The Smashing Pumpkins – Pisces Iscariot [Deluxe Edition]

After the success of the Gish and Siamese Dream reissues, Pumpkins fans will be frustrated  to learn that whilst Pisces delivers in some areas (a competent remaster from Bob Ludwig on the main disc; a DVD that features some blistering early performances) it falls short in others.

The album itself (actually a collection of b-sides and outtakes) is stunning; possessed of a languid but intensely passionate feel, tracks like Whir, Obscured and La Dolly Vita stand up next to anything the band produced, whilst Hello Kitty Kat is the kind of god-level face-melter that most of Corgan’s contemporaries would have killed to be able to write.

Unfortunately a handful of glitches have been introduced during the 2012 tape transfers that were not present on the original material. Most notably, Pissant’s intro inherits a horrible hiccup whilst the bonus disc of rare material displays numerous careless artefacts – not to mention a hideously fatiguing mastering job from Howie Weinberg.