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58-452: Four singles were released in support of Siamese Dream : " Cherub Rock ", " Today ", " Disarm ", and " Rocket ", and a fifth single, " Mayonaise ", was released in 2023. The album received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, with its diverse musical influences and lyrical material considered unique compared to other releases during the alternative rock and grunge movements of its time. The album has since been considered "one of

116-495: A rehab clinic. Corgan told Spin later that year, "You know, I gave them a year and a half to prepare for this record... I'm surrounded by these people who I care about very much, yet they continue to keep failing me." Corgan explained that he began to take the actions of others personally; he said, "If you really think about it, of course, someone doesn't do the job because they're lazy, or they don't think it's important. But I took it as, 'You're not worth going home and working on

174-423: A follow-up album. Frontman Billy Corgan felt "this great pressure to make the next album to set the world on fire". The immense pressure to succeed intensified an already problematic situation: drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was addicted to heroin , guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy Wretzky had recently ended their romantic relationship, and Corgan, aside from battles with weight gain and suicidal depression ,

232-606: A monthly series of articles about the AIDS epidemic titled "Words from the Front". In 1990, Spin hired John Skipper in the new position of publishing director and president while Guccione, Jr. continued to serve as editor and publisher. In the early 1990s, Spin played an influential role on the grunge era, featuring alternative rock artists such as " Nirvana and PJ Harvey on its covers when more mainstream magazines often failed to acknowledge them". In 1994, two journalists working for

290-548: A national alternative to Rolling Stone 's more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed rising acts such as R.E.M. , Prince , Run-D.M.C. , Beastie Boys , and Talking Heads on its covers and did lengthy features on established figures such as Duran Duran , Keith Richards , Miles Davis , Aerosmith , Tom Waits , and John Lee Hooker . On a cultural level, the magazine devoted significant coverage to punk , alternative country , electronica , reggae and world music , experimental rock , jazz of

348-499: A senior writer who joined the magazine in the 1990s, on a trip to visit the death sites of famous artists in rock music, which became the basis of his 2005 book, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story . Klosterman wrote for Spin until 2006. In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC, which was also the owner of Chronicle Books . The purchase price

406-514: A sense of sonic depth, but, as Corgan said, "without necessarily using delays or reverbs—to use tonalities instead." For the album, the guitars were layered multiple times. Corgan has stated that " Soma " alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. Vig stated that as many as 100 guitar parts were compressed into a single song. The album, generally considered alternative rock , has many different musical influences, including shoegaze , dream pop , and heavy metal , with Rolling Stone noting that

464-427: A whole new stance: slackers with a vision." Critic Simon Reynolds disagreed; he wrote in his review for The New York Times that "fuzzed-up riffs and angst-wracked vocals are quite the norm these days, and Smashing Pumpkins lacks the zeitgeist-defining edge that made Nirvana's breakthrough so thrilling and resonant." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice cited "Geek U.S.A." and "Today" as highlights while noting

522-498: Is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins . It is the first single from their second album, Siamese Dream (1993) and is the opening track. It was written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan . It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance . "Cherub Rock" was one of the last songs written for the album, and the lyrics relate to Corgan's relationship with his perception of

580-480: The Los Angeles Times predicted that "the scale of its success will likely be tied to how many fans are willing to stop moshing and enter into some rather contemplative, even tender territory", and wrote that "the songs tend to drift in places, and some get a bit long-winded, but the overall balance between the harsh and the sweet makes for a strong and distinctive package". Lorraine Ali of Rolling Stone called

638-461: The alternative music movement, with each artist's entry featuring their discography and albums reviewed and rated a score between one and ten. According to Pitchfork Media 's Matthew Perpetua, the book featured "the best and brightest writers of the 80s and 90s, many of whom started off in zines but have since become major figures in music criticism," including Rob Sheffield , Byron Coley , Ann Powers , Simon Reynolds , and Alex Ross . Although

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696-455: The indie rock community and larger media. The song was performed in standard tuning with an E octave played at the 7th fret, a technique which the band used on other songs, such as " Drown ", " Tristessa ", and "Starla". Corgan describes this as the "Pumpkin Chord", saying "We basically stole that from Jimi Hendrix . But Jimi Hendrix probably stole it from Wes Montgomery ." The prominent effect on

754-571: The ' South by Southwest ' conference was sponsored by the 'United States Army', one of the factors that led to over 100 bands dropping off the festival in protest. In May 2024, the magazine announced it will relaunch its print edition and publish quarterly starting in August. In 1995, Spin produced its first book, entitled Spin Alternative Record Guide . It compiled writings by 64 music critics on recording artists and bands relevant to

812-545: The American music industry , and "Today" is about a day that he was experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts. "Spaceboy" was written as a tribute to his half-brother, Jesse. The artwork for the album was initially going to be created by an outsider artist , but after a series of disagreements with the label, Corgan was forced to step in at the last minute. The album booklet, composed of old photographs of both strangers and Corgan's family members with lyrics handwritten on top,

870-551: The March 2012 issue, Spin relaunched the magazine in a larger, bi-monthly format and, at the same time, expanded its online presence under digital general manager Jeff Rogers. In July 2012, Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which eventually renamed itself SpinMedia, which was founded in 1999 by Anthony Batt and Marc Brown. The September/October 2012 issue was the magazine's last print edition. It continued to publish entirely online with Caryn Ganz as its editor-in-chief. In June 2013, Ganz

928-460: The Pumpkins reformed in 2007, Corgan posted a message to the band's blog saying that they were "[l]ooking for girls from Siamese Dream album cover... As you all know, they were quite young when the photo was taken. They are not conjoined anymore, as far as we know." The band's intentions for the search were never made clear. In February 2011, Billy Corgan announced via Twitter that not only had one of

986-573: The UK HUT CD album housed in a recess with individually numbered silver metal embossed plate at the side and a 20-page booklet housed in a similar recess in the lid. Though the CD itself and the booklet are official and genuine, the wooden box is not an official Virgin (US) or HUT (UK) release. Siamese Dream was released on July 27, 1993, and debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 the following week. The album

1044-448: The album "a strong, multidimensional extension of Gish that confirms that Smashing Pumpkins are neither sellouts nor one-offs." Entertainment Weekly critic David Browne praised the band for living up to industry expectations of being the "next Nirvana" and compared Siamese Dream favorably to Nirvana's Nevermind , concluding: "In aiming for more than just another alternative guitar record, Smashing Pumpkins may have stumbled upon

1102-534: The album holds a score of 96 out of 100 on review aggregate site Metacritic , indicating "universal acclaim". In April 2019, Rolling Stone ranked Siamese Dream as the 12th greatest grunge album of all time. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . All tracks are written by Billy Corgan , except where noted The Smashing Pumpkins Additional personnel Technical staff Shipments figures based on certification alone. Cherub Rock " Cherub Rock "

1160-419: The album was "closer to progressive rock than to punk or grunge ." The subjects of Corgan's lyrics on Siamese Dream varied. Corgan noted that most of his lyrics for the album were about his girlfriend and future ex-wife Chris Fabian, with whom he had briefly broken up at the time he wrote the songs. Corgan occasionally wrote about other subjects. In "Cherub Rock", the album's opening track, Corgan attacked

1218-403: The album, Greg Prato of AllMusic called Siamese Dream "one of the finest alt-rock albums of all time" and remarked that it "stands alongside Nevermind and Superunknown as one of the decade's finest (and most influential) rock albums." Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot wrote that it "became a soundtrack for a significant portion of [Corgan's] generation" and "did so by tempering some of

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1276-463: The album, this would make her too old to be on the cover of the album. It was later confirmed that the information was false, and both girls were located in 2008, though Corgan has not commented on this. Pictures exist of Corgan standing with Ali Laenger, the girl on the right side of the photograph. The album was also released as a shaped wooden box set (aka Siamese Dream Collectors Edition) with metal hinges, limited to only 1,000 copies and containing

1334-496: The bar really high. We wanted to make a very ambitious sounding record. It was all done on analogue tape so it was time consuming. We were working 12 hours a day, six times a week for about three months, and for the last two months we worked seven days a week, 14 or 15 hours a day because we were behind schedule." After he suffered a nervous breakdown , Corgan began visiting a therapist. Consequently, his lyrics became more explicit about his troubled past and his insecurities. " Today "

1392-460: The best albums of the 1990s—the Alternative Press ranked it fourth, Pitchfork ranked it 18th, and Spin ranked it 23rd. In 2003, the album was ranked number 360 on Rolling Stone ' s list of “ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ”, with the album's ranking dropping to number 362 and rising to number 341 in the 2012 and 2020 updates of the list, respectively. In a retrospective review of

1450-499: The book was not a sales success, "it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism." After the book was published, its entry on 1960s folk artist John Fahey , written by Byron Coley , helped renew interest in Fahey's music, leading to interest from record labels and the alternative music scene. For Spin ' s 20th anniversary in 2005, it published a book, Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music , chronicling

1508-407: The control room". Corgan often overdubbed Iha's and Wretzky's parts with his own playing. Wretzky stated that Corgan only performed most of the guitar and bass parts because he could lay them down more easily in recording and with far fewer takes. Stories of the album's recording had circulated in the music press. Corgan admitted there was some truth to accusations of tyrannical behavior, though he felt

1566-515: The entire collection of Spin magazine back issues became freely readable on Google Books . Brod remained editor until June 2011 when he was replaced by Steve Kandell who previously served as deputy editor. In July 2011, for the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's 1991 album, Nevermind , the magazine released a tribute album including all 13 songs with each covered by a different artist. The album released for free on Facebook included covers by Butch Walker , Amanda Palmer and Titus Andronicus . With

1624-489: The finest alternative rock albums", and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s and of all time. The band's debut album, Gish , was released on Caroline Records in 1991 to unexpected success and acclaim. After the release of Nirvana 's Nevermind later that year, the Smashing Pumpkins were hyped as "the next Nirvana". The band was signed to Caroline Records parent Virgin Records and began recording

1682-440: The first album's extremes; sticky melodies and pretty production can make almost anything radio-friendly, even a desperately sad song like 'Today.'" In a review for Pitchfork , Ned Raggett remarked that while initial reviews of the album singled out Corgan's lyrics for criticism, they were actually "exactly what made the band click even further", commending Corgan's "ear for hooks, metaphors, and deft summaries." The deluxe edition of

1740-558: The first time. Coverage of American cartoonists, manga , monster trucks , the AIDS crisis , outsider artists, Twin Peaks , and other non-mainstream cultural phenomena distinguished the magazine's early years. In July 1986, Spin published an exposé by Robert Keating on how the funds raised at the Live Aid concert might have been inappropriately used. Beginning in January 1988, Spin published

1798-409: The girls been found, she was the current bassist for the Pumpkins, Nicole Fiorentino . According to Corgan, "Just found out the weirdest news: our bass player Nicole just admitted she is one of the girls on the cover of Siamese Dream ." However, according to the assistant photographer for Siamese Dream , the cover photo was probably shot specifically for the album. Given Fiorentino's age at the time of

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1856-402: The label cut corners if it meant compromising the sound. By the time recording was completed, Corgan and Vig felt too emotionally exhausted to mix the record. Corgan suggested that engineer Alan Moulder mix the album, due to his work on Loveless by My Bloody Valentine . Moulder booked two weeks in a studio to mix the album; the mix ended up taking 36 days to complete. Eventually, the album

1914-437: The magazine as creative advisor. In late 2023, the publication received backlash for Guccione Jr.'s article defending former Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner after the latter made racist and sexist comments that got him ousted from The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame board of directors as well as for "Stand Together Music," an initiative used "to launder the reputation of Koch Industries." . In 2024 its week-long activation at

1972-459: The magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. It returned as a quarterly publication in September 2024. Spin was established in 1985 by Bob Guccione, Jr. In August 1987, the publisher announced it would stop publishing Spin , but Guccione Jr. retained control of the magazine and partnered with former MTV president David H. Horowitz to quickly revive

2030-744: The magazine were killed by a landmine while reporting on the Bosnian War in Bosnia and Herzegovina . A third, William T. Vollmann , was injured. In 1997, Guccione Jr. left the magazine after selling Spin to Miller Publishing for $ 43.3 million. The new owner appointed Michael Hirschorn as editor-in-chief. A partnership made up of Robert Miller, David Salzman , and Quincy Jones , Miller Publishing also owned Vibe , which together made up Vibe/Spin Ventures. In 1999, Alan Light , who previously served as editor of Vibe succeeded Hirschorn at Spin . Sia Michel

2088-440: The magazine. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Publishing with Guccione Jr. serving as president and chief executive and Horowitz as investor and chairman. In its early years, Spin was known for its narrow music coverage, with an emphasis on college rock , grunge , indie rock , and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop , while virtually ignoring other genres, such as country and metal . It also pointedly provided

2146-602: The most adventurous sort, burgeoning underground music scenes, and a variety of fringe styles. Artists such as the Ramones , Patti Smith , Blondie , X , Black Flag , and the former members of the Sex Pistols , The Clash , and the early punk and New Wave movements were heavily featured in Spin ' s editorial mix. Spin ' s extensive coverage of hip-hop music and culture , especially that of contributing editor John Leland ,

2204-438: The press misunderstood the situation. While Chamberlin performed all drum parts on the album, he would disappear for days on drug benders that caused everyone to fear for his life. After one incident where the drummer had disappeared for two or three days, Corgan "put the hammer down", according to Vig, and had Chamberlin perform the drum part for " Cherub Rock " until his hands bled. Due to Corgan's urging, Chamberlin checked into

2262-419: The prior two decades in music. The book has essays on grunge , Britpop , and emo , among other genres of music, as well as pieces on musical acts including Marilyn Manson , Tupac Shakur , R.E.M. , Nirvana, Weezer , Nine Inch Nails , Limp Bizkit , and the Smashing Pumpkins . SPIN began compiling year-end lists in 1990. Note: The 2000 album of the year was awarded to "your hard drive", acknowledging

2320-538: The record's strength is "the sonics"; he later rated the album with a three-star honorable mention . Siamese Dream earned the Smashing Pumpkins their first Grammy Award nominations. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance , and the group was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards . Siamese Dream continues to receive critical praise and has been frequently included in lists of

2378-509: The shooting experience, and the band never worked with Kerslake again until the video for ‘Empires’, the third single from the 2023 album Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts . The song features on numerous rhythm video games such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock , Rock Band , Power Gig: Rise of the SixString and Rocksmith 2014 . Rochester, New York band Roses Are Red covered

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2436-480: The single "seemed tailor-made to feed the emerging modern rock radio format." The video features footage of the band performing the song live in a forest setting. It was shot outside San Francisco entirely on Super8 film on a modest budget. The director, Kevin Kerslake , employed various destructive techniques when developing the film to give the video a broken and dirty look. Corgan was reportedly extremely unhappy with

2494-473: The solo was achieved by recording the guitar solo to two different tapes which were then run simultaneously, with the speed of one tape slightly altered. "Cherub Rock" contains various overdubs influenced by the genres of shoegazing as well as 1970s classic arena rock . According to Corgan, the song's introductory drum riff is a direct lift from Rush's 1975 song "By-Tor and the Snow Dog." Corgan insisted that

2552-405: The song be released as the first single from the album, though record executives believed that " Today " would be a stronger opening single. Although Corgan's wishes were honored, the single was indeed received much less enthusiastically than "Today", although it remains a fan favorite. An acoustic version of the song is performed on Vieuphoria and its CD companion, Earphoria . The song

2610-459: The song for Reignition Records' 2005 compilation The Killer in You: A Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins . All songs were written by Billy Corgan. CD and 12-inch vinyl 7-inch vinyl (5000 copies only) Spin (magazine) Spin (stylized in all caps as SPIN ) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners,

2668-491: The song.'" Meanwhile, Corgan was also going through his own problems. He would admit in 2011 that throughout the recording process he had been planning his own suicide. Stating that he had gotten rid of most of his things and was "fantasizing about my own death, I started thinking what my funeral would be like and what music would be played." Virgin began to grow impatient with the album's recording as it went over budget and became behind schedule. The band, however, would not let

2726-448: The studio for the recording of Siamese Dream —he and Vig would sometimes work on a 45-second section of music for two days, working 16-hour days for weeks at a time to achieve the sound Corgan wanted. Corgan's desire for musical perfection put further strain on the already-frayed relationships between the band members. Vig later recalled, "D'arcy would lock herself in the bathroom, James wouldn't say anything, or Billy would lock himself in

2784-569: Was a moderate success for the band, being performed on Saturday Night Live on October 30, 1993 and making it to the Triple J Hottest 100 at number 43. Readers ranked "Cherub Rock" at number 97 in Guitar World ' s list of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 67 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Following the 2011 re-issue of Siamese Dream , Consequence of Sound commented that

2842-434: Was almost universally lauded by music critics. Select ' s Andrew Perry praised it as "the most grand-scale, expansively-passionate blasts of music you'll hear this year" and remarked that it would be "hard for anyone to top this one". John Harris of NME wrote that Siamese Dream , "for all its air of non-committal blankness and exercise-book psychoanalysis, is a startling, deeply satisfying record". Steve Hochman of

2900-461: Was appointed editor-in-chief in early 2002 to succeed Light. With Michel as editor, according to Evan Sawdey of PopMatters , " Spin was one of the most funny, engaging music publications out there, capable of writing about everyone from the Used to Kanye West with an enthusiasm and deep-seated knowledge in genre archetypes that made for page-turning reading". In 2003, Spin sent Chuck Klosterman ,

2958-427: Was assembled by Corgan and his wife the day after their wedding. Corgan was not satisfied with the results. The first pressing of the CD contained a 20-page booklet, with a separate page devoted to each song's lyrics and accompanying photograph; later pressings contained a four-panel fold-out liner with thumbnails of each picture. In 1999, Virgin Records reissued the album with the original 20-page booklet. Shortly after

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3016-410: Was finished after four months and $ 250,000 over budget. The album boasts relatively high production values and ornate arrangements compared to other early-1990s alternative albums. Vig said, "Billy wanted to make a record that people would put on and say, 'What the fuck was that?' [...] We wanted to have things going on in the left ear and right ear all the time". One of Corgan's main goals was to create

3074-412: Was notable at the time. Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures included Lydia Lunch , Henry Rollins , David Lee Roth and Dwight Yoakam . The magazine also reported on cities such as Austin, Texas , and Glasgow , Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A 1990 article on the contemporary country blues scene brought R. L. Burnside to national attention for

3132-441: Was one of the first songs written by Corgan for Siamese Dream . He played the self-recorded demo to Vig, and received a positive reaction. Soon afterward, executives from Virgin Records came to observe the band after hearing about their problems, but were pleased with the demo and did not soon return to the studio. The reaction from the executives only served to put more stress on Corgan. Corgan worked overtime, practically living in

3190-545: Was reported to be "less than $ 5 million". That company formed Spin Media LLC as a holding company . The new owners appointed Andy Pemberton, a former editor at Blender , to succeed Michel as editor-in-chief. The first and only issue to be published under Pemberton's editorship was the July 2006 issue which featured Beyoncé on the cover. Pemberton resigned from Spin in June 2006 and

3248-491: Was struggling with writer's block . Siamese Dream was recorded mainly between December 1992 and March 1993. The band relocated to Triclops Studios in Marietta, Georgia for the album sessions, so they could avoid local friends and distractions, and to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. Butch Vig reprised his role as producer after working on their debut album Gish . Butch Vig stated "Billy [Corgan] and I raised

3306-410: Was succeeded by Doug Brod, who was executive editor during Michel's tenure. In 2008, the magazine began publishing a complete digital edition of each issue. For the 25th anniversary of Prince's Purple Rain , in 2009, Spin released "a comprehensive oral history of the film and album and a free downloadable tribute that features nine bands doing song-for-song covers of the record". In March 2010,

3364-641: Was succeeded by Jem Aswad, who was replaced by Craig Marks in June of the following year. In 2016, Puja Patel was appointed editor and Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount. Matt Medved became editor in December 2018. Spin was acquired in 2020 by Next Management Partners. Jimmy Hutcheson serves chief executive officer with Daniel Kohn as editorial director and Spin ' s founder, Guccione Jr., who rejoined

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