Thinking About Getting Into The Smashing Pumpkins...

[U2isthebest]

I've been reading a lot about them lately, and I'm intrigued. Where is a good place to start? Mods..if this should be merged with the recent Pumpkins thread please do that. I just wasn't sure if I should clog that one up with questions.

 

[LemonMelon]

I am intrigued as well. I'm sorry I can't answer your question, but I would like to join you in your quest for angst-driven knowledge.

 

[LMP]

Here's what I said in the Tarantula thread:

Siamese Dream is the band at their peak, start there and go in this order:

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - great album, but too daunting for a first-timer. it's like telling someone to listen to The Wall over Dark Side first

Adore - the electronic craziness of the late '90s

Gish - the grungetastic debut

Machina I: The Machines of God - the last official Pumpkins release, there are some very good songs on here (Raindrops and Sunshowers, Wound...) and a few classics (Age of Innocence, Stand Inside Your Love), but it's lukewarm overall.

Then look for Machina II, it's kind of hard.

iTunes has a treasure trove of Pumpkins songs, too

 

[xaviMF22]

Here's what I said in the Tarantula thread:



iTunes has a treasure trove of Pumpkins songs, too

I still have to thank you

for getting me into them



1979

 

[namkcuR]

Start with the greatest hits, then Mellon Collie and Siamese Dream, then the rest.

 

[U2isthebest]

Thank you all! I can't wait to check them out ASAP.

LemonMelon....will you be joining me?

 

[LemonMelon]

Thank you all! I can't wait to check them out ASAP.

LemonMelon....will you be joining me?

I do believe I shall.

Siamese Dream it is then...

 

[coemgen]

Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie are their masterpieces. The rest are what they are, each a different flavor.

 

[U2isthebest]

I do believe I shall.

I mean....that's cool....

 

[Snowlock]

Yep, I second the Greatest Hits. SP's were a great singles band. There more accessable stuff is there. It's pretty debatable which is better, Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie, so instead start with the hits.

 

[annie_vox]

I'd like to join you guys too! A friend of mine saw them last week but didn't like it very much (he went to the festival to see White Stripes) but I would like to listen to something by them (apart from the hits).

 

[Zoots]

Siamese Dream is freaking amazing. Hummer and Soma are some of the greatest rock songs I have ever heard. And those aren't even the singles. That said, I think it is a grower. So unless you're short of cash and want to jump right onto the albums, I want to say just start with a greatest hits CD. Mellon Collie is logically the next one to get!

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Mellon Collie is one of my favourite albums ever.

 

[UberBeaver]

Siamese Dream is freaking amazing. Hummer and Soma are some of the greatest rock songs I have ever heard. And those aren't even the singles. That said, I think it is a grower.

No song has ever rocked harder than Silverfuck. That songs blows my fucking mind everytime. It. Just. Rocks. Especially from the 6:45 mark to the end. Holy schnikees.

I used to really like Mayonnaise too, but I find it's a little goofy now.

Also - Cherub Rock. What a way to start an album.

SD is this is the first Pumpkins I had, and I think it's their best. I do like Gish almost as much, but in a different way. I never got into Mellon Collie, but to be honest, I never really tried.

 

[dudeman]

no no no.
you've all got it all wrong.
go chronologically. the greatest hits is a fine place to start, if you don't feel like sorting through album cuts.
but really, why not start with the album that would have been 'Nevermind' (by Nirvana) had 'Nevermind' never been released and clogged up the airwaves.
shit, we might have been mourning some other dude's death.

get 'Gish'.
listen to 'Gish'.
breathe....

then get 'Siamese Dream'.
listen to 'Siamese Dream'.
change your pants.
then breathe...

you get the picture?

my point is that 'Gish' might not be their BEST album (we could debate what was their best all day), but it was their FIRST album. seems logical to start there. and it's an absolutely AMAZING first album. fuck, it would have been any other bands best 4th or 5th album....
tracks to look out for: I am one, Siva, Snail, Bury Me, Tristessa.....

you're so lucky to be finding these guys now. every album a gem (including the CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED Machina I and II - holy shit they're good).
we'll be in touch.

 

[angelordevil]

no no no.
you've all got it all wrong.
go chronologically. the greatest hits is a fine place to start, if you don't feel like sorting through album cuts.

While going chronologically is always the logical approach, I'll confuse you even more, and tell you to follow my order
To me, the strength of the Pumpkins is their contrast from absolute starkness to exuberant joy. Aside from Radiohead, I'm not sure another rock band has equalled their ability to capture moments of abject terror and softness all on the same album.

Speaking of starkness, Disarm was the song that first bit me...more specially, the video for Disarm. It was completely raw and so different for its time...the cello and string arrangements really take it somewhere special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQtLoJlQD6E

Completing the juxtaposition, Today was the next SP song I heard. It's a perfect example of their playfulness, their intensity...their range: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6J28OdEKrI

After these, I went on to listen to the rest of Siamese Dream. Mellon Collie is their masterpiece, IMO. You can definitely find everything that is the Pumpkins on that double album. Also, what dudeman mentioned is absolutely right...Machina I and II are criminally underrated. You'll find some of the band's greatest gems on those two, and on other rarities/b-side collections like Pisces Iscariot and The Aeroplane Flies High.

Good luck!

 

[The Sad Punk]

If you really want to get into them, go for Siamese Dream. It's not full of filler like Mellon Collie - just my opinion, but I have to wade through a bunch of tracks to find stand-outs on it.

Siamese Dream, I don't think has one bad song, Pumpkins wise. I'm still under the belief that 'Soma' is their masterpiece.

Gish is good, too.

 

[AtomicBono]

I'll be joining you all... I really like all the Smashing Pumpkins songs I've heard on the radio, and i LOVE the song Set the Ray to Jerry (it was on anderson cooper's playlist on iTunes), but I never got around to buying any albums. So I just bought Siamese Dream; I'll let you know what I think

 

[LMP]

You guys are in for a treat

Plus, their next album is up for pre-order on iTunes.