Product Description

For all the criticisms levied on head Pumpkin Billy Corgan,one thing he can't be accused of is being narrow in his artistic vision. On the breakthrough SIAMESE DREAM, he and co-producer Butch Vig built a landscape of layered, corrosive guitars that shimmered brighter with each additional glance. On MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS, Corgan turns his eye to the dreariness of modern existence and comes up with abroad alterna-rock opus that plays out like an offspring ofRoger Waters and Kurt Cobain--verbose and angst-ridden, bleak in its view, cathartic in nature.
With its two distinctly titled song-cycles and overture-like title track, there is no doubt that MELLON COLLIE is meant to be approached as a concept album, and Corgan's lyrical musings only reiteratethe point. The songs explore alienation in the physical andspiritual worlds, generally concluding that it can seldom be overcome. Only the early "Tonight, Tonight" offers a glimmer of hope ("believe that life can change, that you're not stuck in vain"), on the wings of a soaring, string-laden production. Far more constant are spiritually depleting images of "the world [as a] vampire, sent to drain" ("Bullet With Butterfly Wings"), of love as "suicide" ("Bodies'") and of heaven's unresponsiveness ("Zero").
The constant din of guitars that illuminated GISH and SIAMESE DREAM has been replaced with a varied sonic palette that reflects MELLON COLLIE's operatic nature. Piano interludes connect the opening title track and the closing "Farewell And Goodnight"; harps, harpsichords and other heavenly sounds trim "Cupid De Locke"; synthetic, Cars-like drums and a general faux-New Wave feel spur on "1979"; and "X.Y.U". explodes with distorted guitar wallops and yelped vocals that scream post-modern confusion. The 28 tracks are as motley and disconcerting as the world they describe, and MELLON COLLIE is a dispiriting glimpse from the eyes of a man whose last vestiges of hope seem lost.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

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. Fuck You (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

Disc 2:

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. XYU
10. We Only Come Out At Night
11. Beautiful
12. Lily (My One And Only)
13. By Starlight
14. Farewell And Goodnight

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3505 in Music
• Released on: 1995-01-01
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.co.uk Review
Emotionally over-the-top pop extravaganzas like the string-swelling "Tonight Tonight", the Metallica-influenced alternative rock of "Zero", the techno via new wave of "1979"--the 28 songs on this swell two-disc album are as eclectic as their themes are epic and ambitious. Billy Corgan's thin whine isn't much of an instrument, but he makes the most of it by writing smart songs that take emotional chances that more-typical alt rockers would deem uncool. Pessimistic and feeling trapped but still wanting to believe in love, in a future, in something--this is the sound of Gen X at the millennium, with all the self-indulgence and power that would suggest. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews

Impressive And Ambitious
"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is an incredible work from the American alternative band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released on October 24th of 1995, the double CD (triple album) features some incredibly diverse styles and more input from D'arcy Wretzky and James Iha, though certainly Billy Corgan is still the dominant creative member of the band.

The album is not afraid to take some chances. It opens with an instrumental, which is relatively soft. There is tremendous diversity, as the sound can go from acoustic to very heavy and vice-versa from one song to the next. The majority of the album is made up of relatively short pieces of less than five minutes, but there are a few longer pieces mixed in with the 28 tracks. The shorter pieces tend to stick to one type of sound, while a couple of the longer pieces are more diverse within themselves.

The opening instrumental leads into the excellent "Tonight, Tonight", but the softer and more orchestrated sound doesn't sound last as it then turns much heavier with tracks like "Jellybelly", and "Zero", and the first single "Bullet With Butterfly Wings". The contrast in sounds goes back and forth, between the heavy and the light until eventually the group delivers a longer piece itself filled with contrast in "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans", which is then followed with the first half closer "Take Me Down". The album is a concept album of sorts, dealing with the very simple realities of life and death.

The second CD is more of the same, which is to say more diversity of sound and more changes and surprises. The transition from "1979" to "Tales of a Scorched Earth" is a great example of moving from one type of sound to almost its polar opposite from track to track. Not that every track change is so dramatic, but their changes help to keep things fresh and interesting. There also is a rather unusual use of tunings as well as instruments. Overall, this is an album which one needs to listen to many times, and one which the listener will hear something new each time. With its incredible diversity, there may be pieces which you don't like on this album, but for myself I found that they were all at least intriguing. From the titles mentioned before, to the delightfully odd "We Only Come Out at Night" and the simple love song "Lilly (My One and Only)", this is a great album to experience over and over.

The Smashing Pumpkins are Billy Corgan (lead vocal, guitar, piano), James Iha (guitar, vocals), D'arcy Wretzky (bass, vocals), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums, vocals). Guest artists include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ("Tonight, Tonight"), and Greg Leisz (pedal and lap steel guitar on "Take Me Down")

unsurpassed masterpeice
well, where do i start, for me personally, this album is head and shoulders above anything, i have ever listened to. (Gish/machina are amazing, i must say) this album encapsulates youth, and the whole spectrum of emotions, for me, there are no fillers, as the cds, are like going on a journey, and all different styles, and moods are used, soft and quiet, love and hate, hope, and despair. If ever an album is a work of genious this is it...thank god, it isnt mainstream, and accessable to everyone, as surely this would mean it wouldnt be half as good. Corgan had loads more songs that he couldnt fit into melloncollie, and these b sides are worthy of an album release independantly(the aeroplane flies high box is cool for these). The sheer creative output during this period is mesmerising. some people may not get it, some may not like it, but if your in doubt, i urge you to buy this album... i can honestly say this puts everything else to shame. I love this album 10/10

As if you needed any more reason to get this album
This review may not have the perspicacity or extensive vocabulary of other reviews but I feel that this album is perhaps best described in layman's terms. The music of Smashing Pumpkins is a truly unique sound whilst at the same time accessible to the point where anyone can identify with it, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is, if not the epitome (a statement which I can see from some of the reviews would provoke some consternation), at least a venerable and esteemed example.

For me, the best tracks on the album include Jellybelly, Zero, Here Is No Why, Where Boys Fear To Tread and Bodies. These are examples of rock at its finest with entrancing lyrics and delivery, amazing guitar rifts and rock-solid production. These are songs which you think about in the morning and won't stop playing over in your head until you come home and play the CD at maximum volume.

The rest of the album is just as addictive. Songs such as 1979, Stumbleine and Tonight Tonight take you off into your own private world, demanding your full attention to appreciate the lyrical content and scope of the song as a whole.

When writing about this album it is difficult to when to stop before you become boring and overly-ostentatious in your description. However, as noted by other reviewers, the scope and range of styles on this album should be stressed. This album is NOT only for hyper-sensitive and overly-emotional 16 year-olds (that is not to say every 16 year-old who owns this album is of this demeanour), but a thorough and complete work of refreshingly consistent quality which cannot be fully appreciated from 30 second samples.