#totalrockfiend smashingpumpkins gish billycorgan

[totalrockfiend]

Billy Corgan Serves Up a Track-By-Track “Deep Dive” into the Smash Pumpkins Monster Debut Album, Gish

I still recall, quite fondly, picking up a copy of Gish at my local Warehouse Records  back in ‘91...

The store was located on South University Avenue, just off the campus of the University of Michigan, in my home town of Ann Arbor, MI. 

The store been there for nearly a decade, but had the misfortune being located less than a block for the site of Ann Arbor’s first, and only, Tower Records outlet.

Tower was, of course, four times larger, and eventually became my go-to record store. But I still pursued Warehouse’s racks regular. And for whatever reason, that’s where I snapped up my copy of Gish, Smashing Pumpkins. Which I still own, and often spin to this day.

MTV “Buzz Bin” Video: I Am One

Anyhoo, I, like many others, first discovered the Smashing Pumpkins thanks to MTV, when they featured the video for I Am One, the album’s lead single, as one of their “Buzz Bin” clips, highlighting “cutting-edge new music.” (Yeah, ‘member when those folks still plays “music” videos?)

The immediately engaging tune mixed heavy, Sabbath-esque riffing (along side a somewhat Ozzy-infected vocal howl) with loads of snarling punk attitude.

Grunge Before Grunge Was Grunge

Grunge had yet to break “big time,” as this was a good five months before Nirvana conquered the world via their sophomore outing, Nevermind (incidentally, also a Butch Vig produced joint).

But it would become clear the Chicago-based Pumpkins shared a great deal, both sonically and in terms of musical ethos, with the “Seattle bands” who would quickly come to dominate the mainstream rock airwaves.

But Gish Was Sooooooo Much More Than “Grunge”

While the album’s openers, I Am One + Siva, rawked impossibly hard, the remaining balance of the album veered in variety of stylistic directions... Haunting ballads, swirling psychedelia, and, dare I say, shoegaze? 

In fact I do dare, given I’ve often characterized Gish as... “How do you get from Black Sabbath to Shoegaze in five songs or less?” 

Sorry For All the BLABBING!

Anyway, this is an exceptionally looooooooooooooooooong winded intro to a series of videos, chief pumpkin himself, Billy Corgan recently published on YouTube.

Acknowledging the celebrated, landmark status Gish has achieved...

Corgan (perhaps with a bit more time on his hands than usual, considering all the current goings on) has embarked on a track-by-track “deep dive” into the album Billy concedes “launched our career.”

The series is filled with A plethora of interesting insights -- delivered live + direct -- by the man himself. So, rather than blab any longer, I’ll let Billy talk...

Part I: "I Am One" GISH Deep Dive

Part II:  "Siva" GISH Deep Dive

Part III:  "Rhinoceros" GISH Deep Dive

Part IV:  "Crush" + "Suffer" GISH Deep Dive

We’re holding at track five, with Tristessa, Window Paine, and Daydream not yet discussed. But the videos profiled above all dropped last week (between May 31 + June 7th).

So, hopefully Billy will eventually charge through the entire album. (Fingers crossed!)

[totalrockfiend]

SMASHING PUMPKINS | GISH, May 28, 1991 . From Black Sabbath the shoegaze in just five tracks... Is there a more apt description of the Smashing Pumpkins stunning debut album, Gish? None that rings true to my ears, that's for sure. . And no, I still can't believe it's been 30 years since I picked originally up this album from my local Warehouse Records. Boy, how time flies. . Gish is also another standout album from the class of '91, which includes the likes of Nirvana's Nevermmind, Pearl Jam's 10, Soundgarden's Bad Motorfinger, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Here's to one helluva of a year of revolutionary rock + roll! . . . . #totalrockfiend #cdcollector #cdcollectors #cdcollection #cdcollections #smashingpumpkins #gish #billycorgan #butchvig (at Beverly Hills, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPckxPNDY_x/?utm_medium=tumblr