but they were super concentrated & focused in 1995; Adore was much more of a session here, session there type of record, and one that started off as a Billy Corgan solo album (according to Brad Wood, who recorded To Sheila, Blank Page, Ava Adore, Tear, Daphne Descends, and Behold! the Night Mare). The 666 Tapes show the band at their best, one of my favorite performances of Porcelina is 27 minutes in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U7QGPz4xmA
― flappy bird, Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:48 (six years ago) link
I wonder how well rehearsed they were going in, and hoe much pre-production there was, though? I have a feeling some were rehearsed up prior to going in with others being worked out in the studio and others only featuring Billy (like 'Stumbleine') or Billy/Jimmy only. It's a lot of material!
― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:50 (six years ago) link
*how
― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Sunday, 12 November 2017 20:51 (six years ago) link
yeah of the 56 on MCIS & TAFH it breaks down like this:
written for Siamese DreamSet the Ray to JerryMeladori Magpie
written during the Siamese Dream tour ( Gravity Demos )Tonight, TonightJellybellyZeroHere is No WhyTo ForgiveLoveGalapagosMouths of BabesMarquis in SpadesThe Aeroplane Flies HighPenniesUgly
written fall '94 - early '95pretty much everything else
written during the recording of MCISWhere Boys Fear to TreadBodiesIn the Arms of Sleep1979Thru the Eyes of RubyX.Y.U.We Only Come Out at Night
Lots of stuff is just Billy at home: Stumbleine, Meladori Magpie, Rotten Apples, Blank... then they recorded the covers for TAFH right before Jimmy OD'd, and iirc they did a few more like Medellia and The Last Song that summer. But yeah most of those 56 songs were written and recorded in a very short period of time, pretty insane. there was a lot of pre-production and rehearsal in the fall of '94, and you can get a good sense of where they were at with the four Double Door shows in February '95, days before they went into the studio. Songs like Muzzle, Fuck You, Porcelina, Thirty-three, Zero, and on and on and on, were all fully formed by then.
― flappy bird, Sunday, 12 November 2017 21:04 (six years ago) link
a previously uncirculated gem was uploaded today. 2 hour adore-era show, ridiculous setlist & performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yvk7X4wmhE
To SheilaBehold! the Night MarePugTearOnce Upon a TimeCrestfallenAva AdoreAppels + OranjesDaphne DescendsAnnie-DogPerfectTonight, TonightThe Tale of Dusty and Pistol PeteBullet with Butterfly WingsShameFor Martha---1979Blank Page
― flappy bird, Saturday, 2 December 2017 06:07 (six years ago) link
Apathy Video continues to be a youtube hero. This just went up 15 minutes ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHDtCRHFsn4
― flappy bird, Saturday, 20 January 2018 00:52 (six years ago) link
aw 11:22
― flappy bird, Saturday, 20 January 2018 01:04 (six years ago) link
the interviewer does some annoying bits in the beginning but his description of Adore as "a wolf in lamb's clothing" is otfm
― flappy bird, Saturday, 20 January 2018 01:09 (six years ago) link
MTV: Think about those early days in the little rehearsal space. It all came true, didn't it?
BILLY: ...Yeah.
JAMES: I never thought about that.
D'ARCY: Never thought about what?
JAMES: I don't know, whatever he's saying there.
D'ARCY: You don't even know what he's saying!
MTV: Way back then in your little rehearsal space in Chicago, with Stumpy the three-legged cat, Billy was what we call "larging it," saying that "The Smashing Pumpkins are going to be one of the greatest bands on the face of the earth." Cast your mind back then, were you thinking, "Yeah, he's right," or were you like "Right, call an ambulance"?
D'ARCY: That image at that moment, he doesn't even remember that. That's just like etched in my mind, and I'm like "Well, yeah." I just thought of course, or I wouldn't be putting up with any of this bullshit. I wouldn't be putting myself through this hell if I didn't think that something was going to come of it. It was really hard. It was very hard. Stumpy... he was the best part about it.
― flappy bird, Saturday, 20 January 2018 01:27 (six years ago) link
I love d'arcy so fucking much lol
― Simon H., Saturday, 20 January 2018 03:59 (six years ago) link
I do too but Melissa Auf Der Mar is one of the sexiest bass players ever so she is not my favorite bass player in the Smashing Pumpkins.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 20 January 2018 07:13 (six years ago) link
i too like to rate bass players by their relative sexiness, a good and normal thing to do
― grim-n-gritty hooty reboot (bizarro gazzara), Saturday, 20 January 2018 09:20 (six years ago) link
it made Nirvana
― circa1916, Saturday, 20 January 2018 10:56 (six years ago) link
Haha that reminds me of listening to the early early radio performance where they played "Rhinoceros"--the first proper Pumpkins tune--for the first time ever, and as Billy is introducing it, D'Arcy is just going "No! No! No!"
― the man from P.O.R.L.O.C.K. (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 20 January 2018 13:04 (six years ago) link
D’arcy was such a necessary foil for Billy, the only person who could regularly check his ego and mock him and somehow retain his respect. Imo she was more important to the band than James: she would insist on certain songs retaining their original lyrics or arrangements and insist including certain songs that Billy had dismissed as daft (like Dusty & Pistol Pete and Appels + Oranjes) on the albums. He trusted her intuition, and rightfully so.
― flappy bird, Saturday, 20 January 2018 18:08 (six years ago) link
Daphne Descends 2
:|
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 3 February 2020 23:27 (four years ago) link
not as bad as Behold! the Night Mare only getting a single vote
― ufo, Monday, 3 February 2020 23:33 (four years ago) link
i think “daphne descends” is finally my favorite pumpkins song. flirted with it all my life
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 3 February 2020 23:37 (four years ago) link
I remember him saying somewhere, maybe in liner notes or an interview, that he was thinking of rocking chairs and molasses in the south when he wrote Daphne Descends one morning alone on an acoustic guitar.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 05:57 (four years ago) link
a shame "once in a while" never made album cut because that was my era-favorite years back. the version on spotify sucks compared to the one on the original japanese release
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 06:58 (four years ago) link
yesterday i thought how great would be if hayley williams cover 'daphne descends'.
― Nourry, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 09:38 (four years ago) link
Daphne Descends sounds a lot better now than it did at the time. Always felt this album was slightly back-loaded
― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Tuesday, 4 February 2020 09:54 (four years ago) link
weird to discover new things about an album i've loved for 20+ years but "dusty + pistol pete" is totally fleetwood mac-core, right
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 23 November 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
Some days I think that song is the best one Corgan ever wrote.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 23 November 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link
This album is incredible
― DJP, Monday, 23 November 2020 18:29 (three years ago) link
yea Dusty and Pistol Pete is great, very fun to play on guitar. Agreed on Fmac comparison. "with raven hands"
― flappy bird, Monday, 23 November 2020 19:12 (three years ago) link
Still annoyed I couldn't see the LA tour date for it.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 November 2020 19:57 (three years ago) link
This album is sounding better to me today on headphones than I think it ever has coming out of a speaker. The intimacy of Billy's vocals and the alternating density and basic four-track-demo-ness of the production really really shine.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 7 December 2020 19:44 (three years ago) link
damn good calls on Dusty + Pistol Pete. i really didn't give this the time of day at age 17, oops.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 7 December 2020 20:03 (three years ago) link
the alternating density and basic four-track-demo-ness of the production really really shine.
i was thinking the other week that it just... sounds so good
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 7 December 2020 20:05 (three years ago) link
woah so this is the listen that finally sold me on what everyone sees in "For Martha" !also had a little appreciation post for "Shame" and its Gothy, "windowless bar with the lights on the day after, permanently smelling of old cigarettes" qualities. a lot more indie than i ever remembered.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 7 December 2020 20:29 (three years ago) link
"shame" is the song that makes me mourn billy's lost sense of space, there's so little happening in that song and yet it really sustains this lonely wandering feeling for almost seven minutes (!!!) with just that bassline and basic drum pattern. it's also the main song i think of when i think of james iha's contribution to the band, love all of the ebowed guitar on that song
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 7 December 2020 21:07 (three years ago) link
I suddenly am finding myself playing this on repeat, like I did when I first bought it
― DJP, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 18:54 (three years ago) link
The one-two of "Shame" and "Behold! The Night Mare" is stellar.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:07 (three years ago) link
after the melange leading up to it, the run of “Shame” to the end of the album is incredible.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
whenever I'm listening to Adore I'm like 90% certain it's their best album
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
I just noticed that the mono version of "For Martha" excises the coda for...some reason. Oh, Billy.
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:15 (three years ago) link
i've never noticed that and i feel like i've listened to the mono version a lot???
that coda is one of the very best parts of the album. it feels... thematically important, in that it's made of these beautiful fuzzy overlaid guitar lines that are very classic pumpkins, but there are no drums
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:19 (three years ago) link
"behold! the night mare" is one of their very best
― ufo, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 01:13 (three years ago) link
happy 25th
― mookieproof, Saturday, 3 June 2023 00:07 (nine months ago) link
Oh fuck off no
― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Saturday, 3 June 2023 00:13 (nine months ago) link
*creaks, withers*
Hmm, means Massive Attack's Mezzanine is 25 as well, give or take some weeks.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 3 June 2023 00:41 (nine months ago) link
Ah that was back in late April. Close, though!
Hello Nasty too
― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Saturday, 3 June 2023 00:44 (nine months ago) link
I need to just get the deluxe edition already, love this album so much
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 3 June 2023 00:54 (nine months ago) link
I probably said this upthread or on another thread, but this is one to throw on at like 1030 pm
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 3 June 2023 00:58 (nine months ago) link
In the moment, Adore was striking to me, if surprising at first.
In the years since, for reasons others have touched on here, it stands as an exquisite model of pacing and grace in contrast to everything Corgan’s done since - it’s like after this album some switch in his head was flipped and he became a different artist.
(The exception to this theory, the thing that would prove me wrong, might be Zwan.)
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 3 June 2023 01:06 (nine months ago) link
Just cued it up at 6:18pm over dinner prep and it’s hitting on all six
― assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 3 June 2023 08:18 (nine months ago) link