"Cherub Rock" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

the Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

. It is the first single from their second album, ''

Siamese Dream ''Siamese Dream'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 19, 1993, by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan. Despite its recording sessions ...

'' (1993) and is the opening track. It was written by lead vocalist and guitarist

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

. It was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2011. The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989. The category ...

Composition

"Cherub Rock" was one of the last songs written for the album, and the lyrics relate to Corgan's relationship with his perception of the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

community and larger media. The song was performed in standard tuning with an E octave played at the 7th fret, a technique which the band used on other songs, such as "

Drown Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others presen ...

", "

Tristessa ''Tristessa'' is a 1960 novella by Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac set in Mexico City. It is based on his relationship with a Mexican prostitute (the title character). The woman's real name was Esperanza ("hope" in Spanish); Kerouac changed ...

", and "Starla". Corgan describes this as the "Pumpkin Chord", saying "We basically stole that from

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. But Jimi Hendrix probably stole it from

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

." The prominent effect on the solo was achieved by recording the guitar solo to two different tapes which were then run simultaneously, with the speed of one tape slightly altered. "Cherub Rock" contains various overdubs influenced by the genres of

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

as well as 1970s classic

arena rock Arena rock (also known as stadium rock, pomp rock or corporate rock) is a style of rock music that became mainstream in the 1970s. It typically involves radio-friendly rock music that was designed to be played for large audiences. As hard rock ...

. According to Corgan, the song's introductory drum riff is a direct lift from Rush's 1975 song "By-Tor and the Snow Dog."

Reception

Corgan insisted that the song be released as the first single from the album, though record executives believed that "

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

" would be a stronger opening single. Although Corgan's wishes were honored, the single was indeed received much less enthusiastically than "Today", although it remains a fan favorite. An acoustic version of the song is performed on ''

Vieuphoria ''Vieuphoria'' is a long-form music video by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, originally released on VHS on October 4, 1994, and DVD on November 26, 2002. It was certified gold by the RIAA in late 1996. The video consists o ...

'' and its CD companion, ''

Earphoria ''Earphoria'' is a live album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It is the soundtrack of the band's '' Vieuphoria'' video. While the video has been widely available since its initial release, the CD was initially released a ...

.'' The song was a moderate success for the band, being performed on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' on October 30, 1993 and making it to the

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...

at number 43. Readers ranked "Cherub Rock" at number 97 in ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

s list of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time. In March 2005, ''Q'' magazine placed it at number 67 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Following the 2011 re-issue of ''

'',

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

commented that the single "seemed tailor-made to feed the emerging modern rock radio format."

Music video

The video features footage of the band performing the song live in a forest setting. It was shot outside San Francisco entirely on Super8 film on a modest budget. The director,

Kevin Kerslake Kevin Kerslake is an American filmmaker, photographer, and music video director. He has directed documentaries on Joan Jett ('' Bad Reputation''), DJ AM (''As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM''), The Ramones ('' We're Outta Here!''), Nirvana ...

, employed various destructive techniques when developing the film to give the video a broken and dirty look. Corgan was reportedly extremely unhappy with the shooting experience, and the band never worked with Kerslake again until the video for ‘Empires’, the third single from the 2023 album '' Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts''.Commentary for "Cherub Rock" music video. ''The Smashing Pumpkins 1991–2000: Greatest Hits Video Collection'' (Virgin Records, 2001). The video received its world premiere on MTV's late-night alternative rock program ''

120 Minutes ''120 Minutes'' is a television program in the United States dedicated to the Alternative rock, alternative music genre, that originally aired on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then aired on MTV's associate channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003. After it ...

'' on July 11, 1993.

In popular culture

The song features on numerous rhythm video games such as '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'', ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'', '' Power Gig: Rise of the SixString'' and ''

Rocksmith 2014 ''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game ''Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plu ...

''.

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

band Roses Are Red covered the song for Reignition Records' 2005 compilation '' The Killer in You: A Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins''.

Track listings

All songs were written by Billy Corgan. CD and 12-inch vinyl # "Cherub Rock" – 4:59 # "Pissant" – 2:30 # "French Movie Theme" / "

Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of For ...

" – 3:50 7-inch vinyl (5000 copies only) # "Cherub Rock" – 4:59 # "Purr Snickety" – 2:50

Personnel

– vocals, lead guitar, bass (recording session),

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

James Iha (born March 26, 1968) is an American rock musician. He is best known as a guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. He was a member until the band's initial breakup in 2000 and rejoined in 2018. Iha has als ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

D'arcy Wretzky D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She was the original bassist of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. She has also been a ...

– bass (credited), vocals *

Jimmy Chamberlin James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the ...

– drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * {{Authority control The Smashing Pumpkins songs 1993 songs 1993 singles Grunge songs Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake Song recordings produced by Billy Corgan Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Songs about the media Songs about rock music Songs written by Billy Corgan Virgin Records singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles