I was absolutely enchanted with the Smashing Pumpkins' music throughout much of the 90s, and it started with this album. The alt-rock juggernaut was at full pelt and I heard 'Cherub Rock' for the first time on a Saturday morning TV programme here in the UK called 'The Chart Show'.
Compared to the usual suspects of the time (Nirvana et al) there was something unique about the Pumpkins' brand of alternative music. The rich, dense guitar sound, the way Corgan's voice floated atop the meticulously layered soundscape (at times, at odds with the music itself), and the arrangements that were more sophisticated than many of the band's contemporaries. I was an instant fan.
My teenage self saved up the money from a part time job to buy Siamese Dream on cassette and that summer, I damn near wore the tape out. A month or so later, I went on holiday to the Caribbean with my parents and bought the tape with me to play on my Walkman. To this day, Siamese Dream still brings back recollected snippets from the trip, including my holiday romance with a local girl who lived next door to my granddad with whom we stayed.
Like much of the Pumpkins' music, Siamese Dream helped me navigate the emotional landscape of my latter adolescent years and beyond, earning itself a place in my all-time favourite album rundown, haters be damned.
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