The Smashing Pumpkins – Gish (Remastered 2CD Deluxe Edition) (1991/2011) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Digitally remastered and expanded deluxe edition of the Alt-Rock quartet’s 1991 debut album. Features the original album remastered plus a bonus CD consisting of 15 previously unreleased or alternate versions of Gish era songs.

Upon the release of Gish–the group’s debut–in the summer of 1991, more than one rock aficionado hailed the Smashing Pumpkins as the best band to come out of Chicago since Ministry. A bold statement, yes, but one backed up by Billy Corgan’s Hendrix-like riffs and searing signature guitar tone. Intriguing songwriting is evidenced from the start as well, with the driving, amped-up rock of “I Am One,” “Siva,” and “Tristessa” contrasted with the soothingly eerie psychedelic flavor of “Rhinoceros” and “Window Paine.” Gish predates the band’s movement toward the loop-based electronic sounds heard in their late-’90s works, yet the seeds for this transition are definitely apparent. Electro guru Tricky even sampled the backbeat from “Suffer” in the tributary “Pumpkin” on his sex-soaked Maxinquaye. Butch Vig shows off his chops as producer and cultivates signature dramatic moods on Gish, which helped put the Smashing Pumpkins on the map as one of the most important alt-rock bands of the ’90s–much to the delight of the decade’s disenfranchised youth.

Arriving several months before Nirvana’s Nevermind, the Smashing Pumpkins’ debut album, Gish, which was also produced by Butch Vig, was the first shot of the alternative revolution that transformed the rock & roll landscape of the ’90s. While Nirvana was a punk band, the Smashing Pumpkins and guitarist/vocalist Billy Corgan are arena rockers, co-opting their metallic riffs and epic art rock song structures with self-absorbed lyrical confessions. Though Corgan’s lyrics fall apart upon close analysis, there’s no denying his gift for arrangements. Like Brian May and Jimmy Page, he knows how to layer guitars for maximum effect, whether it’s on the pounding, sub-Sabbath rush of “I Am One” or the shimmering, psychedelic dream pop surfaces of “Rhinoceros.” Such musical moments like these, as well as the rushing “Siva” and the folky “Daydream,” which features D’Arcy on lead vocals, demonstrate the Smashing Pumpkins’ potential, but the rest of Gish falls prey to undistinguished songwriting and showy instrumentation.

Tracklist:
1-01. The Smashing Pumpkins – I Am One (04:05)
1-02. The Smashing Pumpkins – Siva (04:19)
1-03. The Smashing Pumpkins – Rhinoceros (06:30)
1-04. The Smashing Pumpkins – Bury Me (04:46)
1-05. The Smashing Pumpkins – Crush (03:33)
1-06. The Smashing Pumpkins – Suffer (05:08)
1-07. The Smashing Pumpkins – Snail (05:08)
1-08. The Smashing Pumpkins – Tristessa (03:32)
1-09. The Smashing Pumpkins – Window Paine (05:49)
1-10. The Smashing Pumpkins – Daydream (03:05)
2-01. The Smashing Pumpkins – Starla (2011 Mix) (11:01)
2-02. The Smashing Pumpkins – Siva (Peel Sessions) (04:49)
2-03. The Smashing Pumpkins – Honeyspider (Reel Time Demos/2011 Mix) (02:53)
2-04. The Smashing Pumpkins – Hippy Trippy (“Crush” Music Box Demo) (03:32)
2-05. The Smashing Pumpkins – Snail (Live Radio Performance) (05:47)
2-06. The Smashing Pumpkins – Plume (2011 Mix) (03:34)
2-07. The Smashing Pumpkins – Bury Me (Reel Time Demos/2011 Mix) (04:17)
2-08. The Smashing Pumpkins – Daydream (Old House Demo) (02:05)
2-09. The Smashing Pumpkins – Tristessa (Sub Pop Single/2011 Mix) (03:47)
2-10. The Smashing Pumpkins – Girl Named Sandoz (Peel Sessions) (03:35)
2-11. The Smashing Pumpkins – Jesus Is The Sun (Apartment Demo) (02:54)
2-12. The Smashing Pumpkins – Blue (Gish Sessions Demo) (04:07)
2-13. The Smashing Pumpkins – Smiley (Gish Sessions Demo) (03:36)
2-14. The Smashing Pumpkins – I Am One (Reel Time Demos/2011 Mix) (04:20)
2-15. The Smashing Pumpkins – Seam (“Suffer” Apartment Demo) (04:09)
2-16. The Smashing Pumpkins – La Dolly Vita (2011 Mix) (04:18)
2-17. The Smashing Pumpkins – Pulseczar (Gish Sessions Demo) (02:31)
2-18. The Smashing Pumpkins – Drown (Alternate Guitar Solo) (08:17)