SMASHING PUMPKINS Earphoria (Virgin) Rating: NNN Rating: NNN
This live travelogue is a bullet with plaid flannel wings back to 1994. No big shocker, really, since the 15-track disc was originally released back in 94 and features exclusively pre-Mellon Collie material. This is a good thing, since from a songwriting perspective, Siamese Dream is the Pumpkins’ career highlight. The recording quality on Earphoria is fairly shitty even for a live package, but the poor sound is actually a bonus in helping to mask Billy Corgan’s thin whine. The infamous acoustic version of Cherub Rock and live takes on Mayonnaise and angst anthem Today kick ass, and the added snippets — French Movie Theme and the weird electro-tech Bugg Superstar — make the disc worthwhile for Pumpkinheads.