The Pumpkins album of “arcane night music” continues with Pug, possibly the hardest rocking song on Adore. Of course, we are speaking of Adore, so it’s not too hard, comparatively speaking.
Pug features the only semi-guitar riff on Adore. I saw semi, because it’s played on a synth for part of the song. This song really feels like Corgan going back to what he is familiar with as far as his songwriting goes, but is funneling it through a channel of electronics and drum loops.
The song focuses on the main riff, but really takes a turn when it hits the chorus. Instead of a normal increase is volume and intensity, Pug steps back into an anticlimactic refrain, sprinkled with piano.
In my estimate, Appels + Oranjes and Pug are the best back to back songs on Adore. Pug once again showcases the maturity in Corgan’s songwriting when compared to previous works like MCIS or Siamese Dream. On MCIS Corgan would opt for bombast, feedback, and guitar riffs when a song needed a change. On Adore, Corgan uses well placed melody, atmosphere, and paints moods to build songs.
Appels + Oranjes is one of my favorite tracks on Adore.
The track evokes the electronics of bands like New Order and Depeche Mode, both bands Corgan sites as influences. In fact, the Pumpkins covered Depeche Mode’s Never Let Me Down Again, which appeared on a compilation of Depeche Mode covers, and as a b-side on the Rocket single during the Siamese Dream era.
During the Adore recording sessions, Corgan took a different approach.
“I thought I was going to do this really different album,” Corgan told EQ Magazine. “So typical me, I didn’t use any of my gear. Like, any. I went out and bought new guitars and strange amps…Most of my memories with Adore have more to do with programming.”
The success of Eye certainly gave Corgan confidence is his abilities to write with electronic instruments, and Appels + Oranjes showcases that more than any other song on Adore.
I don’t have any information on when the song was completed, but sonically it seems to fit in with early Adore era, post MCIS-era songs like Eye, and The End is the Beginning is the End.
The Adore sessions began with producer Brad Wood (Placebo, Liz Phair), but after an unsuccessful beginning, Corgan re-enlisted Flood to help him shape his ideas into completed songs. Flood, who has worked with the likes of U2, Depeche Mode, and produced MCIS, was able to forge Corgan’s reels of 1-inch tape with the electronic Pro Tools sessions, and samples to give Adore a more cohesive feel.
Flood’s direction, and experience with bands like Depeche Mode, and Nine Inch Nails more than likely helped Corgan nail down the great sonic elements on Appels + Oranjes.
The song incorporates layer after layer of drum machines, ebow, and synthesizers. Each one floating in and out at the perfect moment. Pay special attention to the delay-drenched ebow that enters right after Corgan sings “What if what is isn’t true?” This is a great example of using melody to fill vacant space. Once again, the ebow takes center stage, adding to the spacey quality of Adore.
Appels + Oranjes showcases another signature Pumpkins trait: misspelling titles. Corgan does this often. Other examples:
After the epic guitar onslaught that was Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, it’s easy to see why Adore, and songs like Crestfallen would alienate Pumpkins fans.
Pumpkins fans, including me, were originally hoping to hear more songs like Bodies, BWBW, and Jellybelly. Then Corgan and Co. released The End is the Beginning is the End on the Batman and Robin soundtrack, which introduced a new Pumpkins sound, infusing electronics with the dark, driving melodies we’d previously expected.
Another song, Eye, appeared on the Lost Highways soundtrack. The song, which was originally written as an instrumental for Shaquille O’Neil (seriously), pushed forward with this new electronic sound.
At the time of the releases of TEITBITE and Eye, Corgan told fans they could probably expect more music in this vein from the band on their upcoming release. One reviewer even called the songs “full-energy chargers,” writing off any previous statements from the band saying the new album would “rock-less.”
When Adore finally hit the airwaves, many fans were underwhelmed by the album’s lack of guitar, and hard-hitting songs. Corgan would later regret the miscommunication saying that if he “would have told everyone Adore was the Pumpkins’ acoustic album we would have never had the problems that we had.”
After Ava Adore, and Perfect failed to meet label expectations as singles, Crestfallen was never released to radio, though it had been slotted to be the third single from the album.
Crestfallen was a broad departure from the classic Pumpkins sound. The old-school drum machine beat, and rolling piano left little room for guitar. Even the mix hides the slow strummed chords during the chorus. They hide far in the distance, being heard only after the piano slowly decays. Corgan’s vocals rest up front, showcasing his unique voice.
Lyrically, this song, and Adore in general, go far beyond previous Pumpkin albums. Once again Corgan appears to sing from his heart, addressing what seems to be his broken relationship with his wife. While songs like Jellybelly, and TEITBITE dealt in the abstract, Crestfallen lays it all out, leaving little room for interpretation.
The very end of the song ends with the sound of a closing door. Probably signifying the end of a that period of his life, and possibly indicating the passing of his musical past.
Listen to Jellybelly from MCIS – What Fans Hoped For
After the quiet Once Upon a Time ends, Tear comes roaring through your speakers drenched in mellotron strings.
The song pounds away for a few bars, then drops out to Corgan’s vocals, and a quiet drum machine beat. Tear is one of the least electronic songs on Adore. It’s one of the few songs to feature real drums, which were performed by Matt Walker of Filter.
All in all, Tear is another one of the beautifully dark songs on Adore. Lyrically, the song speaks of lost love, possibly dealing with Corgan’s divorce which was occurring during this period. I don’t have a ton to say about this song. It’s better to just listen and enjoy it.
Once again, for the live performance of Tear, the Pumpkins beef the song up with big guitars and aggressive drums. I would love to hear the songs on Adore re-recorded as these live versions. They would make a completely different album.
Once Upon A Time is one of the high points on Adore. The song really showcases Corgan’s songwriting ability. Being a songwriter myself, I’m just astonished at some of the beautiful, subtle transitions in the song. Particularly the transition at the end of the chorus. It just flows so well. The transition into, and out of the bridge is just perfectly written.
Lyrically, this is where Adore starts getting heavier. While Ava Adore, and Daphne Descends seem more abstract, Once Upon a Time is bitterly honest and too the point. At the time when Corgan wrote this song, his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and would eventually pass away. Corgan, being at the peak of his career reveals a lot of regrets about being away from his mother, and probably his family in general.
In Corgan’s career he usually opted for the abstract when it came to lyrics. One of the reasons I love Adore so much is because the majority of it is just the opposite. In places where Corgan would normally choose creative word-play, instead he opts for vulnerability.
Sonically, this song is great. The use of the strings, the gentle drumming, and another appearance by the ebow make this song dreamy, and melancholy. This song makes me ache…in the best of ways.
I have to be honest with you. Daphne Descends is not my favorite cut from Adore, but because it is on Adore, I still enjoy the song quite a bit.
The song features a lot of ebow, as does most of Adore. If you’re not a guitar player, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, so let me explain.
Ebow is short for “electronic bow.” Instead of plucking a string with a guitar pick, you can use the ebow to get a feedback, or violin-type sound out of the guitar. The device creates a magnetic field around the string, causing it to vibrate. It’s really a gorgeous sound when used correctly. You can hear the ebow when it enters at the very beginning of the song. The tool has also been used in a lot of other songs, including With or Without You by U2.
Check it out on Wikipedia if you want some more info on the Ebow.
The song has a very dreamy, yet sinister quality to it, and features some unusual vocal harmonies. On the album the song just kind of trots along, but live the Pumpkins beefed it up a bit. The Pumpkins were known to have multiple versions of songs when touring, and although the live version isn’t that much different, the bigger guitar sounds, and heavier drumming really take this song to a different place.
Perfect, more than any other track on Adore, reminds me of a period of my life. It was the beginning of my junior year in high school. I was running cross-country because our basketball coach wanted everyone on the team to be in shape before basketball season came around.
Every morning that fall I would have to get up around 5:30 am, and meet the team to run at 6:30 am. Nearly every morning the video for Perfect would play on the TV as I ate my breakfast. The song would play through my head as I ran through the backwoods of Missouri, trying to find my way back to school before class started.
It sounds like a bad memory, but every time I hear this song, I get what CS Lewis called a feeling of longing or joy. Lewis described it as a painful type of joy, but the type that once you’ve felt it, you never want to give it up. He explained this “joy” as our human longing for heaven. It’s a thirst that cannot be quenched on earth.
Lewis said he often felt this feeling a boy while reading books, and as an adult seeing beautiful art. This song gives me that ache inside. I have no explanation as to why, but when I hear Perfect, I ache to relive those memories from that period of my life.
Perhaps the video for Perfect subconsciously implanted this feeling in my brain.
Perfect is often considered the sister song to 1979, off of MCIS. So when the Pumpkins set off to make the video, they hired the same team of directors, and actors who created 1979. They developed a storyline that would act as 1979′s continuation, tying the two songs together musically and visually.
Perfect would be the second, and final single for Adore, although To Sheila and Crestfallen would eventually be released on a promotional basis. The song would also be remixed numerous times by artists like Nellee Hooper, and Puff Daddy.
Watch the video for 1979
Watch the video for Perfect
The Smashing Pumpkins performing Perfect on David Letterman
Like most people, I associate music with periods of my life and memories. I usually have very vivid moments that I remember with music, nearly all of them in the car. I don’t know why, but everytime I hear Ava Adore, I get a vision of pulling out of my friends driveway in my old 1970 Impala. I believe it’s engrained in my memory, because this was the first time I heard Ava Adore. I have similar memories of 1979, Cherub Rock, The Everlasting Gaze, and The Aeroplane Flies High. Apparently I listened to a lot of Smashing Pumpkins while driving in the car.
Ava Adore was the first single from the album Adore. I assume the label felt it was most suitable because it was basically the hardest song on the album, although it’s really just a mid-tempo song. Not very hard at all when compared to other SP songs like An Ode to No One, X.Y.U., Lucky 13, or a long list of others.
I remember being confused more than anything when I heard this song. I enjoy it, like most Corgan material, but something about it just seems different. It doesn’t seem like a Smashing Pumpkins song. There is very little guitar, and when the guitar appears it features a much different guitar tone than anything that had been on previous Pumpkins albums. It also features one of the few guitar solos on the album, a quick 12 second interlude before going back into a chorus.
Up to this point you probably think I could care less for this song, but actually I’m amazed by it. It’s probably the only song by The Smashing Pumpkins that seems new to me everytime I hear it. Probably because I just don’t understand it. It’s like it always heads in one ear, and just drifts through the other, out of my head and into space.
The song feels out of place on the album to me. Maybe Billy would agree. I’m sure he was being pressured on the business end to churn out something aggressive, and this was probably what he came up with.
When the Pumpkins performed the song live, they injected it with steroids, adding more guitars, and sometimes extending the guitar solo. I would post it on here, but unfortunately Darcy liked to wear a see-through shirt during a lot of this tour, so I’ll spare you the surprise.
Most Smashing Pumpkins fans were taken aback by Adore’s first track “To Sheila.” After years of bombast, fuzzy guitars, stadium anthems, and phase-shifting guitar solos, Adore kicked off with one of the softest songs ever created by The Smashing Pumpkins.
The song begins with what sounds like crickets in the middle of the summer, and drones in the background the entire song. Overall, the song it mixed extremely quiet, featuring Corgan’s love-it-or-hate-it vocals. I’ve never heard his vocals sound so good. In “To Shiela” Corgan drops his usual snarl, for a smooth, almost whispered delivery.
The entire song feels fragile.
One of my favorite moments on the album is in the third verse. All the instrumentation falls out to leave Corgan’s layered vocals with banjo’s. Yes, it sounds crazy, but give it a listen. It’s gorgeous.
Then the song exits with a simple piano line, delayed guitars, and the comes back around to the summer night sound.
One of the reasons I love the Smashing Pumpkins is because of Corgan’s fearless attitude in creating what he wants. Sometimes this has come back to haunt him, but has also left a great variety of songs for us to enjoy. The guts it takes to release this album and to kick it off with this song is staggering considering where the band had been previously to releasing this work.
Listen to Corgan talk about “To Sheila”
Then Listen to “To Sheila” (sorry, this is the only thing I could find with the studio version)
If you’ve followed us very long, you’ve probably already seen that I love The Smashing Pumpkins. I’m sure you are left with questions as to why I have such an infatuation with Corgan and everything Pumpkins. Honestly, I don’t know the exact reasons. Because of this, I’m going to dissect it right before your very eyes.
To begin I’m going to break down my favorite Pumpkins album: Adore.
In 1996 The Smashing Pumpkins were arguably the biggest act in rock music. They had released Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a daring double-album release that went 9-times platinum, and recieved 7 grammy nominations. At the peak of their popularity, touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain overdosed on heroin in a New York City hotel room, resulting in Melvoin’s death.
Chamberlain, who had been intgral to the Pumpkin’s sound, was fired.
During the time after Chamberlain’s departure, the Pumpkins moved away from the traditional rock sound, to one that infused electronics. They released “The End is the Beginning is the End” on the Batman & Robin soundtrack, which also won them a grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance.” Another electronic based song, “Eye,” was featured on the Lost Highway’s soundtrack.
Musically, a lot was changing in the Pumpkin world before Adore. From a personal side, a lot was happening also.
Prior to the Adore sessions, Billy’s mother passed away, he watched his marriage end in divorce, and was also dealing with the previous incident with Chamberlain and Melvoin. This would lead to, in my opinion, the most honest, well-crafted work Corgan has ever released.
It would be a work that would alienate a lot of casual fans, and would be considered a failure by the music industry. Not in my book.
