Siamese Dream
Encyclopedia
Siamese Dream is the second album by the American alternative rock
band The Smashing Pumpkins
, released on July 27, 1993 on Virgin Records
. The album fused diverse influences such as shoegazing
, dream pop
, grunge
, classic rock
, heavy metal
, and progressive rock
.
Despite recording sessions fraught with difficulties and tensions, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard
charts, sold over four million copies in the U.S. and over six million worldwide, cementing The Smashing Pumpkins as a major force in the alternative rock movement. Four hit singles were released in support of Siamese Dream: "Cherub Rock
", "Today", "Disarm
", and "Rocket". In the November 2003 Rolling Stone
magazine issue of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
", Siamese Dream was ranked number 360.
was released on Caroline Records
in 1991 to unexpected success and acclaim. After the release of Nirvana
's Nevermind
later that year, The Smashing Pumpkins were hyped as "the next Nirvana". The band was signed to Caroline Records parent Virgin Records
and began recording a follow-up album. Frontman Billy Corgan
felt "this great pressure to make the next album set the world on fire". The immense pressure to succeed intensified an already problematic situation: drummer Jimmy Chamberlin
was undergoing an increasingly severe addiction to heroin, guitarist James Iha
and bassist D'arcy Wretzky
had recently ended their romantic relationship, and Corgan, aside from battles with weight gain and suicidal depression
, was suffering from his worst-ever bout of writer's block
.
for the album sessions, so they could avoid local friends and distractions, and to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. Butch Vig
reprised his role as producer after working on their debut album Gish.
After he suffered a nervous breakdown
, Corgan began visiting a therapist. Consequently his lyrics became more explicit about his troubled past and his insecurities. "Today" was the first song written by Corgan for Siamese Dream. He played the self-recorded demo
to Vig, and received a positive reaction. Soon afterward, executives from Virgin Records came to observe the band after hearing about their problems, but were pleased with the demo and did not soon return to the studio. The reaction from the executives only served to put more stress on Corgan. Corgan worked overtime, practically living in the studio for the recording of Siamese Dream—he and Vig 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.
Corgan's desire for musical perfection put further strain on the already-frayed relationships between the band members. Vig later recalled, "D'arcy would lock herself in the bathroom, James wouldn't say anything, or Billy would lock himself in the control room". Corgan often overdubbed Iha's and Wretzky's parts with his own playing. Wretzky stated that Corgan only performed most of the guitar and bass parts because he could lay them down in recording easier and with far fewer takes. Stories of the album's recording had circulated in the music press. Corgan admitted there was some truth to accusations of tyrannical behavior, though he felt the press misunderstood the situation.
While Chamberlin performed all drum parts on the album, he would disappear for days on drug benders that caused everyone to fear for his life. After one incident where the drummer had disappeared for two or three days, Corgan "put the hammer down", according to Vig, and had Chamberlin perform the drum part for "Cherub Rock
" until his hands bled. Due to Corgan's urging, Chamberlin checked into a rehab
clinic. Corgan told Spin
later that year, "You know, I gave them a year and a half to prepare for this record... I'm surrounded by these people who I care about very much, yet they continue to keep failing me." Corgan explained that he began to take the actions of others personally; he said, "If you really think about it, of course, someone doesn't do the job because they're lazy, or they don't think it's important. But I took it as, 'You're not worth going home and working on the song.'"
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. By the time recording was completed, Corgan and Vig felt too emotionally exhausted to mix
the record. Corgan suggested that engineer Alan Moulder
mix the album, due to his work on Loveless
by My Bloody Valentine. Moulder booked two weeks in a studio to mix the album; the mix ended up taking 36 days to complete. Eventually, the album was finished after four months and $250,000 over budget.
noted that the album was "closer to progressive rock
than to punk
or grunge
."
The subjects of Corgan's lyrics on Siamese Dream varied. Corgan noted that most of his lyrics for the album were about his girlfriend and future wife Chris Fabian, with whom he had briefly broken up at the time he wrote the songs. Corgan occasionally wrote about other subjects. In "Cherub Rock", the album's opening track, Corgan attacked the American independent music scene. "Spaceboy" was written as a tribute to his half-brother, Jesse.
Entertainment Weekly
gave the album a "B" rating; reviewer David Browne
praised the band for living up to industry expectations of being the "next Nirvana" and compared Siamese Dream favorably to Nirvana's Nevermind. Browne concluded, "In aiming for more than just another alternative guitar record, Smashing Pumpkins may have stumbled upon a whole new stance: slackers with a vision." Critic Simon Reynolds
disagreed; he wrote in his review for The New York Times
that "fuzzed-up riffs and angst-wracked vocals are quite the norm these days, and Smashing Pumpkins lacks the zeitgeist-defining edge that made Nirvana's breakthrough so thrilling and resonant." Robert Christgau
of the Village Voice gave the album a three star honorable mention, selecting "Geek U.S.A." and "Today" as highlights.
Siamese Dream earned The Smashing Pumpkins their first Grammy Award
nominations. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
, and the group was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal
at the Grammy Awards of 1994
. The album is frequently included in lists of the best albums of the 1990s—the Alternative Press
ranked it fourth, Pitchfork Media
ranked it 18th, and Spin ranked it 23rd. In 2003, the album was ranked number 360 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
ist, but after a series of disagreements with the label, Corgan was forced to step in at the last minute. The album booklet, composed of old photographs of both strangers and Corgan's family members with lyrics handwritten on top, was assembled by Corgan and his wife the day after their wedding. Corgan was not satisfied with the results. The first pressing of the CD contained a 20-page booklet, with a separate page devoted to each song's lyrics and accompanying photograph; later pressings contained a four-panel fold-out liner with thumbnails of each picture. In 1999, Virgin records reissued the album with the original 20-page booklet.
Shortly after the Pumpkins reformed in 2007, Corgan posted a message to the band's blog saying that they were "[l]ooking for girls from Siamese Dream album cover... As you all know, they were quite young when the photo was taken. They are not conjoined anymore, as far as we know." The band's intentions for the search were never made clear. In February, 2011 Billy Corgan announced via Twitter that not only had one of the girls been found, she was the current bassist for the Pumpkins, Nicole Fiorentino
. According to Corgan, "Just found out the weirdest news: our bass player Nicole just admitted she is one of the girls on the cover of Siamese Dream." However, according to the assistant photographer for Siamese Dream, the cover photo was probably shot specifically for the album. Given Fiorentino's age at the time of the album, this would make her too old to be on the cover of the album. It was later confirmed that the information was false, and both girls were located in 2008, though Corgan has not commented on this. Pictures exist of Billy standing with Ali Laenger, the girl on the right side of the photograph, but it is unknown if the girl on the left, identified only as LySandra R, met Billy like Laenger did.
The album was also released as a shaped wooden box set (aka Siamese Dream Collectors Edition) with metal hinges limited to only 1,000 copies which contains the UK HUT CD album housed in a recess with individually-numbered silver metal embossed plate at the side and a 20-page booklet housed in a similar recess in the lid. Though the CD itself and the booklet are official and genuine, the wooden box is not an official Virgin (US) or HUT (UK) release.
Live At The Metro DVD
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 on July 27, 1993 on 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...
. The album fused diverse influences such as shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
, dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
, grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
, classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and 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...
.
Despite recording sessions fraught with difficulties and tensions, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts, sold over four million copies in the U.S. and over six million worldwide, cementing The Smashing Pumpkins as a major force in the alternative rock movement. Four hit singles were released in support of Siamese Dream: "Cherub Rock
Cherub Rock
"Cherub Rock" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the first single from their second album, Siamese Dream , and was written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan...
", "Today", "Disarm
Disarm
"Disarm" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the third single from their second album, Siamese Dream. "Disarm" was written by Billy Corgan and is one of the band’s most highly regarded songs...
", and "Rocket". In the November 2003 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 issue of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
", Siamese Dream was ranked number 360.
Background
The band's debut album GishGish
Gish is the debut album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, released in May 1991 through Caroline Records. Frontman Billy Corgan described Gish as a "very spiritual album"...
was released on Caroline Records
Caroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
in 1991 to unexpected success and acclaim. After the release of Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
's Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
later that year, The Smashing Pumpkins were hyped as "the next Nirvana". The band was signed to Caroline Records parent 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...
and began recording a follow-up album. 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...
felt "this great pressure to make the next album set the world on fire". The immense pressure to succeed intensified an already problematic situation: 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...
was undergoing an increasingly severe addiction to heroin, guitarist 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...
and bassist 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...
had recently ended their romantic relationship, and Corgan, aside from battles with weight gain and suicidal depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, was suffering from his worst-ever bout of writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
.
Recording and production
Siamese Dream was recorded mainly between December 1992 and March 1993. The band relocated to Triclops Studios in Marietta, GeorgiaMarietta, Georgia
Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...
for the album sessions, so they could avoid local friends and distractions, and to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
reprised his role as producer after working on their debut album Gish.
After he suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
, Corgan began visiting a therapist. Consequently his lyrics became more explicit about his troubled past and his insecurities. "Today" was the first song written by Corgan for Siamese Dream. He played the self-recorded demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
to Vig, and received a positive reaction. Soon afterward, executives from Virgin Records came to observe the band after hearing about their problems, but were pleased with the demo and did not soon return to the studio. The reaction from the executives only served to put more stress on Corgan. Corgan worked overtime, practically living in the studio for the recording of Siamese Dream—he and Vig 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.
Corgan's desire for musical perfection put further strain on the already-frayed relationships between the band members. Vig later recalled, "D'arcy would lock herself in the bathroom, James wouldn't say anything, or Billy would lock himself in the control room". Corgan often overdubbed Iha's and Wretzky's parts with his own playing. Wretzky stated that Corgan only performed most of the guitar and bass parts because he could lay them down in recording easier and with far fewer takes. Stories of the album's recording had circulated in the music press. Corgan admitted there was some truth to accusations of tyrannical behavior, though he felt the press misunderstood the situation.
While Chamberlin performed all drum parts on the album, he would disappear for days on drug benders that caused everyone to fear for his life. After one incident where the drummer had disappeared for two or three days, Corgan "put the hammer down", according to Vig, and had Chamberlin perform the drum part for "Cherub Rock
Cherub Rock
"Cherub Rock" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the first single from their second album, Siamese Dream , and was written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan...
" until his hands bled. Due to Corgan's urging, Chamberlin checked into a rehab
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
clinic. Corgan told Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
later that year, "You know, I gave them a year and a half to prepare for this record... I'm surrounded by these people who I care about very much, yet they continue to keep failing me." Corgan explained that he began to take the actions of others personally; he said, "If you really think about it, of course, someone doesn't do the job because they're lazy, or they don't think it's important. But I took it as, 'You're not worth going home and working on the song.'"
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. By the time recording was completed, Corgan and Vig felt too emotionally exhausted to mix
Audio 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...
the record. Corgan suggested that engineer Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder is one of Britain's premier alternative rock record producers. He has worked with such artists as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Elastica, Gary Numan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Curve, Ride, Lush and My Bloody Valentine, Lostprophets, Shihad, Ivyrise and Placebo, as well as with many American...
mix the album, due to his work on Loveless
Loveless (album)
Loveless is the second studio album by alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. Released on 4 November 1991, Loveless was recorded over a two-year period between 1989 and 1991 in nineteen recording studios...
by My Bloody Valentine. Moulder booked two weeks in a studio to mix the album; the mix ended up taking 36 days to complete. Eventually, the album was finished after four months and $250,000 over budget.
Music
The album boasts relatively high production values and ornate arrangements compared to other early-1990s alternative albums. Vig said, "Billy wanted to make a record that people would put on and say, 'What the fuck was that?'... We wanted to have things going on in the left ear and right ear all the time". One of Corgan's main goals was to create a sense of sonic depth, but, as Corgan said, "without necessarily using delays or reverbs—to use tonalities instead." For the album, the guitars were layered multiple times. Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. Vig stated that as many as 100 guitar parts were compressed into a single song. Rolling StoneRolling 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...
noted that the album was "closer to 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...
than to punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
or grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
."
The subjects of Corgan's lyrics on Siamese Dream varied. Corgan noted that most of his lyrics for the album were about his girlfriend and future wife Chris Fabian, with whom he had briefly broken up at the time he wrote the songs. Corgan occasionally wrote about other subjects. In "Cherub Rock", the album's opening track, Corgan attacked the American independent music scene. "Spaceboy" was written as a tribute to his half-brother, Jesse.
Release and reception
Siamese Dream was released on July 27, 1993. The following week it debuted at number ten on the Billboard charts. The album received mostly positive reviews.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...
gave the album a "B" rating; reviewer David Browne
David Browne
David Browne is an American journalist and author. He was the resident music critic at Entertainment Weekly between 1990 and 2006. He was an editor at Music & Sound Output magazine and a music critic at the New York Daily News before EW...
praised the band for living up to industry expectations of being the "next Nirvana" and compared Siamese Dream favorably to Nirvana's Nevermind. Browne concluded, "In aiming for more than just another alternative guitar record, Smashing Pumpkins may have stumbled upon a whole new stance: slackers with a vision." Critic Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds is an English music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term "post-rock". Besides electronic dance music, Reynolds has written about a wide range of artists and musical genres, and has written books on post-punk and rock...
disagreed; he wrote in his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that "fuzzed-up riffs and angst-wracked vocals are quite the norm these days, and Smashing Pumpkins lacks the zeitgeist-defining edge that made Nirvana's breakthrough so thrilling and resonant." Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
of the Village Voice gave the album a three star honorable mention, selecting "Geek U.S.A." and "Today" as highlights.
Siamese Dream earned The Smashing Pumpkins their first Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative rock genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
, and the group was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
at the Grammy Awards of 1994
Grammy Awards of 1994
The 36th Grammy Awards were held in 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston is the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
. The album is frequently included in lists of the best albums of the 1990s—the Alternative Press
Alternative Press (music magazine)
Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
ranked it fourth, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork 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...
ranked it 18th, and Spin ranked it 23rd. In 2003, the album was ranked number 360 on 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's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Packaging
The artwork for the album was initially going to be created by an outsider artOutsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
ist, but after a series of disagreements with the label, Corgan was forced to step in at the last minute. The album booklet, composed of old photographs of both strangers and Corgan's family members with lyrics handwritten on top, was assembled by Corgan and his wife the day after their wedding. Corgan was not satisfied with the results. The first pressing of the CD contained a 20-page booklet, with a separate page devoted to each song's lyrics and accompanying photograph; later pressings contained a four-panel fold-out liner with thumbnails of each picture. In 1999, Virgin records reissued the album with the original 20-page booklet.
Shortly after the Pumpkins reformed in 2007, Corgan posted a message to the band's blog saying that they were "[l]ooking for girls from Siamese Dream album cover... As you all know, they were quite young when the photo was taken. They are not conjoined anymore, as far as we know." The band's intentions for the search were never made clear. In February, 2011 Billy Corgan announced via Twitter that not only had one of the girls been found, she was the current bassist for the Pumpkins, Nicole Fiorentino
Nicole Fiorentino
Nicole Fiorentino is an American bass guitarist. Originally a touring member of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins , she became an official member in 2010...
. According to Corgan, "Just found out the weirdest news: our bass player Nicole just admitted she is one of the girls on the cover of Siamese Dream." However, according to the assistant photographer for Siamese Dream, the cover photo was probably shot specifically for the album. Given Fiorentino's age at the time of the album, this would make her too old to be on the cover of the album. It was later confirmed that the information was false, and both girls were located in 2008, though Corgan has not commented on this. Pictures exist of Billy standing with Ali Laenger, the girl on the right side of the photograph, but it is unknown if the girl on the left, identified only as LySandra R, met Billy like Laenger did.
The album was also released as a shaped wooden box set (aka Siamese Dream Collectors Edition) with metal hinges limited to only 1,000 copies which contains the UK HUT CD album housed in a recess with individually-numbered silver metal embossed plate at the side and a 20-page booklet housed in a similar recess in the lid. Though the CD itself and the booklet are official and genuine, the wooden box is not an official Virgin (US) or HUT (UK) release.
Track listing
- "Pissant" appears as a bonus track, labelled as "Hikari Express".
Reissue bonus material
Reissue bonus discLive At The Metro DVD
Personnel
- 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...
– lead vocals, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
on "Spaceboy", stringString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
arrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s, producerRecord 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...
, mixerAudio 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... - 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...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocals - 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 guitar, backing vocals - Jimmy ChamberlinJimmy ChamberlinJimmy 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...
– 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 .... - Mike MillsMike MillsMichael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
– 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...
on "Soma" - Eric RemschneiderEric RemschneiderEric Remschneider is a cellist. He is perhaps best known for contributing to The Smashing Pumpkins' 1993 release, Siamese Dream, and appearing in the subsequent tour and "Disarm" music video. Eric also plays cello on the song, "The Bells" which appears on The Aeroplane Flies High box set...
– string arrangements and celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "DisarmDisarm"Disarm" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the third single from their second album, Siamese Dream. "Disarm" was written by Billy Corgan and is one of the band’s most highly regarded songs...
" and "Luna" - David RagsdaleDavid RagsdaleDavid Ragsdale, violinist for Kansas since 1991, started violin at the age of three. After studies with renowned classical teachers and a stint at the Tulsa Philharmonic, David's violinist duties took him out of the largely classical area and into rock and roll.Through the years he has performed...
– string arrangements and violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "Disarm" and "Luna" - Butch VigButch VigButch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
– producer, engineerAudio 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...
, mixer, string arrangements - Jeff Tomei – engineer
- Tim Holbrook – special technical engineering
- Alan MoulderAlan MoulderAlan Moulder is one of Britain's premier alternative rock record producers. He has worked with such artists as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Elastica, Gary Numan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Curve, Ride, Lush and My Bloody Valentine, Lostprophets, Shihad, Ivyrise and Placebo, as well as with many American...
– mixer - 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... - Len Peltier – art direction
- Steve J. Gerdes – design
- Melodie McDaniel – photography
Sales chart positions
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 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... |
10 |
| 1994 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
4 |
| 1994 | Australian Albums Chart | 7 |
External links
- Siamese Dream at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....