Smashing Pumpkins: Pisces Iscariot
It is testament to the prolific nature of Billy Corgan’s songwriting talent that, after only two full studio albums, there was more than enough extra material to make up a complete album of b-sides, outtakes and other odds and ends. Pisces Iscariot is just that: a collection of b-sides, outtakes and other songs that had otherwise been hard to find. Because of this, it lacks the ‘flow’ of songs whose components had been intended to be heard back-to-back in one place, but there’s no denying the quality of indvidual songs on offer here.
The album ranges from the tender, acoustic fare of the opener Soothe and the knee-trembling Stevie Nicks fan favourite Landslide to the fuzz guitar-laden rush of Frail and Bedazzled, Pissant and Hello Kitty Kat. The sound quality of the latter compared with their studio efforts (Corgan admits in the sleevenotes his settings had ‘destroyed the mix’ but didn’t want to re-record it) sums up the main shortcoming of this album: the cuts aren’t quite up to the standard of Siamese Dream or even Gish but it is still hard to see why they had to be left out in the first place.
The likes of Plume, Obscured and Whir would be respectable coming from any similar band, as would the psychadelic cover of the Animals’ Girl Named Sandoz, recorded on a very stressful day in a BBC Radio session. Blue and La Dolly Vita are very early indeed, but it is only fair that they should not be left in obscurity because they highlight how the band showed promise right from the beginning. Of course some songs, such as those from the now-discontinued Lull EP and one or two other b-sides were not included, but I suppose that you can’t have everything.
James Iha’s contributions, rare as they are, do get represented here though in the form of the tender Blew Away, in which his almost-whispered vocals offer a change from Corgan’s own distinctive delivery. The highlight though goes to Starla, a suitably Pumpkins-esque guitar epic that takes the loud-quiet-loud dynamic and a spectacular guitar solo that stretches the entire song out to just over eleven minutes. Although it is a just a compilation instead of a deliberately-arranged album, the Siamese Dream outtake Spaced winds the record down with sampled vocal snippets and atmospheric guitars.
In Summary
While it was originally intended to fill the gap between Siamese Dream and the grandeur of Mellon Collie…, Pisces Iscariot is a neatly packaged collection of songs that never deserved their places outside of the band’s studio back catalogue. It is by no means comprehensive but as also-rans and could’ve-beens go, this is a surprisingly impressive effort.
Tracklisting
- Soothe
- Frail and Bedazzled
- Plume
- Whirr
- Blew Away
- Pissant
- Hello Kitty Kat
- Obscured
- Landslide
- Starla
- Blue
- Girl Named Sandoz
- La Dolly Vita
- Spaced
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