Cherub Rock

"Cherub Rock" is the first single from The Smashing Pumpkins' second album, Siamese Dream (1993) and is the opening track. It was written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.
== Composition ==
"Cherub Rock" was one of the last songs written for the album, and the lyrics relate to Corgan's relationship with his perception of the indie rock community and larger media.Kelly, Christina. "Smashing Pumpkins-The Multi-Platinum Band is over the infighting but can the harmony last?" US Magazine, December 1, 1995.
Appearing on Q101's Brian and Kenzie Show in 2023, Corgan stated the idea for the main riff came to him just before he caught a ride across town in Chicago. He told his driver to not talk for the entire 40-minute drive so that when he arrived to his apartment, he still remembered the idea and could recreate it on his guitar. This riff features what is known as "the Pumpkin chord" – a G# octave at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it. The band has used this technique on other songs, such as "East", "Tristessa", and "Quiet".
The prominent effect on the solo was achieved by recording the guitar solo to two different tapes which were then run simultaneously, with the speed of one tape slightly altered. "Cherub Rock" contains various overdubs influenced by the genres of shoegazing as well as 1970s classic arena rock.
In an interview with Rick Beato, Corgan said the introductory drum riff is a direct lift from Rush's 1975 song "By-Tor and the Snow Dog."
== Reception ==
Corgan insisted that the song be released as the first single from the album, against the wishes of record executives who believed that "Today" would be a stronger opening single. Although Corgan's wishes were honored, the single was indeed received with much less enthusiasm than "Today", although it remains a fan favorite. An acoustic version of the song is performed on Vieuphoria and its CD companion, Earphoria.
The song was a moderate success for the band, being performed on Saturday Night Live on October 30, 1993 and making it to the Triple J Hottest 100 at number 43.Triple J Hottest 100, 1993 Readers ranked "Cherub Rock" at number 97 in Guitar World's list of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 67 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
Following the 2011 re-issue of Siamese Dream, Consequence of Sound commented that the single "seemed tailor-made to feed the emerging modern rock radio format."
== Music video ==
The video features footage of the band performing the song live in a forest setting. It was shot outside San Francisco on a rainy and cold evening, entirely on Super8 film on a modest budget. The director, Kevin Kerslake, employed various destructive techniques when developing the film to give the video a broken and dirty look. This involved physically stomping on the film in a driveway after it was pulled from the reel, and then developing it in a bathtub. ("Spellbinding" music video release after-party conversation with Corgan and Kerslake; available only to YouTube Premium members)
Corgan was reportedly extremely unhappy with the shooting experience, and the band wouldn't work with Kerslake again,Commentary for "Cherub Rock" music video. The Smashing Pumpkins 1991–2000: Greatest Hits Video Collection (Virgin Records, 2001). until 2023 when he directed the music video for "Empires" and "Spellbinding". Corgan later admitted that at the time, he was "at a level of maturity that he blamed [Kerslake] for the rain and the cold," and even went on to say the "Cherub Rock" video was among his favorites the band ever did.
Corgan's original idea was for the band to be playing in a theater to an audience of "metal kids," with angels swinging from ropes. At some point Corgan is dressed as Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th.Billy Corgan. Interview with MTV 120 Minutes, 1993.
== Lyrics ==
== In popular culture ==
TBS used nearly the entire opening of the song (minus one drum pattern, ending a few hooks before the start of Billy Corgan's vocals) in the opening of their coverage of the 1999 All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300.
The song features on numerous rhythm video games such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Rock Band, Power Gig: Rise of the SixString and Rocksmith 2014.
Rochester, New York band Roses Are Red covered the song for Reignition Records' 2005 compilation The Killer in You: A Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins.
The song was used in ECW by Psicosis.
== Track listing ==
== Release history ==
== Personnel ==
* Billy Corgan – vocals, lead guitar, bass (recording session), production
* James Iha – rhythm guitar, vocals
* D'arcy Wretzky – bass (credited), vocals
* Jimmy Chamberlin – drums
==Charts==
Chart (1993)	Peakposition
== References ==
== External links ==
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Category:Virgin Records singles
Category:Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake