The following is a guest post from author Tone Stadler. We’re lazy, and, due to limitations on our magical powers, can only be in 14 places at once (we’re working on it.) So, if you want to write for us, send a note our way. As long as it’s music related (or you can fake it til you make it), we’ll toss it up on the blog for the whole wide Internets to see.
If you’re a fan of Smashing Pumpkins, then its not a given that you adore “ADORE”.
The change in sound from their previous effort Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is profound and true.
With this album frontman Billy Corgan wanted to appeal to the masses, not necessarily by “selling out”, but by expanding the bands sound by including syntheisizers, electronic drums, and more piano. ADORE lacks the patented drum rolls and sharp, distorted riffs the Pumpkins were known for, partly because of the departure of recovering drummer Jimmy Chamberlain.
But how did this album change my life you ask? Well it all started when…
…at age 12 I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. After months of earaches, backaches, and overall discomfort a doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia finally figured “hey, let’s run a full blood count on this kid, he might ACTUALLY be sick.”
During the next 9 months I struggled for my life through bouts of chemotherapy and experimental treatments that took a major toll on my body. My weight dropped to a girlish 130lbs, all of my hair (yes ALL OF IT) was gone, and I seemed to bruise at the slightest touch. At one point I had one foot so far in the grave they decided I was eligible for a wish from the Make-A-Wish foundation.
So what’s a young dude to choose? A date with Pam Anderson? Meet Shaquille O’Neill? Have dinner with Buzz Aldrin?
NAH.
I opted to go on a small shopping spree at the local music shop. $4000 bucks and the place was mine for the taking! I bought guitars, a bass, drums, sound system, and more. All this for a kid who didn’t even know how to play at the time, but aspired to start a band with his friends and one day play for packed arenas aroud the world.. my lifelong dream.
Soon after I was told I was well enough to go home, but I needed to come back everyday for several months to get what I can only describe as a bottle of orange juice looking stuff injected directly into the port in my chest. The port was connected directly to my main artery and hung like a component cable from the right side of my chest. Everyday I would have to, get this, GO TO SCHOOL, then get my tired behind on a train downtown to the hospital for a dose (which was more like a gallon) of this orange crap that would make me shake uncontrollably for basically the entire time I was being feed it.
Until one day… I had just picked up the new Smashing Pumpkins album ADORE and was psyched for my first listen. So I grabbed my CD player and threw it in on my way to the train.
I hated it. Honestly, I did.
The first time around, with the exception of Ava Adore, I really didn’t like the direction this album took the band. But I continued to listen, day in and day out on my way to the hospital. Then one day I started to listen to it even while I was being pumped full of Florida’s finest citrus, and to my surprise my shaking was calmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I still shook at first, but as the session moved along and I focused on the music, I noticed a huge difference in my mannerisms during the transmission.
It also worked as a nice time keeper as I knew once I got to “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete” (which is an AWESOME song by the way), I knew I only had about 10 minutes to go and I was outta there!
The album isn’t the Pumpkins best by a long shot, but to me it means more than the others. It got me through a time was really difficult for a now 13 year-old kid to endure. I was able to complete the treatment regimen and have been cancer free for over 12 years. That is how this album changed my life.
TRACK LISTING:
1. “To Sheila” – 4:46
2. “Ava Adore” – 4:21
3. “Perfect” – 3:23
4. “Daphne Descends” – 4:39
5. “Once Upon a Time” – 4:06
6. “Tear” – 5:53
7. “Crestfallen” – 4:09
8. “Appels + Oranjes” – 3:35
9. “Pug” – 4:47
10. “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete” – 4:35
11. “Annie-Dog” – 3:38
12. “Shame” – 6:40
13. “Behold! The Night Mare” – 5:13
14. “For Martha” – 8:18
15. “Blank Page” – 4:58
16. “17″ – 0:17
If you haven’t heard them yet download “Tear”, “Appels + Oranjes”, and “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete”.
August 27, 2010 | 0 Comments
How An Album Changed My Life: Smashing Pumpkins – Adore
The following is a guest post from author Tone Stadler. We’re lazy, and, due to limitations on our magical powers, can only be in 14 places at once (we’re working on it.) So, if you want to write for us, send a note our way. As long as it’s music related (or you can fake it til you make it), we’ll toss it up on the blog for the whole wide Internets to see.
If you’re a fan of Smashing Pumpkins, then its not a given that you adore “ADORE”.
The change in sound from their previous effort Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is profound and true.
With this album frontman Billy Corgan wanted to appeal to the masses, not necessarily by “selling out”, but by expanding the bands sound by including syntheisizers, electronic drums, and more piano. ADORE lacks the patented drum rolls and sharp, distorted riffs the Pumpkins were known for, partly because of the departure of recovering drummer Jimmy Chamberlain.
But how did this album change my life you ask? Well it all started when…
…at age 12 I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. After months of earaches, backaches, and overall discomfort a doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia finally figured “hey, let’s run a full blood count on this kid, he might ACTUALLY be sick.”
During the next 9 months I struggled for my life through bouts of chemotherapy and experimental treatments that took a major toll on my body. My weight dropped to a girlish 130lbs, all of my hair (yes ALL OF IT) was gone, and I seemed to bruise at the slightest touch. At one point I had one foot so far in the grave they decided I was eligible for a wish from the Make-A-Wish foundation.
So what’s a young dude to choose? A date with Pam Anderson? Meet Shaquille O’Neill? Have dinner with Buzz Aldrin?
NAH.
I opted to go on a small shopping spree at the local music shop. $4000 bucks and the place was mine for the taking! I bought guitars, a bass, drums, sound system, and more. All this for a kid who didn’t even know how to play at the time, but aspired to start a band with his friends and one day play for packed arenas aroud the world.. my lifelong dream.
Soon after I was told I was well enough to go home, but I needed to come back everyday for several months to get what I can only describe as a bottle of orange juice looking stuff injected directly into the port in my chest. The port was connected directly to my main artery and hung like a component cable from the right side of my chest. Everyday I would have to, get this, GO TO SCHOOL, then get my tired behind on a train downtown to the hospital for a dose (which was more like a gallon) of this orange crap that would make me shake uncontrollably for basically the entire time I was being feed it.
Until one day… I had just picked up the new Smashing Pumpkins album ADORE and was psyched for my first listen. So I grabbed my CD player and threw it in on my way to the train.
I hated it. Honestly, I did.
The first time around, with the exception of Ava Adore, I really didn’t like the direction this album took the band. But I continued to listen, day in and day out on my way to the hospital. Then one day I started to listen to it even while I was being pumped full of Florida’s finest citrus, and to my surprise my shaking was calmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I still shook at first, but as the session moved along and I focused on the music, I noticed a huge difference in my mannerisms during the transmission.
It also worked as a nice time keeper as I knew once I got to “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete” (which is an AWESOME song by the way), I knew I only had about 10 minutes to go and I was outta there!
The album isn’t the Pumpkins best by a long shot, but to me it means more than the others. It got me through a time was really difficult for a now 13 year-old kid to endure. I was able to complete the treatment regimen and have been cancer free for over 12 years. That is how this album changed my life.
TRACK LISTING:
1. “To Sheila” – 4:46
2. “Ava Adore” – 4:21
3. “Perfect” – 3:23
4. “Daphne Descends” – 4:39
5. “Once Upon a Time” – 4:06
6. “Tear” – 5:53
7. “Crestfallen” – 4:09
8. “Appels + Oranjes” – 3:35
9. “Pug” – 4:47
10. “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete” – 4:35
11. “Annie-Dog” – 3:38
12. “Shame” – 6:40
13. “Behold! The Night Mare” – 5:13
14. “For Martha” – 8:18
15. “Blank Page” – 4:58
16. “17″ – 0:17
If you haven’t heard them yet download “Tear”, “Appels + Oranjes”, and “The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete”.
Tags: adore, album review, cancer, personal story, smashing pumpkins