Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Gish is the landmark debut from The Smashing Pumpkins, introducing the world to Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlin with a record that sounded radically different from most of the alternative rock surrounding it in 1991. Recorded at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, with producer Butch Vig, the album combines crushing guitar riffs with dreamy psychedelia, intricate arrangements and Chamberlin's extraordinarily powerful drumming.
Released just months before Nirvana's Nevermind, Gish arrived at the beginning of the alternative-rock explosion but didn't fit neatly into the emerging grunge category. The Pumpkins drew equally from heavy metal, psychedelic rock, shoegaze, dream pop and classic arena rock, creating a dense, layered sound that would become one of the defining alternative-rock styles of the 1990s.
Songs such as “I Am One,” “Siva,” “Rhinoceros” and “Tristessa” showcase the band's unusual ability to move between massive guitar walls and quieter, almost hypnotic passages. “Rhinoceros” is particularly representative: an atmospheric, psychedelic song that gradually builds into heavy riffs, essentially capturing the entire Gish aesthetic in one track.
Track Listing
Side A
- I Am One – 4:07
- Siva – 4:20
- Rhinoceros – 6:32
- Bury Me – 4:48
- Crush – 3:35
Side B
6. Suffer – 5:11
7. Snail – 5:11
8. Tristessa – 3:33
9. Window Paine – 5:51
10. Daydream – 3:08
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