"G.L.O.W." is a song by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...

. It premiered on

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

alternative rock station

Q101 Q101 may refer to: * Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101, a live broadcast 'studio' album released by Violent Femmes in 2006 * CKMQ-FM, Merritt, British Columbia, Canada * KQDJ-FM, Valley City, North Dakota * WKQX (FM), an alternative rock ...

on September 29, 2008. This song was the last recorded Smashing Pumpkins song to feature drummer

Jimmy Chamberlin James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. He is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins fro ...

, who left the band in March 2009, and before he rejoined in 2018.

Background

In July 2008 it was announced on the band's official website that the recording of this song was complete.

Bjorn Thorsrud Bjorn Thorsrud (October 7, 1963 – October 19, 2021) was an American music producer, programmer, and audio engineer who produced film scores and albums for rock and pop artists. He also engineered, mixed, or contributed production or programmi ...

was confirmed as a co-producer of the track, stating: "'G.L.O.W.' has me glowing all over". Later that month the band's website reported that the track had entered the mixing stage, with mixing by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

, and that it was still slated for a September release. The article also featured a photo of

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...

and

among others at Ardent Studios in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

where "G.L.O.W." was recorded. In an interview with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Billy Corgan stated that, with ''

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the ''American Gothic'' House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people efancied shoul ...

'' and "G.L.O.W.", the band "finally turned the corner... where it’s starting to feel like our music again, and not theirs, whoever 'they' might be," referring to the band's choice to continue making music without a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. "G.L.O.W." was released as a "digital 45" on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on November 4, 2008 and was released as a downloadable track for ''

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero IV'' or ''Guitar Hero IV: World Tour'') is a music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' ...

'' on December 4, 2008, along with "

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

" and "

The Everlasting Gaze "The Everlasting Gaze" is a song written by Billy Corgan and recorded by the Smashing Pumpkins. It is the opening track from the band's 2000 album ''Machina/The Machines of God''. The song was released as the lead North American single on Decemb ...

". It was the first digital 45 to be released by iTunes. The band worked on a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

with

Justin Coloma Justin Coloma (born October 31, 1975) is a Peruvian American film director and editor. Biography Justin Coloma was raised in Lima, Peru, and moved to California in 1992. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies from The University of Califo ...

for the song. The video premiered on MySpace on December 2, 2008. The cover art was created by artist Kateri Forbes.

Track listing

Digital 45 # "G.L.O.W." – 3:20 # "

Superchrist ''Zeitgeist'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 10, 2007 on Martha's Music and Reprise Records. Recorded solely by returning band members Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, the album was th ...

" – 7:05 Guitar Hero Download Package # "G.L.O.W." – 3:20 # "

" – 4:24 # "

" – 4:01

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glow 2008 singles 2008 songs The Smashing Pumpkins songs Songs written by Billy Corgan Song recordings produced by Billy Corgan