As many know… My favorite band in the world is The Smashing Pumpkins.
After years of their creative property being held legally by their former label, The Smashing Pumpkins have finally regained legal rights to everything and anything Pumpkins.
This has allowed the band the ability to alter/distribute their music as they see fit. They can sell it on their own or give it away for free. The result of this has spawned “The Smashing Pumpkins Record Club" or SPRC which has so far given away five free tracks. These consist of demos, unreleased, and alternate versions of previously recorded material. Even the most hardcore bootlegger may not have some of these tracks, and even if you do, the quality of these “official” releases are way better.
The Pumpkins were also able to get their hands on the original recording session tapes that all of their hit albums were recorded on, updated and remastered all of them. They will all be released spaced out over the next couple of years.
Today was the release of their first 2 albums, “Gish” and “Siamese Dream”.
As someone who has heard both of these albums a billion times over I could tell immediately the difference in quality. I feel like they have a cleaner sound, they’re louder, the drums were brought up more in the mix and rightfully so.
Each album box set was $25 which I think is a steal when you consider what you get for it.
Each album comes with 3 discs.
DISC 1: The original album remastered
DISC 2: Remastered B-sides, unreleased tracks, and demos from the era
DISC 3: A live DVD from The Metro in Chicago from the album’s respective era.
It comes with a lyric book featuring liner notes from Billy Corgan for each song. It also comes with a multitude of cards featuring photos/artwork from that era. All in a CD size cardboard box with a shiny top featuring an alternate color album cover.
They do sell just the remastered album on it’s own for $12 or so, but why not spend $10 more for the rest of it?
If you’re a hardcore fan this is a must have without question. If you’re just starting to get into the Pumpkins the remastered recordings are a great place to start.
There was a lot of hype coming into this release, and I feel the product lived up to it. Next up will be my favorite Pumpkins album “Melon Collie & The Infinite Sadness” and I can’t fuckin’ wait! Unfortunately I’m going to have to as it is not slated to come out till Fall of 12’.
T3 Rating: 5/5... Duh!
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