10 Rare Smashing Pumpkins Songs You've Probably Never Heard
6. A Night Like This
Featured On: The Aeroplane Flies High 2013 CD/DVD Reissue
The Pumpkins’ cover of The Cure classic is a more stripped-down experience. It is notable in the Pumpkins’ catalogue as it features vocals from guitarist James Iha, who cites A Night Like This as one of his favourite Cure songs.
Iha’s voice is a perfect fit. His droning vocals adopt a melodic singsong quality in particular sections adding range to the stripped-back track. The song ends in a more traditional fuzzy and distorted instrumental which fades out with Iha’s vocals.
The Pumpkins first performed the song live as Starchildren in 1994. However, the album version was recorded in Bugg Studios, Iha’s home recording studio. On the recording and composition, Iha told Guitar World; ‘I decided to make it a slow, acoustic dirge with different drum feels for each part instead of a straight beat through the whole song.
There's also a cello, which gives it a gothic feel. At the end it sorta [sic] rocks out with some Big Muff and Neil Young & Crazy Horse kind of rhythm guitars’.