As a teenager in 1998, my first Smashing Pumpkins CD was Adore. It was the album that made me a fan of the band. There was something about its sound and its boldness that simply blew my mind. 

In 2011, I traveled to LA for work and stopped at a record store. I looked in the used pile and found a 1998 mint-condition Adore vinyl copy. It was my first Smashing Pumpkins vinyl and my first vinyl ever; then, I didn’t even have a turntable to play it. 

There is something special about that album. Adore was and still is like a balm for my brain, heart, and soul.