The best compliment to
give this true work of art is that it means more and
more with each listen. For the past 15 years I don't
think a month or two goes by when this album doesn't
work it's way back to my CD player only to be
rediscovered. Kind of a weird thing to say right....? If
listened to THAT often how can it be "rediscovered". The
answer of course lies within the complexity of the songs
on the album, the placement of the songs on the album,
and the moods the album takes the listener through.
When I bought this album back in the nineties I was a 60' and 70's classic rock kid, nothing but the oldies, modern music just didn't interest me that much. I had my reasons, but that's not the point here on this review. Anyway, one day flipping through channels I came across the promo video for the song "Today", and something happened. I put the remote down and just listened....stunned. THAT GUITAR SOUND!! It started out so pretty with the intro, and then it transformed into some brutal distorted assault on power chords, yet it still sounded messy and beautiful at the same time. I'd NEVER heard anything quite like that. And those vocals, they were so strange, but interesting.
Later on that week at the record store, searching around I came across the album, even the Cover Art was mysterious and intriguing. I had to get it, see what was contained in the other songs!
The album didn't leave my stereo, or headphones, for about 5 months. It was all I listened to. And, it wasn't that I was obsessed with the music or the band, it was just so DAMN interesting after each listen. Each of these songs has so many different layers and elements that you just don't catch with only a few listens. The songs are almost like little operas with time changes, ups and downs, different emotions contained, and each song bridges almost perfectly into the next. You just can't put it on for one song, it'll suck you right into the next one. Sometimes with a haunting little interlude.
I think one of the main reasons for my curiosity with this album was that I would consistently listen to it with headphones, bringing me closer to the sounds and atmospheres that the album contains. One of the legendary thing about this album is that it has SO MANY layered guitar parts, so as a guitarist it makes for a very exhausting listening experience (see "Silver F*%K"), trying to figure out each part and layer.
Of all the songs on the album "Cherub Rock" is probably going to always remain my personal favorite, for all the reason listed above. The guitar lines on this song, I feel, are some of the best the nineties had to offer, and the drum intro gives the album a perfect start. Plus, it's just the 1st song I heard when i put the album on for the 1st time, and it had a huge musical impact on me, so I'm a little biased toward it I guess.
"Mayonaise" is a VERY close second, if anything because of the dramatic changes in the song throughout it's run. It kind of comes back to what drew me into the song "Today", it starts out with a very good clean guitar line, that actually goes on for quite a while, it appears to be a slower ballad type song. Then half way through, somebody kicks up the volume, slams the distortion peddle, and BAM magic happens, the song turns into something completely different, yet it fit's perfectly together. Which in a way is a good description of the entire album.
I assume that "Siamese Dream" has worked it's way into pretty much any rock/alternative music listeners collection. If it hasn't go for it, you wont be disappointed, and if you are, give it a second spin, maybe with headphones, and concentrate on what it actually happening in the structure of these songs.
Billy Corgan and The Smashing Pumkins made some fantastic albums after developing "Siamese Dream", it's unfair to compare those to this one because each one is it's own musical statement. However, I will say this, I dont think that any of the other ones have quite the same lasting musical impact as this one though.
When I bought this album back in the nineties I was a 60' and 70's classic rock kid, nothing but the oldies, modern music just didn't interest me that much. I had my reasons, but that's not the point here on this review. Anyway, one day flipping through channels I came across the promo video for the song "Today", and something happened. I put the remote down and just listened....stunned. THAT GUITAR SOUND!! It started out so pretty with the intro, and then it transformed into some brutal distorted assault on power chords, yet it still sounded messy and beautiful at the same time. I'd NEVER heard anything quite like that. And those vocals, they were so strange, but interesting.
Later on that week at the record store, searching around I came across the album, even the Cover Art was mysterious and intriguing. I had to get it, see what was contained in the other songs!
The album didn't leave my stereo, or headphones, for about 5 months. It was all I listened to. And, it wasn't that I was obsessed with the music or the band, it was just so DAMN interesting after each listen. Each of these songs has so many different layers and elements that you just don't catch with only a few listens. The songs are almost like little operas with time changes, ups and downs, different emotions contained, and each song bridges almost perfectly into the next. You just can't put it on for one song, it'll suck you right into the next one. Sometimes with a haunting little interlude.
I think one of the main reasons for my curiosity with this album was that I would consistently listen to it with headphones, bringing me closer to the sounds and atmospheres that the album contains. One of the legendary thing about this album is that it has SO MANY layered guitar parts, so as a guitarist it makes for a very exhausting listening experience (see "Silver F*%K"), trying to figure out each part and layer.
Of all the songs on the album "Cherub Rock" is probably going to always remain my personal favorite, for all the reason listed above. The guitar lines on this song, I feel, are some of the best the nineties had to offer, and the drum intro gives the album a perfect start. Plus, it's just the 1st song I heard when i put the album on for the 1st time, and it had a huge musical impact on me, so I'm a little biased toward it I guess.
"Mayonaise" is a VERY close second, if anything because of the dramatic changes in the song throughout it's run. It kind of comes back to what drew me into the song "Today", it starts out with a very good clean guitar line, that actually goes on for quite a while, it appears to be a slower ballad type song. Then half way through, somebody kicks up the volume, slams the distortion peddle, and BAM magic happens, the song turns into something completely different, yet it fit's perfectly together. Which in a way is a good description of the entire album.
I assume that "Siamese Dream" has worked it's way into pretty much any rock/alternative music listeners collection. If it hasn't go for it, you wont be disappointed, and if you are, give it a second spin, maybe with headphones, and concentrate on what it actually happening in the structure of these songs.
Billy Corgan and The Smashing Pumkins made some fantastic albums after developing "Siamese Dream", it's unfair to compare those to this one because each one is it's own musical statement. However, I will say this, I dont think that any of the other ones have quite the same lasting musical impact as this one though.
