Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
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Free Music Notes for Gish
Free Music Review: Great start for a great band
Hit: 5 Stars
The smashing pumpkins were truly Billy Corgan on every instrument except drums when this album was released. Corgan's total control over the playing of this album is evident to anyone who ever saw him perform live before their Siamese Dream tour, or at least in the beginning of it. I think that the album is wonderful and is better than anything most bands have accomplished. Here is my song by song breakdown: I Am One- The song that addicts you to this album, it rocks and you know that the band does too. Siva-I love the rythmn guitar in this one...it kinda wants to rock even more than it does the whole time and pulls the listener along with it.("I just wanna get there faster.") The exit from the soft lyrics back into the guitar driven song is fantastic. Rhinoceros-I kinda skipped over this one the first time I heard the album so many years ago. Then this cool girl I know mentioned it to me and I listened and it quickly went to the top of my list. Don't know if it is the song or the girl. Bury Me-Great song that gets by being scratchy cause of some creative adjustment on the guitar by Billy. His solo before he wails out "She waits...to bury me" is really good. Is worth the whole song right there. Crush-I'm not sure what the band thought of this one, I love it. If this song ever gets associated with an event in your life it will forever define that event. It has a lot of emotion. I feel his lyrics here are some of the most sincere of the album. Suffer-Chill song that neither impresses nor repels. I am ambivalent on this one. The end of the song seems promising but never materializes. Snail-Another one that I skipped over on first play...fortunately for me I quickly corrected that mistake and began enjoying a wonderful song that almost sounds like Collective Soul wrote it(sorry but it does) though since Billy and co perform it does really well. Only the excessive distortion hiss reminds you that this could never be top40. Tristessa-I was never a big fan of this song. But most fans seem to like it and I don't want to turn anyone off from a song they may like. I do like the guitar and vocal mix. Window Paine-This song is my personal favorite on the album. I like it cause it has a number of different parts that all grow on you. Jimmy really comes through with his drumwork on this song and it gives you the pre-game jitters. Daydream-There has to be a bomb on every album I guess. So, this album is in fact great. I love the personal feeling it has, pumpkins pre-arena sound. I'm sure that people have left the CD running and heard Billy's last little bit...you gotta love it. If you don't get this album you will go crazy.WCH
Free Music Review: Passionate, mesmerizing, the best!
Hit: 5 Stars
Gish is easily the best Smashing Pumpkins album of them all. I was introduced to this at the age of 18 by one of my band members. It's beautiful, moving, full of emotion and energy. Not only is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins CD, it's one of my all time favorite CD's period. Even after all these years I can still pop this one in, sit back and close my eyes, and it takes me on a musical and emotional journey. Every single track is excellent.
I Am One starts with a slick drum riff, kicks in a bass groove, then the guitars come in and the whole thing just grabs you.
Siva starts out aggressive and makes you want to drive fast or kick something over, but then around the middle it calms down and you feel like you're out walking in the woods... just when you think you're floating on a cloud, it comes back and grabs you and shakes you around again. Then it smooths out one more time before spinning you yet again and leaving you tumbling through the air.
Rhinoceros is beautiful, making you think of someone you once loved, but then it comes on heavy and builds up, then lets you down softly at the end.
Bury Me is excellent guitar work all through. The band is very tight, and this sounds like it would be a very fun song to play.
Crush is a mellow song all the way though, beautiful and haunting.
Suffer continues on the theme, building up to a crescendo towards the end, then letting you back down.
Snail is another haunting, wistful song, but with more guitars and a driving rhythm. This is the song off the album that gets stuck in my head... easily my favorite. This song seems to sum up the entire album for me, and is what I love the most about their sound from this time. Much like most of their songs on Gish, with this one, once you think you're melting into it and losing yourself, it picks you up and tosses you around.
Tristessa is straight up rock, a catchy hook, punchy guitars, just a really fun song. Hang on!
Window Paine is another song that starts of soft and smooth, haunting, wistful, then picks up slowly, building up harder and faster until a teasing, lingering finish.
Daydream is the final track, sung by the band's bassist, who really has a beautiful voice. I wish we could hear more of her. This song is soft and acoustic throughout, with some orchestral strings giving it a pensive, introspective feeling.
Buy Gish now. If you never plan to own another Smashing Pumpkins album, this is one you must have.
Free Music Review: The Beginnings Of A Legendary Group.
Hit: 5 Stars
Much has been written about Nirvana's classic "Nevermind" and how it changed the musical landscape, not just at the time, but forever. Most of it is true, but what a lot of people fail to recognize is that Nirvana were just one of many bands at the time, part of a movement. One of the groups that wouldn't really acheive true success until later, The Smashing Pumpkins, were also breaking new ground, and despite being located in Chicago, they definitely fit in among the Seattle scene while still bringing their own style to the table. On their debut album, "Gish," Smashing Pumpkins are presented at their rawest, most rocking, thanks in part to legendary producer Butch Vig (who also did "Nevermind") and to Smashing Pumpkins mastermind, Billy Corgan, who as the group's career would progress, would prove to be a true visionary, ahead of the times. Even if you couldn't get past his nasal whine.
No doubt, "Gish" is the only Smashing Pumpkins album (out of 5) that you can truly classify as grunge. However, what set Smashing Pumpkins apart (at least at this point in time) was Corgan's unique, and somewhat vague songwriting, coupled with excellent musicianship that often gave way to some rather creative jams. This ten song album is split into it's soft sides, and it's rough sides. The grungy, riffy "I Am One," "Tristessa" and "Siva," which are 90's essentials in themselves, are backed up by some truly memorable, lighter fare, such as "Bury Me," "Crush" and the epic "Rhinoceros." Despite being easily their most streamlined and direct affair, there were still signs of what was to come on future albums, as noted by "Snail" and the mellow closing number, "Daydream," which features bassist D'Arcy on vocals.
Despite being just a mere ten tracks wide, "Gish" is still a very substantial, versatile listen. It definitely smells of the 90's, and as a sign of the times, Corgan had long, flowing hair. When you consider the now iconic image of Billy's pasty, bald, white visage, the picture of Corgan included in the liner notes really gives you an idea of where the band were at the beginning of their career. As time went on, and as they reached even bigger success, they evolved, and they ended up very far from where they started. But one thing you can never accuse the Pumpkins of is being boring, and never doing the same thing twice. And "Gish" is a testament to that. A brief glimpse at the group as just a straight-forward rock band, and definitely the best in their league.
Free Music Review: The ultimate artsy alternative album
Hit: 5 Stars
Im writing reviews in search of broadening my musical horizons so to speak. its time to ditch the blink and killswitch and move on to the wide world of music. I grew up in Washington so i do love the alternative music. I hope i dont up in the same category either.
If you have no problem with distortion then Gish may seem like an endless land of pure artistry. First, you need the proper pieces. James Iha is one of my favorite guitarists of the '90s. the solos scream louder and his colouring is beuatiful in the soft parts. Billy Corgan's voice is so antiithesis. He screams but his voice is so soft it very much overrun by the distortion, very appealing in a shy sort of way. And finally Jimmy Chamberlain, what he does with ghost notes and just ruffing places is beautiful, one of the greatest alternative drummers ever. put it all together and you get something fantastic. Unlike the other pumpkins' albums, gish just jams out the tracks. The artists are free to do as they please and they have a lot of room. They put everything together nicely, almost like mind candy. The one big thing you might notice about this album is dynamics, gish played around with dynamics way more than many bands do, very notceable in "Bury Me". the first two songs sort of jam out rock music, the main thing is how loose all the players are. iha's solos, chamberlain's little fills colour the songs. but the first two are only an introduction to the masterpieces they lay ahead. "Snail", "Suffer", "Crush", and "Window Paine" clearly seem to be the heart of the album. each song multi layered with painstakingly good riffs, solos, and stories. They all seemed like journeys started humbly and leading to a climax then coming back down. "Rhinoceros" which is the single from the CD is a clear precursor to the big four. "Rhinoceros" first appeared on the lull EP and showed the beginning to such beuatiful music. "daydream" seemed to be an artistic statement in itself with just an acoustic and simple riff and the bonus track is just band having fun. The song structure was excellent, the complexity was about right, the vocals were too unique. this is what a rock band is about, i would buy this album before delving into any deeper Pumpkins.
Free Music Review: Just smashing
Hit: 5 Stars
They're better known for the sprawling double-disc "Mellon Collie And the Infinite Sadness," but the Smashing Pumpkins first leaped onto the scene with "Gish." It's not as epic as some of their later material, but still a vibrant, musically-polished album, and one that has the flavor of experience on the first time around. Kicking off with the undulating riffs of the excellent "I Am One," the Pumpkins slip effortlessly between multilayered hard rock (the mind-blowing "Siva," the magnificent bass-sputtering "Tristessa," the panoramic "Snail") and haunting ballads ("Rhinoceros," the vaguely psychedelic "Crush," the sweeping "Suffer") before wrapping up with the eerie "Daydream."
It's a rare band whose music can still be so relevant so long after it first came out -- let alone still being a voice for the disillusioned. Originally released in 1991, "Gish" definitely established the Smashing Pumpkins as a musical force of genuine artistry, talented songwriting and musical integrity. It's hard enough to find one of those, let alone three.
The grinding, kinetic guitars and bass in the harder songs form a wall of solid sound, except in "Siva" -- there, the sound keeps dying away to complete silence, before reviving with a swirling roar when you least expect it. At the same time, Corgan tones down the guitars to a gentle acoustic strum in the more balladic songs. Jimmy Chamberlin's lightning-fast drumming is an excellent accompaniment, as is D'Arcy's bass.
As a songwriter, few rockers can parallel Billy Corgan; his songwriting has the quality of poetry set to rock, which aren't things you generally see together. Corgan's high, reedy voice is interwoven well into the music, giving his poetic lyrics a certain heartfelt quality. And bassist D'Arcy gets to shine with her low, sweet voice in "Daydream."
"Gish" is recognizably the Pumpkins, at the roughest stage of their musical development -- but with edge, the musical force and the beauty that just needed refinement.