On this day in 1993, Smashing Pumpkins released their second studio album, Siamese Dream. It debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200, catapulting Billy Corgan & co. to mainstream success and cementing them as a significant group in alternative music.
Siamese Dream 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.
Rolling Stone called the album “a strong, multidimensional extension of Gish that confirms that Smashing Pumpkins are neither sellouts nor one offs.”
Select praised the album as “the most grand-scale, expansively-passionate blasts of music you’ll hear this year. It would be hard for anyone to top this one.”
Entertainment Weekly applauded the band for living up to industry expectations of being the “next Nirvana”: “In aiming for more than just another alternative guitar record, Smashing Pumpkins may have stumbled upon a whole new stance: slackers with a vision.”
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.”
Siamese Dream has been frequently included in lists of 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.
Siamese Dream was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
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.
Which three are your faves from Siamese Dream?
💧 You might also like RADIOHEAD: CREEP.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Featured image via Structures Capable of Joy.
