Formed in 1988 in Chicago by Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass guitar), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), The Smashing Pumpkins disavowed the punk ethic of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, developing quickly a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelia, prog, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica.
With Corgan as the group's primary songwriter with his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics, he shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as “anguished and bruised, straight from Billy Corgan's nightmares”. The Pumpkins broke into the mainstream with their second album, 1993’s Siamese Dream; the release reached No.10 on the Billboard chart and eventually sold over 5 million copies in the US alone. In support of the record the band toured extensively and performed for the cameras too on a number of occasions, largely playing ‘Unplugged’ and fully acoustic at such events.
This LP collects together a number of these acoustic performances, recorded for live transmission during 1993, which illustrates just how strong the Pumpkins’ compositions are, that in a stripped down live setting they have the same dynamic force as in their original studio versions. Bonus cuts here, feature a further acoustic performance from 1991, recorded while the band were promoting their debut, Gish.