The Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock

"Freak out and give in. Who cares what you believe in?"

Album: Siamese Dream [2nd album]
Recorded: Marietta, Georgia, USA
Genre: Rock, Shoegaze, Alternative Rock,
Album Release: July 27th 1993
Single Release: June 21st 1993 [lead single]
Length: 4.58
Producer: Billy Corgan & Butch Vig
Vocalist: Billy Corgan [age 26]
Label: Virgin Records

Music Video


Live in 1993

Charts, Streams & Sales

Australia (albums): #7 [1x platinum]
Canada (albums): #3 [4x platinum]
New Zealand (albums): #3
UK (albums): #4 [1x gold]
US (albums): #10 [4x platinum]
Spotify: Over 175 million
YouTube Music: Over 56 million
Grammy Award Nominee 1994: Best Alternative Music Performance [losing to U2]
Pitchfork's Best Albums of the 90's: #18
Rolling Stone's Best 500 Albums of All Time: #341 [2020 edition]

Credits

Bass, guitar [x2], drums

Details

• The song was written in half an hour.
  
  
• 'Cherub Rock' is a young Billy Corgan taking aim at the perceived sell-outs in the Chicago indie scene. He didn't like it when artists changed their sound to chase the big bucks of a major label deal because it, to him, represented the commercialisation of alternative rock. When The Smashing Pumpkins released 'Siamese Dream' on Virgin in 1993, Corgan believed it didn't compromise his artistic vision.
  
  Yet it's plausible his criticisms stemmed from his own anxieties about signing with a major. The Smashing Pumpkins first LP 'Gish' (1991) was released on Caroline Records, which itself was a subsidiary of Virgin, so the band were never truly on an independent label.
  
  However, their first two albums had a similar sound because they were both produced by Butch Vig. 'Siamese Dream' is a more polished, mature and ambitious version of their debut. While the band were never on a financially independent label, their creative independence was a core element of their identity and Corgan likely felt threatened when this was questioned by fans.
  
  The Pumpkins exerted control over their music by insisting 'Cherub Rock' be released as the lead single in the place of the labels choice 'Today'. It should be noted that the latter song is now considered one of the bands classics, so the input from the label was valid.
  
  Corgan's anger at the state of early nineties rock is palpable on 'Cherub Rock', a song he described the song as a "fuck you". He was suicidal when he wrote it, in part due to his harsh treatment from fans who had labelled his abusive childhood as nothing more than a callous marketing ploy intended to shift units.
  
  The Pumpkins frontman mercilessly takes aim at those same critics in the lyrics "hipsters unite ... deep down they're frightened and scared if you don't stare" as attention seeking people desperate to fit in but that wasn't the extent of his ire.
  
  His main target was the record labels, who he felt manipulated bands with promises of wealth. There was a feeling at the time, which is also present in Pearl Jam's work [see Corduroy], that corporations were draining alternative rock of its integrity, as if they were vampires slowly killing a beautiful thing.
  
  It's ironic that fans treating Corgan as an insincere poser resulted in a song full of genuine angst, which also happened to be a blistering rebuttal of their entire scene that laid to rest any reasonable doubts about his credentials as a frontman.
  
  
  
• The Smashing Pumpkins are primarily an alternative rock band but 'Cherub Rock' has a strong shoegaze influence evident in its use of guitar overdubs. 

Artwork