"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" by the Smashing Pumpkins

They supposedly had 45 songs going into the studio.

Just a totally played out venture, Darcy and Johnny Aha were nowhere to be heard from.

I think "We Only Come Out at Night" relates more to the first 3:00 and last :45 of "Soma" than to the guitar parts in the middle - I was really trying to capture the overall mood of the song, and I remember "Soma" as a come-down in the wake of the bombastic high of "Disarm" more so than a guitar song, believe it or not.

No, they had a lot more. I've heard 'em.

28 songs on Mellon Collie, plus 21 Corgan or Iha songs that ended up being b-sides . Damn, that's enough songs for four full length albums!

But yeah, they needed an editor for this album. I always thought the second disc was much stronger than the first. I would take...

Cupid de Locke, Galpagos, and Porcelina off the first disc.

Thirty-Three, In the Arms of Sleep, 1979, Stumbeline, X.Y.U. (maybe), We Only Come Out at Night, Lily, By Starlight off of the second.

That comes out to about 52 minutes, and a much less rocking album. But to my ears at least, the more rocking Pumpkins songs are the ones that have dated the worst. The guitar histrionics don't really blow me away like they used to, and that's when Corgan tends to bust out his most embarassing lyrics. My version would come out closer to the mood of Adore, which is fine with me because I always liked Adore better than Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie or Gish.

I haven't listened to either disc of this album in forever, however, I do often listen to a mix CD I made a few years back containing a short list of their longest, most overblown songs (which are invariably my favs) - "Porcelina..." and "Through The Eyes Of A Ruby" are included (as is my other favorite ginormous Punkins jam "Starla").

Thru The Eyes of a Ruby
Soma
Silverfuck
Starla
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans

"(Aeroplane Over the Sea or something like that)"

Even better!

this is, obviously, crazy talk.

if you do not concede that Siamese Dream's roar+bluster demolishes Adores faux-goth leanings and electronic feel, you, sir, are missing out on the whole sheebang.

"No, they had a lot more. I've heard 'em."
happily, after all these years, i think i've heard a good amount of em, and have em in high quality (thank you Gravity Demos!!!! that thing slays me in many ways, but none as better {or as telling as where MCIS would go} as the indominateable 'Jackboot') which, ya know,i got that goin for me...

But Adore can never be the bad Smashing Pumpkins album because "Appels + Oranjes" PWNS PWNS PWNS

I guess I am missing out of the traditional appeal of the Smashing Pumpkins. I do have to admit that I didn't start listening to music, not even radio, until early 1998, so except for hearing Bullet with Butterfly Wings blasting out of a car passing by, I have no idea what it felt like to listen to the music when it was contemporary. By the time I got around to listening to Siamese Dream around 2000, a lot of it already sounded dated to my ears.

If there were ever an album that needed trimming more than those off Mellon Collie, it's fucking Adore for those four yawnfest songs at the end.

Agreed, except for "For Martha". That's been one of my favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs since I first heard it.

Not sure how much it counts as mainstream rock, but Worlds Apart reminded me of this album quite a bit.

i almost feel bad for people who got into SP during MCIS, they missed the good part of their career (and many will say "there's a GOOD part?!"). after the whole JImmy Debacle, it was only downhill for them to me.

"Worlds Apart reminded me of this album quite a bit."
a little, i guess. or maybe MCIS reminds me of Worlds's Apart (and quite possibly why i don't dig that album as much).

OTM
sucked then, sucks now

Ok maybe Ned or someone wld know this, but was Corgan a stan for Japan? I'm listening to "Fall in Love with Me" and it sounds like the mother source of half this album.

Been a while since I heard said song so I'm giving a listen now -- good catch! I remember Corgan mostly talking about things like Joy Division, Bauhaus and the Cure when it comes to the goth/proto-goth stuff he loved most but this would make perfect sense as something else in the mix.

For those wondering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvxrfCm0I0s

Glad you hear it too.

The earlier Japan stuff is sometimes a blind spot for me so this is v. helpful (it's a bit like how I keep forgetting how good/weird/potentially inspiring Adam Ant's Dirk Wears White Sox is).

I can't get into Japan's first two albums at all.

ha that japan track. the round lead guitar tone + bratty vocals are v Pumpkins indeed

"Set The Ray to Jerry" is pretty Japan-ish, if I remember, in a more contemplative mode. One of two Smashing Pumpkins songs I remain nostalgic for (along with "Glynis").

When it breaks down in the chorus it isn't as evident, but the verses on that Japan song Ned posted really does sound like Smashing Pumpkins.

anyone who hates "Zero" hates rock and roll imo

fuck you if you disagree

relax your vagina Curt1s

THOSE FUCKING HARMONICS!!!

Hoo damn, "Porcelina," what a grower - - skipped the shit out of it when I first got this, seems like the best song on the album to me now.

2nd behind Ruby which I was rocking earlier - long-form suited these guys

relax your vagina Curt1s

― Turangalila, Sunday, 18 April 2010 05:03 (10 months ago)

anyone who hates "Zero" hates rock and roll imo

― babbylon falling (Curt1s Stephens), Saturday, April 17, 2010 11:45 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark

what i dislike about "Zero" is how little it rocks, has such a steady metronome feel and static guitar arrangement that only leaps out for a few seconds for that goofy solo, whereas most of SP's best aggressive uptempo songs really jump out of the speakers and swing and breathe

I wonder if adults felt the same way about something like The Cure's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me when it came out? There may be some similarities between them. Except that I'm drawn to The Cure's album, flaws and all, whereas even the supposedly strong moments on the Pumpkins album repelled me. I actually was able to listen to it all the way through for the first time recently when I was working on my 90s thing for the first time since it came out. 15+ years later, it doesn't give me hives anymore. Anyone else liked the Pumpkins through Siamese Dream, then hated them beyond reason, and came back round to grudging acceptance?

"Porcelina" has always been my favourite on that album along with "1979" and "Tonight Tonight".

A patchy album it is though. And obviously way too long.

Coincidentally I was just reading Jim DeRogatis' Milk It, and got to the chapter on his contentious relationship with Billy Corgan. He absolutely hates the lyrics of the first three albums, but was actually pretty positive about the music on Mellon Collie:

Corgan and James Iha stretch out on several fiery guitar workouts, covering the gamut from Tom Scholz-style studio perfection to Sonic Youth noise-rock skronk. The Pumpkins deftly swing from unapologetic art rock (the nine-minutes-plus "Porcelina of the vast Oceans" to pop metal in the Boston or Journey vein ("Tonight Tonight"), and from techno-industrial lullabies ("Beautiful") to twisted cow punk ("We Only Come Out at Night"). Brimming with hooks, the songs quickly work their way into your subconscious, making the album seem a lot shorter than it is...

Musically, Mellon Collie solidifies Corgan's position as one of his generation's most ambitious songwriters--no one else in alternative rock's superstar stratum has attempted an album of such length, let alone scope, and it may even match The Wall in its sonic accomplishments. But his lyrics don't fare nearly as well in comparison. It may be too much to ask that Corgan be as poetic as Kurt Cobain or as earnest as Eddie Vedder, though his therapeutic self-examinations could at lest probe as deeply as Trent Reznor's. But while Waters's tale of the rock star Pink only reached the literary level of a comic book, "We don't need no education / We don't need no thought control" seems deeper, more universal, more entertaining--and heck, a lot more inspiring--than, "Living makes me sick / So sick I wish I'd die."

Crap production. Crap lyrics. Crap singing. Crap concept. Great album though.

Got reissue if you want it:

--

MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS

DELUXE BOX SET:

– 5CD +DVD

– Physical Tracks: 106, Digital Tracks: 92

– Original album remastered for the first time

– 64 bonus tracks of previously unreleased material or alternate versions of Mellon Collie era songs

– DVD featuring live show filmed at the Brixton Academy, London (1996) and bonus performances from Rockpalast (1996)

– Housed in a 12 x 12 lift-top box with magnetic closure, reimagined cover art and velvet-lined disc holder

– 2 books containing personal notes, lyrics, new collage artwork plus a Decoupage kit for creating your own scenes from the Mellon Collie universe.

VINYL

– 4LP (180gram), Original album remastered for first time, 28 tracks

– Remastered vinyl features the original record spread out over 8 sides (4 LPS) for the first time to ensure the optimum sound

– MCIS never before released on vinyl in the US (original vinyl previously released in the UK)

– Housed in 12x12 rigid slipcase with 2 books containing personal notes, new collage artwork, lyrics and more.

2CD

- Original double album remastered for the first time

- Physical and Digital Tracks: 28

TRACKLISTS

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Dawn To Dusk (CD1)

1. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

2. Tonight, Tonight

3. Jellybelly

4. Zero

5. Here Is No Why

6. Bullet With Butterfly Wings

7. To Forgive

8. An Ode To No One

9. Love

10. Cupid De Locke

11. Galapogos

12. Muzzle

13. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans

14. Take Me Down

Twilight To Starlight (CD2)

1. Where Boys Fear To Tread

2. Bodies

3. Thirty-Three

4. In The Arms Of Sleep

5. 1979

6. Tales Of A Scorched Earth

7. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby

8. Stumbleine

9. X.Y.U.

10. We Only Come Out At Night

11. Beautiful

12. Lily (My One And Only)

13. By Starlight

14. Farewell And Goodnight

Morning Tea (CD3)

1. Tonight, Tonight (Strings Alone mix)

2. Methusela (Sadlands demo)

3. X.Y.U. (Take 11)

4. Zero (Synth mix)

5. Feelium (Sadlands demo)

6. Autumn Nocturne (Sadlands demo)

7. Beautiful (Loop version)

8. Ugly (Sadlands demo)

9. Ascending Guitars (Sadlands demo)

10. By Starlight (Flood rough)

11. Medellia Of The Gray Skies (Take 1)

12. Lover (Arrangement 1 demo)

13. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (Take 7)

14. In The Arms Of Sleep (Early Live demo)

15. Lily (My One And Only) (Sadlands demo)

16. 1979 (Sadlands demo)

17. Glamey Glamey (Sadlands demo)

18. Meladori Magpie

19. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (Home Piano version)

20. Galapagos (Instrumental/Sadlands demo)

21. To Forgive (Sadlands demo)

High Tea (CD4)

1. Bullet With Butterfly Wings (Sadlands demo)

2. Set The Ray To Jerry (Vocal Rough)

3. Thirty-Three (Sadlands demo)

4. Cupid De Locke (BT 2012 mix)

5. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans (Live Studio rough)

6. Jellybelly (Instrumental/Pit mix 3)

7. The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)

8. Jupiter’s Lament (Barbershop version)

9. Bagpipes Drone (Sadlands demo)

10. Tonight, Tonight (Band Version Only, No Strings)

11. Knuckles (Studio outtake)

12. Pennies

13. Here Is No Why (Pumpkinland demo)

14. Blast (Fuzz version)

15. Towers Of Rabble (Live)

16. Rotten Apples

17. Fun Time (Sadlands demo)

18. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (Acoustic version)

19. Chinoise (Sadlands demo)

20. Speed

Special Tea (CD 5)

1. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (Nighttime version 1)

2. Galapagos (Sadlands demo)

3. Cherry (BT 2012 mix)

4. Love (Flood rough)

5. New Waver (Sadlands demo)

6. Fuck You (an ode to no one) (Production Master rough)

7. Isolation (BT 2012 mix)

8. Transformer (Early mix)

9. Dizzle (Sadlands demo)

10. Goodnight (Basic Vocal rough)

11. Eye (Soundworks demo)

12. Blank (Sadlands demo)

13. Beautiful (Instrumental-Middle 8)

14. My Blue Heaven (BT 2012 mix)

15. One And Two

16. Zoom (7 ips)

17. Pastichio Medley (Reversed extras)

18. Marquis In Spades (BT 2012 mix)

19. Tales Of A Scorched Earth (Guitar Overdub mix)

20. Tonite Reprise (Version 1)

21. Wishing You Were Real (Home demo)

22. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (Pit mix 3)

23. Phang (Sadlands demo)

DVD

Live at Brixton academy, London, 5/15/96

1. Tonight, Tonight

2. 1979

3. Zero

4. Here Is No Why

5. Thru the Eyes of Ruby

6. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans

7. Jellybelly

8. Silverfuck

9. Disarm

10. Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Live at Rockpalast, 4/7/96

11. Fuck You (An Ode To No One)

12. Muzzle

13. Cherub Rock

14. X.Y.U.

well hey..!

Release date early December.

Remastered vinyl features the original record spread out over 8 sides (4 LPS) for the first time to ensure the optimum sound

hahahaha holy fuck, no way would i ever listen to this behemoth but that still sounds kinda awesome

that is some enticing looking bonus material. I don't know why they keep plopping b-sides in these, they should just compile them all in the same package and be done with it.
but man, discs 3-5....just... damn. Full length "zoom"! And what on earth is "Pastichio Medley (Reversed extras)"?!

Musically, Mellon Collie solidifies Corgan's position as one of his generation's most ambitious songwriters--no one else in alternative rock's superstar stratum has attempted an album of such length, let alone scope, and it may even match The Wall in its sonic accomplishments. But his lyrics don't fare nearly as well in comparison. It may be too much to ask that Corgan be as poetic as Kurt Cobain or as earnest as Eddie Vedder, though his therapeutic self-examinations could at lest probe as deeply as Trent Reznor's. But while Waters's tale of the rock star Pink only reached the literary level of a comic book, "We don't need no education / We don't need no thought control" seems deeper, more universal, more entertaining--and heck, a lot more inspiring--than, "Living makes me sick / So sick I wish I'd die."

I don't know why they keep plopping b-sides in these, they should just compile them all in the same package and be done with it.

well, they already compiled all the Mellon Collie singles once on the Aeroplane Flies High, plus there was Pisces Iscariot, so in a way i think it makes more sense to put the era appropriate b-sides in with the album reissues instead of collecting the b-sides in yet another distinct package.

Sure but why include any of them at all, so many full length pastichio medley numbers still missing ;_;
Just feels weird to cherry pick em is all

i just want a Pistachio Medley box set, really

otm

It would be nice if they put the iTunes "rarities and bsides" thing out on cd. I think it took care of every bside and compilation track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQBPX0TVjyc

I love that Drumeo series

This album. You have to absolutely be 15 years old to listen to this album and as such it's the best album to listen to when you're 15

It’s one of several albums I remember actively trainspotting for as a teenager, just thirsty as hell for any and all news

When it came out I was a few months from turning 19

I loved Eden's take. Continued thanks to ilxor ivy for expanding my love to the wider album during the poll.

Eden also dressed for the music video and tour

the night has come to hold us young

It’s one of several albums I remember actively trainspotting for as a teenager, just thirsty as hell for any and all news

this was the first album where i actually called a record store to see if they had it.

pumpkins/virgin weren’t available on the bmg/Columbia house music clubs and it definitely added an air of exclusivity or something

when i put on music while my family has dinner, i usually just tell the amazon echo to shuffle songs by an artist, and it'll usually play a few of their most popular songs. the other day i put on smashing pumpkins and the second song it played was, surprisingly, mellon collie's title track, and i was like "well, yes, track 1 on one of their biggest records, but no, this sucks." i always love "tonight, tonight" and thought it did a decent job of setting the table for that, but in retrospect, it kind of sounds like shit, adds nothing of value to the album.

This album came out 2 weeks after I turned 15. So, yeah