30. Siamese Dream - The Smashing Pumpkins 1993
Constantly referenced when talking about 1990's music, is the second album by alternative rockers, The Smashing Pumpkins. Like many classic records, 'Siamese Dream', didn't enjoy an easy creation. The relationship between band members was strained, to say the least. Band leader and songwriter, Billy Corgan, is a known control freak, often playing all the guitar and bass parts himself, feeling that the other band members, weren't putting in the required effort or performing to a high enough standard. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was also a problem, with his addiction to heroin now causing problems, including disappearing for 2 to 3 days at a time on benders. Despite this, Corgan and producer, Butch Vig, would often put in 16 hour days to achieve the results that the singer/guitarist was insistent upon. A band with so many influences and, at a time when it wasn't at all cool to do so, one that openly loved Heavy Metal. Corgan cited Pantera's Dimebag Darrell, as his favourite contemporary guitarist, and frequently name - checked the likes of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. With an equally as strong devotion to the first wave of Shoegaze bands like Ride, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine and also a love for British bands like The Cure, Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus and Depeche Mode, Corgan mixed all these up in one big melting pot. The results were often astounding, and none more so than heard on 'Siamese Dream'. In a song like the albums opener, 'Cherub Rock', the above-mentioned influences would be shoe-horned into the one composition, with stunning results. 'Today', is still a massively popular track, and can still be heard in Rock clubs, on Rock radio and seen on Music television channels, regularly, in the present day. 'Soma', is a slow burning epic that is more a Prog Rock song than Alt-Rock, and actually features 40 layers of guitar tracks to make it as huge as possible. 'Geek U.S.A., is a definite nod to Corgan's metalhead side, with one of the most Sabbath-y sounding guitar tones and riffs this side of 'Master of Reality'. The drumming on this track was singled out by Vig (himself an accomplished drummer) as "one of the most amazing performances he had ever heard." Numerous drumming publications also noted their admiration of Chamberlain's performance. The rest of the album is superb and fully deserves all the plaudits it has received since its release, 20 years ago. On other releases, Corgans, high-end, "whiny" vocal style can get a little grating, but on this collection, it is perfectly in sync with the tonality and various moods conveyed with these songs. Many big names within the Alternative Rock world were critical of the careerist attitude adopted by the Pumpkins. Corgan often had words to say back to such elitist attitudes and found it hard to understand why his band attracted so much disdain from his former peers. The Smashing Pumpkins hadn't ever sold in, so how did manage to "sell out"? The fact remains that this album is one of the most influential releases in the history of Rock Music, providing influence to many bands that have formed after it's release. From Emo bands to Hardcore bands, and everything in-between, it's brilliance has, undeniably, made its mark.