RATING: 98/100. NEAR PERFECTION.
'Siamese Dream' is the opposite of a sophomore slump album.
This album was not without struggle - as there was a lot of turmoil in both the recording of the album and the lives of the people involved. There was a lot going on at once, and there was added pressure to make an album that would really stick after the band was hailed as "the next Nirvana".
"Billy [Corgan] and I raised 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."
This leap into a new yet familiar direction and the hard schedule worked out in their favor heavily. Not only is this an incredibly well made album, it was received extraordinarily well and would go on to be certified 4x Platinum. This album helped to make a bigger name for the band and to make them a more mainstream rock band. The success of this album was a huge accomplishment for both the band and the genre.
The lyrical content on this album was more reflective and personal to the struggles Billy Corgan was going through at the time. He was looking to find musical perfection in his work on this album and it led to stress and disruptions in the studio. The members of the band were fighting and the schedule they were under was hectic.
Eventually, it all came together.
The sound for this album was one of the most important factors in its creation. It had to be perfect and they were looking for an exact, specific sound to be achieved. I don't think any other band could make an album quite like this one. I personally prefer the heavier songs by the band, but the slow and soft ones are dreamy and all sorts of mesmerizing.
This album has a sound you can get lost in. The soundscapes of the album are rich and dreamy, and the vocal performances are wonderful. The overall atmosphere created by this album was done to sheer perfection - you can hear the work that went in.
They were serious about wanting this album to sound a certain way and they knocked it out of the park. There will never be another album quite like 'Siamese Dream' outside of their discography. The sound of this album is familiar while being wonderfully unique to the band and who they are.
'Siamese Dream' wound up being behind schedule and 250 thousand dollars over budget, but it was worth the final result and sound of the album. You couldn't get something like this anywhere else.
There are elements on this album that you simply won't hear on any other albums. There is an incredibly impressive amount of layering and the album comes together beautifully with all of the deep sonic elements. The instrumentals are absolutely breathtaking and the strings on 'Disarm' were a very pleasant surprise. There are things on this album that you wouldn't expect for a grunge album - but this is so much more than grunge.
I was worried initially that this album was too long, but the runtime goes by quick with an album as good as this one. It's such a genuinely enjoyable album that has some wonderfully serene and soft songs on it - this is music made to make you feel.
This album deserves it's own genre with how wonderfully serene it is. The soundscapes of this album are intricate and rich - holding so much depth and wonderful concepts in each track and each beat, strum, and sound.
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