the smashing pumpkins' first and best effort

With intricately crafted songs and the notable musical prowess of both lead guitarist and vocalist Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the Smashing Pumpkins' first album Gish is one of the finest rock records ever released. Although it is fairly derivative in its 70's rock sound, the record manages to infuse the styles of such giants as Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix with more melody and a higher degree of structure.

The music on Gish is absolutely excellent. The songs range from all out rock ("I Am One", "Siva", "Bury Me") to quiet and pretty ("Crush", "Suffer") to a mixture of the two ("Rhinoceros", "Snail"). Corgan and Chamberlin are in full effect on all tracks. Corgan displays the raw guitar skillz he only hints at on later records, producing several fast and furious solos and several slower, melodic ones. Chamberlin's drums are all over the album, even the softer, quieter songs. With Gish, Chamberlin leaves no doubt that he is a serious contender for the title "Best Drummer of All Time." And unlike John Bonham, he doesn't require a 14-minute solo to prove it!

Corgan's weakness on this record is the slower songs; some can get a little boring. However, they are not without merit: "Crush" has vivid, surreal lyrics, and "Suffer" has an interesting chord progression. Additionally, the production is uneven. In some places it's fine, but in other places it can sound somewhat flat--not intense enough to do justice to the music.

This album is also a fascinating listen if you're familiar with the later multi-platinum Pumpkins records like Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. One can see here the beginnings of what would become the Pumpkins' signature style: melodic, meticulously produced songs incorporating sudden changes from soft to loud. "Rhinoceros" and "Snail", particularly, would not be out of place on any of the later Pumpkins releases (with the exception of Adore). It is also evident what Corgan moved away from: the pentatonic-riff-based blistering rock songs like "I Am One", "Siva", and "Bury Me." Would that he had stayed with this type of material, since he was incredibly talented at both writing and performing it.