Smashing Pumpkins are set to reissue their classic debut album, ‘Gish’ on vinyl for its 35th anniversary
The reissue will arrive on May 29th to coincide with the original release date 35 years ago in 1991. There will be multiple new variants of the album, The Smashing Pumpkins recorded ‘Gish’ with producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig at Smart Studios. Combining rock, metal, psychedelia, pop, and shoegaze, it was released on May 28th 1991 and went on to become one of the most successful independent releases of the decade.
“Gish” set Smashing Pumpkins apart from the grunge crowd. In Billy Corgan they had a frontman with instantly recognisable vocals – nasal and tangy, perfect for the insular, bratty lyrics he spat or cooed – and as capable of writing savage, bludgeoning riffs as he was massive choruses and dreamy, psychedelic diversions.
The 10-track album eventually went Platinum and featured songs including ‘I Am One’, ‘Siva’ and ‘Rhinoceros.’
Producer Butch Vig (months away from recording “Nevermind” with Nirvana) and powerhouse drummer Jimmy Chamberlin gave Corgan’s songs the heft they required (the singer apparently recorded most of the guitar and bass parts himself) and “Gish” became a sleeper hit, teeing the band up perfectly for the giant leap forward of 1993’s “Siamese Dream”.
Frontman Billy Corgan will be selling a colour vinyl housed in the original 1991 packaging via his ‘Madame ZuZu’ emporium. Other independent record stores will stock this too with the special edition also featuring “a limited-edition colour-way evoking the classic cover,” according to a statement. This will be pressed on 180-gram grey vinyl.
Fans will also be able to purchase a standard black 180-gram vinyl in the original 1991 packaging. Unsurprisingly, considering the arena-filling years that followed, Gish has been reissued regularly over the years. The most comprehensive treatment came in 2011, with a 2CD+DVD box set including the original album plus the 18-track “Trippin’ Through The Stars” B-sides, demos and outtakes collection alongside the “Live At The Metro, 1990” DVD.
It’s a shame then, that the 35th anniversary edition of “Gish” doesn’t include bonus material – perhaps they’re thinking fans are still getting through last year’s 8LP, 80-track “Machina” set.
The Smashing Pumpkins recently kicked off a seven-night takeover of Lyric Opera House in their Chicago hometown, at which they are reimagining ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ alongside a 60-piece house orchestra.
The band also recently released the 30th anniversary deluxe reissue of ‘Mellon Collie’, which included a 6LP package that offered over 80 minutes of unreleased audio from the album’s accompanying 1996 tour.
The reissue will arrive this May, almost 35 years to the day the original was released
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