Smashing Gish

A few years ago I really found an appreciation for The Smashing Pumpkins. I'd been tentatively checking them out around that time, but once I started talking to my friend Sarah about the band, her excitement for them had me tear down any preconceived opinions I had. Going in with an open mind, I was surprised with how much I really enjoyed Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness... but I got so caught up on that one record, and was hesitant to branch out any further. It's like the record was too perfect for me and I feared that listening to any other Smashing Pumpkins album was going to leave me disappointed.

Last year I finally took the leap and bought a copy of Siamese Dream because the vinyl looked so nice. Admittedly, it took me some time to really appreciate that album, but once it clicked, I came to really love it as well.

That left Gish as the only other early Smashing Pumpkins album that I wasn't familiar with. I've heard some people claim that this is their favorite Pumpkins record... and seeing that it was released in 1991, when I'd first checked it in recent years, I'd hoped it had some of that early 90's magic that would immediately draw me in... but it never really held my interest. When I saw that there was a new colored vinyl reissue happening for Gish this year, it brough back memories of my experience with Siamese Dream, and it made me excited to give it another try. I was planning on stopping by the record store last week, so prior to that I started to listen to Gish regularly to see if I really wanted to buy a copy... and very quickly I found that I really enjoyed it.

So when I stopped by Bull Moose to pick up the colored vinyl for Gish, I was surprised that I had another option as well. The metallic foil cover from the 2021 reissue was also in the rack and it looked so good, I suddenly didn't know which one I should buy. I did a quick search and found a few comments that the colored vinyl sound quality wasn't that great, but the foil cover edition seemed to generally get praise for how it sounded... so the metallic foil edition won out.

Siamese Pumpkins

Over the past couple of years, I've come to really like The Smashing Pumpkins... well, I've come to really like Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins and a bunch of random songs from the band. However, it seems that most fans tend to view Siamese Dream as their favorite Pumpkins record... and while there are some songs here that I really like, I've never spent enough time with the full album to appreciate it as a whole.

Earlier this year, my local record store posted that they were taking preorders for a special RSD edition of Siamese Dream on "red smoke" vinyl, and I figured that it was time I took the plunge and committed fully to the album. As a bonus, if I didn't have to go out on Record Store Day to fight crowds for it, even better. Supporting record stores from the comfort of my home.

Okay look, I can see why people love this record, because it is a great album... for me it still isn't as good as Mellon Collie, but that's cool that people still ride hard for this one because it is deserved. I can't believe that I'm actually writing about a Smashing Pumpkins record on this blog... never saw that coming.

Lastly, the vinyl for this looks amazing. Man, remember when all colored vinyl looked this good and not some shitty splatter pattern on cheap plastic. I guess big bands like this can affort to use the best pressing plants.