Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins were, without qualification, the worst band to defecate from the 90s US alternative scene. That is not hyperbole; if anything, it's diminishing how appalling they were regardless of time, location or genre. Of course, the blame piles onto one man: Billy Corgan, the worst frontman in rock, alive or dead or not even conceived. The vast majority of gametes nestling in your testes has a far stronger claim for musical significance. So why is Billy Corgan so bad? Let's get the purest, most straightforward reason out the way: he can't sing. Indeed, he sounds like someone deliberately attempting to sing bad. Specifically, he sounds like Cartman from South Park, who was meant to sound as cacophonous as possible. Do you want to hear Cartman sing one proto-emo dirge, let alone nearly thirty? When I say Corgan is a bad singer, I don't mean he's unpolished and inexact; I mean that he is painful to the ears. Our dogs refused to be in the same room when I played this. Coupled to Corgan's inability to sing is his inability to write lyrics that don't collapse into risibility. There is not one word on this album to take seriously. Take the lines (preferably out back to be shot): Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness And cleanliness is godliness, and God is empty, just like me It would be polite not to guffaw, but not guffawing would be dishonest. Or how about the rubbish-yet-bizarrely-popular 1979? I bet you thought it was a wistful, bittersweet recollection of carefree youth. Nope. Here's the chorus: That we don't even care to shake these zipper blues And we don't know just where our bones will rest To dust I guess forgotten and absorbed Into the earth below Now children, do you think adding a bit about rotting corpses to a limp song automatically grants it gravitas? (By the by, Billy Corgan was 12 in 1979. He wasn't out partying and fingering girls, he was still throwing tantrums when his mum said it was bath night. The only song more ridiculous in this regard is Summer of 69, as Bryan Adams was 10 in 1969, and there's no way Bryan Adams was so cool that he started his first band and lost his virginity aged 10. And yes, I am directly calling Billy Corgan a pale imitation of Bryan Adams). Of course, Billy Corgan would say he means every word, that these words are his heart, his truth. Anyone with an iota of sense would retort that he was talking bollocks. (And let's not forget he's now into vaccine denial and 9/11 conspiracies, so I feel no compunction in calling his a massive wanker). The ingredients for the shit sandwich are assembled. We have a singularly uncharismatic and grating singer, screeching out the most lamentable high school doggerel, all backed by your standard substandard post-Nirvana alt-rock pop-punk-by-numbers that littered the US in 1995. So what's the next logical step? Why, it's to make a TWO HOUR concept album (a concept which is never clear and in any case gets jettisoned about three songs in). One song would be insufferable; 28 of the fuckers just bludgeon the listener into a depressed numbness. With some lengthy, challenging albums, such as Trout Mask Replica or Metal Machine Music, one feels satisfied with oneself for having listened all the way through. This album is twice as long as Metal Machine Music, but there's no sense of accomplishment in listening to this, because there's no reward. Even passing a particularly stubborn log brings relief, but this is only like being stranded in a rainstorm. You don't get inivgorated, you just get cold and wet. Also, the title is crap. Mellon Collie? Is that a pun? I really don't get it. You shouldn't get this either.

I listened to this album A LOT as a kid (even though I was born after the 90s), and I thought it would be another example of an album that hasnt aged well since my childhood. But honestly, this album is fantastic. Despite being a double album (and a double CD, so its very long), the song quality is very consistent throughout, and I cant really pick out any songs that are bad or disposable. Its incredibly ambitous, and has a good variety of music, with a lot of dark grungy songs, but also some very beautiful ones. Giving it 5 stars but I have a couple of gripes: it dosent flow too well (particurley in the second CD), and a lot of the lyrics are trying too hard to be dark/ dramatic.

Hopefully the longest album I'll ever listen to--I'll keep the review short. Plenty of good tracks on here, but I don't think the TWO HOUR length is justified. I like Smashing Pumpkins, the first album we reviewed from them was great, but when you stretch that out to TWO HOURS it starts to get boring fast. It's frustrating because I like the music, but I don't want to listen to it for TWO HOURS. Favorite tracks: Tonight Tonight, Muzzle, Bullet with Butterfly Wings (never knew this was their song, I thought it was Modest Mouse because mouse = rat). Album art: Pretty cool, I recognize this one. I really dig the font and art style. This cosmic woman is rolling her eyes in the same way that I did when I saw the TWO HOUR runtime of this album. 3.5/5

Classic 90s prog rock. Nostalgia affected the rating, for sure.

So good I listened to the whole thing twice. So much great content in this album, it's no wonder they wanted to do a double album instead of leaving any of this on the cutting room floor. Nostalgia definitely influenced my rating, but the breadth of styles/genres that comprise this collection of songs is very wide. Love how they can rage a real headbanger then follow it up with a beautifully composed mellow ballad. Highlights: -Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -Tonight, Tonight -Here is No Why -Bullet with Butterfly Wings -To Forgive -Cupid De Locke -Galapagos -1979

It is quite a feat to have an album this long that somehow doesn't feel bloated. Excellent kickass songs, and even better ballads.

This is really really beautiful. I felt super connected to this record in an almost unexplainable way.

I remember this one being released. Great double album. Corgan is an acquired vocal. Either you like him or your don't. Jimmy Chamberlain is the power behind the guitars that really fuels this train.

whoa what a ride! it's longer than your average album but boy i didn't want it to end <3

Pretentious and melodramatic, in the best way. A timeless classic, Corgan kills it on so many of the songs. The length of the albums, the renessaince painting cover, the strings and orchestral instrumentation all add to this album's ability to stand apart, and it handles the spotlight with ease. This album is the result of a band bursting with creativity, knowing they were at the top of their game, and not being afraid to dip into extravagance to show off to the world. Whether this eclipses siamese dream is another question, but smashing pumpkins definitely smashed it with this one Highlights: Bullet with Butterfly Wings Tonight, Tonight Zero

Here we go. I got into Pearl Jam, Nirvana and (thanks to this list) Pavement, but never took a real chance on the Pumpkins (other than their cover of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide). Wondering if it should be a double album or would play better pared down. But when I think of the best double albums (London Calling, The White Album, Tusk, Sign O' The Times) they all flow well despite the few rare songs I'd rather skip. The key is none of those four albums seem long, and I can play them all the way through without wanting to stop. This one surprisingly falls in that category. I'd have let James Iha sing a few more songs, but that's a personal preference as I lean towards Iha's musical tastes. But Corgan passes the ball around JUST enough (the brilliant instrumental title track, Iha sings lead on one of the songs he wrote, and all 4 members take turns on the album closer). Worth noting the "tender" tracks have aged the best. And "1979" is a perfect song. Even at 28 songs, the album as a whole remains something of a marvel.

Their very best of their Emo-Rock Days. Epic!

Before listening to this, I read that with "Mellon Collie...", Billy Corgan and co. set out to produce "The Wall" for the 90s post-grunge generation. How to feel about that... should it have made me wince with dread or buckle down for an all-time classic? Firstly, it isn't really accurate: "Mellon Collie" has no discernible narrative, it's just 28 tracks over two hours tied together by teenage angst and a loose day/night theme. And after a couple of listens and time to start digesting it all, I found myself really torn on it. First time round, I spent most of Part I with my head in my hands at its HEAVINESS, occasionally taking notice when a strong hook, pretty melody or anything else outside the heavy-rock formula broke through. Part II really took me by surprise towards the end, with a run of tracks totally different from the rest of the album. From "We Only Come Out At Night" onwards, things suddenly seem to take an indie/folky/art-rock direction with shades of Britpop. I was reminded of the likes of Super Furry Animals and Supergrass and loved every minute. The closer "Farewell and Goodnight", with every band member sharing lead vocals, is a nice touch and lovely low-key ending. I've always preferred tender ballads to heavy rock numbers, so it's no surprise that "Stumbleine", "Galapogos" and "Cupid de Locke" are some of my other favourites on offer here. I get the feeling that by liking these tracks more, I'm not really a fan of "Smashing Pumpkins doing Smashing Pumpkins". To me, the metal numbers don't feel particularly exciting, although a few of them stood out: "Jellybelly" has a strong hook, and "Muzzle" and "Here Is No Why" focus on being actual songs rather than fat riffs or strangled nasally rants. On the other hand, "Love", "Bodies", "Tales of a Scorched Earth" and "X.Y.U" are all a chore to get through. The guitars, tuned down a half-step on almost every track, lack definition, getting lost in murky low-end and raging distortion. Some more clarity in the mix might have helped, but I suppose it's not the vibe they were going for. While the really heavy tracks weren't to my taste, they do help the ballads to stand out and stop them dragging each other down. There are other songs worth singling out: two of the longest tracks triumph by placing tender melodic sections back to back with the band's heavier edge. "Porcelina..." and "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" are both excellent and earn their long running time. Finally, "1979" is the most popular of all for a reason. Simple, direct and tuneful, it radiates its wistful energy today with all the same impact it must have had in 1995. A review of this album wouldn't be complete without singling out some of the infamous "teenage angst" lyrics: "God is empty just like me"... boo-hoo; "Love is suicide" - repeated ad nauseam; and one of the most famous phrases on the album- "Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage"... gimme a break. So while the lyrics were often cringeworthy and some of the songs weren't to my taste at all, in the end I have to celebrate the sheer scope of this album. Yes, 2 hours is problematic if the poor material starts to get in the way, but after a couple of listens I was able to get through "Mellon Collie" on the strength of its best cuts. It's incredibly impressive that the Pumpkins carved out this mass of music, a towering testament to the alternative rock movement in 1995 as it swung on a pendulum between grunge, metal and everything beyond. It's greater than the sum of its parts and its ambition helps to solidify its icon status. In the hope that I'll come back to it and start to appreciate this even more, bumping it up to a 4*.

As great as I remembered it.

I had to listen to this in two sessions, because it is simply too long. And not good enough for that length at that. The album was hailed as something like the next coming in alt rock, but all I'm hearing is ... alt rock, by the numbers. Where is the revelation I was promised?!? This is even more irritating considering Billy Corgan's singing sounds like a bad Mick Jagger parody. If this is really the Smashing Pumpkins at their peek, as the Good Book states, I am not interested in the rest of their catalogue. 2/5

8/10. It is good to see that if 2 hours is not infinite enough for you, the 6 hour deluxe version is available on Spotify. This is a good, angsty album, and like seemingly all angsty albums, it is very long. But I suppose if you only have 30 minutes worth of angst to sing about you might just release a cheerful album instead. But I digress. The point is, this album is very long for not having a stronger theme to tie it together. The wikipedia article says that the band wanted to make an album like The Wall, but they seemingly forgot that The Wall is both shorter and has a central theme/story to tie everything together. Still, the length is partly excused by how different individual songs are. I did not realize, and would never have expected that Bullet With Butterfly Wings and 1979 were on the same album. I don't really know where I'm going with this stream of consciousness review, but I figure if you had time to listen to this album you have time to listen to me ramble. Overall positive experience, probably won't listen all the way through again, at least not for quite a while.

Did you have the guys at your high school that put the biggest subwoofers in their trunk that they could afford and fit? Some of them also made sure they made the appropriate modifications to the trunk to reduce rattle from the booming bass. Some didn't, and it sounded dumb because their vibrating trunk was louder than the rest of the music. There's something wrong with the speaker on my driver's side door, and it rattles with too much bass. (It's broken, or something is loose, and has needed deeper investigation for a year.) But most of the stuff I listen to in the car, at the volume at which I listen to it, doesn't cause rattling or vibration. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" rattled the crap out of my speaker. There is a shocking amount of deeply reverberating bass on that album. As for the actual music, there are numerous 5-star songs on the album. It's also a double album, so there are so many songs that not all rise to that level. Interestingly, a couple of the hits - "Zero" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" - I felt did not hold up 25 years later. Meanwhile, "Thirty-Three," "1979," "Muzzle," and many more still blow me away. There is some deep 90s angst on here, but also some really timeless stuff. Good mix of experimentation, and pairing of quieter, softer songs with some real rage. A few of the raging songs just don't quite do it for me, keeping the album from hitting 5 stars. You could definitely make a 50-star single album from the tracks on this one. Billy Corgan's is another voice that I feel like shouldn't work, but usually does. And I think that on "Mellon Collie" he found some really great ways to use his vocal instrument. By the way, in addition to various recent Pumpkins reunions, for the last 10 years Corgan has spent a lot of his time and money in professional wrestling, working in ownership and backstage creative roles. He is currently the owner of one of the oldest promotions, the National Wrestling Alliance. Clearly, Corgan has gone in a lot of different directions since the 90s. I didn't like the Pumpkins as much as their sound evolved in a more electronic direction on later albums. But "Siamese Dream" and "Mellon Collie" remain absolute classics.

Highly polished and sounds fantastic. A little edgy on the lyrics, but it's 1995, cut some slack. Despite being a double album, both halves were full of fantastic songs. The highlights were definitely on the first half. A piano ballad, then an orchestra, then a raw punk-like display that reminds me of In Utero, then a gothic song with great vocals and weird buzz synth sound, then an all-around fantastic track with my favorite bridge, then my favorite single that's dark with rhythmic drumming, then a slow solemn song, then a rapid drumming metal song, then an abrasive synth-heavy track, then a strange harp song that reflects the album cover, then two more great tracks and songwriting, then a psychedelic long masterpiece, ending with a somber dream-like track that puts this half to a close. There is ridiculous diversity in these track. No two sound even remotely the same, it's no wonder everyone has a different favorite with such a tremendous display in talent. Yet it's all glued together in a coherent mass. For half the songs on here, I could definitely see a divided opinion on being one of the best or one of the worst tracks on the album. I always need a break after the first half to really get into it due to the heavy sound. The second side feels a lot more surreal, with busy basslines, screeching, and sudden transitions from track to track, and repeated lines that make it perfect for doing drugs to I think. I think my main complaint is that all the songs are too long. I'm always like "Wow this is a cool song" and then 2 minutes later being like "Oh it's still going?" Nearly all the tracks are over 4 minutes, and some definitely don't need this space. I didn't hate any of the songs to wish they were shorter, but it could have benefitted, and I feel some of the tracks were panned just to fill up time. That being said, they weren't any awful tracks. There were a few forgettable tracks after "1979" that could have been cut. But otherwise, I loved the whole album, and I will frequently come back to it. I couldn't even decide whether I liked this better than Siamese Dream, that's how you know you got an album right.

I bought this album as a teenager and was actually very disappointed. I had heard 1979 on the radio and was hoping for more of that - but there is a significant range of sounds and styles on the record and none of the others contained the magic I felt from that song. I appreciate the album more now, decades later. That line in Bullet With Butterfly Wings is one for the ages, "despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage." The emotional range on the album is impressive, as is the genre shifting from one song to the next. I still don't love it but I respect it.

The band resists Corgan's best efforts to ruin their passable speed grunge until the penultimate track, which is a huge fucking pin in their balloon.

Smashing Pumpkins is a band from which I’ve heard their more popular songs quite a bit, but I can’t remember ever listening to an album all the way through. It’s albums like this that make me glad for this experience. Tonight, Tonight and Bullet With Butterfly Wings were singles off this album for good reason. They are both good examples of the varying styles. One is an accessible, positive song backed by an orchestra while the other has a more grungey, lamenting chorus. I mean who doesn’t feel like a rat in a cage from time to time. I enjoyed the piano based title track opener. Cupid de Locke is a wistful surprise with the harp music, or at least what sounds like a harp. Bodies works for me. I will forgive how slow and uninteresting it is hearing To Forgive because we pick right back up with An Ode To No One. The couple times where AOTNO builds and then the whole band rocks out is great. Seems like a great mosh pit moment…you know, for me to skirt around the edge of it to get further forward. A couple other tracks didn’t get my juices flowing, like: Through The Eyes Of Ruby, Stumbleine, and X.Y.U. Unfortunately they are all in a row on the second album. These are followed up by three solid songs, the last of which begins a bit country-ish interestingly. Porcelains Of The Vast Oceans is mostly a soft and intimate track. Then at about the 2:15, 4:00, and 6:30 marks the heavier guitars and drums come in for 30 seconds or so and elevate the song to another level. Great song! On Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the Smashing Pumpkins lay bare a wide range of sounds from the subdued to inviting to grunge to hard rock to borderline screamo. All of which they pull off extremely well. Being a double album, naturally it’s just too difficult to carry the excellentness all the way through, which is why it’s not in the 5 star echelon. Bonus (for those that really love this album): there is a 92 track, 6 hour version with a bunch of demo versions of the songs.

This one's kind of an odd choice although I understand the impulse (Siamese Dream is also on this list, deservedly). Any time a group at the height of their fame makes a double album, there's a temptation for critics to proclaim it a masterpiece, especially if it's massively popular. Frankly, if I had to include another Smashing Pumpkins album, any of the others would be preferable, even the odds and sods collection Pisces Iscariot. Why? Because roughly half of MC&TIS is wretched and half of it's good to great--it's uneven as hell. Plus, even on the better tunes, Billy Corgan's nihilism is beginning to sound forced. It's hard to maintain that high a level of angst and anger with any honesty when you've succeeded beyond your wildest dreams, a problem Smashing Pumpkins shares with Radiohead. Let's survey the damage. \"To Forgive\" is wan and bland in a way that Corgan's ballads had never been in the past. The band performance on \"An Ode To No One\" is as furious as ever (including a snarling guitar solo from Corgan), but there isn't much of a tune to support it--the melody and structure are unmemorable. \"Love\" is another tune that should have been left in the can--whatever happened to Corgan's ability to compose earworms? A one bar hook repeated ad infinitum doesn't cut it. It gets worse. Cupid de Locke is a total loss--a lazy bundle of twinkling musical cliches that goes nowhere. Galapagos isn't awful, merely weak, a pale echo of the songwriting strategies Corgan used on the much superior \"Today\" from Siamese Dream. Honestly, \"Take Me Down\" is a pretty ballad, but James Iha's amateurish vocal tanks it. Thirty-Three is another misfire. In the past, Corgan had shown a great talent for alternating brutal Black Sabbath influenced headbangers with pretty ballads, but it doesn't work when the ballads are as musically simpleminded as this. It's too bad because James Iha's atmospheric twanging guitar work on the track is wasted. I could go on, but you get the point, and I didn't even get to the outright doggerel of They Only Come Out At Night. Every time MC&TIS threatens to gather momentum and knock you on your ass, one or more subpar tunes stops the album in its tracks. And yet, there are any number of powerful songs like \"Tonight, Tonight,\" \"Jellybelly,\" or \"Zero.\" I'd especially single out drummer Jimmy Chamberlin for praise, but really the entire band functions as one powerhouse unit. And it's not only the Sabbath and dream pop influenced tracks that work. The opening track, \"Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness,\" a pretty piano driven ballad, is a perfect introduction to the three headbangers that follow it. And \"In the Eyes of Ruby\" is a majestic example of the loud/soft dream heavy metal/dream pop amalgam that Billy Corgan often excels at. Truly, there's nothing wrong with MC&TIS that a ruthless editor couldn't have fixed. My advice is to make a playlist, leaving out the clunkers, and you'll have a first rate album on your hands.

While this album is nearly the definition of a seminal 90s album, the contents are decidedly a mixed bag. Some of the songs are tunes that will live forever in the ears of those who first heard them then. Others are forgettable. Perhaps a double album wasn't the best way for the Pumpkins to cement their legacy. Billy Corgan's voice is certainly quirky and I'm sure there are many that don't like it at all. For me, when it works, it works incredibly well; but when it doesn't, it grates. The lush orchestrations are out of this world and fill some of the songs to the max. The more spare entries are perhaps the more powerful for it. As for the lyrics, it is quintessential 90s angst. What could be a more stereotypical pronouncement of the disaffected youth of the day than "emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness, and cleanliness is godliness, and god is empty just like me"? A full re-listen really brought back to me how solid parts of this album were. And yet it also showed me how much of its time it was. It's not really a surprise that the Pumpkins couldn't make a go of it in the new century. But still, we'll always have "tonight, tonight".

Hello

I loved it!

9/10 This album is concise despite having all sorts of songs, contains gems, and made me feel better on a sad day. Imo the pumpkins' best work. F.T.: Tonight, tonight (duh. One of the best songs of all time)

Damn Good

One of my all time favourite albums, and definitely among the best albums released in the 90's. While I love 'Siamese Dream' as well, this is the Pumpkins' zenith, and they never managed to top this.

Nice but kinda long.

Really nice. I knew soem of them and I will definetly return.

Excellent

Excellent album. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Had notes....lost them...disappointed

Great album all around. Brings back lots of memories.

The Smashing Pumpkins best album, hands down. I got to see this performed in its entirety live, and it is simply amazing.

Love the sprawl of this album! XYU is fantastic!

First album on this list that I've heard and remember every song on. LOVED this album, even though Billy Corgan is a fucking douche now. (And probably was then).

Gooooood

This album is like a perfect winter day. 10

Sin dudarlo.

Mich holt das dicke Ding regelmäßig ein, lange immer wieder neues entdeckt, mittlerweile ist dieses Opus Magnum in Fleisch und Blut übergegangen. Dabei war der Beginn dieser Liebe kein leichter. Etwas verschreckt von den brachialen Noise Momenten (“Bodies“, „Tales of a scorched Earth“, „X.Y.U“) gab ich das Album im Plattenladen erst einmal wieder zurück, um es dann von innerer Resonanz des einmal gehörten angetrieben in gewisser Form besessen vom guttural-prügelndem (ebenjenes „Bodies“) zurückzuverlangen. Es hat sich gelohnt, diese Megatonne an Zitaten („love is suicide“, „despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a Cage“, „the world is a vampire“, „god is empty just like me“ etc.) zur Verarbeitung von teenage angst als tröstendes Pflaster für pubertären Weltschmerz zu nutzen und eine besondere biografische Verbundenheit (Geburtsjahr) durch die Song-gewordene Wehmut von „1979“ herbei zu fantasieren. Ohnehin muss in diesem Zusammenhang betont werden, wozu Corgan und Co. außerordentlich imstande sind: Pop! Zudem gelingt ihnen eine Doppel-LP ist wie eine Umarmung der Vergangenheit mit der Zukunft; „Siamese Dream“ mit „Adore“. Würde ich gefragt, wäre dies hier DAS Pumpkins Album schlechthin. Idiosynkratische 4.8

One of the new favorites

Good but a bit shouty

El disco que me regalaron mis amigas el día que cumplí 18 años tiene demasiado significado como para poner ninguna otra cosa.

It has 28 tracks and it's still 5/5. Well played Billy boy.

Amazing

One of my favorite albums of all time. Spent countless hours listening to this when it came out and over the years.

Yes please

One of my faves

There's nothing I can say. WOW.

Awesome as I remember

This is one of the great albums of the 90's, which should stand the test of time.

This album is great, but holy fuck is it long.

A classic and a favourite from my youth, quite enjoyed the heavier tracks aswell

Very nice

A little too crunchy for some at times, but so great. They've never come close to this ever since. There are 28 full tracks, 2 hours and maybe 4-5 stinkers, so I'll give them a pass on those and call this the honor roll it is.

I really liked it. Better than I remembered from the 90's. Harder and angrier than I remember.

One of the very best.

It’s interesting experimental rock album both pop, punk, metal and classical colours.

goooodd. thought i’d get bored because it was long but it was good from start to finish. impressed xxx

I had this on cassette at the time. I know it has about 5 of my favourite songs of all time on it. I remember skipping a lot of it as an 11 year old though, so I don't actually know if it is a good album. The joy is I love or really like the first 10 tracks, and it's only at Galapagos that it starts to lull at all - and even then, it's an okay song. If they had stopped at track 10, they would have made a classic album already. I'd add it's also an ambitious one. If they had stuck to their lane, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Zero would make it a classic up there with Siamese Dream. But the gentle piano intro and Tonight Tonight show that they were trying to go bigger and more wide-screen here. However, at this middle point I can see the second half of an album looming with not much I know there, and I am unsure they can sustain the pace here - though with 1979 to look forward to, it may still be okay! Honestly, the second half lags a bit compared to the first, but still contains 33, 1979, and We Only Come Out at Night. If this had been a single album, or even a 20 track double album, it'd be revered. And frankly, I can't blame it for its ambition. Very few albums ever have this much quality on them, it's getting five stars in spite of its flaws, as I'd give Sign O The Times and the White Album the same courtesy.

MEGACLASSIC

very solid sound, unique for that time period.

This album really spans the range of the Smashing Pumpkins. Here we see the band at their heaviest, softest, and most reflective. The two hour run time is a bit much, but this is such an essential album for this band and for the 90s that it doesn’t matter.

As I've experienced it, this band (really, Billy Corgan) certainly generates strong opinions in all directions amongst those familiar with them. I happen to like a lot of their music. Sometimes the songs aren't at all to my liking, but a lot are. This album has quite a few tracks I genuinely love, like the title track, 'Tonight, Tonight,' '1979,' 'Stumbleine,' and a handful of others. I don't like it when I hear people criticize Corgan as a person because I admire how open he has been about his mental health challenges, and he's done a lot to support that community and causes. I do understand how he can sometimes stoke negative opinions, and I've wondered whether he might enjoy courting that because he's comfortable airing a lot publicly, but overall, I have compassion for him and what he's lived through and with. As a musician and writer, I think Billy Corgan is incredible. He is prolific, plays a number of instruments superbly well (one of the best guitar players of my generation -- he and I are only a few weeks apart in age), produces well, and although I understand his singing voice is not to everyone's liking, I happen to like his vocals and think they fit his songwriting spot on. The artwork on this double LP is great. This is a truly great album. Glad it came up on my rotation.

Cool album! The hits are hits for good reason, and the deeper tracks are very well written. Some tracks go hard AF. Quite a rollercoaster of an album.

Take me back to high school. Hated the mental space I was in as I listened to this then. It hits so different these 27 years later.

This album is real good. It's everything that was actually good about 90s music combined and executed to perfection. It's like you can hear every other 90s rock band in these songs - Nirvana, Our Lady Peace, Soundgarden, even like Tool or Metallica - except they do it better. Plus, every song has arc. It's not the same 3-4 chords in the same progression (or, if it is, they've arranged it in such a way that you can't tell). It's almost operatic. This is also one of the best-produced albums I think I've ever heard. It's just so clean, even though it's so busy.

This is a perfect record. It's the record that made me love the Smashing Pumpkins - and propelled me into their back catalog and caused me to wait with anticipation through the early 2000s when the original lineup ended. I can't wait to review the other records by this band on this list (there better be at least a couple more). The subsequent "Aeroplane Flies High" box set has 30ish more songs that are all good enough to have made it on the single LPs of other bands of the time. The pumpkins weren't grunge but they were the best band of the grunge era. I could type forever about every song here. Every song on this record has had a moment for me. Where it was my favorite song on the record, and I was listening to it on repeat. I scoured the lyric sheets for meaning. And I learned how to play the hardest guitar parts I'd ever played at the time. 10/5.

An excellent album. Master class. Smashing but extremely accurated finishing.

This album is loooonggg. I ended up listening to the 2 hour version (Spotify kept telling me that was the only available version) but despite all that this album ruled!! There are intricately placed highs that really get you going and some slower songs mingled in there that have you rewinding to make sure you caught what you thought you heard. This album will make it into the normal rotation

Homer Simpson. Smiling politely.

This is one of the more confusing choices for me. It came out right when I was forming musical perspective. The singles were all over the radio. The branding was fantastic. The double album. I remember going to the music shops in the mall where you could stand there and listen to the albums on the kiosks. It's very hard for me to listen to this without feeling all that nostalgia. What stands out to me today is how some of the best songs sound deeply heavy yet glimmery at the same time. And the vocals are objectively harsh but impressively versatile. I feel like there's some great songwriting on here. I'm giving it a nostalgia-driven 4

Though a tad overstuffed, this LP dodges any sort of datedness with a diverse set of influences to pull from. The scorching guitar tone still invokes the 90s, but purely in the best way possible as it floods the tire soundstage. A masterclass in production and arrangement all around

The lyrics on nearly every song on this album sound like they were composed by an android who learned about human emotion by studying a 14-year-old's diary. The whole thing is overly long, self-indulgent, and sounds like it was ripped off of a dozen other contemporary bands. Billy Corgan can't sing and is a humongous asshole in real life. Despite all of this, I unironically really, really like it. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe I'm a sucker for adolescent Big Feelings expressed in an objectively mediocre way. I think it's just that I decided I enjoyed their sound in sixth grade, so now it hits the part of my brain that makes me happy, even though it shouldn't. Best track: Bullet with Butterfly Wings

I loved the Pumpkins thru grade school/high school and I’m sure I have listened to this album in its entirety since I was a teen. I actually really enjoyed it, my memory of it was a bloated album with great songs peppered in and while it could be trimmed down a bit I was reintroduced to great tracks like An Ode to No One, X.Y.U. , We Only Come Out at Night. I think the Pumpkins greatness definitely gets overshadowed by Billy being an ass but they did write some great rock music. 4 stars

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.

One of the best albums of the 90s, took the best out of the grunge movement and mixed it with the My Bloody Valentine to make a great album! Billy Corgan is at his absolute best with this album! As are Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha, and D'arcy Wretzky, they got something special with this. There are no massive weak points during this album and the non-singles are just as good as the singles Tonight, Tonight, and Zero, have been the very high points of this album while being very different songs! You can see this album as a blueprint for a lot of new indie bands coming out now, especially for the likes of NewDad The one weakness is, that it is probably 4 or 5 songs too long, but I can always forgive that on a double album, it is rare you will find a double album that you feel isn't to long.

A few years ago I came to realization about Billy Corgan…excuse me, William Corgan. I had heard the “Rat in a Cage” song at shop somewhere, probably a record store, and it clicked in my mind: he’s emulating Thurston Moore’s vocal style. The delivery, the cadence, it’s totally Thurston Moore, even if it was only for a line or two. He doesn’t do it all the time, or in every song, but when he does, it’s as clear as day. Since then, I haven’t been able to shake that. I notice it often in his songs. It’s not the only parallel you can draw to Sonic Youth, either: the gender make up of the original line up - three guys and a blonde female bass player, their guitar noise freak outs, especially on the first few tracks of this record, bear a striking similarity to those of Sonic Youth. Then I started noticing other bands that he was cribbing, like how the clean guitar intro to “Cherub Rock”, before the fuzz riff kicks in is exactly the same as the riff that plays throughout Neu’s “Hallgallo”. Literally identical. Or how the verse of “1979” sounds an awful lot like something fellow Chicagoans The Sea and Cake might do. If you don’t think that last one tracks, it’s worth pointing out The Sea and Cake had put out 3 records by the end of 1995 and shared a city with Corgan. The Sonic Youth thing cracks me up especially, because at least one member of Sonic Youth has made it clear they’re not a Corgan fan: “Courtney (Love) asked us for advice about her ‘secret affair’ with Billy Corgan. I thought, Ewwww, at even the mention of Billy Corgan, whom nobody liked because he was such a crybaby, and Smashing Pumpkins took themselves way too seriously and were in no way punk rock.” -Kim Gordon Ouch…if I’m right about Corgan’s admiration of Sonic Youth, that’s gotta hurt. You know what, though, Billy Corgan will be alright. Anyway, about Mellon Collie’s Infinite Sadness: This record is way too long. It’s two hours long. One hundred and twenty two minutes. There are classic films that are shorter than this thing. You could watch all of Dr. Strangelove and go pick up a pizza in the time it takes to listen to this entire record. I’m not saying you *should* do that, but it’s a viable alternative. Also, Kim Gordon’s not wrong about the Pumpkins taking themselves too seriously. In closing, I’ll leave you with some thoughts from Pavement, whom Billy Corgan hates because of this line from their song “Range Life”: “Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins Nature kids, they don't have no function I don't understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck”.

To my ears, this is the correct way to sing badly. I think I'd be scoring this album lower if I'd already had Siamese Dream which is really the only Smashing Pumpkins album I come back to. This one has some good tracks, but its way too long and samey accross the span of it to leave a lasting impact.

It’s a difficult album to review as it was one of those albums that entered my life as an “instant classic” lauded as genius. It’s a good grind, serious rock feel. At this stage, I’m weary of Billy’s voice and kind of wish I had an instrumental version. Bullet with Butterfly Wings is my standard fave. Muzzle hit me as a solid track on this listen, it might be a new top SP song. The double album gets a bit long and repetitive on a full listen.

I am fan of anything with melancholy vibes. I liked the album cover and the album name. The album has range. I see how smashing pumpkins is a band that has a cult following

Nr. 120/1001 Mellon Collie 4/5 Tonight, Tonight 4/5 Jellybelly 3/5 Zero 3/5 Here Is No Why 5/5 Bullet With Butterfly Wings 3/5 To Forgive 4/5 An Ode To No One 3/5 Love 3/5 Cupid de Locke 4/5 Galapagos 4/5 Muzzle 4/5 Porcelina Of The Vast Ocean 3/5 Take Me Down 3/5 Where Boys Fear To Tread 2/5 Bodies 3/5 Thirty-Three 4/5 In The Arms Of Sleep 3/5 1979 5/5 Tales Of A Scorched Earth 1/5 Through The Eyes Of Ruby 4/5 Stumbleine 4/5 X.Y.U. 1/5 We Only Come Out At Night 4/5 Beautiful 3/5 Lily 4/5 By Starlight 4/5 Farewell And Goodnight 4/5 Average: 3,43 Had some really big hits and flops for me.

Totally bloated. The good songs are all diluted by forgettable ones. The singer has great clean vocals and amazing screams, but instead chooses to sing in this zone between the two that just comes out as nasally and is very difficult to take seriously.

It’s cool to see a double album that keeps a consistent quality all throughout. Every song ranges from okay to pretty good. I liked it but wasn’t blown away by it. An enjoyable listen but not much more than that.

While this album is more "experimental" than Siamese Dream, the experiments into other genres aren't really interesting. Most of the album feels like leftovers from Siamese Dream. There are several good tracks here, but there are a lot of rough patches. Mellon Collie has good slow songs, but I much prefer Siamese Dream. Highlights: 1, 2, 4, 6, 19, 22, 24, 26, and 28.

What a yawning chasm between the quality of songwriting (at least musically) and instrumental performances, and the singing. Tonight, Tonight is one of the most beautiful songs that I never listen to. One day I hope to find a cover of it by a band that changes nothing about the arrangement and performance but has a halfway decent singer. I’d listen to the hell out of that. The voice is less off-putting in some contexts (it’s relatively inoffensive on Bullet and 1979), but other times it’s just distractingly forward in the mix with little to no processing to cover up the weaknesses, and ends up ruining otherwise good songs. Frustrating! Also, rock stars with egos are nothing new, but how up your own asshole do you have to be to think that anyone wants your next album to be more than 2 hours long? Speaking of which, fuck good-friend-of-Alex-Jones Billy Corgan. His guitar playing is great, the songwriting is frequently great too, but all of these positives are overshadowed by things that are clearly the product of his insufferable self-importance, from the insufferably self-pitying lyrics, the awful, awful title, his lack of perspective to realize that his songs would be better served by being sung by someone else, to the mind numbing length of this thing. On the positive, the guitars sound great in a very-1997 way, and Jimmy Chamberlin is a great fucking drummer. There’s an alternate universe where the Pumpkins have a lead singer who can actually sing and make a 45 minute-long album (or even a 90 minute double album) made of the best songs here and call it something - ANYTHING - else. In that alternate universe, I probably love this album. Unfortunately, we live in this one.

So I’ve always been a fan of Smashing Pumpkins, and really appreciate the uniqueness of their sound… Much more familiar with “Siamese Dream” – as well as a number of the best tracks from other albums – but not so much “Mellon Collie”, so I was really looking forward to this deep dive… Unfortunately, the songs that really clicked with me, are the ones that were the most popular tracks from the album… IMO, the 4 below were definitely the cream of the crop – “Tonight, Tonight” – 5-stars of 7… “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” – 5-stars of 7… “Muzzle” – 4-stars out of 7… “1979” - 5-stars out of 7… The rest however sounded pretty similar, and to be honest – there really wasn’t a need to do a double-album… I know a lot of folks don’t like Billy’s voice, and while not an outstanding – his vocals are perfect for their music – much like Kurt’s with Nirvana, and Geddy with Rush… Really though I would like this more, but just going to give it a 2 due to it being over an hour too long…

A continuation of the 90s trend of quantity not quality when it comes to albums. Boring, dull, dreary. A 2 hour long headache.

If you think Alanis Morrisette and Thom Yorke are whiny...hold on to your butts. Billy Corgan has one of the most annoying songing voices of all time. I have seen them live and it can get quite tortuous. That being said, the hits on this album are truly hits. His voice does not ruin the songs because they are good enough to hold up. 1979 and Zero top the bill. Other than the hits though...the album has very little more to offer and is too long. Some songs are atrocious like Tales of a Scorched Earth. Band was huge and I see why the album is on the list but not going back to it anytime soon..2.2.

Creative but no tracks I want to individually listen to for the moment Still cohesive as an album Might listen again as background noise It could grow on me

First half is great, second half is not. Would be fine with this if it wasn't two hours long.

This album is way heavier than I remember it being (in parts). XYU almost feels like a Sabbath song. Overall, I feel like Siamese Dream had more of my favourites on it but this album was a solid listen with just a little bit of filler. That’s impressive for a double album Favourite tracks: “Zero” “Jellybelly” “X.Y.U.” “1979”

Huge anthems, skipping mush and fillers. The strings play a huge part

It was aight.

As much as I can't stand Billy Corgan this is an incredible album.

literally wtf thought it was gonna be interesting but no... they give me this. what the hell

Beautiful.

Rock oscuro de los Smashing Pumpkins. Varios megahits. Vinilo.

Listened to this a lot in the 90's. Great album