# Gish
**Gish** is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band [The Smashing Pumpkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-smashing-pumpkins), released on May 28, 1991 through [Caroline Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/caroline-records)[1](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd) • [2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4ac82f0b-1532-3734-80d7-5c02265197aa). Produced by [Butch Vig](https://www.edgepedia.org/butch-vig) at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, it is the first album by the Chicago band, which formed in 1988[3](https://napalmrecords.com/english/the-smashing-pumpkins-gish-35th-anniversary-edition-black-lp.html) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0000265088).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | The Smashing Pumpkins, a Chicago rock band formed in 1988[3](https://napalmrecords.com/english/the-smashing-pumpkins-gish-35th-anniversary-edition-black-lp.html) |
| Released | May 28, 1991, Caroline Records (CD and 12-inch vinyl, 10 tracks)[1](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd) • [2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4ac82f0b-1532-3734-80d7-5c02265197aa) |
| Recorded | December 1990 to March 1991 at Smart Studios, Madison, Wisconsin[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0000265088) |
| Producer | Butch Vig, in his first collaboration with Billy Corgan[3](https://napalmrecords.com/english/the-smashing-pumpkins-gish-35th-anniversary-edition-black-lp.html) • [5](https://www.deergodnyc.com/blog/record-review-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins) |
| Length | 45:45 across ten tracks, plus the hidden track "I'm Going Crazy"[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0000265088) • [1](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd) |
| US certification | Certified platinum on February 5, 1999, representing 1,000,000 units[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/90s/93/Mix-1993-10.pdf) • [18](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/47471) |
| 35th anniversary reissue | Remastered 180g LP released May 29, 2026 via Martha's Music/Virgin/Capitol/UMe[7](https://www.analogplanet.com/content/smashing-pumpkins-celebrate-35-years-their-1991-debut-album-gish-powerful-dynamic-remastered) |
## Background and recording
**First meeting with Vig.** Billy Corgan first met Butch Vig when the band walked into Smart Studios to record what became their [Sub Pop](https://www.edgepedia.org/sub-pop) single, "Tristessa". Corgan has said he valued that Vig was unpretentious, worked hard, and was not intimidated by the scope of what Corgan and drummer [Jimmy Chamberlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-chamberlin) were trying to do, and that Vig in turn asked the band to play at a higher level than it knew it could[8](https://tapeop.com/interviews/115/smashing-pumpkins-a-studio-history).
The album was recorded between December 1990 and March 1991[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0000265088), a schedule of about thirty working days[9](https://riffology.co/posts/the-making-of-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins/). Corgan put heavy pressure on himself and the band, and D'Arcy Wretzky's bass lines were largely re-tracked by Corgan in the studio, a pattern that repeated on the follow-up album and became a source of internal friction[9](https://riffology.co/posts/the-making-of-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins/) • [10](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/60930/The-Smashing-Pumpkins-Gish/).
**The Nevermind connection.** Vig received the call to produce Nirvana's *Nevermind* while he was recording *Gish*; Corgan, who was in the next room, recalled Vig coming in with a glum look because the label did not fully trust him with the job[11](https://loudwire.com/smashing-pumpkins-gish-influence-pearl-jam-nirvana-grunge/). Vig moved directly from the *Gish* sessions into the *Nevermind* sessions in May 1991, and production decisions he had developed with Corgan, such as unprocessed drums and patient overdub layering, carried into how Nirvana's record was tracked and mixed[9](https://riffology.co/posts/the-making-of-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins/).
Several songs were recorded at Smart Studios beyond the album tracks: the outtakes "Slunk", "Blue", and "Jesus Loves His Babies" were intended for b-sides in 1991, and the hidden eleventh track, "I'm Going Crazy", was recorded live in the studio's monitor room[12](https://smashing-pumpkins-recording-sessions.fandom.com/wiki/Dec_1990-Mar_1991_%E2%80%93_Smart_Studios) • [1](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd).
## Songs and music
The album runs, in order, "I Am One", "Siva", "Rhinoceros", "Bury Me", "Crush", "Suffer", "Snail", "Tristessa", "Window Paine", and "Daydream", followed by the hidden "I'm Going Crazy"[1](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd). The credits list Mary Gaines on cello, Chris Wagoner on violin and viola, and D'Arcy on vocals[1](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd). Chamberlin plays drums on eight of the ten album tracks; two tracks have no drums[10](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/60930/The-Smashing-Pumpkins-Gish/).
Corgan has described *Gish* as a very spiritual album; "Siva" is a deliberate misspelling of the tantric concept of Shiva[13](https://www.loudersound.com/music/smashing-pumpkins-gish). The record repeatedly uses the soft-loud-soft-loud dynamic shift that became one of alternative rock's formal calling cards[14](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=ohiou1426865642&disposition=inline), and AllMusic classifies it across styles including alternative pop/rock, dream pop, grunge, indie rock, noise pop, and heavy metal[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0000265088). Commentators have noted its blend of [Led Zeppelin](https://www.edgepedia.org/led-zeppelin)-style solos and rock grooves with acid folk, shoegaze, and psychedelic elements[13](https://www.loudersound.com/music/smashing-pumpkins-gish), and "Rhinoceros", with its slow build and crescendo, is often singled out as the album's standout track[5](https://www.deergodnyc.com/blog/record-review-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins).
## Release and commercial performance
*Gish* was released on May 28, 1991 on CD and 12-inch vinyl by Caroline Records, with catalog numbers 261 651 and CARCD16 in Germany and 1705 and CAROL 1705-2 in the United States[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4ac82f0b-1532-3734-80d7-5c02265197aa). It was regarded at the time as one of the most successful independent releases[7](https://www.analogplanet.com/content/smashing-pumpkins-celebrate-35-years-their-1991-debut-album-gish-powerful-dynamic-remastered) and was certified platinum in the United States on February 5, 1999 for sales of 1,000,000 units[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/90s/93/Mix-1993-10.pdf) • [18](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/47471).
The band signed with [Virgin Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-records) after the indie success of *Gish*, ahead of its 1993 follow-up *Siamese Dream*, which took the band from independent favorite to commercial success[15](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2023/09/06/smashing-pumpkins-highland-park-shows).
## Reissues
A *Gish* Deluxe Edition was released in 2011 as part of a reissue series that also included *Siamese Dream* and *[Pisces Iscariot](https://www.edgepedia.org/pisces-iscariot)*[16](https://www.smashingpumpkins.com/).
For the album's 35th anniversary, *Gish* was reissued as a remastered 180g LP on May 29, 2026 via Martha's Music/Virgin/Capitol/UMe, with a suggested retail price of $29.99 for the black vinyl edition[7](https://www.analogplanet.com/content/smashing-pumpkins-celebrate-35-years-their-1991-debut-album-gish-powerful-dynamic-remastered). A pink-and-purple splatter color variant was priced at $32.99[7](https://www.analogplanet.com/content/smashing-pumpkins-celebrate-35-years-their-1991-debut-album-gish-powerful-dynamic-remastered), and the black edition was listed at €31.99 by European retailers[3](https://napalmrecords.com/english/the-smashing-pumpkins-gish-35th-anniversary-edition-black-lp.html).
## Influence
Because *Gish* preceded the grunge explosion of late 1991, its influence is often overlooked[11](https://loudwire.com/smashing-pumpkins-gish-influence-pearl-jam-nirvana-grunge/). Corgan recalled a conversation with [Eddie Vedder](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-vedder) during a late-1991 tour with the [Red Hot Chili Peppers](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-hot-chili-peppers) in which Vedder told him how much of an influence *Gish* had been on [Pearl Jam](https://www.edgepedia.org/pearl-jam)'s first record, and said that many people over the years had pointed to *Gish* as changing how they approached guitar and recording[11](https://loudwire.com/smashing-pumpkins-gish-influence-pearl-jam-nirvana-grunge/). The album is also credited with helping normalize Big Muff-style fuzz used for melody, prog-length song structures in alternative rock, and the loud-soft blueprint that ran through the decade's rock[17](https://www.knowyourinstrument.com/smashing-pumpkins-loud-soft-blueprint/).
## References
1. [GISH CD – The Smashing Pumpkins (official store)](https://store.smashingpumpkins.com/products/gish-cd)
2. [Release group "Gish" by Smashing Pumpkins, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release-group/4ac82f0b-1532-3734-80d7-5c02265197aa)
3. [The Smashing Pumpkins – Gish – 35th Anniversary Edition – Black LP, Napalm Records](https://napalmrecords.com/english/the-smashing-pumpkins-gish-35th-anniversary-edition-black-lp.html)
4. [The Smashing Pumpkins: Gish, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0000265088)
5. [Record Review: Gish by The Smashing Pumpkins, Deer God NYC](https://www.deergodnyc.com/blog/record-review-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins)
6. [Recording Notes, Mix Magazine, October 1993](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/90s/93/Mix-1993-10.pdf)
7. [Smashing Pumpkins Celebrate 35 Years of Their 1991 Debut Album Gish, Analog Planet](https://www.analogplanet.com/content/smashing-pumpkins-celebrate-35-years-their-1991-debut-album-gish-powerful-dynamic-remastered)
8. [Smashing Pumpkins: A studio history with Billy Corgan, Flood, Jimmy Chamberlin, Butch Vig, Alan Moulder, and Tommy Lee, Tape Op](https://tapeop.com/interviews/115/smashing-pumpkins-a-studio-history)
9. [Gish by The Smashing Pumpkins: The Story, Riffology](https://riffology.co/posts/the-making-of-gish-by-the-smashing-pumpkins/)
10. [The Smashing Pumpkins – Gish (album review), Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/60930/The-Smashing-Pumpkins-Gish/)
11. [How Smashing Pumpkins 'Gish' Shaped Pearl Jam, Nirvana + Grunge, Loudwire](https://loudwire.com/smashing-pumpkins-gish-influence-pearl-jam-nirvana-grunge/)
12. [Dec 1990–Mar 1991 – Smart Studios, Smashing Pumpkins Recording Sessions Wiki](https://smashing-pumpkins-recording-sessions.fandom.com/wiki/Dec_1990-Mar_1991_%E2%80%93_Smart_Studios)
13. [Smashing Pumpkins: Gish album review, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/music/smashing-pumpkins-gish)
14. [Aesthetic toward the heavier sound on Gish, OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=ohiou1426865642&disposition=inline)
15. [Smashing Pumpkins to perform "Siamese Dream" tributes in Highland Park, Axios Chicago](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2023/09/06/smashing-pumpkins-highland-park-shows)
16. [The Smashing Pumpkins, official site discography](https://www.smashingpumpkins.com/)
17. [Gish at 30+: How Smashing Pumpkins Made Alt-Rock's Loud-Soft Blueprint, Know Your Instrument](https://www.knowyourinstrument.com/smashing-pumpkins-loud-soft-blueprint/)
18. [GISH by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - Sales & Charts - BestSellingAlbums.org](https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/47471)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Indie and alternative albums › Studio albums of the 1990s › American and Canadian albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license