10 Almost Perfect Grunge Albums With One Bad Song
3. The Smashing Pumpkins: Gish (1991)
The Smashing Pumpkins were another group, who geographically didn't come from grunge's place origin. But they were often associated with the grunge scene due to their heavy sound, coupled with Billy Corgan's angsty lyrics of alienated, disillusionment. Their debut album, Gish, also happened to be produced by Butch Vig, notable for producing Nevermind some months later.
With the breakthrough of alternative acts like Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers in LA, and Soundgarden and Nirvana in Seattle, alt-rock was fast becoming the hot new thing. The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the groups snapped up by the major labels, hoping to capitalise on the rising popularity.
The recording process of Gish, was hell by all accounts. By now its well known, Billy Corgan is somewhat difficult to work with, and it seems that was true from the get go. His perfectionist nature led him to insist on recording all the guitar and bass parts himself, leaving the rest of the band isolated. The record initially flew under the radar, but eventually, critics revisited it with enthusiasm.
It's an eclectic but well-balanced album, with grinding hard hitting guitar tracks, interposed with more melodic and ambient interludes. Snail, however, crept along with a relentlessly dull pace. After the beautiful ambience of Suffer, the album needed a pick me up, sadly, Snail was a drag.