The Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot
The Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot returns as a remastered 2LP vinyl edition of the band's 1994 collection of B-sides, outtakes and rarities. Originally assembled during the group's formative 1990s period, the record gathers material that sat outside the main studio albums while still showing the depth of songwriting and recording taking place around them. Rather than functioning simply as an odds-and-ends release, Pisces Iscariot developed a reputation as a substantial part of the band's early catalogue in its own right.
Among its best-known tracks are “Starla”, “Landslide” and “La Dolly Vita”. Together with the rest of the collection, they reveal different facets of The Smashing Pumpkins' early sound: expansive guitar pieces, quieter interpretations and songs that could easily have sat alongside the band's better-known album material. The compilation offers a useful view of the creative activity surrounding the group at a point when their profile was growing rapidly and their studio work was becoming increasingly ambitious.
Released in 1994, Pisces Iscariot sits historically between the band's breakthrough with Siamese Dream and the much larger Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness era that followed. That context gives the collection particular interest: it preserves recordings from a period when the group's combination of alternative rock, heavy guitar textures, psychedelia and melodic songwriting was developing at speed. The B-sides and outtakes therefore provide more than background material, extending the picture offered by the core studio albums.
This UMR/Polydor reissue presents the collection across two 180-gram vinyl records. The edition is remastered and restores the original artwork, retaining the identity of the 1994 release while giving it a new high-quality vinyl presentation. For listeners building a Smashing Pumpkins collection, Pisces Iscariot remains an important companion to the band's principal 1990s albums and a showcase for material that originally existed beyond the standard album tracklists.
