 Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound.Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until "Adore" involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army."