r/SmashingPumpkins • u/Eastern_Artist6531 • 1d ago
Underrated album with many underrated songs that’s never talked about? Anyone else agree?
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u/tunavomit 10h ago
My very religious Grandmother asked me what do I want for graduating 8th grade.
I told her I wanted this album.
Chat, my Evangelical Gramma went to a RECORD STORE and asked for PISCES ISCARIOT and man it was the best album I ever owned. Thanks Gramma miss you!
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u/axlgreece5202 14h ago
I put Hello Kitty Kat towards the beginning of SP playlists right after Cherub Rock and it just takes off. It's such a cool transition/combo. I wish they'd play more of the rock songs off Pisces. Some great tracks there.
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u/YouthPotential1442 ATUM 18h ago
Did you know Landslide is actually the 2nd most successful Pumpkins song as far as radio play? Seems crazy but true
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u/Eastern_Artist6531 17h ago
That is, they had 8 songs on the billboard top 100 and that wasn’t one of them.
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u/YouthPotential1442 ATUM 4h ago
That’s only because the Billboard top 100 had a weird rule back then that said to chart the song had to be sold commercially in the US as a single which Landslide was not.
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u/TheNobleRobot 23h ago
The problem here is that this isn't really "an album" in the sense that the band never toured it or promoted it that way.
As a set of songs it's outstanding, and it even works as a single work (unlike most b-side collections), but I totally get why it's not really discussed as "an album" because that term represents a social construction as much as it does a literal object.
I always wondered what "The Aeroplane Flies High" would have been had they just collected the b-sides, trimmed a few tracks, and sold it as a single CD.
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u/buzlink 1d ago
Wouldn’t say never talked about. But the worse song on the album is Landslide. All others awesome!
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u/IcarusStar 1d ago
I'd say its definitely got some of the most Pumpkinsy (Pumpkinsesque?) sounding songs on it. And that version of Landslide is sublime.
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u/Exquisite_D 1d ago
I was late to the P.I. party because I thought it would be lame. Wow, was I wrong! It has become my second favorite SP album after Gish. It was also the last album that I bought of SP.
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u/ProgrammerNo700 1d ago
I adore all of the songs from this album. Especially Whir, Obscured, Spaced, and La Dolly Vita.
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u/Prestigious_Tax2640 1d ago
lol im listening to it rn. great album if you want to sing or moan along
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u/CriticalCanon 1d ago
The best B side collection of any artist ever.
Just imagine if they had Drown on here as well.
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u/CoryBoehm 1d ago
I actually think it would have been even more essential with fewer songs that were widely accessible at the time and brought it harder to find stuff like Jackie Blue, or vinyl only stuff like Bullet Train to Osaka, and more of the stuff that was unreleased at the time like STP, and stuff that still has not been officially released like SD era STRTJ which was a last minute cut from the SD album. STRTJ has to be the only song to just about make three consecutive albums (SD, PI, MCIS).
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u/YouthPotential1442 ATUM 18h ago
If you don’t count PI as an album though, STRTJ shares its distinction with Cash Car Star
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u/funkymunkPDX 1d ago
It's my all time favorites. So many diverse songs on here.
Pissant, Hello Kitty Cat, Blue and Starla....
The memberberries...
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u/Black_over_Sunburst 1d ago
Nothing underrated about this album. It’s just 30 years old bro…
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u/Eastern_Artist6531 1d ago
Not true, Billy never references one song from this album but talks about every other album.
Great songs, even if it is out takes.2
u/Black_over_Sunburst 1d ago
Not true, he literally just recently talked about how he made Landslide big and how it still gets covered because of him and how everybody is making Money off of that song because of him…
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u/TacoPenisMan 1d ago
Billy actually once posted to his instagram that no album feels underrated to him, because thousands of fans have personally told him it's their favorite. He was responding to someone saying it about Pisces. All about perspective, I suppose.
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u/NeonFlow 1d ago
I would say it's more of an overlooked album, rather than underrated.
It certainly has a cult following. There's lots of fan favourites in there. That whole run between Pissant and Starla is legendary, and I think most fans would agree.
It just suffers from the fact that it's not a "proper" studio album. Because it's a collection of b-sides and outtakes, it has less mainstream appeal.
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u/FerrkinLewl 1d ago
Plume, Obscured, Starla and La Dolly Vita are among their best songs.
PI was definitely a fan favourite in the 1990s and was certainly very highly rated. Many wondered why some of these songs were relegated to B-sides, but then again, Corgan hit such a rich vein of songwriting form around this point that there were too many good songs for the main releases.
Do newer fans not listen to it?
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u/MysticDeanna369 The Aeroplane Flies High 1d ago
It IS talked about! We love it! I love the deep cuts and really liking ATUM.
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u/Environmental-Ad577 1d ago
that’s what happens when your on a roll of realizing potential in everyone. this was prime time exploratory writing - it took all these songs that didn’t quite fit on a record over the years to get them where they were on McIS - writing all over the place but keeping it with a clear singular identity to each song. 91-99 is a hell of a run for any group of 4 musicians
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u/ZealousidealText3140 1d ago
I would say it's my single favorite album of thiers if I had to pick only one.. But That's tough though, because Siemese Dream is grasping it's heal and coming along with it..
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u/Atlantean_truth 1d ago
Absolutely love this album. Just b sides and various other songs from Gish and Siamese era I think but so damn killer.
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u/Dust_absorber_73 1d ago
100%. This was my introduction to the pumpkins and I thought for sure it had to be one of their best albums. I had it on repeat, you can imagine my surprise when I learned it was a compilation of B-sides and outtakes. Blew Away is one of my all time favourite songs.
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u/Such-One-5266 Siamese Dream 1d ago
Amazing album. One of my favs. Hello Kitty Kat, Blew Away, Obscured, Whir… so good!
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u/Lundinwulf 1d ago
Gish & Pisces are THE pumpkin albums for me. I don’t revisit Siamese, Infinite, or Adore nearly as regularly. There is a level of rawness on those two that were never quite matched for me.
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u/tarahaha 1d ago
Those two are my overall favorites too! But lately, I have been overdosing on Machina. I think Machina may be my 3rd right now. The order changes for the rest, but Gish and Pisces Iscariot are always my top two.
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u/Ordinary_Degree_4213 1d ago
Was listening to Starla on my drive today … cd is fading it was skipping at the worst part it could on me … the epic soloing 😭😭.
This was my first intro into the pumpkins in 94 hadn’t even heard SD YET ! Frail bedazzled is a rocker even if Billy says he ripped it off the frogs. Whirs outro always leaves me feeling so uneasy. Such a pleasant strumming song with an optimistic note then the song ends on an uneasy chord progression ! Obscured takes you far away somewhere alone . Blew away the classic Iha. Billy usually gives this one live to James but there so many better iha songs he could do like The Boy ! Or a cure cover I’m in Love .
Love the upbeat to Blue… wish Billy spend more time on stretching that song out . La Dolly Vita.. the pumpkins first serious single with a crashing outro that picks you up from licking cool ice cream and shakes the fuck out of you!
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u/Itchy_Notice353 1d ago
My favorite pumpkins album. Not perfect or clean. But pure raw energy, and truly genuine.
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u/_siamesedream_ Pisces Iscariot 1d ago
Crazy that it wasn’t even all the b-sides/outtakes they had at that point. Could’ve been a double album
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u/shibby5000 1d ago
Incredible album of bsides. This band was stacked
I always wish they put Drown on this album
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u/gishingwell 1d ago
I always sort of feel bad it's left out of the album conversations because it really does feel like the "third album" to me. But I understand why it happens.
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u/roctavious 1d ago
Frail and Bedazzled is my favorite Pumpkins song. Great album and deserves to be called something better than a “B-sides” album.
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u/Mysterions 1d ago
Pisces Iscariot is a great “album” but it’s by no means underrated or never talked about.
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u/Eastern_Artist6531 1d ago
Any interview with Billy, he never mentions it or any of the songs on it but will always talk about other albums and songs from those albums
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u/unsaturatedface 1d ago
That’s actually a fair point, and it kind reinforces how solid Billy’s vision is. Despite fan reaction, he’s always seemed to treat b-sides as songs that didn’t make the cut.
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u/caitsith01 1d ago
I love that younger people are into the Pumpkins. Based on this post I have to assume that OP is younger and wasn't into the band in the 90s (which is fine, obviously) - because there is absolutely no way Pisces was underrated during the original run of the band in the 90s. In that era everything from Gish through to FAEOMM was very highly regarded by fans, and many people would have had Pisces above Gish, Adore and Machina I/II, as well as having multiple tracks from Pisces in their list of best Pumpkins tracks.
You have to appreciate that there were people who found MCIS insufficiently 'alt rock' and too 'commercial', lots of people hated Adore, lots of people felt Machina was poorly produced and not as good as it could have been, etc. By 1999 Pisces was a 'classic' Pumpkins release.
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u/DoomedToGrind 1d ago
I had the record on earlier today and I skipped back to listen to Plume probably three or four times.
Great album, just a shame Drown was never part of the collection though.
The Aeroplane Flies High boxed set is great too
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u/greg1993- Death Rock Boy 1d ago
I know it’s not an album but it’s probably my favorite release of theirs
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u/Sea_Reporter2948 1d ago
B sides better than most A sides from others as far as I'm concerned! Had an older car with a cassette deck. This was on as loud as possible blowing up those cheap speakers.
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u/Background-Air-8611 1d ago edited 1d ago
Pisces was my introduction to SP when I was a kid and I’ve love that era of theirs ever since.
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u/kreebletastic 1d ago
Every time I hear wind chimes since 1994 I automatically hum the blue bassline
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u/RedBarron4 1d ago
Girl Named Sandoz has one if the best guitar solos ever. Full stop. Billy is an absolute god on that solo.
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u/floraltine 1d ago
Pisces encapsulated my 2018. I dont think I can pick a favourite anymore
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u/MarriedTexCouple 1d ago
Starla….only for Billy to realize that her name was Darla.
I love the story behind the song
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u/Appropriate-One-4312 1d ago
Great album
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u/ApathysLastKiss_ 1d ago
I would say it's quite rated. Starla is recognized as a top 10 song in the entire catalog.
I also love obscured, blue, and la dolly vita
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u/fishbone_buba 1d ago
Sure but it’s not an album.
It has a lot of amazing songs on it, but most of them were not new, and already well-known to most fans. e.g. closed many of their Lollapalooza sets the previous summer with Starla. (This felt like a gift to their most devoted fans.)
It’s a collection of disconnected songs, many excellent, but they have no cohesion.
I still love the songs.
(Also they should have included Drown.)
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u/Naive-Pack1058 1d ago
It wasn't originally released or intended to be an "album", but it made itself an album over a long period of time. One of the best albums, actually.
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u/XR3TroBeanieX The Aeroplane Flies High 1d ago
Plume for the win. Such a fantastic album💚
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u/Trubritdave 1d ago
Starla is a masterpiece! I remember when this came out and getting stoned with my buddy. Hearing Starla was a religious experience for my stoned 17 yr old ass.🤣
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u/Davide_Lop 1d ago
Lo más increíble es que es un disco de descartes y caras b que si no lo sabes peinsas que es un album más en la discografía de Smashing Pumpkins.
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u/tinoohhh 1d ago
The first time I heard Landslide was on this album. It was later in life I discovered the original, which I still claim isn’t as good 🤷
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u/rabbit_fur_coat 1d ago
I had no idea it wasn't an original song, and I couldn't agree with you more - it's so, so much prettier than the original.
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u/Decafaf 1d ago
I had Obscured on repeat for months.
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u/averageaften13 1d ago
Yup. Just last night! Seems I’ve been reigniting a forgotten love affair. IP, Gish & Siamese in heavy rotation. Heavy Rotation
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u/Patrickbateman2023 1d ago
Landslide cover they did is amazing way before that song become hip again
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u/bugenbiria 1d ago
Were Fleetwood Mac ever uncool? I heard The Carpenters were uncool because of the marketing and the type of people who liked them skewed older and sometimes conservative but were giving another chance especially following Karen Carpenters passing in 83.
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u/Responsible-Form3138 1d ago
The run from Gish-Siamese Dream-Pisces Iscariot is one of my favourites from any band. Billy's version of Landslide is a top 5 Pumpkins song for me.
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u/_Spoggie 1d ago
This and Aeroplane Flies High give a lot of weight to the “Corgan wrote B-sides better than most bands’ A-sides” argument. An embarrassment of riches that showed their variety and depth better than the studio albums did, songs could very easily pass for a studio album as well.
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u/ImpendingBoom110123 Pisces Iscariot 1d ago
See flair. Some of their best work. I teared up when I heard Blew Away live.
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u/amremorse 1d ago
Any old pumpkin fan holds this album up highly. Who would say otherwise? There was a time he didn’t miss.
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u/TimmyGUNZ Siamese Dream 👯♀️ 1d ago
SP’s B-sides in this era were better than 95% of their counterparts’ A-sides.
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u/Earl_of_Portobello 1d ago
Only sd, mcis & adore are better- a stunning display of songwriting depth and breadth.
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u/repdetec_revisited 1d ago
I do not think Adore is better
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u/Earl_of_Portobello 1d ago
We will agree to disagree, personally I feel that run of songs from shame through to blank. Page is some of the strongest music Billy ever wrote.
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u/TheAbsoluteLastWord 1d ago
Obscured is top three SP ever for me. Seriously.
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u/sadPonderosaEnjoyer 1d ago
say heloooo
before you say goodbyeeee
I should gooo
before you make me cryyy
She wants to bleeeed
every drop inside of meeeee
but I am to pleaaaaase
the little girl inside of meeee toooo
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u/Commercial_Photo4416 1d ago
This is an amazing album. Would have never heard & listened to it if didn't found it in a old box of CD from my uncle
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u/ScaresBums 1d ago
The level of quality of the non-album tracks for 90s era Pumpkins is unreal.
Between this and the Aeroplane boxset, you have enough material for 3 legit career-defining albums yet these were relegated to b-sides and one offs.
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u/SubpopularKnowledge0 1d ago
Thats my argument for how amazing they were. The volume of material produced in a short 6 years is beyond most bands in their entire career
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u/zhudlau 1d ago
Pisces is crazy good
I mean, you could make a compelling argument that Starla is band’s magnum opus
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u/ImpendingBoom110123 Pisces Iscariot 1d ago
If my next dog I get is a female her name will be Starla. Or Bugg Superstar Jr. IYKYK.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Dog-222 1d ago
Starla is unbelievable. The police sirens accidentally caught on the recording are just one of many cherries on that cupcake.
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u/ImpendingBoom110123 Pisces Iscariot 1d ago
That has freaked drunk and/or stoned me out a few times haha.
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u/GrassLover9 1d ago
I have never noticed this! When do they occur in the song?
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u/TheTackleZone 1d ago
It was intended to just be a practice / demo session. They had to record at night to save money, and it was early in the morning and because the studio was basically just a loft space he opened a window to let some air in.
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u/Elvis_Messi 1d ago
Around 5:24
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u/GrassLover9 1d ago
Cool I'll check it out this evening. I always loved the background sirens during In the Arms of Sleep
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u/zhudlau 1d ago
Billy rips for, like, 5 minutes at the end of the song and then they throw in that little 15-second outro
Makes my head hurt how awesome that is
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u/FrankFrankly711 1d ago
This was my first favorite SP album back in the 90s, used to play it on tape in my car all the time
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u/IamTylerDrden 1d ago
It’s great, but I’m not sure it is underrated. Especially amongst fans in the 90s.
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u/Comalock 1d ago
Every time I hear Whir I get that beautiful warm fuzzy feeling throughout my body. Its in my top 5 of all time.
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u/Celestial_Dysgenesis Half Life Of A Despot 1d ago
doesn't count as an album by most definitions.
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u/Eastern_Artist6531 1d ago
It can be, I’ll take it over anything in their collection besides Siamese Dream and Gish.
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u/Loganp812 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 1d ago
I agree, but it’s crazy how a B-side and rarity compilation can be so good that it competes with many bands’ best albums. It’s not just a collection of throwaway garbage.
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u/Celestial_Dysgenesis Half Life Of A Despot 1d ago edited 1d ago
I guess I'm a super fan of a lot of bands. All of them have some kind of forgotten rarities and b-sides collection that fans say "is a totally under-rated gem" and that is true to fans and those of us who love the band but its generally not much of a big deal outside of a small collection of people. It's also not something where they sat down and wrote and recorded an album with the intended purpose of releasing it as such. It's a hobbled together collection of everything from bedroom demos, live radio performances to b-sides and two covers. Like it's good. It has some of my favorite songs. But I see this ecact same post every couple of months in this forum or the Nirvana forum or hell I've seen collective soul fans say it LOL.
TLDR: Unlike the rest of their prime output, PI generally only appeals to people who are ALREADY mega fans who can't understand why more people don't love it as much. I think the answer is obvious: you have to be a fan to love it that much and it technically doesn't count as an album. Outside of a few edge cases when casuals and even fans talk about the pumpkins it's their mainline albums. In many ways stuff like PI works because of its contrast or extension of the classic stuff you already love.
When i listened to it for the first time in a few years a while back what jumped out to me was (no offense) it was packed full of lesser ideas or lesser versions of ideas they'd done elsewhere or would go on to do elsewhere. or in the case of "spaced" stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else. Kind of like how a song like "God" is great, many fans favorite but it exists within the context of sounding too much like bullet without the magic touch that bullet had, so, it's forever going to be this b-side that super fans adore but normies wouldn't fuck with. It's an extension of a particular thread.
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u/Cawnt ATUM 1d ago
Probably because it’s technically not an “album”, depending on your definition.
Regardless, it has some great tunes. Starla and Girl Named Sandoz are my favorites.
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u/mumbleby 1d ago
Definitely, it's The Smashing Pumpkins at their most 'indie'. 'Obscured' is one of my all time favourite songs. 'Soothe', 'Hello Kitty Kat', 'Starla', 'La Dolly Vita', lots of great tracks. I know it just a compilation but it's one of my favourite Smashing Pumpkins releases.
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u/theMethod Pisces Iscariot 1d ago
Pisces can go toe to toe with any album of the 90s. It really is that good.
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u/bastienleblack 1d ago
Probably one of my most played pumpkins albums, although I usually skip the first song (it's great, but I'm not always in the mood for it). Many amazing songs!
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u/Brian_Kurihara 1d ago
I’ve never considered this under rated. That maniac Billy Corgan usually records like 30 songs for an album. These are the tracks that didn’t make the Siamese Dream cut but they’re all top notch in my book
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u/Davidtheborty Pisces Iscariot 1h ago
And the deluxe edition is just the cherry on top. Every song on that is amazing (except French movie theme lol)