Murmurs of the Soul
It is the first time I want to write a post dedicated to an artist, or a music band, that meant a lot for me. There’ve been a few moments in my life when I got so obsessed (in a good way) with some musicians that I listened to their discography lots of times. I want to dedicate this opening to The Smashing Pumpkins, the great rock band from the ’90s.
Let’s jump back in time twenty-and-something years (porca vacca!). In my teens, I was 80% of my wake time in front of a monitor, PC or TV with a game console. On a couple of games magazines, I read about an online forum called GamesRadar administered by the the editors. I decided to join, and fell in love with some sections; the music one was not my first choice, but with time I learned to appreciate it.
There were threads about any genre (ah, I remember looking with fear at the one dedicated to metal!), and after a while I started buying online compact discs from the coolest website in the world Europe (RIP).
Since I had a 56k connection, I often bought the music blindly, after reading some reviews on internet.
There was no YouTube, at the time — impossible, huh?
Obviously, I started with a bang. One of the first CDs I got was Mellon Collie. It was a double disc, one of very few I own that felt like crafted with love, and I scrupulously listened to all the tracks from the first to the last — Dawn to Dusk, literally.1
Like many first listeners of the band, I got a weird impression by Corgan’s nasal voice. I loved the sound wall of distorted guitars, the heavy rock riffs, and overall the drums! I fell in love with the obvious singles as 1979, Thirty-Three, etc., but some special seeds started to slowly blossom. Three or four songs left me something more than “good track vibes”.
Tonight, Tonight
The opening of the album taught me to appreciate a slow, instrumental (orchestral!) introduction. The iconic piano chords of the song before have a special place in my heart, and the explosion of arches confers this song a delightful crescendo. And then, the contrast with William’s voice. Nice, but also dreadful in some way. One may think, ‘Why to ruin this melody with this voice?’, but then it becomes clear that this is one of the features that make the Pumpkin’s sound unique. Also, here we can hear Jimmy’s talent with drums: simple yet powerful hits.
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
This song (with Mayonaise, which we’ll talk about later) learned me to appreciate a slow pace towards a powerful climax. It would become much clearer with post-rock albums, years later, but Porcelina started it all: at first, I didn’t like it, couldn’t understand it. Then, I gradually became fond of it, and now it’s one of my favorite.
By Starlight
The closing of the second disc has a poker of strange tracks: lullabies, they sound almost like experiments. By Starlight immediately struck me, and I often happen to whistle it without no apparent reason.
Muzzle
Maybe my personal favorite: rough, simple (three chords), and angry. I listened to it hundreds of times, while driving alone (or at least, I have vivid memories of this — don’t know why). In general, it reminds me of my first 20s, so I love it.
And I knew the secrets in your spires
And I knew the emptiness of youth
And I knew the solitude of heart
And I knew the murmurs of the soul
After Mellon Collie, I bought other classic Pumpkin’s records. In order:
- Siamese Dream, another masterpiece
- Adore, clearly more modern but awesome
- Gish, maybe my least favorite of these2
I fell in love with the first two, and in those years Zeitgeist was published. I listened to it ad nauseam, and finally decided that –a couple of tracks aside– it wasn’t good as the old ones. With time, I elected Siamese Dream as my personal favorite, maybe because it had more “late teens vibes”, or because it’s “a great work like Mellon Collie, but easier”. It contains one of the best rock intros ever written, and its CD has a simple yet powerful logo that I finally decided to get tattooed.
That’s one of the focal points of my 20s: when I decided to finally get a tattoo (I was right twenty), I opted for the logo of a music band — I won’t tell it yet. After three years, I got the second tattoo, and I chose the “SP heart” of the Smashing Pumpkins. Was it a good choice? If I think at the musicians per se as people, no: I often don’t like them, they made weird decisions, and sometimes they appear almost bad. But if I think of the music… Then I made a perfect choice.
I saw them live in Milan in 2011 –not a memorable concert– and I felt dizzy all the time. Despite it wasn’t the “right” formation (James and Jimmy weren’t there, not to mention D’Arcy), it was nice. Maybe I didn’t the feel the same overwhelming sensation I got other times (e.g. with Queens of the Stone Age), but it’s been an amazing experience.
About their post-reunion discs, so after 2000… Meh. I understand that Corgan wants to keep the Pumpkins’ name active, and their sound is constantly evolving… But I can’t appreciate them as much as those damn masterpieces. I’m always happy to listen to his experiments, but each year I have a Pumpkins phase when I have to re-listen to the old classics. And I love them.
Then, there is a final anecdote. My ex-girlfriend didn’t like the Pumpkins’ sound; because of this scorn, sometimes she hid my CDs somewhere at my place — under the sofa cushions, behind the furniture, etc. Eventually we broke up, and months later, I opened the cooker hood in the kitchen to clean it up… and the Mellon Collie CD dropped in my hands. I hadn’t realized it was missing, and that was a heartfelt moment.
Hidden Gem
A final note about “hidden” songs that were not as celebrated as they should. This is the case of A Song for a Son, from their EP Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, distributed for free via internet (à la In Rainbows, following the trend started by Radiohead). One of the best songs both for lyrics and melody, greatly underrated.
It is the first time I want to write a post dedicated to an artist, or a music band, that meant a lot for me. There’ve been a few moments in my life when I got so obsessed (in a good way) with some musicians that I listened to their discography lots of times. I want to dedicate this opening to The Smashing Pumpkins, the great rock band from the ’90s.