"Perfect" is a song by 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 mainstream or commerci ...

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 Ch ...

. It was released as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their fourth album, '' Adore'' (1998), on September 7, 1998. It was the final commercial single from the album, although " Crestfallen" and "To Sheila" were subsequently released as promotional singles.

Critical reception

Upon release, the song received positive reviews. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' notes that the song "picks up on the synth-pop echoes of the 1996 Pumpkins hit

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 so ...

." Feldman of website Musiccritic.com called the single "an irresistible slice of candy-coated pop" while website Rockmusicreview.com praised it for its "glimmering shine."

Music video

To expand on the similarities between "Perfect" and "

", the band released 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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

which continued the story of the characters in "1979". They were able to find and use four out of the five original actors from the "1979" video, including

Giuseppe Andrews Joey Murcia Jr. (born April 25, 1979), known professionally as Giuseppe Andrews is an American former actor, screenwriter, director, and singer-songwriter known for his roles as Lex in the 1999 film ''Detroit Rock City'', a bizarre sheriff's d ...

. The fifth was in jail. The same crew of directors was hired, which consisted of husband-and-wife team

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a team of American film and music video directors who received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, '' Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006). Later t ...

. It was the fifth and final collaboration between the two and the Smashing Pumpkins. The conclusion of the video, in which a tape falls off a car and is crushed, is probably a reference to the fate of the first tapes of the "1979" music video, which had to be re-taped because they were left on the roof of a car and destroyed when the car drove off. The video also contains footage of the band performing at

The Masque The Masque was a small punk rock club in central Hollywood, California which existed from 1977 to 1978. It is remembered as a key part of the early LA punk scene. History The Masque was founded by Scottish-American rock promoter Brendan Mullen ...

in L.A. for selected fans. The set played at the taping included heavier songs the band was not performing during regular concerts at the time, such as "Where Boys Fear to Tread", "Bodies", and "Pug". The video debuted on MTV's '' 120 Minutes'' on September 16, 1998.

Track listings

All songs were written by Billy Corgan, except "Summer", written by James Iha. Drums provided by

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronke ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect (The Smashing Pumpkins Song) The Smashing Pumpkins songs 1990s ballads 1998 singles 1998 songs Hut Records singles Music videos directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Billy Corgan Song recordings produced by Flood (producer) Songs written by Billy Corgan