VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

“VIEUPHORIA”

Smashing Pumpkins

Virgin

* * *

From the clean, audible concert footage to the musicians’ “therapy” sessions to a day in the life of the guitarist’s dog, this video of live performances and offstage antics is a raw and understated complement to last year’s big success, “Siamese Dream.”

Leader Billy Corgan narrates the band’s history over early footage of the quartet, and interviews with fans are sprinkled through the 90-minute video. Bumpy camera work and amateur effects induce motion sickness in spots, but overall “Vieuphoria” is smooth and quirkily entertaining.

The new Pumpkins album, “Pisces Iscariot,” is similar in spirit--a collection of B-sides, rarities and radio performances with a more intimate appeal than the band’s regular collections.

It offers the bittersweet vocals and loud dynamics that characterize the Pumpkins, but the production is rougher, the singing more vulnerable and the music warmer. Not as dazzling and powerful as “Siamese Dream,” the album satisfies a quieter side of the soul.

Items are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).