Earphoria is something of a head-scratcher. A sprawling, mostly live collection of tracks recorded in concert and during television performances, the disc stops short of the Smashing Pumpkins mid-1990s' commercial peak, with the latest offering culled from 1994. What's more, there's a roughness to the edits, suggesting a quick turnaround or possibly a lack of involvement from infamous perfectionist and Pumpkin head Billy Corgan. "Soma", for instance, fades abruptly, mid-applause. Better-known tracks such as "Disarm" and "Today"--recorded on English TV and in Chicago, respectively--offer negligible changes over their studio siblings. Collectors will appreciate "French Movie Theme" and the rambling, unhinged--and quarter-hour-long--"Why Am I So Tired". But really, this one is for die-hards only and a pale companion to 2001's comprehensive greatest-hits collection, Rotten Apples. --Kim Hughes
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