Rock and/or Roll

After spending the past month or so listening incessantly to Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, I came to the realization that I needed to rock...and I needed to rock hard. Although Justin Vernon of Bon Iver left me with a hefty dose of emotional intensity and sonic variation on tracks such as "Creature Fear" and "Skinny Love", I still craved some rip-roaring distortion and violent crescendos/decrescendos. All it took was a trip through the old CD catalog (you know, those things that existed before MP3's) and I had my answer. My friends, allow me to guide you on a trip back to 1993 with the release of The Smashing Pumpkins' album Siamese Dream. In terms of rock-your-socks-off, it doesn't get much better than this album. Of course I remember the classics like "Disarm", "Today", and "Cherub Rock", but one track in particular reminded me why the Pumpkins were (in my humble opinion) the epitome of mid-90's alternative rock. Rediscovering "Silverfuck" has made my week. It's not often that a rock song cracks the 8-minute barrier while maintaining an assault on the eardrums. Now, I'm not just talking about rapid-fire guitar strumming on eardrum-blowing amps, I'm also referring to the band's ability to bring it back down to a whisper and slowing down the tempo into something resembling a lullabye. And just when you think the song is puttering out into silent nothingness, the Pumpkins abruptly kick it back into a revisitation of the initial chorus. Simply said...badass.