Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Smashing Pumpkins to Reissue 1994 Album Pisces Iscariot

EMI Music’s extensive reissue campaign honoring the legacy of The Smashing Pumpkins continues July 17th in North America and July 16th internationally. That’s when the iconic alternative band’s third album Pisces Iscariot - 1994’s platinum-certified disc that reached #4 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart - receives the fully remastered treatment for the first time. This follows last year’s acclaimed reissues of the band’s groundbreaking first two albums, Gish (1991) and Siamese Dream (1993).

“A collection of odds and orphans from the dusky realms of Pumpkinland” is how Pumpkins founding member Billy Corgan describes Pisces Iscariot in the liner notes penned by David Wild. “Pisces Iscariot was the little mix tape that went platinum,” writes Wild. “This unlikely smash album that some came to mistake for the Pumpkins’ third studio effort even yielded a hit single--another wonderfully odd moment in the landslide that was the intense early success story of Smashing Pumpkins.”

Featuring the band’s take on the Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks song “Landslide” which reached #3 on Modern Rock Tracks chart, Pisces Iscariot is being released in multiple configurations: Deluxe Physical Album--which comes with a live DVD and the first-ever Pumpkins demo reproduced on cassette--Deluxe Digital, Standard Physical, Digital and 180G Vinyl. The bonus content and special features were curated from the band’s archives by Corgan, and have been painstakingly remastered for the first time from the original master tapes by Bob Ludwig.

With the full support and guidance from The Smashing Pumpkins - who’ve created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in musical history, selling over 30 million albums - EMI’s global catalog reissue campaign will last through 2013; it will encompass all the band’s albums and B-sides from 1991-2000, with other release dates to be announced. The pivotal group’s many hits defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation.
For more on the Smashing Pumpkins and to pre-order the Pisces Iscariot reissue, visit their official site at smashingpumpkins.com. The new album, Oceania, is available now on iTunes and Amazon.
Pisces Iscariot Deluxe Physical Album Contents:
– Original Album Remastered & Reissued For The First Time
– 17 Previously Unreleased or Alternate Versions of Pisces Era Songs
– 24 Previously Unreleased Live Performances (Pulse Basement Jam, 1988) (DVD logo)
– First Ever SP Demo Reproduced on Cassette
– Postcards, Watercolor Illustrations, Lyrics, Photos
– Liner Notes by David Wild and Track-by-Track Annotations by Billy Corgan

Pisces Iscariot Deluxe Digital Contents:
– Original Album Remastered
– 17 Previously Unreleased or Alternate Versions of Pisces Era Songs

Pisces Iscariot Standard Physical, Digital and 180G Vinyl
– Original Album Remastered & Reissued For The First Time
– Includes: Starla, Landslide & La Dolly Vita