- Audio CD (23 May 1994)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Original recording reissued
- Label: Hut
- ASIN: B000000W6F
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 14,210 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. I Am One |
| 2. Siva |
| 3. Rhinoceros |
| 4. Bury Me |
| 5. Crush |
| 6. Suffer |
| 7. Snail |
| 8. Tristessa |
| 9. Window Paine |
| 10. Daydream |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Upon the release of Gish--the group's debut--in the summer of 1991, more than one rock aficionado hailed the Smashing Pumpkins as the best band to come out of Chicago since Ministry. A bold statement, yes, but one backed up by Billy Corgan's Hendrix-like riffs and searing signature guitar tone. Intriguing songwriting is evidenced from the start as well, with the driving, amped-up rock of "I Am One", "Siva", and "Tristessa" contrasted with the soothingly eerie psychedelic flavour of "Rhinoceros" and "Window Paine". Gish predates the band's movement towards the loop-based electronic sounds heard in their late-1990s works, yet the seeds for this transition are definitely apparent. Electro guru Tricky even sampled the backbeat from "Suffer" in the tributary "Pumpkin" on his sex-soaked Maxinquaye. Butch Vig (Garbage) shows off his chops as producer and cultivates signature dramatic moods on Gish, which helped put the Smashing Pumpkins on the map as one of the most important alt-rock bands of the '90s--much to the delight of the decade's disenfranchised youth. --Brad Zinser
Review
"All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure," Enoch Powell once observed. The same laws apply to pop lives, of course. Just compare the current dispiriting demise of R.E.M. with the glorious prime-time swansong of The Smiths, or contrast the adulation of Kurt Cobain – forever 27 – with the scorn heaped on his rival Billy Corgan, whose ongoing self indulgence and increasingly haphazard music have so tarnished the reputation of The Smashing Pumpkins.
Which is why this lavish re-issue of the band’s debut is a perfect opportunity to rediscover why his band were, for a while, so exciting and absurdly gifted. Formed shortly after Guns N' Roses had exploded into global fame, and releasing 1991’s Gish a few months before Nirvana’s Nevermind wrestled US rock in a new direction, it would be easy to see the Pumpkins as a mutant trapped between triumphalist hair metal and neurotic grunge. That would explain the album’s tussle between thunderous rock bravado and squealing guitar solos on songs like I Am One, with the soul-baring neurosis of reveries like Suffer.
However, this theory shortchanges Gish’s lovely complexity, and overlooks the sheer range of Corgan’s musical tastes and the outrageous raw talent with which he channelled them. The ghost of UK shoegazing is also present in the narcotic throb of Window Paine, while Corgan’s psychedelic leanings are given full rein in the shifting, shimmering sweetness of Crush.
The extra tracks included on the re-issue are further evidence of Corgan’s fanboy obsessions, taking in full-blooded prog-rock on the sprawling Starla, abandoned to shoegazing FX-freak-out on Honeyspider or revelling in numbskull-riffed sleaze-rock on Plume. There’s even Beatlesy acoustic whimsy on Jesus Is the Sun, though this is one of those hidden treasures that could happily have stayed hidden.
Given these warring musical instincts, it’s remarkable in retrospect how coherent Gish is, how confidently it shifts between the guitar-revving of Siva and the soft seductions of Rhinoceros. It’s also a surprisingly small and subtle album. Corgan’s ambitions would soon vault the band to the glorious heights of Siamese Dream, a record as ambitious and beautiful as anything else released in the 1990s, and then on into the bloated follies that would destroy this loveliest version of his band. Captured here, however, the band is still full of the future, and as fascinating and beguiling as such things always are.
--Jaime Gill
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Currently listening to disc 2 of this set which blows away the original album.
If you love the amazing 'Siamese Dream' you have to get this set as disc 2 has the same extreme energy and playability and also brings new life to the original album.
The perfectionist production makes the music on this disc sound like it was recorded this week.
I know the DVD disc 3 will not disappoint.
Any Pumpkins/Corgan fan needs to get this and the Siamese Dream set.
Amazon is currently the cheapest place to buy.
Get it onto your Xmas or New Year gift list now!
If you love the amazing 'Siamese Dream' you have to get this set as disc 2 has the same extreme energy and playability and also brings new life to the original album.
The perfectionist production makes the music on this disc sound like it was recorded this week.
I know the DVD disc 3 will not disappoint.
Any Pumpkins/Corgan fan needs to get this and the Siamese Dream set.
Amazon is currently the cheapest place to buy.
Get it onto your Xmas or New Year gift list now!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
What may be said of The Smashing Pumpkins which has not already been said? The band's debut "Gish", while being a decade old retains its energy and vigour tenaciously. Basically, this album is one of psychedelic rock, from the excellent "I am one" to "Tristessa". However, the aspect which appeals most is the effortless way in which Billy Corgan oscilattes between hard rock and dreamy numbers, e.g "Crush". It is only sad that such a talented band came to be eclipsed by others such as Nirvana. So for all those new to the Pumpkins sound, from this album expect a rough ride, with grinding guitar riffs,dive bombing solos and truly some of the best drumming ever to grace a rock band, courtesy of Jimmy Chamberlin. If you like rock, you'll like this.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I am not a 'Pumpkins Fan'. Being a little old for this, I have spent most of my adult life filling in the gaps on 60s and 70s, which I still believe was the golden age of rock music. However, one day was one day when I decided to check the Pumpkins out. And I started at the beginning - with 'Gish'. And gosh, what a find Gish was! I simply love this album, and liken it to U2's "Achtung Baby". Beneath the sometimes harsh and apparently hectic overlays and the most exquisite rhythms and lyrics. This is so rich, complex, so satisfying in the long term. And what I like most is that I find it difficult to 'remember' this music; so that each time I listen, it is as if I re-discover it. And so the enjoyment is repeated upon each listening. Subsequently bought "Siamese Dream" & "Mellon Collie...", but sorry - gish remains the masterpiece for me. Bravo Smashing Pumpkins!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
While siting on a fence..
On one side you had Nirvana's Nevermind, while the other side was Pearl Jam's Ten. I was the one who sat on the fence listening to Gish, and I am still on that fence. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Robert J. Bloem
Gish remastered review
stunning sound on this remaster, also plenty of material and other demos to keep you occupied. DVD is of an old concert and really shows the band as amatuerish just starting out... Read more
Published 4 months ago by steve
So Happy :)
I'd never really listened to the Smashing Pumpkins before, and I was really excited for the album to arrive. It's very guitar driven, so I absolutely loved it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Shadows-Smile
Underated debut album
Gish is the debut album from Smashing Pumpkins, originally released in 1991. Like many I didn't come across Smashing Pumpkins until there second album, "Siamese Dream". Read more
Published on 30 July 2006 by P. Roddis
Just smashing
They're better known for the sprawling double-disc "Mellon Collie And the Infinite Sadness," but the Smashing Pumpkins first leaped onto the scene with "Gish. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2006 by E. A Solinas
A Definite Winner
I bought this album on the strength of seeing a video ( Rhinoceros ) I had recorded from some Heavy Metal programme on the telly at about three in the morning . Read more
Published on 25 May 2004 by DocBhoy
A flying start
This is an impressive debut, I bought "Mary, Star of the Sea" by Zwan and enjoyed it so I decided to investigate the Smashing Pumpkins. Read more
Published on 8 May 2004 by David J. Kelly
Best Debut Album The World Has Ever Seen.
This album is sheer brilliance from start to finish. It is not as accessible as Siamese Dream but that makes it all the better. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2003 by "tristessa25"
fantastic....
First released in 1990, the then little know'n band 'the smashing pumpkins' burst straight out of chicago illinois and became the biggest new grunge rock band. Read more
Published on 20 May 2002 by "tristessa560"
I just want to get there faster!
Gish is the debut you never expected to be true. It somehow portrays a band that will unquestionably develop and yet it is still wrapped in skillful lyrics, soaked in remarkable... Read more
Published on 19 July 2000
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