Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream
(Virgin, 1993)
The grunge-era masterpiece that nearly cost Billy Corgan his sanity.
A grunge devotee born into the wrong musical generation faces a conundrum: how to reimagine the euphoria of releases you didn't live through the first time around? Sadly for me, back when Smashing Pumpkins were at their peak, putting on my own shoes would have been regarded as a success. But great records live beyond their contemporary impact - they evolve with the times - and by the time I'd mastered laces and was ready to rock, Smashing Pumpkins' second album was waiting for me. Forged through intra-band chaos (singer-auteur Billy Corgan's nervous collapse, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's heroin addiction, the end of bassist D'Arcy Wretsky and guitarist James Iha's romance) and crazed perfectionism (barring Chamberlin's volcanic drums, Corgan over-dubbed most of the instruments himself, layering as many as 100 tracks of guitar), it's an album of contrasts which, with its technical sophistication, psychedelic edge and heavy metal power, didn't quite fit '93's raggedy-ass grunge zeitgeist; and despite the record's commercial success (a good job, since production went $250,000 over budget) there were always slightly disparaging comparisons with the soon-to-immolate Nirvana. Seventeen years on, however, it has aged superbly, elegantly housing the wistful Luna as comfortably as the unforgiving adrenaline injection of Cherub Rock. And while Today and Disarm set tragic lyrics to majestic melodies, Rocket and Hummer sound like scenes from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. With its artful depth, vicious guitars and gentle lullabies, it's a testament to timeless rock values, so why is Siamese Dream not more treasured, more talked about today? Even in death, Billy Corgan probably has that blond-haired Seattle geezer to thank for that.
Tom Jones
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 29/09/2010
Further Listening
Dinosaur Jr - Farm (Jagjaguwar, 2010)
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (Enigma, 1988)
Queens Of The Stone Age - Rated R (Interscope Records, 2000)
Previous Disc of the day
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Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
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Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
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Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
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Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
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A colossal set.Who today is making albums this majestic.Certainly not Corgan himself.Just listen to Geek USA and in particular the breakdown at the song's end.However "depressed and collapsed" he was feeling at the time made this album work .Thanks for the memories Billy!
Posted by Vincent Hainsworth at 9:28 PM GMT 04/11/2010 Report Abuse
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The most astonishing piece of alternative rock music that i've ever heard in my life... Still cry when listening to "Disarm"...
God bless Billy!
Posted by funkateer80 at 10:01 AM GMT 06/05/2011 Report Abuse
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