Day 0736 - Siamese Dream

Smashing Pumpkins "Siamese Dream" (1993) - got it

I had an odd introduction to the Pumpkins.  My brother showed me the music video for "Tonight Tonight" and (being a Beatles fan who didn't really like "heavy" music) when I heard the string-backed alt-rock with a slightly nasally vocal I liked what I heard and was making connections in my mind to Lennon.   As we lived in a small town with no music store, I ordered the Pumpkins' first two albums "Gish" and "Siamese Dream" on cassette through a mail order catalogue.   That ended up being a slightly wrong (yet so right) move as neither album had "Tonight Tonight" and both were packed with loud swirls of distorted guitar.

Having shelled out the pocket money to get them, I pushed ahead listening to them, and pretty quickly they started to get under my skin.

Reading up on it, following the punishing tour schedule for psychedelic sludgey riff-fest Gish, the band started working on Siamese Dream.  Billy Corgan was driven in his vision to combine the heaviness of Black Sabbath, the psychedelia of Pink Floyd and the musicianship of Led Zeppelin. 

Arguably he succeed.  The music is a noisy wave of guitar woven over hummable melodies and overlaid with some wailing lead guitar parts.   The album has a bit of variety between the noisy guitar-cyclone of "Silverf*ck" to the aptly named ballad "Sweet Sweet" with its clean, chiming guitars.   There is a vaguely cinematic feel to a lot of the songs, whether it's the guitar-heavy "Geek USA", the melodic closer "Luna" or the slow build of "Soma".   Yet across its different tracks and different styles, the album (and this is true of Gish too) has its own internal logic, so that the songs sound like they belong together.

There has been some debate as to how much of the album featured guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy with some rumours putting it that Billy recorded everything himself, but drummer Jimmy Chamberlain is certainly present.   The punishing drums of Chamberlain have the musicality of jazz with the force and heaviness of metal and are a defining feature of the Pumpkins' sound.  Chamberlain's issues with narcotics started to interfere with the recording, with him occasionally vanishing during the recording process.  He was pushed towards rehab, though would continue to suffer addiction for a few more years.

Day 0735 - Wild Wood

Paul Weller "Wild Wood" (1993)

Weller had already made a decent contribution to the British music world, having been part of the Jam and the Style Council.  That latter band's star began to wane, until their record label refused to release their last album and the band disbanded.

After taking a year or so off music, Weller toured for a while as 'the Paul Weller Movement' which allowed him to revisit some of the catalogue of his two bands as well as showcasing some new music.  This tour was followed by a self-titled solo album.

With his solo career up and running, Paul released his second album 'Wild Wood.  It almost feels like a compendium of late 60s/early 70s sounds, with hints of Beatles-esque pop, Neil Young rock, Bowie glam and even a touch of Hendrix funk with a few bits of electronic/studio trickery thrown in on occasion to give the music that point of difference from its influences.

It's another one of those albums where I think any one of these songs in isolation would be an enjoyable listen, but for some reason, each time I listened through the album (4 or so times) my interest would wane by the last quarter.

Day 0734 - Suede

Suede "Suede" (1993) - got it

Suede was started by couple Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann.   They recruited other members, even having an audition with the drummer from the Smiths (an influence on the pair).  They eventually enlisted drummer Simon Gilbert via future 'Office' creator Ricky Gervais.

Anderson and Frischmann broke up and Frischmann started dating Blur's Damon Albarn.  The band didn't survive the break with Frischmann leaving to form Elastica  while Anderson moved forward with Suede.

Something about Anderson's voice reminds me of the Dunedin sound, made famous in the late 70s and 80s.  The music though has that more 90s sound of distortion and indie rock with touches of leftover washy shoegazey guitar flavouring things slightly.

I initially bought this album on the strength of catchy single "Animal Nitrate" though I honestly don't listen to the album much now, it does still have some great tracks like the equally catchy "The Drowners" and the beautiful album closer, piano-based "The Next Life".

Day 0733 - Dry

PJ Harvey "Dry" (1992)

Things that I learned doing this list - number... whatever:  PJ Harvey, like Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper, used to be the name of a band as well as its titular lead singer.

Polly Jean had been raised by parents who exposed her to different styles of music.  She'd played in the ensemble Bologne and the folk duo Polekats.  She contributed saxophone, guitar and backing vocals to the group Automatic Dlamini.   During that time she had been honing her own songwriting talents, until finally she was ready to start her own band, along with two members of Automatic Dlamini.

After two critically well-received singles, PJ Harvey released her/their first album.   The music is stripped-down, raw rock with PJ (the person) hissing, howling, wailing and growling over the top.  There's noisy guitar, there are parts that are just stripped down to bass and vocals, but it doesn't just sound like indie-rock, you get a feeling that some of PJ's other musical background in folk, pop and jazz are floating around just below the surface.

The album laid down the gauntlet that has seen PJ (MBE)(the person) take up and maintain 'musical icon' status.

Day 0732 - Devotional Songs

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party "Devotional Songs" (1992)

The list yet again throws up a little surprise.  In amongst the grunge, hip hop and electronic albums populating much of this part of the 1001; suddenly an album of devotional ragas sung in a passionate, strong voice with a fantastic range.

I would say that the only annoyance was that this was that it was another of those albums that was hard to track down.  I had to piece it together using a collection of youtube clips.  At one point I accidentally clicked the wrong link and ended up listening to a full uninterrupted half hour performance of one of these songs.   It's a credit to the music (a) that I didn't notice it had been going on that long, (b) that it held my interest throughout, and (c) that Fateh and his group seem to be able to maintain their intensity across a half hour of non-stop music!

Day 0731 - Henry's Dream

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Henry's Dream" (1992) - got it

After internal conflicts, the Birthday Party broke up.  Members Nick Cave and Mick Harvey put together a pretty impressive collection of talent with Barry Adamson, Blixa Bargeld (Einstürzende Neubauten) and JG Thirwell (Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia etc.).  The line-up eventually pared down somewhat and started cranking out the albums, evolving towards the Bad Seeds' particular blend of delta-blues, murder ballads and goth-gospel.

"Henry's Dream" was their seventh release.  Reportedly Cave didn't enjoy the recording process for it himself, but the result is pretty arresting.   It's like some giant apocalyptic catastrophe hits during the pulsing, unrelenting acoustic first track, with its dark imagery building to include "lynch mobs/death squads/babies being born without brains".  In the aftermath of this event there are those cracked, dry and broken ("Brother my cup is empty"), wandering around the world ("When I first came to town"), but there is also the chance for redeeming love ("Straight to you").

I love the bad seeds, but I have to say that a few of their albums (this one included) tend to lag a bit towards the end.  I find the last couple of tracks to be less interesting than what has preceded them.  Not bad, just not up to the standard of the rest of the album.

Day 0730 - Dirt

Alice in Chains "Dirt" (1992)

The band had been formed by guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney.  Cantrell had been at his friend Layne Staley to come on as their vocalist while Staley was trying to get Cantrell as guitarist for his funk band.

Eventually the funk band disbanded and Alice in Chains was solidified.  Elements of funk showed up in their debut "Facelift" which was otherwise already fairly well formed with their signature mix of blues rock, chugging riffs and Staley and Cantrell's vocal harmonies.

The band followed up their debut with an acoustic EP (which they would also do after "Dirt") before coming back to their rock sound with "Dirt".
 
While the vocal harmonies are still present and there's melody to be had, these are some of the heaviest, most punishing riffs laid down by the band.  The lyrics are fairly dark, with the subject of addiction featuring largely, which is not surprising given that Staley would die of a drug overdose 10 years later.

Some great tracks on here with "Would" (featured in Cameron Crowe's "Singles" film), "Rain When I Die", and the one that first pricked up my ears towards AIC, Rooster.