Smashing Pumpkins… man, those guys were huge.
I first heard them in ’93 when Siamese Dream came out. “Today” and “Cherub Rock” were all over the radio and MTV. Billy Corgan had this big, dramatic voice and the guitars were massive. It wasn’t really Seattle grunge, but it still felt like part of that whole early-nineties explosion. I ended up buying the album and played it quite a bit.
I saw them live in ’94 at the Seattle Center Arena. The place was packed and the show was pretty intense. Billy was intense on stage — you could tell he took it all very seriously. They played a long set and the sound was huge. It wasn’t the same sweaty club energy as seeing Mudhoney or Soundgarden, but it was impressive in its own way.
They got massive really fast. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness came out in ’95 and it was everywhere — double album, huge production, sold millions. For a while it felt like you couldn’t escape them. A lot of the purist Seattle crowd looked down on them because they weren’t from here and they sounded more like arena rock than underground grunge. I get it, but I always thought that was a bit unfair. They made some really good music.