Pisces Iscariot Re-Issue
In a time before Ipods, before computers ruled the world and long before 'Genius' set your playlist, people used to put plastic cassettes into a 'Walkman' to play music. How far we've come in 18 years and the rise, fall and phoenix-like return of the Smashing Pumpkins in that time has been just as epic. Pisces Iscariot was originally released in 1994 as a B-side mix and a bridge between second album Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It's fantastic to see it re-pressed and packed with twice as much material than the first release.
The pumpkins are famous for their on-the-go method of song development where they take new material and evolve it through progressive editing at shows and re-writing between appearances. This method of production leads to powerful songs that perform well live and Pisces Iscariot is full of the raw energy you feel at their shows.
One particular trait I've always admired of the Pumpkins is the way they combine the fast and the slow; in all of their releases you get a full spectrum of their performance. Iscariot is no exception, travelling from the high tempo guitar wielding tracks like Starla and Frail and Bedazzled down to the slower heart felt cover of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide. The other stand out track of disc one is Pissant, which is a haunting piece on the heavier end of the pumpkin catalogue that was originally a B-side for Cherub Rock.
Recently released album Oceania is credited as being the closest since reformation to the old Pumpkins vibe. I can't help but wonder how much of that is down to the work done on Iscariot, with old songs being remixed and re-mastered. Disc two contains 17 tracks of sessions, demos and remixes with tracks like Blissed and Purr Snickety stripping the sounds of the Pumpkins back to basics. I was especially impressed with There it Goes, which could be a single in its own right and I'm happy to say that there are no weak songs in this collection.
Often album re-issues like this only find their way into the hands of hardcore fans and while that's a great place for it, I think it has wider appeal. The Pumpkins are one of the most iconic bands of the last twenty years and helped define a generation. So if your looking to learn what all that fuss was about go grab jumper 3 sizes too big for you and make some thumb holes. Put on the biggest earphones you can find and play this album to be transported back to the height of the grunge era.