Released:  June 2nd, 1998

Recorded:  December 1997 – March 1998

Genre:  Alternative

Record Label:  Virgin

Duration:  73:25

Producers:  Billy Corgan, Flood, Brad Wood

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Adore is One of My Favorites

Adore had a pretty tough go back in 1998, and even day stands as the pariah of the Pumpkins’ catalog.  (Well, people didn’t like Machina, Machina II, Zeitgeist, etc. either, but they were just ignored, not slammed.)  Anyway, while critics seemed to understand the magic packed into Adore, the fans had a really tough time latching on after Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.  It would seem that Billy Corgan himself sought to distance himself from the record; was he making excuses when he went on about what a mess his personal life was and how the band was falling apart, or was he trying to defend the record?  Perhaps one of his most telling remarks about the album was that he was “stuck on the idea that [he] needed to prove that [he] was artist, which is the death knell of any artist.”

This might be an oversimplification, but I think that one’s opinion of Adore will largely depend on how one felt about Mellon Collie.  Which parts of Mellon Collie were your favorite?  Was it the angsty, loud, snarling set of songs like “Jellybelly,” “Zero,” “Fuck You,” and “Tales of a Scorched Earth”?  Or was it the mellower, more melodic collection of songs like “Beautiful,” “By Starlight,” and “Lily”?  The softer songs would be a pretty good indicator of the direction that Adore would move in.  There aren’t any hard hitting guitar tracks here, and when guitars are used, they’re more for textural purposes and simple background accompaniment than anything else (“Daphne Descends, “Once Upon a Time,” “Pug,” “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete,” “Shame,” and come to think of it, nearly every track).  And yes, there is a prevalent electronic component to the album, though I really don’t think it’s as domineering as it’s often described.

Melody is the focus here, and Corgan has a wonderful voice when he chooses to just barely let his nasally croon peek through.  Some songs are absolutely beautiful, my favorites (melodically speaking) being “Perfect,” “Pug,” “Tear,” “Annie-Dog,” and “Behold! The Night Mare.”  “Blank Page” is also a hauntingly sublime experience.  It’s one of the saddest pieces of popular music ever, both with its subject matter (it’s just a fellow doing his best to let go of a girl from the past, but it is so damn sad) and with Corgan’s resigned, nearly broken singing.  Little bits of strings pop in an out against the piano driven song, joined by the distant, far-off sound of an electric guitar, not dissimilar to “Beautiful” from Mellon Collie.

As happens every now and then, I have a hard time putting Adore into words.  I found that once I quit trying to make it out to be just another rock album, it really grew on me.  Truthfully, the track we all know, “Ava Adore,” is probably the darkest cut from the album.  Everything else is just sort of sad.  The Smashing Pumpkins have always leaned a little towards shoegaze, and it definitely pulls through on many of the lengthier tracks.  “Appels + Oranjes” stands out as one of the few upbeat tracks, and “Once Upon a Time” ranks right up there with the best of the Pumpkins’ efforts at creating dreamy soundscapes.

I’ll gladly admit that Adore isn’t exactly a masterpiece, though the problem isn’t the individual songs so much as it is the overall sound.  Does that make sense?  Maybe not.  First off all, it is too long.  This huge chunk of midtempo “oohs” and “ahhs” works against itself by going on for over an hour.  Pick out any single song on here and it’s sure to be a good song in its own way.  The music is well composed and carefully structured, the melodies are always pleasant even if not always standouts, and honestly, I find very little to complain about when it comes to any given song.  But as 15 of them roll through, they begin to sound the same.  As an album, it doesn’t possess enough of an arc to keep the actual collection of songs interesting, or at least as interesting as it could be.  If it had a few more punchy moments or infectious hooks, or even a few more tracks like “Ava Adore” or “Appels + Oranjes” it’d be a whole different matter.

So Adore’s greatest strength my not be in its success as an album, but taken 4 or 5 tracks at a time, these are all wonderful songs.  It’s not exactly The Smashing Pumpkins that many people got to know from the early and mid 90’s, but it’s not as if they suddenly came out with an experimental jazz tribal fusion record.  Corgan wanted to do something different, and with the rock climate as it was in 1998, who can blame him?  Nu-metal and rap rock were in full swing, and the days of angsty grunge and alternative apathy were drawing to a close.  Adore is made up of a number of quality songs, they’re just all competing a little too much for the exact same sound.  I may not totally adore Adore, but I do maintain than any single song plucked from the album is a worthwhile listen…all it really needs is a little bit of balance.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from The Smashing Pumpkins in this series:

• 1993 – Siamese Dream – Issue #82
• 1995 – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – Issue #5

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums