~Pisces Iscariot~
The Smashing Pumpkins
Released-1994
Pronounced: Pie-sees-is-cariot
This is Pisces Iscariot, The Smashing Pumpkins 4th Album (if you count the lull e.p) It is a compilation album consisting of B-sides to the European singles released from 91-94. So far this is the 4th Pumpkins album I have got and I think it is my favourite. The band has a superb collection of songs, most which deserve to be put on an album, and some just are good left as b-sides. The songs on this album cover two genres-the ultra grungey sounding tracks-Frail and Bedazzled, Plume, Hello Kitty Kat etc., and the more relaxed and mellow tracks- Blew Away, Whir, Obscured, Spaced etc. There are also cover songs-Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, and Girl Named Sandoz by the Animals.
I think this has to be gem amongst their other work and really shows the true Smashing Pumpkins-“Frail and gentle, rock power x 100” as said by Billy Corgan in his typewritten message to the fans in the CD’s sleeve. What is also interesting about this album is the way some of the songs were recorded. In track 1-Soothe, which was recorded in Billy’s old apartment bedroom-you can here cars or whatever going by in the background, others were recorded live like the ferocious Pissant, at a John Peel session at BBC.
GREAT ALBUM
1.Soothe
2.Frail And Bedazzled
3.Plume
4.Whir
5.Blew Away
6.Pissant
7.Hello Kitty Kat
8.Obscured
9.Landslide
10. Starla
11. Blue
12. A Girl Named Sandoz
13. La Dolly Vita
14. Spaced
*Unfortunaltley the emoticons didnt come out so a small box probably means a smiley face
Soothe 2/5
The album opens with this whisper sung ballad-just Billy and his guitar. As I said you can here traffic outside the recording are if you listen closely. That may appeal more interesting than the actual song as this song is not the liveliest on the album. 
Frail And Bedazzled 4/5
Now, this when things really start going-the awesome Frail And Bedazzled. This song starts with a brilliant riff and then progresses into a hard rockin’ number for the album. Great lyrics and good use of vocal solos, this song with have your approval in no time. 
Plume 5/5
Plume is a chugging grunge song, with a great sounding solo. The lyrics “My boredom has outshined the sun” along with other simple but clever pieces of lyrics bring out the Nirvana in this song, and it is one of my favourites on the album. The song isn’t as fast as its previous number but it is definitely a cool track and there is no reason you shouldn’t like it. 
Whir 5/5
Here is Whir-beautiful, gentle and then finishes with a minor outro, but this song is definitely one for Siamese dream, although it is not featured. This song has an acoustic
Riff with a great slide guitar riff on top of it. This song shows the love strung, soft side of the Pumpkins, and is a great song. 
Blew Away 5/5
Dam, Smashing Pumpkins make the best songs ever-and Blew Away falls into that category of great songs. Wonderfully written and sung by James Iha, this song has a folky feel to it. And there is to sections to it- the acoustic half of the song where James sings the catchy line “blew, blew away...” and then out of the blue comes a great solo and you get to the electric part of the song, which is the real icing on the cake. Dam good song! 
Pissant 3/5
This song is a fast hard rocker and starts with a drum riff witch launches into a cascade of angry vocals and blinding riffs. There is some weird noise in the background but it doesn’t pose as a threat to this song. The lyrics have a cool verse which yells “got me a ray gun, got me an altitude, can’t help thinkin’ there’s something wrong with every one of youuuuu”.
Hello Kitty Kat 5/5
You may find it slightly similar to Cherub Rock from Siamese dream, but anyway this song is supercharged with energy and pretty dam cool solos toward the end of the song. Billy C. claims this number to be his most aggressive song written but how ever you find it it’s a great song-another hard rock song. 
Obscured 5/5
Probably the best track on the album-it’s an acoustic, intoxicatingly melodic song with a really dreamy feel to it and the lyrics are great. This is a great example of Smashing Pumpkins creating this kind of relaxed atmosphere in a song as frequently as they make hard fast grunge tracks. Absolutely brilliant. It ends with dome feedback which swells in volume then dies away. 
Landslide 3/5
It’s a Fleetwood Mac cover, and Billy sings it really well, but it’s not my favourite track on the album, so I haven’t got much to review about this track. 
Starla 5/5
This song starts with a quiet jingling guitar riff, with great lyrics and vocal performance. It’s the longest track so you’ll have to wait for things to get going, but when they do, it’s a 6 minute long solo, displaying awesome guitar skill and for that amount of time (!)

Blue 3/5
I like this song, but in some ways it is rather boring. It has a typical Pumpkins style bass riff to start and then the rest of the band join in to create a punky/grungey track. It then has a pretty cool guitar bridge, also typical of the Pumpkins. This song progresses through and then decreases in volume to spend the rest of the song with Billy singing to a guitar riff and that’s it.
A Girl Named Sandoz 3/5
Cover version of the Animals-great riff and a really cool song. It has a rocky feel to it and the lyrics are typical of this genre.
La Dolly Vita 4/5
This song is great-definitely deserved to be featured on an album. Its pretty grungey and has some great lyrics to accompany the acoustic riff. It ends with a weird feedback thing. 
Spaced 1/5
This is an odd song. Listen for your self
THE END
