A Mother’s Day Album: “Siamese Dream” by Smashing Pumpkins, Which Turns 20 This Year

I remember first hearing Smashing Pumpkins’ album Gish at the old Star Sound near the corner of Yonge and College back in 1991 when it first came out. Someone at the store decided to just let the album play; I was intrigued with the first track, I am One, captivated with the second track, Siva, and by the end of Rhinoceros (one of my all-time favourite numbers by the Pumpkins), I had bought the CD.

Their 1993 follow-up album, Siamese Dream, is considerably more accessible than Gish, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. It became the album that alt-rock and Aerosmith fans could agree on. It opens with the arena-friendly Cherub Rock, slides into a wall of guitars with decidedly un-quiet Quiet, the perfect setup for track three, Today, one of the best mope-rock anthems ever recorded. From there, it just goes on and on with the gems: Rocket, Disarm, Spaceboy, Soma (here’s an interesting alternate version)…this is simply one of the finest albums of the nineties.

A good number of people I know were university students when this album came out. It got heavy rotation during my DJ shifts at Crazy Go Nuts University’s Clark Hall Pub, and a good number of those students who packed the floor when I played it are moms now. In honour of Mother’s Day and all those moms who hit the dance floor back in 1993, here’s the entire Siamese Dream album to brighten your Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!