Corgan remains a genius—but genius without restraint becomes noise.
Siamese Dream , Mellon Collie , Gish , Adore For deep fans: Oceania , Machina Avoid: Cyr , Atum , Zeitgeist smashing pumpkins discography in order
Sound: Psychedelic dream-rock meets alt-metal. Review: Before Nevermind , there was Gish . Billy Corgan, James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky, and Jimmy Chamberlin exploded from Chicago with a debut that married shoegaze swirls to hard rock thunder. Tracks like “Rhinoceros” and “Siva” show virtuosic restraint, while “I Am One” announces Corgan’s Napoleon complex via guitar heroics. Production by Butch Vig is pristine but raw enough to capture a band already too ambitious for their own good. Grade: 8/10 – An underrated cornerstone of early ‘90s alternative rock. 2. Siamese Dream (1993) Sound: Layered, orchestral guitar rock + confessional angst. Review: The masterpiece. Born from band turmoil and Corgan’s depression, this album is a 62-minute catharsis of multi-tracked guitars (“Cherub Rock,” “Geek U.S.A.”) and heartbreaking vulnerability (“Disarm,” “Mayonaise”). Jimmy Chamberlin’s drumming is inhumanly tight; Corgan’s vocals—nasal, wounded, messianic—became the defining voice of fragile masculinity in grunge’s shadow. Every song is a monument. Grade: 10/10 – No skips. Essential. 3. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) Sound: Baroque, metal, electronic, folk, prog – a 28-song universe. Review: The band’s white whale and generational touchstone. A double album that shouldn’t work but does, spanning lullabies (“Tonight, Tonight”), nu-metal prototypes (“Bullet with Butterfly Wings”), piano dirges (“To Forgive”), and epic space-rock (“Thru the Eyes of Ruby”). Corgan’s ambition outpaced his editing, but the highs are celestial. Chamberlin is a jazz-fusion beast. The ballad “1979” became their unlikely pop legacy. Overlong? Yes. Overwhelming? Intentionally. Grade: 9.5/10 – A flawed, glorious behemoth. 4. Adore (1998) Sound: Goth-tinged electronic folk, drum machines, bereft balladry. Review: The gut-punch pivot. After Chamberlin was fired (following touring keyboardist’s overdose) and Corgan’s mother died, Adore ditched guitars for synths and drum loops. “Ava Adore” is icy and seductive; “For Martha” is a raw eulogy. Fans rejected the absence of rock, but time has revealed its bravery. It’s their most emotionally naked album, but also their most meandering. A cult classic for those who prefer scars to riffs. Grade: 8/10 – Misunderstood then, revered now. 5. Machina/The Machines of God (2000) Sound: Glam-rock, industrial, digital distortion, concept-album murk. Review: A confused masterpiece. Intended as a rock opera about a band led by a messianic figure (Corgan as “Zero”), Machina has some of their heaviest riffs (“The Everlasting Gaze”) and prettiest melodies (“Stand Inside Your Love”). But the production is brickwalled, the narrative incomprehensible, and the second half loses focus. A victim of label meddling and Corgan’s burnout. The eventual reissue Machina II (given away for free online) suggests a better album inside. Grade: 6.5/10 – Noble failure. – The Breakup & Zwan (2000–2004) – The Pumpkins implode. Corgan forms Zwan (one solid album, Mary Star of the Sea ), then goes solo ( TheFutureEmbrace ). Skip here for completionists. 6. Zeitgeist (2007) Sound: Political hard rock, return-to-form posturing. Review: The reunion (Corgan + Chamberlin, new bassist Ginger Reyes) arrives with clenched fists. “Doomsday Clock” and “Tarantula” are satisfyingly angry, but the songwriting is one-note. Corgan’s lyrics trade vulnerability for vague anti-Bush slogans. Missing D’arcy and Iha’s melodic grounding, the album feels like a Corgan solo project with better drumming. Not bad, but forgettable. Grade: 5/10 – Loud but hollow. 7. Oceania (2012) Sound: Neo-prog, streamlined alt-rock, faux- Siamese gloss. Review: Corgan re-forms the band (again) and delivers a “album within an album” as part of the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project. Surprisingly coherent. “The Celestials” soars; “Panopticon” nods to Mellon Collie ’s sprawl. For the first time since Adore , Corgan sounds like he’s writing songs, not manifestos. It’s their best post-reunion work—a modest, focused triumph. Grade: 7.5/10 – The sleeper hit of their late career. 8. Monuments to an Elegy (2014) Sound: Short, synth-rock, Tommy Lee on drums. Review: Brief (33 minutes) and punchy, with Corgan embracing digital textures and pop structures. “Being Beige” is lovely; “One and All” is a riff-monster. But the album feels like sketches, not monuments. Chamberlin’s absence (due to addiction) is felt—Tommy Lee is technically fine but lacks swing. Grade: 6/10 – Lightweight but pleasant. 9. Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018) Sound: Nostalgia-core, reunion of original members (Iha + Chamberlin back). Review: The “classic” lineup (minus D’arcy) returns, but the magic doesn’t. “Solara” and “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)” recycle past glories without urgency. Corgan’s voice has deepened and lost its frail edge. Pleasant, competent, and utterly unnecessary. Grade: 5/10 – Fan service with no service. 10. Cyr (2020) Sound: Synth-pop, New Order worship, 20 songs of samey BPM. Review: Corgan goes full disco-goth. Cyr is Adore without the pain—vampy, robotic, and monotonous. “The Colour of Love” and “Confessions of a Dopamine Addict” are catchy, but at 72 minutes, it’s exhausting. The lack of guitar dynamics and Chamberlin’s reduced role make it feel like a Corgan home demo marathon. Grade: 4/10 – Admirably weird, badly edited. 11. Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (2023) Sound: Overproduced, narratively dense, self-referential. Review: A 33-song sequel to Mellon Collie and Machina that nobody asked for. Corgan attempts a grand sci-fi opera about a rock star’s isolation. There are moments of beauty (“Beguiled,” “The Good in Goodbye”) but hours of ponderous synths and declaimed lyrics. Chamberlin is largely on a leash. It’s the work of an artist with zero editing instinct and total control. Exhausting and occasionally sublime. Grade: 4.5/10 – For completists only. Final Verdict The Smashing Pumpkins are the most frustrating great band of the ‘90s . Their peak ( Siamese Dream → Mellon Collie ) rivals any band of the era. Their post-2000 output is a cautionary tale of unchecked ego, lost collaborators, and diminishing returns. Billy Corgan, James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky, and Jimmy