The Smashing Pumpkins – Adore: A Gothic Electronic Saga Born From Loss in 1998

A Band Declaring Rock’s Death

On June 2, 1998, Smashing Pumpkins released their fourth studio album, Adore, to the world. The band that had moved over 10 million copies of 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in the US alone, earning Diamond certification, returned three years later with something completely unexpected.

The explosive guitar-driven rock sound had vanished. In its place: the precise beats of Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines, layered synthesizer textures, and meditative passages led by piano and acoustic guitar.

MTV named this album the most anticipated release of 1998. But the music marketplace was split between two massive forces. On one side, Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys rode a wave of teen pop domination. On the other, Limp Bizkit and Korn commanded the charts with nu-metal’s aggressive assault. Between these extremes, Billy Corgan declared “Rock is Dead.” His proposed alternative merged electronic music with gothic rock, and the result was Adore.

Production Background: Three Losses

Adore emerged from a period when the band stood on the brink of collapse. Between July 1996 and early 1997, three devastating events laid the groundwork for this album.

Jimmy Chamberlin’s Absence

On July 12, 1996, during the Mellon Collie tour, touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin died of a heroin overdose in a Manhattan hotel room. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who had been using drugs with Melvoin, was arrested. Five days later, on July 17, the band issued a statement firing him. They’d been battling his drug addiction for nine years and could no longer continue together.

Chamberlin’s departure wasn’t simply the loss of one member. His powerful, jazz-influenced drumming served as the engine of Smashing Pumpkins’ sound. Without him, Billy Corgan faced a complete musical overhaul. Matt Walker joined as touring drummer, but he couldn’t replicate Chamberlin’s signature organic groove. Ultimately, Corgan pivoted toward aggressive use of drum machines.

Family and Marriage Endings

While the band faced crisis, Billy Corgan was crumbling personally. In December 1996, his mother Martha Corgan died of cancer. That same month, he filed for divorce from his wife Chris Fabian, finalized in 1997. Recording began in February 1997, immediately after losing his mother and the collapse of his marriage.

This personal loss crystallized throughout Adore as meditations on death, mourning, and yearning for redemption. The 8-minute, 17-second “For Martha” stands as a direct tribute to his mother.

Internal Band Fractures

Jimmy Chamberlin’s firing shattered the band’s internal dynamics. Guitarist James Iha focused on his debut solo album Let It Come Down, while bassist D’arcy Wretzky couldn’t fully contribute to the album due to personal issues. Consequently, Adore took shape less as a band collaboration and more as Billy Corgan’s solo project.

Production: Finding Direction in Chaos

Adore‘s production stretched across 13 months, from February 1997 to March 1998. Recording began in various Chicago studios before relocating to Los Angeles, accompanied by countless discarded songs and reworks.

The Brad Wood Split

The initial concept centered on “combining acoustic and electronic elements.” Billy Corgan recruited Brad Wood, who’d produced Liz Phair’s masterpiece Exile in Guyville. Work began in Chicago during summer 1997, with Matt Walker on drums recording demos for “To Sheila,” “Ava Adore,” “Daphne Descends,” and others.

After six weeks, however, Corgan fired Brad Wood. The official reason cited musical direction differences. Wood’s preferred indie-oriented, lo-fi approach clashed with Corgan’s vision for polished pop production.

Rick Rubin’s Brief Intervention

While searching for the album’s direction, band management brought in legendary producer Rick Rubin. Rubin produced one song: “Let Me Give the World to You.” Beck’s drummer Joey Waronker performed on the track, completed after 68 takes, carrying a lavish Beatles-style pop melody.

But Billy Corgan removed it from the final tracklist, feeling its tone didn’t match the album’s dark atmosphere. The label wanted this as the lead single, but Corgan made the extreme choice of cutting it entirely to prevent that. The song finally surfaced on the 2014 reissue.

Flood and Electronic Completion

After Brad Wood’s departure, Corgan turned to Flood, who’d co-produced Mellon Collie. Flood’s resume—U2’s Achtung Baby, Depeche Mode’s Violator, Nine Inch Nails—demonstrated mastery of rock and electronic fusion.

Flood and Corgan aggressively deployed vintage drum machines like the Roland TR-808 and TR-909. This wasn’t merely compensating for the absent drummer, but an aesthetic device rendering the album’s rhythmic texture mechanical and hypnotic. Bon Harris from Nitzer Ebb contributed electronic sequencing and sounds to eight tracks, intensifying the album’s electronic character.

Mono Sound and Ghosts of the Past

Intriguingly, Adore employed cutting-edge digital technology while deliberately pursuing vintage sonics. Billy Corgan drew inspiration from 1950s blues and early rock and roll, particularly Howlin’ Wolf’s recordings. Some tracks applied mono mixing techniques, condensing sound to the center rather than spreading it across the stereo field, while instruments were intentionally treated to sound aged and rough. This vintage texture over modern electronic beats created Adore‘s unique temporality.

Key Tracks: A Spectrum of Grief

After recording roughly 30 songs, 16 tracks (including a hidden track) made the final cut. Each examines themes of loss, love, death, and redemption from different angles.

“To Sheila” opens the album. Unlike the explosive introductions of previous records, this track begins quietly amid subtle ambient noise reminiscent of crickets. Acoustic guitar and banjo playing forecast the album’s meditative mood.

“Ava Adore” served as the first single, the album’s most aggressive and electronically saturated track. Distorted drum loops and sharp synthesizers demonstrate the fusion of gothic rock and industrial. In the music video, Billy Corgan appears in a long black coat and pale makeup evoking Count Nosferatu, establishing the album’s visual identity.

“Perfect” is the second single, continuing the synth-pop sensibility of “1979.” The music video was actually produced as a sequel to the “1979” video, recasting four of the original five actors. Giuseppe Andrews and the others portray the weight of adult life. The final scene where tape falls from a car and gets destroyed references an actual tape loss incident during “1979” filming.

“For Martha” stands as the album’s emotional center. At 8 minutes and 17 seconds, this tribute to Billy Corgan’s mother features drumming by Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Remarkably, this complex piece was recorded primarily as one live take. Beginning with beautiful piano melody and building toward intense rock sound, its structure embodies the journey from grief to catharsis.

“Daphne Descends” sonically captures nighttime imagery. Heavy synthesizer bass and dreamlike chorus create a languid, sensual atmosphere. “Tear” was originally composed for David Lynch’s film Lost Highway, but Lynch selected “Eye” instead, so it landed on the album. “Crestfallen” projects the helplessness Corgan felt after his mother’s death, showcasing melancholic lyricism influenced by ’80s synth-pop, particularly The Cure’s ballads.

“Blank Page” serves as the album’s official closing track, singing of emptiness after everything disappears. With only piano and subtle electronics remaining, this song returns the entire album’s journey to a blank slate.

Tour: Stages of Charity and Experimentation

Following Adore‘s release, the band designed a distinctive tour called “An Evening with The Smashing Pumpkins.” Rather than conventional arena shows, they selected 17 dates across 14 cities. Venues included Brussels’ botanical garden, the rooftop of a FNAC record store in Paris, the Cannes Film Festival, and Sydney’s international harbor.

The tour’s defining feature: 100% of ticket proceeds went to charity. All ticket revenue benefited local charities in each city, primarily youth support organizations. Total funds raised exceeded $2.8 million. The July 7, 1998 Chicago show donated $500,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation—at the time, the largest single donation in the organization’s history.

The live setup featured massive session reinforcement. Kenny Aronoff, drummer for John Mellencamp and Melissa Etheridge, handled main drums, while pianist Mike Garson, longtime David Bowie collaborator, took keyboards. Additionally, two percussionists—Dan Morris and Stephen Hodges—joined to recreate the album’s complex rhythmic layers.

Commercial Performance: Expectation Versus Reality

Despite MTV naming it 1998’s most anticipated album, Adore‘s commercial results fell short of expectations. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 174,000 copies its first week. It earned RIAA Platinum certification five weeks after release, but final sales reached only approximately 1.1 million copies. Compared to Mellon Collie‘s 10+ million US sales, this represented a dramatic decline.

Billy Corgan appeared on shows like Howard Stern during album promotion, repeatedly mentioning rock’s death. He argued traditional rock had stagnated and the future belonged to electronica. However, these statements alienated the existing fanbase. Many fans accused Corgan of chasing trends and abandoning the band’s identity.

Criticism: Polarized Reception

Critical response split sharply. Rolling Stone awarded four stars and praised it positively, while Pitchfork gave it 8.1 points. Some critics deemed it the best work since Siamese Dream.

Meanwhile, outlets like NME and Spin criticized the album’s excessive seriousness, tedium, and lack of dynamics. The absence of radio-friendly material beyond “Ava Adore” was flagged as a weakness. Some felt the album existed curiously outside the flow of time.

Reappraisal: Time’s Vindication

After the band’s 2000 breakup, Adore‘s reputation gradually shifted. As Radiohead’s Kid A dissolved boundaries between rock and electronic music in the 2000s, and the indie scene normalized electronica-folk fusion, Adore gained recognition as ahead of its time.

The 2014 Super Deluxe Edition became a catalyst for revealing this album’s true value. The 6CD+1DVD box set contained 107 tracks, including Rick Rubin’s “Let Me Give the World to You,” James Iha’s “Summer,” and numerous demos and outtakes. Bob Ludwig handled remastering, and the DVD captured the August 4, 1998 live performance at Atlanta’s Fox Theater.

Today, Adore holds status as an established cult classic. It provided musical and visual inspiration to subsequent bands like My Chemical Romance, and The Guardian selected it as one of 25 classic alternative American albums.

The Legacy Left by Loss

Adore documents one musician dissecting his interior after losing everything at success’s peak. Replacing the rock heart lost with Jimmy Chamberlin’s firing with drum machines, and sublimating the grief from his mother’s December 1996 death into gothic rock aesthetics, this album paradoxically captures the band’s most truthful moment.

Debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200 upon its June 1998 release but selling only 1.1 million copies, it was deemed a commercial failure. Yet over time, Adore endured as a case study in how a rock band can destroy and recreate itself.

This album where electronics and acoustics, past and future, despair and hope intersect may have arrived too early for 1998 audiences. But through the 2014 reissue and beyond, Adore has secured its place as a work offering solace to those who’ve experienced loss.

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