Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
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Free Music Notes for Gish
Free Music Review: They don't make 'm like this any longer!
Hit: 4 Stars
I got my copy of 'Gish' upon its release back in 1991 on a good old audio-casette. I only recently bought 'Gish' as a CD because the tape had worn out after 13 years. In retrospect the music on 'Gish' clearly demonstrates the great potential of the Smashing Pumpkins already at an early stage in their career. Though not as good as its follow-up, the brilliant 'Siamese Dream' album, 'Gish' still stands out as one the finest records to come out of the early 90's. Everyone serious about good music should own a copy; they don't make 'm like this any longer! Free Music Review: Pumpkins at their most psychedelic
Hit: 5 Stars
This album had the pumpkins at their most psychedelic stage. This is especially present in Rhinoceros, Crush, Suffer, Snail, and Window Paine. Corgan's lyrics and vocals are some of the best ever (as usual). The guitars are coordinated perfectly and beautifully. This album is every bit as good as Mellon Collie or Siamese Dream. Simply wonderful.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.
Free Music Review: The Beginning Was Beautiful, Too.
Hit: 5 Stars
Here is The Smashing Pumpkins' full-length debut album from 1991. The Pumpkins' sound here displays what we would come to expect from the gang: heavy, searing, multi-tracked guitars (which often gets compared to Brian May - of Queen fame), melancholic, dreamy soundscapes and lyrics, contrasts from heavy sounds to soft sounds. However, these are the beginning stages of what would fully blossom on later efforts like 1993's _Siamese Dream_, and 1995's _Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness_. While the heavy tracks feature the ethereal wall-of-sound that the Pumpkins are known for, this heaviness is not as full, lush, and oceanic as it would become on aforementioned following discs, but you can hear where the band was headed.
However, when taken as it is -- an album showing the band in it's earliest stages -- _Gish_ is an excellent, highly enjoyable album. It is hardly a disappointing album -- far, far from it. The Pumpkins' amalgamation of heavy (but melodic and dreamy) rockers and dreamy, atmospheric, psychedelic-tinged mellow tracks appear here, giving ample proof that the Pumpkins didn't necessarily change their sound over the years, but rather refined it. "I Am One" and "Siva" open up the album on hard-driving notes. The former could be heard on alternative rock radio stations, even to this day. Do you think that because The Smashing Pumpkins made hard-rockers, they used nothing more than simple power chords? Well, both these tracks feature arpeggiated chords that are beyond simple.
The hard-driving rockers are interrupted for what are possibly the most ethereal, wispy, mood-inducing six minutes on the album: "Rhinoceros" is such a heavenly beauty, and is without a doubt, my favorite track on this album. Billy Corgan's acquired vocal stylings blend perfectly with the dreamy atmospheres brought on by the guitar arpeggios, textured arrangements, and the treatment of them all. Many complain about Billy's voice, but what other vocalist could complement the Pumpkins' music as perfectly as his? Nobody I can think of (except maybe one of the other Pumpkins.. ), but regardless, his voice was an ethereal instrument unto itself.
Elsewhere, "Crush" seems to foreshadow "Thirty-Three," as it's a dream-folk track (it's very hard to categorize in exact terms.) Billy's vocals are lovely here. "Snail" is a moody piece that seems to share a kinship with most adult contemporary music -- except this rocks harder, and the lyrics are probably a bit more inscrutable. The rocker "Tristessa" sounds like it could have been a dry run for "Cherub Rock." Listen to some of those whacked-out fills from drummer extraordinaire Jimmy Chamberlain. "Window Paine" is almost as mood-inducing as "Rhinoceros," and takes it's time by resting on one or two chords, which build up to an explosive, cathartic climax, and the ethereal, acoustic closer "Daydream" features bassist D'Arcy on lead vocals, followed by a brief coda from Billy.
An excellent album from an excellent band, of whom I miss dearly. Definitely worth owning, but if you're new to the Pumpkins, start with _Siamese Dream_ first.
Free Music Review: Good
Hit: 3 Stars
As a huge Pumpkins fan, I would say that Gish is a strong album with some good songs. I'd even say that, for most bands, an album like that would be their best album. But this is certainly not the best Smashing Pumpkins album.Their debut is one that shows a huge amount of technical ability. By technical ability, I mean that the members of the band can play their instruments better than you would often hear. I always refered to this as the Smashing Pumpkins' Led Zeppelin album because it has the same idea as much of Zeppelin's music: show off on guitar as much as possible. However, it did not display the same emotions as are shown in the Smashing Pumpkins' later albums.
It's a good album with some solid songs such as Window Pain, Rhinoceros and Snail. However, it is not their best album by far.