days in the studio in February 1997 laying down demos mostly as live takes, and the band hoped to quickly record an entire album in such a manner. Corgan, hoping to maintain the band's progressive rock
-inspired experimentation, soon had second thoughts about this approach and began envisioning a hybrid of folk rock
and electronica that was at once "ancient" and "futuristic".
After playing several festival dates in summer 1997, the band began working at a variety of Chicago studios with producer Brad Wood
—with whom Corgan previously had worked in the early 1990s. While Mellon Collie had mostly been recorded with the full participation of all of the band members, the band dynamics during the new sessions soon muddled as Corgan, uninspired by his bandmates, worked mostly alone. Wood, too, was leaving Corgan unsatisfied, so, after six weeks in Chicago, the band—minus Wood and Matt Walker—relocated to Los Angeles and started work at Sunset Sound, with Corgan now the de facto producer.
The band rented a house, and hoped that living communally would foster good relations and a happier recording environment. According to Corgan, Iha refused to live in the house and rarely visited. The recording sessions continued to be slow-moving and heavily technical. In the absence of a drummer, the band used a drum machine
as it had in its earliest incarnation. The band also enlisted Joey Waronker
, of Beck
's band, and Matt Cameron
, of Soundgarden
and Pearl Jam
, for a few songs each. Bon Harris
of Nitzer Ebb
contributed electronic sequencing and sounds to eight album tracks, with the band giving him mostly free rein.
At the behest of the band's management, Rick Rubin
was brought in to produce one song, "Let Me Give the World to You", but the song was left off the album, later to be re-recorded for Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
. With around thirty songs recorded, Corgan began to see an end, and enlisted Mellon Collie co-producer Flood to help finish the recording, pull the album together, and mix the songs.
Art direction for the album is credited to Frank Olinsky, Billy Corgan, and Corgan's then-girlfriend and frequent collaborator Yelena Yemchuk
. The artwork for the album and its singles consisted almost entirely of black-and-white photographs shot by Yemchuk, many of which featured model Amy Wesson
.
Distorted guitars and live drums
, the previous hallmarks of the Pumpkins sound, took a back seat in a sonic palette that included much more synthesizer
s, drum programming, acoustic guitar
, and piano
. At least five songs on the album are driven chiefly by piano, while the track "Appels + Oranjes" contains only electronic instruments and Corgan's vocals.
"Tear" was written for the Lost Highway soundtrack, but was rejected by David Lynch
in favor of "Eye
". "Pug" was originally recorded as a "minor key blues death march
" with drums by Matt Cameron, while the album version uses drum programming. The only song on the album to feature Cameron, "For Martha", is a tribute to Corgan's mother that was primarily recorded as one live take.
Apart from being the first album without Jimmy Chamberlin, Adore was the first album to not include writing contributions from James Iha, who was concurrently working on his solo album Let It Come Down. However, he did contribute the track "Summer" to the "Perfect" single.
Aside from "Let Me Give the World to You", the hard rock
song "Cash Car Star" was left off the album, also later to surface on Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
.
The lead-up to Adore was marked by conflicting statements as to the album’s sound—Corgan initially said the band was heading in the direction of the heavy-metal-guitar-and-electronic music-driven "The End is the Beginning is the End" in summer 1997, while the band's management reported the album would be all-acoustic. In early 1998, Corgan called the sound "arcane night music", elaborating, “The people that say it's acoustic will be wrong. The people that say it's electronic will be wrong. The people that say it's a Pumpkins record will be wrong. I will try to make something that is indescribable".
Adore was released on June 1, 1998 in most of the world, the same day the video for first single "Ava Adore
" premiered. The album booklet and music video showed off the band's new gothic
look. The second single, "Perfect", was also accompanied by a music video, which debuted on August 16.
, France, in the botanic gardens of Brussels
, Belgium, at the Cannes Film Festival
, and at an International Shipping Harbor in Sydney
, Australia. In the United States
, the Pumpkins donated 100% of their ticket profits to local charities (yet one stop on the tour, Minneapolis, was a free concert and under estimated the attendance of the show). In the end, the Pumpkins, with the help of their fans, raised over $2.8 million in this manner.
The lineup was the most expansive yet, including former John Mellencamp
and Melissa Etheridge
drummer Kenny Aronoff
, percussionists Dan Morris and Stephen Hodges
, and David Bowie
pianist Mike Garson
. Violinist Lisa Germano
was also set to appear, but did not ultimately appear in the touring line-up. The set was mainly Adore material, with only a handful of reworked Mellon Collie songs and no songs from prior to 1995, eliminating many of their radio hits and fan favorites.
described the album as "the Pumpkins' best offering since Siamese Dream." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described Adore as "a hushed, elegiac album that sounds curiously out of time," though he noted that the album "ultimately isn't a brave step forward." Most recently, Adore was considered one of "an inspiring range of 25 classic alternative American albums" by The Guardian
. The lyrics received particular praise from critics—Jim DeRogatis
of the Chicago Sun-Times
, who in 1993 had criticized Corgan's lyrics as "too often sound[ing] like sophomoric poetry", said Corgan "took a big leap forward as a lyricist" starting with Adore. Schreiber, who criticized Mellon Collie as "lyrical rock-bottom", called Adores lyrics "poetic", particularly singling out "To Sheila". Greg Kot emphasized the "oblique, private longings, and weighty, sometimes awkward conceits" in the lyrics, while David Browne of Entertainment Weekly
called them "unsettled and unsettling." The contributions of Wretzky and Iha also received praise, with Kot noting that "Iha's quirky guitar accents and Wretzky's unflashy resolve [. . .] give Adore a warmth and camaraderie no other Pumpkins album can match."
Despite this, public reception to Adore was lukewarm. Adore entered the Billboard album charts at number two with 174,000 units of the album sold, and was certified platinum
by the RIAA five weeks later, but the album soon departed the charts, leaving Adore far short of the sales figures of its predecessors. Two additional promotional singles, "Crestfallen" and "To Sheila", were released to radio stations but failed to gain traction and were never released as commercial singles. Promotion for Adore finished by the end of 1998, in contrast to the 2 year touring and promotion schedule for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
Corgan initially blamed fans for the failure, then himself, saying that he "made the mistake of telling people it was a techno record" and that if he "would have told everyone Adore was the Pumpkins' acoustic album we would have never had the problems that we had." By the end of 1998, Corgan, who would later call the making of Adore “one of the most painful experiences of my life”, was already writing material for the band's next album, and Jimmy Chamberlin was readmitted into the band.
As of May 2005, Adore has sold 1.1 million units in the U.S., and at least three times as many copies worldwide.
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
Singles
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
, released in June 1998 by Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. After the multi-platinum success of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is the third album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released October 24, 1995 on Virgin Records. Produced by frontman Billy Corgan with Flood and Alan Moulder, the twenty-eight-track album was released as a two-disc CD and triple LP...
and a subsequent yearlong world tour, follow-up Adore was considered "one of the most anticipated albums of 1998" by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Recording the album proved to be a challenge as the band members struggled with lingering interpersonal problems and musical uncertainty in the wake of three increasingly successful rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
albums and the departure of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin
Jimmy Chamberlin
Jimmy Chamberlin is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the former drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. After a drug-related incident with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin in 1996, Chamberlin was fired from the band and joined The Last...
. Frontman Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
would later characterize Adore as "a band falling apart".
The result was a much more subdued and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
-tinged sound that Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine called "a complete break with the past". The album divided the fan base and sold only a fraction of the previous two albums. However, the album was well received by critics, and became the third straight Pumpkins album to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. After a brief tour and promotional window, Chamberlin rejoined the band and work began on a new album, Machina/The Machines of God
MACHINA/The Machines of God
Machina/The Machines of God is the fifth album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released on February 29, 2000 by Virgin Records. A concept album, it marked the return of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and was intended to be the band's final official LP release prior to their first...
.
Background
The Smashing Pumpkins had cemented their place as a cultural force with the multi-platinum Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Already sensing the limits of their guitar-driven hard rock sound, the band had started to branch out during the making of Mellon Collie, and, after the chart-topping success of the electronic-leaning "19791979 (song)
"1979" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, "1979" was written by frontman Billy Corgan, and features loops and samples that were uncharacteristic of previous...
", the band zeroed in on electronica.
As the sprawling and massively successful Infinite Sadness tour wound down, Billy Corgan found himself facing many difficult issues, including musical burnout, the absence of his "best friend and musical soul mate in the band" Jimmy Chamberlin, the end of his marriage, and the death of his mother to cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
In this period, the band released two new singles on movie soundtracks—"Eye
Eye (song)
"Eye" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released in 1996 on the soundtrack to the David Lynch film Lost Highway...
" and "The End Is the Beginning Is the End
The End Is the Beginning Is the End
"The End Is the Beginning Is the End" is a Grammy Award-winning song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It is the first full-band song released as a single by the Smashing Pumpkins in the aftermath of their 1995 album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness...
". Both songs incorporated electronic elements, yet retained the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
elements of the band's previous material; one reviewer called the two singles "balls-out, full-energy chargers" and wrote off the Pumpkins' previous remarks that the upcoming album would "rock" less.
However, the new album material Corgan was writing consisted mainly of simple acoustic songs. Corgan, James Iha
James Iha
James Yoshinobu Iha b. March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Japanese American rock musician. He is best known as having been a guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and for his eclectic musical projects of recent years, most notably being a permanent...
, D'arcy Wretzky
D'arcy Wretzky
D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky is an American musician. She is best known for her work as the original bass player of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins...
, and Matt Walker
Matt Walker (drummer)
Matt Walker is a musician and former drummer for Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins and current drummer for Morrissey.Matt Walker began his career in Chicago in the mid 80s, when Matt began playing drums for the already well known Scott Bennett of Scott Bennett & The Obvious and did double duty playing...
spent a few days in the studio in February 1997 laying down demos mostly as live takes, and the band hoped to quickly record an entire album in such a manner. Corgan, hoping to maintain the band's progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
-inspired experimentation, soon had second thoughts about this approach and began envisioning a hybrid of folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
and electronica that was at once "ancient" and "futuristic".
Recording
The Smashing Pumpkins started demoing in February 1997 and recorded 30 songs for the album which, at one point, looked set to be a double. The band subsequently cut the number of tracks on the album to 14.After playing several festival dates in summer 1997, the band began working at a variety of Chicago studios with producer Brad Wood
Brad Wood
Brad Wood is a record producer from Rockford, Illinois. He served as a drummer for the band Shrimp Boat. Brad records, mixes and produces records and is based in Los Angeles, California. He began his career in earnest in 1988 with the construction of Idful Music Corporation- a recording studio in...
—with whom Corgan previously had worked in the early 1990s. While Mellon Collie had mostly been recorded with the full participation of all of the band members, the band dynamics during the new sessions soon muddled as Corgan, uninspired by his bandmates, worked mostly alone. Wood, too, was leaving Corgan unsatisfied, so, after six weeks in Chicago, the band—minus Wood and Matt Walker—relocated to Los Angeles and started work at Sunset Sound, with Corgan now the de facto producer.
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
as it had in its earliest incarnation. The band also enlisted Joey Waronker
Joey Waronker
Joseph "Joey" Waronker is an American drummer and music producer. He is the son of record producer Lenny Waronker and singer/actress Donna Loren; his younger sister is musician Anna Waronker; and his grandfather is record executive and professional violinist Simon Waronker. He has three other...
, of Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
's band, and Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
Matthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
, of Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
and Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, for a few songs each. Bon Harris
Bon Harris
Bon Harris is an English composer, producer, singer/song writer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is a founding member of the quintessential British EBM group Nitzer Ebb, programming Nitzer Ebb's signature sound...
of Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb is a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris , Douglas McCarthy , and David Gooday .-Band name:...
contributed electronic sequencing and sounds to eight album tracks, with the band giving him mostly free rein.
At the behest of the band's management, Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
was brought in to produce one song, "Let Me Give the World to You", but the song was left off the album, later to be re-recorded for Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
MACHINA II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is the sixth album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000...
. With around thirty songs recorded, Corgan began to see an end, and enlisted Mellon Collie co-producer Flood to help finish the recording, pull the album together, and mix the songs.
Art direction for the album is credited to Frank Olinsky, Billy Corgan, and Corgan's then-girlfriend and frequent collaborator Yelena Yemchuk
Yelena Yemchuk
Yelena Yemchuk is a professional photographer, painter and film director, best known for her work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Born in Kiev , Ukraine, her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when Yelena was in her early teens....
. The artwork for the album and its singles consisted almost entirely of black-and-white photographs shot by Yemchuk, many of which featured model Amy Wesson
Amy Wesson
Amy Wesson is an American fashion model from Tupelo, Mississippi.- Career :Wesson was discovered at age 16 while working at a clothing store in a shopping mall...
.
Music
Corgan was deliberately setting out to widen his band's sound and message, explaining that he was not "talking to teenagers anymore. I'm talking to everyone now. It's a wider dialogue. I'm talking to people who are older than me and younger than me, and our generation as well."Distorted guitars and live drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, the previous hallmarks of the Pumpkins sound, took a back seat in a sonic palette that included much more synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, drum programming, acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. At least five songs on the album are driven chiefly by piano, while the track "Appels + Oranjes" contains only electronic instruments and Corgan's vocals.
"Tear" was written for the Lost Highway soundtrack, but was rejected by David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
in favor of "Eye
Eye (song)
"Eye" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released in 1996 on the soundtrack to the David Lynch film Lost Highway...
". "Pug" was originally recorded as a "minor key blues death march
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
" with drums by Matt Cameron, while the album version uses drum programming. The only song on the album to feature Cameron, "For Martha", is a tribute to Corgan's mother that was primarily recorded as one live take.
Apart from being the first album without Jimmy Chamberlin, Adore was the first album to not include writing contributions from James Iha, who was concurrently working on his solo album Let It Come Down. However, he did contribute the track "Summer" to the "Perfect" single.
Aside from "Let Me Give the World to You", the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
song "Cash Car Star" was left off the album, also later to surface on Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
MACHINA II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is the sixth album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000...
.
Promotion and release
Adore was released on June 1, 1998 in most of the world, the same day the video for first single "Ava Adore
Ava Adore
"Ava Adore" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the first single from their fourth album, Adore, and exhibited a new sound from the band which integrated traditional instruments with loops and electronic music. "Ava Adore" and the B-sides were written by Billy...
" premiered. The album booklet and music video showed off the band's new gothic
Gothic fashion
Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress. Typical Gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, black lips and black clothes. Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernails. Styles are...
look. The second single, "Perfect", was also accompanied by a music video, which debuted on August 16.
An Evening with The Smashing Pumpkins
After the marathon Infinite Sadness tour, the band embarked on a scaled-back 36-date world tour entitled An Evening with The Smashing Pumpkins to support Adore. Abroad, the Pumpkins played at what had been called an "eclectic mix of interesting venues", among them the rooftop of a FNAC record store in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France, in the botanic gardens of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium, at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, and at an International Shipping Harbor in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Pumpkins donated 100% of their ticket profits to local charities (yet one stop on the tour, Minneapolis, was a free concert and under estimated the attendance of the show). In the end, the Pumpkins, with the help of their fans, raised over $2.8 million in this manner.
The lineup was the most expansive yet, including former John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
and Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
drummer Kenny Aronoff
Kenny Aronoff
Kenny Aronoff is an American drummer. He has played drums for many musicians, including John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Belinda Carlisle, Elton John, John Fogerty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, The BoDeans, Gregg Alexander, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tony Iommi, Jon Bon Jovi, Vasco Rossi, Cinderella and...
, percussionists Dan Morris and Stephen Hodges
Stephen Hodges (musician)
Stephen Hodges is an American percussionist and composer. He is best known for his work with Tom Waits, Mike Watt, T Bone Burnett, and film director David Lynch.- Discography :*Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones...
, and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
pianist Mike Garson
Mike Garson
Mike Garson is an American pianist, most notable for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight, and The Smashing Pumpkins.- Early career :...
. Violinist Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of...
was also set to appear, but did not ultimately appear in the touring line-up. The set was mainly Adore material, with only a handful of reworked Mellon Collie songs and no songs from prior to 1995, eliminating many of their radio hits and fan favorites.
Reception and aftermath
Critical reception to Adore was generally positive. Greg Kot of Rolling Stone magazine regarded Adore as "the most intimate album the Pumpkins have ever made and also the prettiest, a parade of swooning melodies and gentle, unfolding nocturnes." Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
described the album as "the Pumpkins' best offering since Siamese Dream." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described Adore as "a hushed, elegiac album that sounds curiously out of time," though he noted that the album "ultimately isn't a brave step forward." Most recently, Adore was considered one of "an inspiring range of 25 classic alternative American albums" by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. The lyrics received particular praise from critics—Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, who in 1993 had criticized Corgan's lyrics as "too often sound[ing] like sophomoric poetry", said Corgan "took a big leap forward as a lyricist" starting with Adore. Schreiber, who criticized Mellon Collie as "lyrical rock-bottom", called Adores lyrics "poetic", particularly singling out "To Sheila". Greg Kot emphasized the "oblique, private longings, and weighty, sometimes awkward conceits" in the lyrics, while David Browne of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called them "unsettled and unsettling." The contributions of Wretzky and Iha also received praise, with Kot noting that "Iha's quirky guitar accents and Wretzky's unflashy resolve [. . .] give Adore a warmth and camaraderie no other Pumpkins album can match."
Despite this, public reception to Adore was lukewarm. Adore entered the Billboard album charts at number two with 174,000 units of the album sold, and was certified platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the RIAA five weeks later, but the album soon departed the charts, leaving Adore far short of the sales figures of its predecessors. Two additional promotional singles, "Crestfallen" and "To Sheila", were released to radio stations but failed to gain traction and were never released as commercial singles. Promotion for Adore finished by the end of 1998, in contrast to the 2 year touring and promotion schedule for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
Corgan initially blamed fans for the failure, then himself, saying that he "made the mistake of telling people it was a techno record" and that if he "would have told everyone Adore was the Pumpkins' acoustic album we would have never had the problems that we had." By the end of 1998, Corgan, who would later call the making of Adore “one of the most painful experiences of my life”, was already writing material for the band's next album, and Jimmy Chamberlin was readmitted into the band.
As of May 2005, Adore has sold 1.1 million units in the U.S., and at least three times as many copies worldwide.
Track listing
- "Once in a While" appeared on Japanese versions of the album as track 16, making "17" the 17th track.
Personnel
The Smashing Pumpkins- Billy CorganBilly CorganWilliam Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, art direction and design - James IhaJames IhaJames Yoshinobu Iha b. March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Japanese American rock musician. He is best known as having been a guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and for his eclectic musical projects of recent years, most notably being a permanent...
– guitar - D'Arcy WretzkyD'arcy WretzkyD'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky is an American musician. She is best known for her work as the original bass player of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Additional musicians
- Matt CameronMatt CameronMatthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
on "For Martha" - Matt WalkerMatt Walker (drummer)Matt Walker is a musician and former drummer for Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins and current drummer for Morrissey.Matt Walker began his career in Chicago in the mid 80s, when Matt began playing drums for the already well known Scott Bennett of Scott Bennett & The Obvious and did double duty playing...
– drums on "To Sheila", "Ava Adore", "Daphne Descends", "Tear", "The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete", "Annie-Dog", and "Behold! The Night Mare" - Joey WaronkerJoey WaronkerJoseph "Joey" Waronker is an American drummer and music producer. He is the son of record producer Lenny Waronker and singer/actress Donna Loren; his younger sister is musician Anna Waronker; and his grandfather is record executive and professional violinist Simon Waronker. He has three other...
– drums on "Perfect", additional drums on "Once Upon a Time" and "Pug" - Dennis FlemionDennis FlemionDennis Flemion is a founding member, with his younger brother Jimmy, of controversial independent rock band The Frogs. He is the primary percussionist for the band...
– additional vocals in "To Sheila" and "Behold! The Night Mare" - Jimmy Flemion – additional vocals in "To Sheila" and "Behold! The Night Mare"
- Bon HarrisBon HarrisBon Harris is an English composer, producer, singer/song writer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is a founding member of the quintessential British EBM group Nitzer Ebb, programming Nitzer Ebb's signature sound...
– additional programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
on tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 13; additional vocals in "For Martha" - Brad WoodBrad WoodBrad Wood is a record producer from Rockford, Illinois. He served as a drummer for the band Shrimp Boat. Brad records, mixes and produces records and is based in Los Angeles, California. He began his career in earnest in 1988 with the construction of Idful Music Corporation- a recording studio in...
– additional production and engineering on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 13, and 15, additional vocals in "Behold! The Night Mare", organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
in "Blank Page"
Technical personnel
- Robbie Adams – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, mixing - Chris Brickley – recording assistant
- Flood – additional production, mixing
- Eric Greedy – mix assistant
- Steve Johnson – recording assistant
- Ron Lowe – recording assistant
- Jay Nicholas – mix assistant
- Frank Olinsky – art direction and design
- Neil Perry – engineer, mixing
- Matt Prock – recording assistant
- Chris Shepard – engineer
- Jamie Siegel – mix assistant
- Bjorn ThorsrudBjorn ThorsrudBjorn Thorsrud is a music producer and audio engineer. He has recorded musicians such as: David Coverdale, Billy Corgan, The Dandy Warhols, Bruce Dickinson, Marianne Faithfull, The Frogs, Monster Magnet, Sleeping at Last, The Smashing Pumpkins, Linda Strawberry, Whitesnake and Zwan.-List of...
– digital editing, engineering - Ed Tinley – recording assistant
- Andy Van Dette – digital editing and compilation
- Jeff Vereb – recording assistant
- Howie WeinbergHowie WeinbergHowie Weinberg is a music mastering engineer who has worked with numerous bands.- Career :He has worked at Masterdisk, New York City, since 1977...
– masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced... - Howard C. Willing – engineering, mix assistant
- John Wydrycs – mix assistant
- Yelena YemchukYelena YemchukYelena Yemchuk is a professional photographer, painter and film director, best known for her work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Born in Kiev , Ukraine, her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when Yelena was in her early teens....
– photography, art direction and design
Sales chart positions
Album| Year | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Album Chart | New Zealand Album Chart | US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
Canadian Album Chart | UK Album Chart |
Australian Highest Selling Albums | |
| 1998 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Modern Rock Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
US Mainstream Rock Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
Australian Singles Chart | US Hot 100 |
US Adult Top 40 |
||
| 1998 | "Ava Adore Ava Adore "Ava Adore" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the first single from their fourth album, Adore, and exhibited a new sound from the band which integrated traditional instruments with loops and electronic music. "Ava Adore" and the B-sides were written by Billy... " |
3 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 19 | 42 | — |
| "Perfect" | 3 | 33 | 13 | 24 | — | 54 | 31 | |