10 More Songs That Are Huge Outliers On Rock Albums
7. Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream)
The album Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins will often come up in discussions of greatest albums of the 90s, greatest alternative rock albums ever, greatest albums to feature the old name for Thailand.
That conversation happens more often than you’d think.
Through songs like Cherub Rock and Rocket, this album established the band as one of the leaders of a generation obsessed with fuzzy guitars, distorted lyrics, and angsty vibes all the livelong day.
All of this makes it very odd to find that a soothing ballad not only made its way onto the album, but got released as a single.
Disarm was written by Billy Corgan as a reflection on his troubled upbringing, featuring lyrics about a young child old before his time and how the actions of the parents have deep-seated effects on their kids’ future.
Corgan’s emotional singing is backed by orchestral sounds, including some clanging bells, which would not have fit anywhere else on this full-on guitar album.
It might have taken a softer approach, but Disarm was still banned by the BBC, so maybe it’s not that different from the rest of the Pumpkins’ output after all.