Recorded in the wake of two significant tragedies, 1998’s Adore was not the album audiences were expecting from the Smashing Pumpkins. The Grammy Award-winning alternative rock band scored a major success with their 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but following the death of front man Billy Corgan’s mother and a dual heroin overdose that cost both the life of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and drummer Matt Chamberlin’s membership in the band, Corgan and bandmates James Iha (guitars) and D’arcy Wretzky (bass) decided to dig a little deeper on its highly anticipated follow-up. The resulting album was a significantly darker, more electronic and acoustically arranged record that eschewed the grandiose rock and angsty grunge posturing that began to define the group throughout the early to mid nineties.
James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky, and Billy Corgan
Opening tune “To Sheila” quickly establishes the Pumpkins’ striking new sound: chirping crickets, softly plucked campfire acoustic guitar, and a hushed, tender vocal delivery from Corgan. “Lately I just can’t seem to believe,” he croons gently over a reverb drenched banjo interlude, “I discard my friends to change the scenery.” That pastoral, gothic romanticism explodes into the record’s first single, “Ava Adore”; synth textures interweave with Iha’s Technicolor waves of open guitar chords and the return of Corgan’s nasally “rat in a cage” vocal timbre. Second single “Perfect” builds upon the mellow electronica of Mellon Collie’s “1979”, presenting a tale of confused lovers at a crossroads via tremolo-drenched guitar lines, tight breakbeats, and layer upon layer of keyboards.
The menacing “Daphne Descends” is a melancholic cloud of E-bow drenched electric guitar and synthesized ambience. “And to the winding vines the pretty boys dive,” Corgan’s processed voice intones, “And through the pinhole stars into the shadow mind.” The song’s gritty electronic atmosphere segues softly into the gentle 6/8 sway of “Once Upon A Time”, a warm blanket swirl of psychedelic keyboards and acoustic guitar. “Mother, I hope you know that I miss you so,” Corgan sings earnestly, “Time has ravaged on my soul.” The trip-hop gloom of “Tear” paints an eerie portrait of death and loneliness; “Heaven seemed insane ‘cause heaven is to blame for taking you away,” Corgan snarls over ringing drums, fuzzy brushstrokes of electric guitar and an ominous string loop.
The heartbreaking electric piano ballad “Crestfallen” is a tearful ode to infinite sadness featuring Corgan at his most open and fragile; “Who am I to deserve your love and sympathy?” he ponders, “You were never meant to belong to me.” The galloping beats and synth textures of “Appels + Oranjes” and the gently sputtering hip-hop loops of “Pug” are Adore at its most inorganic, building upon moody and insular keyboard and drum parts. Alternately, the soft acoustic guitar textures of “The Tale of Dusty & Pistol Pete” opens the record’s minimalist, emotionally stirring third act with a soft bang.
The dark grand piano majesty of “Annie-Dog” and echoing electric guitar textures on “Shame” swathes the listener with a minimalist, gently executed sense of sadness only hinted at on previous Pumpkins albums. “You’re gonna walk so far, you’re gonna wonder who you are,” Corgan sighs over Iha’s ringing guitar lines, segueing into the moodily soaring “Behold! The Night Mare”. “I can’t go on stealing roses from your grave,” Corgan croons gently over engulfing layers of guitar and processed studio noise. On the tersely emotional ode to Corgan’s mother, “For Martha”, the alt-rock icon sheds all of his rage and bares his heart over a lightly bouncing piano. “Long horses we are born, creatures more than torn, mourning our way home,” he belts out over a crescendo of processed guitar and buzzing synths.
The gut wrenching piano melancholia of closing tunes “Blank Page” and “17” end Adore in emotionally stirring, deeply moving territory. “Take a day, plant some trees,” Corgan sings to a lost love, “May they shade you from me… May your children play beneath.”
Perhaps too gloomy and serious for fans of the band’s earlier grunge rock, Adore was a critical and commercial disappointment upon release. Immensely underrated, the record has gone on to achieve a somewhat cult following amongst fans for the heart on its sleeve lyrics and forward-looking production and arrangement. Though the Pumpkins would return in full rock glory on 2000’s Machina/The Machines of God, Adore remains their most emotional, personal, and moving piece of work to date.
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