October 24, 1995 - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

On the same day as my last release, a year after "Pisces Iscariot" and two years since their last studio album "Siamese Dream", The Smashing Pumpkins released their third album "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" on October 24, 1995. It's a double album on CD but it actually took three vinyls to fit this over two hour album! Despite it's enormous length, this would be The Smashing Pumpkins first (and only) record to reach #1 on the charts and it was, and is still, immensely popular. With five singles, a few of which are still radio mainstays to this day, this would turn the Pumpkins into international superstars. With 28 songs there are a lot of different styles on this album, let's dive in and see what the latest from The Smashing Pumpkins sounds like!

The album begins with the title track "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" and it's an instrumental song that is mostly just Billy Corgan playing the piano. He plays some beautiful and pretty cool piano that I think is a great way to introduce the album. A couple strings instruments join in for the latter half and things sound pretty epic. The end of the song leads perfectly into the next track "Tonight, Tonight" and the Pumpkins are joined by the entire Chicago Symphony Orchestra on this one as they certainly add to the epicness of things. One of Corgan or James Iha plays some nice light guitar and Billy sounds pretty good singing overtop in his one-of-a-kind voice. This was one of the five singles and it's easy to see why, as the orchestral music and light guitars are pretty welcoming. Jimmy Chamberlin's drumming is pretty tight as well and it's hard not to like this epic song. Track 3 is "Jellybelly" and it's instantly much heavier than the first two songs as they kick right into a pretty fast-paced riff with lots of distorted guitars. Corgan sings quickly to match the mood and things are really rockin' for this whole short song! Chamberlin plays some speedy drums that set the stage nicely for a guitar solo that sounds pretty cool. A solid little banger! And so is the next song, another one of the singles titled "Zero". It's driven by a distorted and pretty catchy guitar riff and Corgan sings nicely overtop once again. After the first chorus everything stops and Corgan sings "Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness, and cleanliness is godliness, and God is empty, just like me!" and that part sounds so good! Dropping the instruments briefly made it sound really great and they kick right back in for a short distorted guitar solo followed by the heaviest verse yet. Then there's another crazy distorted guitar solo that sounds even better than the first one and they close things out really nicely as well with a heavy final chorus. They packed a lot into 2:40 on this one, great song! Track 5 is "Here Is No Why" and it's carried by a catchy little guitar riff that sounds good with Corgan singing lightly in the verse. He holds some longer notes in the chorus which is a little heavier and pretty solid. Either Corgan or Iha plays a nice guitar solo that matches the mood perfectly. Every song so far has been pretty good, and the fact that the next song is probably the second most popular off this album really goes to show what a high bar they set on this album. Up next is "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and Corgan sings "the world is a vampire" before the catchy main riff comes in to carry the song. Billy continues to sound great singing overtop and this continues into the chorus with him nicely belting out "despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage" while some cool guitar plays to back him. There's a pretty epic solo even if it's not all that flashy and there's some more cool guitar as they jam out the finish. What a headbanger! Track 7 is "To Forgive" and it's much slower and lighter than the last track as it's led by a slow but solid guitar riff. The chorus is also very light and breezy and while this is definitely not as good as their faster, heavier stuff it's still done very well and things sound a little sad, especially when some strings join the mix. The next song is called "Fuck You (An Ode To No One)" and it's got a pretty sweet main riff that has everyone jamming pretty fast and sounding pretty good. After a couple cool verses and choruses they slow it down briefly as Corgan sings "and i'd give it all back to you" and from here they accelerate nicely (with some cool fast drums by Chamberlin) into a pretty wicked little guitar solo. They're really rockin' out in the final verse and chorus and this song fits the aggressive nature of it's title; it was a pretty fuckin' good one! Track 9 is "Love" which is driven by a slow, distorted guitar riff that sounds space-y and interesting while Corgan sings in a bit of a distorted voice to match. This song is pretty chill for the most part, but it does have a cool distorted guitar solo in the middle and it's still a cool tune even if it's less exciting. They do end it with a nice slow breakdown of sorts that sounds cool! The next song is a short one titled "Cupid De Locke" and it's driven by some very dreamy light guitar and Corgan even playing the autoharp! This harp certainly adds to the dreaminess as it sounds like we're floating through the air while Corgan sings lightly overtop. It's an interesting little song for sure! Track 11 is "Galapogos" and D'arcy Wretzky plays some solid bass to back the light main guitar riff. Corgan sings nicely along to match the slow mood and this is another pretty chill song. It gets a little louder for one part, although it's still not a headbanger, but it's still nicely done. Up next is "Muzzle" and it's driven by a loud and fairly simple main riff. Chamberlin's drums are excellent throughout this song with lots of great fills and Corgan holds some nice long notes as well. It's another pretty solid song! Track 13 is the near nine and a half minute "Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans" and it starts very quietly as they very slowly build things up around this main quiet guitar riff. After over two minutes they snap into a heavy new riff that sounds pretty great and they can just as easily go back to being slow and space-y. They continue to alternate between cool space-y stuff and the nice heavy riff and both riffs sound better because they contrast so much, yet connect seamlessly. They end it on the space-y note with a long fadeout and I thought this was a pretty cool song. Disc 1 wraps up with "Take Me Down" which is sung by guitarist James Iha. As we've seen before when Iha sings, he's not bad, but he's pretty quiet and he certainly doesn't have a good voice either. The music is very light and sappy and it's not terrible, but it's definitely not what I want from The Smashing Pumpkins. A bit of a weird way to end what was otherwise a very good disc.

Disc 2 begins with "Where Boys Fear To Tread" and it has lots of cool guitars from Corgan and Iha. The main riff is heavy and catchy and Corgan does a great job of singing overtop. They don't stray far from the main riff, but it's a pretty good one that still sounds good right up to the end. Up next is "Bodies" and it's driven by some more cool and heavy guitars. Corgan's voice sounds great in the chorus with some strained yells and the music continues to sound heavy and solid throughout. Two pretty good ones to start off the second disc with a bang! Track 17 is another single titled "Thirty-Three" and it's much lighter than the past couple songs. Corgan plays some light piano which sounds good with the lighter mood and acoustic guitars. Corgan'a voice also fits things nicely and although it's not my ideal, heavy Pumpkins sound that I like they do a good job of putting together this light interlude of sorts. The next song is "In The Arms Of Sleep" and it's another lighter song driven by some catchy acoustic guitar. It's light, but it's more trippy than sappy and things have a cool vibe to them with Corgan singing perfectly to match the mood. He really shows off a nice range on this song, hitting some high notes and also sounding good singing in a lower voice. Track 19 is probably The Smashing Pumpkins most famous song, the mega single "1979". It's driven by a pretty simple but catchy guitar riff and a pretty catchy drum beat by Chamberlin as well. Corgan sings a soft verse to match the mood really nicely and this song is just unbelievably smooth! It's no wonder it's so popular as it's incredibly easy to slip into this catchy song. It's definitely not their best song by any means, but it's still really well done and an instant classic nonetheless. Up next is "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" and it's probably the fastest song on the whole album with everyone playing at a quick pace. The guitars and bass are both distorted and loud and Corgan's vocals on this song sound like he's yelling full blast but it's also somewhat muted. He sounds super metal though and some of the long yells he holds sound pretty sweet. The guitar solo is fast and distorted just like the rest of the song and while I'm guessing most people disliked this vocal style, I thought he sounded great! Track 21 is "Thru The Eyes Of Ruby" and it's driven by a slow but dreamy and epic main riff that sounds even better when they turn on the electric instruments for a nice slow headbang. Corgan sings softly overtop the dreamy music and things sound pretty chill. Chamberlin plays some nice drums in the heavier parts and they continue to alternate between dreamy and heavy parts. The song ends very quietly with just a little bit of acoustic guitar to wrap it up and the acoustic continues in the next song "Stumbleine". Corgan sings nicely along with his acoustic guitar riff and it's just him for this whole song! It's actually really well done and even though it's just Billy and his acoustic he does a wonderful job of keeping things interesting with some cool moves on the guitar or some nice soft singing that fits the mood perfectly. Track 23 is "X.Y.U." and it's easy to see why it's my favourite song on this long album. The main riff is a heavy headbanger and Corgan is half singing and half screaming and he sounds awesome when he let's out some heavy strained screams. Everything sounds pretty freaking good and then they break it down! They segue nicely into a slow new riff driven by some distorted guitar which ends with Corgan yelling "into the eyes of the jackal I say ka-boom!" as they thunder back into the heavy awesomeness. This part sounds pretty awesome with Corgan yelling full tilt and then they break it down again, this time very nicely into a dirty and slow new riff that sounds so heavy! We get a distorted guitar solo overtop of this riff and it sounds absolutely insane! This amazing song just keeps getting better and better! I thought that was seven minutes of pretty fuckin good music! Up next is "We Only Come Out At Night" and it's a pretty repetitive song, but it has a catchy drum beat by Chamberlin and Corgan plays some cool piano as well. It's not your typical Pumpkins song, but it's oddly quite catchy and a fun little song. Track 25 is "Beautiful" and it's another light, dreamy song with more piano. Wretzky sings harmony vocals with Corgan for almost this whole song and she sounds alright but I don't think she's really adding all that much. This is one of the less exciting songs as it's pretty sappy but the Pumpkins still do it well. The next track is "Lily (My One And Only)" and the piano is prominent once again in this song that feels very old time-y. The piano is solid though and Corgan sounds good singing lightly overtop. It's another atypical Pumpkins song, but once again they show they can do other styles really nicely as well. They finish this one off nicely and then the penultimate track is "By Starlight". It's yet another slower song (too many in a row for me) that fades in to a riff already in progress. They lightly jam out this main riff for the whole song and it's not like it's a bad song, it just came at a bad time. As they fade out towards the end things get a little louder but then the song is over. The final track on this double album is fittingly titled "Farewell And Goodnight" and Corgan sings softly overtop some acoustic guitar and some trippy other guitar. James sings the second verse and Wretzky and Chamberlin also join in as all four members sing the chorus. Jimmy and D'arcy then sing the next two verses before everyone is back together again. It's an interesting idea and a cool dynamic that I like. The song ends with Corgan playing some pretty epic piano, just like this double album began. It's some pretty good piano too! A great way to end this grand epic album.

That is the end of "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" and I thought for the most part it was a pretty fantastic album! Of course with a double album and 28 songs there are bound to be a few lesser tracks, but the majority of these songs were above average for sure, and some of them were pretty sweet! I really enjoyed "Fuck You (An Ode To No One)", "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" and my favourite was "X.Y.U.", all of them were on the heavier side and sounded pretty awesome! I think this easily surpasses their debut album "Gish" and although "Siamese Dream" was pretty good in it's own right, this new album takes the cake as The Smashing Pumpkins best album for me. Where could they possibly go from this peak point? I'll be here to find out!