Reviews (page 9 of 15)
So good
On NME500. Nostalgic favourite.
Rating: 7/10
Looking down the barrel of a 28-song record, I was surprised that it wasn't that hard to get through. I had a break at one point, but did still enjoy the record, despite the fact that there's some fat to trim here. The range of influences is nice, from the psychedelic-shoegaze of the Pumpkins' early careers, to some Spiritualized-esque near-ambient music, and even some dabbling in country, of all genres. That being said, the record can be a little schizophrenic, jumping from some extremely heavy songs to some very hushed, light songs with reckless abandon (see "Bodies" to "Thirty Three"). Favorite tracks: "X.Y.U.", "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans", "Bodies", "Zero"
Didn't realize it was a double album! Smashing Pumpkins does a great job of going for ethereal slow stuff to abrasive hard grungy punk without having it feel weird. I thought this album would be okay Liked this a lot more than I expected! 4.5 for sure!
Erg divers album, heerlijk
Superou as expectativas, nunca curti muito o som deles mas é um bom CD.
There's a LOT here, but it's mostly good.
ook
I didn't know Smashing Pumpkins contained such multitudes. A wild, sprawling album with a track sequencing designed to give you repeated whiplash. One moment they're playing dreamy ballads, the next they're thrashing through blistering hard rock and even metal. It's hard to predict what's coming next. The band seems to want to disorient you, even at the expense of a better flowing album. Once you open yourself up to the experience though, there are some terrific highlights. They can spin alt-rock gold like "Tonight, Tonight," "Muzzle," and "1979." They can turn up the aggression on tracks like "Jellybelly" and "Zero," or push their rage to the limits like on "Tales of a Scorched Earth" and "X.Y.U." And then there's the sweet spot for me, "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," which has huge hooks but doesn't skimp on the hard rock sound. Other favorites were the "An Ode to No One" (epic!) and "Love" (I love that drenched in fuzz sound). Dizzying and definitely too long but that's the point, right? Really impressive overall.
I had this album & saw this tour & rocked the Zero shirt for several years!
Loads of great songs but pretty long, I did go back and forth whether or not this should be 3 or 4 stars as it's not as good as as Siamese Dream which I'd give 4 stars to but in the end I decided it's better than a few of the albums I've rated 3 stars.
Pros: - some real bangers on here. "Tonight, Tonight", "Zero", "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" "1979" - Very ambitious - 1979 is one of my favorite songs from the 90s and I think even with all of it's hype it's still one of the most underrated 90s tracks. - production is clean when it needs to be clean, and dirty when it needs to be dirty - orchestral elements are so good and don't overtake the foundational strengths of the songwriting - "Cupid De Locke" has some spoken word in it which is cool as heck Cons: - flow of the album is a little weird right? "tonight tonight" into "jellybelly" is a stark contrast, and "to forgive" is a sad boy track right in the middle of two slammers. Misc: - The only spotify version is the deluxe version which is 92 songs long and 6 hours. I don't really have an interest in "Tonight Tonight's strings parts but pitched down 1 semitone and 3bpm lower v6 FINAL.wav", but I get it- that's for the mega fans. - To me they are the Kings of 90s Cringe. "Love is suicide" is a lyric that is repeated over and over in the track "Bodies". It's cringey; like "wow this is so profound"
// And someone will say, "What is lost can never be saved." //
THE WORLD IS A VAMPIRE And suddenly I'm 15 again, cycling through the woods on my way to my horrible summer job at the cactus plantation at 6am, where I would be holding out all day to listen to more Smashing Pumpkins on the way home.
Lite mycket filler och sången är outhärdlig, men hitsen är så satans starka? Också fler bra album tracks än jag väntade mig? Tonight, Tonight och 1979 är såna tokdängor.
4.5/5
Featuring 28 songs and a duration of over two hours this sure is an epic album. Back in the day I did prefer the grunge (just a misspelling of punk) songs. Over 25 years on I now prefer the more melodic songs. It is certainly one of he most definitive alt-rock album of the 90's if not ever. Had I been a teenager in the 90's I would have been boring all my friends about how wonderful this was.
Liked it better than expected. Time has been kind to it. Hits sound great. Enjoyed the quiet and pretty album tracks too. Didn't like the loud distorted stuff. Too long too, at least to hook me in on first listen, didn't make it all the way through.
Godt album... Men please kill your darlings. Det er simpelthen for langt
This is a fascinating album. I really enjoyed listening to it. It’s musically ambitious, hearkening back to the golden age of rock albums in the 70s, but fully in tune with the vibe of its time. Nobody else was putting this kind of effort into an album in 1995. Some of the arrangements are beyond gorgeous, tempered with some equally blistering harder songs. Smashing Pumpkins have a musical range few other bands can touch and this album was the band at their creative peak. I’m partial to the more melodic songs on the album, but the hard rocking songs are also wickedly good. This band has the wonderful ability to turn on a dime from artful to raging that’s pretty impressive. The experience of listing to this album is a bit overwhelming though. It’s packed with some really excellent songs. The ones that were released at singles (“Tonight,” “1979,” “Bullet,” “Thirty-Three, “Zero”) are all pretty much modern classics, they’re so good. But it’s just so long, so very, very, very long. This album is suffering from double album syndrome like I have never seen before. It meanders, it lacks much of a coherent tone or point of view, packing in some of the best songs of the 90s with a lot of other songs that are high quality, but fairly forgettable. There aren’t really any bad songs on this album. But the sheer volume makes it hard for any but the absolute best to stand out. In a way, this feels like two albums, the melodic album and the noisy album. But it’s not arranged that way. Oddly though, had they released this as two separate albums, it would have been far less impactful. Fave Songs: Tonight, Tonight; 1979; Love; An Ode to No One; Bullet with Butterfly Wings; Thirty-Three; Lily (My One and Only); Cupid de Locke; Zero; Galapogos; To Forgive; Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Makes me feel like I'm lying on my hot bed in the summer w dusty air filtering through the window, kind of mad
1979!
Huh, olipa hyvä. Odotin jotain masistelua mutta sieltä tulikin just sopivasti hevikitarablästiä ja tarttuvia biisejä.
Very long, various music
melodious, also rocking
The second album we've got that I'm familiar with! I'm going into this very biased as I had a big Smashing Pumpkins phase back in middle/high school, so nostalgia is definitely going to factor in to my score. Can confirm: Georgie still loves him some Smashing Pumpkins. Is this a perfect album? No, it definitely has its flaws and Corgan's vocal style is not for everyone. Is it an album I thoroughly enjoy despite imperfections? Absolutely! I like me some grunge and I always appreciate Corgan's use of other instruments such as the keyboard - I like the juxtaposition of jumping from slower, almost ballad-like tracks right into hard-hitting rock.
Really good album, just a bit long innit. gave it 4 but wish it was possible to give 3.5 in here.
Ah - the good ol' days of 2 disc sets. I personally love the Pumpkins, but this wasn't my favorite album. It's definitely got all of the best bits of them, but it feels a bit like a 'throw everything at the wall and see what sticks' approach. Knowing the history, I know this isn't really the situation, it's more how it feels in modern music release schedules. Similar to Iggy Pop's album we listened to the other day, this is a clear passion project and didn't have much of a commercial influence. That makes it important - if not incredibly engaging. An artist being given the chance to create what they want to create is a special thing.
Great atmosphear, great cunchy sounds. Heavy and soft
4/5, classic
Not as heavy as I expected.
Critically, a very good album. I just don't think I'll ever listen to it again.
Not that sad. Enjoyable.
Very good album with lots of standout individual songs. I did take a break half way through. Though, I feel like a 2 hour album should flow better to prevent zoning out or getting bored.
Interesting mix of mellow and screaming tracks. Rates a 4 because of the breadth of musicality across the double album
Classic 90’s
4/5
Interesting album. If you took the best 10 songs or so and made an album out of it I'm pretty sure it would be a 5 star effort. As it is though, there are a few duds. Still overall a really good album.
Pretty great
Some songs are certainly weaker on their own, but when listened to as a whole it all comes together.
First things first: "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is a 10/10 perfect title. As for the actual music: I'd heard this album quite some time ago and I remembered it being a bloated, grossly self-indulgent affair. Listening to it again, I still feel that way, but I was reminded how good some of the songs are. The highs are high and the lows are never worse than "pretty good", but it just drowns in its own length. Worth listening to once (if only to say you've listened to it), but I can't imagine listening to it over and over again.
Big commitment to listen to the full double album, I wasn't inspired by the songs I hadn't heard before to be honest, but still this is a solid 4. In general I like the Smashing Pumpkins (3.5/5), this is one of their better works
No me explayaré mucho. Es un disco excelente, canciones emblemáticas, originales, bien escritas, a ratos se siente sencillo tras sencillo de una época en la que fueron de las más grandes bandas de su momento. La voz de Corgan a pesar de su chirrido siempre se me ha hecho correcta para su tipo de música y manera de componer. Letras bien escritas, música fuerte cuando debe serlo y suave cuando debe serlo... y tremendamente LAAAAAAAAAAARGO. No se que tiene este disco pero escuchar los dos de corrido siempre se me ha hecho muy difícil. Puedo escuchar uno y tiempo después el otro pero los dos completos como obra entera me es tedioso y no entiendo el por qué, la calidad está ahí, hay muchísimos discos dobles que escucho de corrido sin problema, he escuchado discos triples sin problema y Mellon Collie and the blabla simplemente nunca he podido. Canciones que me encantan en un paquete extraño que no puedo digerir de una. Ah por cierto sí también hay que mencionar, es de los títulos de disco más estúpidos que se me pueden ocurrir, su juego de palabras si siempre se me ha hecho bastante idiota y "the Infinite Sadness" solo me hace pelar los ojos.
Después de tantos años y por lo largo del disco me pasó que escuchar las que conocía fue súper bueno, las disfruté y fue muy bueno recordarlas. El resto continuamente perdió mi atención y no es que sean canciones malas pero se quedan en buenas y ya. Estuve debatiéndome entre subir o bajar el 3.5. Tiene canciones muy buenas, la banda no me desagrada, tiene su importancia histórica pero es demasiado largo y varias son relleno. Al final, decidí subirlo porque ninguna canción es terrible, es más lo que disfruto las canciones que conozco que lo que estorban las demás canciones y pese a lo largo tampoco es que corra a quitarlo. No afecta la calificación, sólo quiero mencionar que aunque está clasificado como grunge y tiene momentos muy pesados, en general el disco se me hace melódico, demasiado "lindo" para ser grunge. Songs: Zero, 1979, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight
Billy Corgan is One of the 90s best songwriters, and a masterpiece like Tonight, Tonight really shows it. Atleast a third of this almost is some really quality songwriting that gets lost in a poorer harder rock songs that extend the album unnecessarily hiding what could be a masterpiece and perfect 5 star album. Had he ignored the heavier riffs for this album, focused on the softer tunes and ballads, it would have been more effective.
Awesome. Some bangers and lot of cerebral mong-out tunes. Dour 2013, missed them at Reading 2007.
But long
Es un d'aquells discos que representen una década, i totes les seves particularitats: en quant a so, en quant a actitud, imatge, missatge... No tots els temes (sí, hi ha massa) estan a l'alçada dels millors, però la gran majoria no queden lluny, i els que més destaquen ('1979', 'Tonight Tonight', 'Zero', 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings', 'We Only Come Out at Night') també es troben entre el millor de la década
This is a banger for sure not sure why 1979 is such a big hit.
Over long in parts but one i will return to
Still can’t forgive Billy Corgan his voice or lyrics, but a wondrous album all the same.
9,0/10
7/10 pretty good
3.5
Awesome rock album, some parts I didn't care for but some 5 star songs
I rlly liked the concept of this album with the sections relating to time of day. I think I preferred the 1st half
I'd never listened to this whole album before. When I was younger, Corgan's voice got on my nerves so I never gave Smashing Pumpkins a fair chance. I have to say, I'm glad I gave this a listen. The music is dynamic and interesting. I will definitely listen again. It runs a little long... but none of the songs feel like "filler."
But bloated. But what’s good is great
Sí me gustó bastante, aunque claro que no terminé de escucharlo, sí suena dark. Creo que necesito oir con más calma las canciones de los 2 primeros cds que se supone son las que cuentan (?)
Disco de largo aliento, sin embargo, creo que todo suena bien, con mucha cohesión y hay canciones que me gustaron particularmente. "Zero", "Here Is No Why", "Bullet With Butterfly Wings", "Love", "Muzzle", "Bodies", "1979" y "Stumbleine", esta última de las baladitas. No sé qué más decir, que es el primer disco de los Smashing que escucho completo y está bien, todo oc. 7.5/10
I absolutely love this album and the pumpkins. There is definitely some filler though lol
Just fantastic. Part of my music education, although I didn't really take it into account at the time. Amazing songwriting. Amazing drumming! Just too long and dips in parts so not quite 5 stars Does drag in parts and is insanely long. hence 4 starts, not 5
dreamy, weird, obscure, like any pisces would dig. don't really like billy corgan's persona, can't help but love his music tho.
Some poor tracks, but some surprisingly good ones too.
Thoroughly enjoyable, but only as a whole album experience
wow - I literally transcended. Some songs are a bit too hard rock but this album is incredibly beautiful
Jedan veoma kvalitetan dvostruki album. Velim ja da je uvijek rizično raditi dvostruki album ako nećeš biti konzistentan. Naravno daleko od toga da mi se svaka pjesma sviđa, ali toliko ima kvalitetnih pjesama na ovom albumu da jednostavno nije fer dati lošiju ocijenu za album od 28 pjesama, a gdje većina albuma valja. Album ima svoje neke padove, gdje nije toliko interesantno, ali to je samo u nekim sitnim dijelovima (čitaj pjesmama). Odlične pjesme poput: Tonight, Tonight, Zero, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Bodies, 1979, Stumbleine, Cupid De Locke i tako dalje. Od ovih pjesama što sam nabrojao bar 3 pjesme su mi u njihovih top 10 - pametnome dosta. Hvale vrijedan album Smashing Pumpkinsa te po mom mišljenju je album ipak iza meni njihovog najdražeg Siamese Dreams. Ovaj album ima shift prema agresiji pa vraćanje na pasivu i vice versa. Neke predivne balade, lijepi instrumentali, ali isto tako i divlji vokali sa pojačanim gitarama.
Last great grunge album
Still can't stand Billy's voice, however this is pretty solid stuff.
Could have been a five star album if they’d picked the right 12-14 songs. Just too much bloat here.
Brilliant in its scale and variety of themes. Loads of great songs interspersed with a full albums worth of filler. Nobody wants to listen to Billy Corgans shrill voice for 2+ hours.
There’s a five star album hidden in here once you cut through the filler
Cut about 10 tracks from this and you could make one very solid album
Some great, some meh, too long overall
Its decent enough, but could make it a perfect single album rather than a double album to be fair.
It's a double album and clocking in at 2 hours, I found it difficult to digest in one sitting. To start, they make great fuckin' bangers with wild riffs, maxed distortion, and superb composition makes the heavier songs pack a serious punch. Contrast that to the more soft and tender songs like Tonight, Tonight that give the album breathing room and variation. This makes for a wholly strong album, giving great credence to the legendary status of this alt-rock treasure. Rarely did I feel like there was a low point, but the length of this titan makes it hard not to get at least a little burned out. Closer to a 4.5 than a 4.
Blast from the past. Enjoyed it quite a lot.
Thought this was going to be my first 5* but on listening back, not as perfect as I remember. Still a worthy 4!
really beautiful and moving album. the vocals got a little whiney for me at certain points. insane length but the variety in tempo and style helped to keep me interested. 8/10
A good one to get back into the albums with. Really not a bad song, excellent vibes. Emo without making me feel bad. 9
Some good hits, but too many songs
1/3 = 5* :) 2/3 = 2* at best :(
Love this album. Fantastic melodies. Hit after hit. Sweeping soundscapes. Nostalgia. So good. Favorite track: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Tails off but four stars just for the first six or so songs on disk 1.
Good, but, like most double albums, if they'd taken their best songs and made a single album it would have been even better.
Awesome album, if a bit erratic and superficially moody
Off the bat, I love the album title, the album art. Reminds me of Melancholia, I wonder if Lars took inspiration from this gals green dress and the name when he was doing his movie poster. I could see Lars Von Trier being a Smashing Pumpkins fan. Even beyond that, this is an even bolder album because it is two hours long over twenty eight songs and two CDs. Very impressive especially for that time period. You look at just a few years earlier when Nirvana came out with Nevermind and that album was very short compared to this. I loved the instrumental song to start and didn’t realize that “Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rat in a cage” was from Bullet with Butterfly Wings! I thought it was from a Doors song or something. That was a pleasant surprise. As the album goes on, many of the songs drifted into the background, not because they were bad but they play really well as background music. Most of the stand outs for me came from the beginning of the album but I liked this album much more than Siamese Dream. Standouts were the first track, Tonight, Tonight, Zero, and Bullet with Butterfly Wings.
I don't know where I was in the '90s, but I know that I like Smashing Pumpkins much more than I tough before this album. A great piece of art with a lot of different styles, but still connected, even the more "experimental" songs are great and in line with the rest of the album. Definitively worths it
Maracas
I forgot this was a double disc! Or was this just for the remaster? Anyway, this was such a great album growing up. To me, this is SP's pinnacle, and my favorite of their. Too bad Billy is such a cuck.
Always disliked the Smashing Pumpkins, but after listening through this album I may need to reevaluate. There were songs that I didn’t care for (it’s a two hour album, how do you avoid that?), but on the whole I was really impressed by it. Some really great music in here.
I forgot how much I enjoy The Smashing Pumpkins. Great album!
Several of those songs are on my playlists sooo...
love classic rock
I forgot this was a double disc! Or was this just for the remaster? Anyway, this was such a great album growing up. To me, this is SP's pinnacle, and my favorite of their. Too bad Billy is such a cuck.
Classic, classic. Still rocks. I have a bias against double LPs though.
❤️
Tonight, Tonight is great, the first song is really nice orchestral song.
1979😍
Great album. A "classic" for me. So many hits.
Solid album. Unique sound that's enjoyable, even for 28 songs.
One of the grunge classics
Too much filler in the first half billy
7.1
it was good. "Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage". That's the line that's most fun to sing.
Cool, versatile alt rock. Some of it's a little heavier than my taste, but good nonetheless.
1979
Obviously a great album
Never really listened to smashing pumpkins, not sure why as definitely style of music I like. this is a great album if not a bit too long. His voice can also come across a little whiny
Deluxe edition is 6 hours of straight angst and sadness =, with highlights of 90s bops
very pog band
cool album need more time to listen
1995. Key Songs: 1979, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight
not a bad album, was a big hit when i was a kid and i remember a good few choons off it
not really my type of genre but not bad music
The hits are hits, the rest...Billy Corgan's voice can grate on my ears.
Sounds good I’m just not listening to over two hours of anything not gonna lie.
It was really ok, too long though. Some good drumming and some flashes of brilliant guitar. Vocals irritating. Not as bad as I was expecting for such a long album.
Surprising range of styles. Instrumental opening, then alternative classic in Tonight Tonight followed by metal drums and baseline...drums on this album stand out. Tonight Tonight, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, 1979 all bring heavy mid 90's MTV nostalgia, great songs. Not a huge fan of Bill Corgan's vocals, though his voice in these songs is iconic. Besides the old hits nothing really stood out as amazing.
Their instrumentals are so good but Corgan’s vocals have always been atrocious. If he weren’t singing, I would have given it like a 4/5. Really, even a 3 is pushing it with both his terrible vocals in addition to the TWO HOUR length.
The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most memorable bands of the 1990's for me as I had limited exposure to 90's alt rock and they were on heavy rotation at the radio station I listened to when I was visiting my sister. They are quite distinctive, with Corgan's vocals and distorted guitars. I only owned their debut album, and probably should have had this one in my collection as well. But a double disc of the Pumpkins is a LOT of Pumpkins in one sitting. I like them better in small doses.
- A bit too loud and screechy for my taste
Hitjes zijn top. Duurt gewoon te lang. En voor eens heb ik het lastig met zijn stem
The first track lowkey is misleading to what the rest of the album sounds like. This one was a banger for sure tho.
5/10 Best songs: Tonight Tonight, Jellybelly, Thru the Eyes of Ruby I tried for years to get into Smashing Pumpkins but they never quite clicked for me, despite being a huge fan of musicians and bands said in the same breath. Upon this listen, I think I've figured out why their music never worked for me: Billy Corgan's voice is godawful. The music is terrific, but the man just can't sing. On occasion I can overlook his singing when a song particularly stands out (Jellybelly is outstanding, for example). In addition, this double album is unnecessarily bloated. Either it should have been released as two separate projects or there should have been judicious editing to cut it down to a single disc, because man, this album is a drag.
A very involved effort on this triple LP. The longest so gs are the worst. Billy covering several genres of music. Several really good songs. Probably should of been condensed into 2 separate albums.
A bloated, self-indulgent corpse of an album convinced of its own profundity. I bought this when it came out because I had loved Siamese Dream and Gish, yet this one never struck a chord with me. It always felt too long with lyrics inspired by magnetic poetry kits.
good 90s rock album. it has a lot of new influences and I could hear it at a teen party in 2005
It’s good but not 2 hours good
It was ok liked it still Album cover was so good
To the user who's 1-star review is currently at the top of the pile, I see you and I hear you. You're not wrong in your assessment, though, I don't know if you were alive or old enough to be aware of this album when it came out. It was a massive record in it's heyday. Anyway, yeah, this album suffers same as a lot of double albums in the sense that had they left maybe half on the cutting room floor, it would have been better for it. Billy Corgan was honestly a great song writer (I say "was" since none of the stuff he released this century was all that good), but a great frontman he is not. His voice is nails on a chalkboard at best. Despite that shortcoming, there's some all time bangers on this record, but there's also a lot of fluff they could have scrapped and this would have been all the better for it.
I like these guys but this album was too long to take in properly - and maybe a bit too long for its own good too, from what I was able to take in.
We have had smashing pumpkins before and I remember being really pleasantly surprised and in fact I think I did deem it "smashing" pumpkins. This one was more like squashing potatoes. Har Har har
I actually really like The Smashing Pumpkins. And I like a lot of these songs… I just feel like this album was all over the place as a whole.
2,5
Ok
I’ve owned "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" for years, yet rarely pull it off the shelf - and I’ve often wondered why. It isn’t a bad album by any stretch; I can appreciate the quality and craft behind it. But, to me, none of the tracks trigger that visceral reaction that facilitates repeated listens, a deep affection for the material or a five-star rating. It’s a solid collection of good-to-very-good songs, but nothing here truly grabs hold of me. Three stars. Disc one – Dawn to Dusk 1 "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" (Instrumental) (3/5) 2 "Tonight, Tonight" (3/5) 3 "Jellybelly" (3/5) 4 "Zero" (4/5) 5 "Here Is No Why" (3/5) 6 "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (3/5) 7 "To Forgive" (3/5) 8 "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)" (4/5) 9 "Love" (4/5) 10 "Cupid de Locke" (4/5) 11 "Galapogos" (4/5) 12 "Muzzle" (3/5) 13 "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" (4/5) 14 "Take Me Down" (3/5) Disc one total - 48 Disc one average - 3.4 Disc two – Twilight to Starlight 1 "Where Boys Fear to Tread" (4/5) 2 "Bodies" (3/5) 3 "Thirty-Three" (3/5) 4 "In the Arms of Sleep" (3/5) 5 "1979" (4/5) 6 "Tales of a Scorched Earth" (3/5) 7 "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" (3/5) 8 "Stumbleine" (3/5) 9 "X.Y.U." (4/5) 10 "We Only Come Out at Night" (3/5) 11 "Beautiful" (3/5) 12 "Lily (My One and Only)" (3/5) 13 "By Starlight" (3/5) 14 "Farewell and Goodnight" (3/5) Disc two total - 45 Disc two average - 3.2 Total - 93 Average - 3.3 395/1001 206/395 albums reviewed were new to me.
Massive respect for the ambition and the era it defined, but the theatricality and sonic whiplash make it a tough listen for me.
Side One is an easy 4 close to a 5, great driving riffs and crunching songs. I'm already a bit fatigued by side 2 which is nice but a bit sleepy in comparison. A shame because taking maybe 5/6 of the best songs from each and you could have a 5 star album TBH
The problem with most double albums is that there simply isn’t enough amazing music to allow for a fully enjoyable listening experience. Those that are consistently good all the way through (White Album, Keys of Life, Sign o’ the Times etc) are incredible feats of musicianship as well as great albums to listen to on their own for this reason. Most double albums begin to drag without a compelling concept or simply brilliant music for an hour plus. Now w this album, I understand why the Pumpkins wanted to get grander and more expansive after their brilliant album Siamese Dream. But two hours is simply unnecessary; that’s 3 entire sides of an LP - almost no album could be great all the way through. And indeed, this isn’t. Had this album been condensed into a Siamese Dream-length album it could be a brilliant effort, but a lot of the heavier tracks just do not hit for me and they drag this album down.
Ugh this one is so close to being higher on this list, potentially even a 5, but there are so many things holding this album back. First off, when I discovered this band in highschool, a big reason I fell in love was because I was the perfect age for this dramatic amount of angst. But also because a lot of their song so liked the most from them came from this album. This is definitely Smashing Pumpkins magnum opus. The biggest problem though, is it’s WAY too fucking long. 2 hours is just too much time with this limited amount of variety. There is variety but that’s just going back and forth between loud angsty music and soft angsty music. And it’s not as simple as, too much soft or too much heavy music. It’s just a lot of what they are trying to say and do is accomplished on the first half of the album which is more than long enough to be its own album. And while I do love 1979, a lot of their song second half feels like they were starting to run out of original ideas and started just adding more of the same. The other massive problem with this band is Billy Corrigan. I used to really like him and I though the fact why he was a big professional wrestling guy made him more endearing and grounded. But then he completely undermines that by being impossible to work with, firing a lot of the musicians that made his music memorable and special, as well as being a massive douche bag now. Like he has become everything he hated, and he’s completely oblivious to that because his head is lodged so securely up his own ass. It’s sad to see talented artist lose everything that made them special. For what it’s worth, “zero” is easily one of the greatest alt rock songs of all time! Thanks The Simpsons hulabalooza episode for turning me onto them as well as Peter frampton, sonic youth, and cypress hill.
6/10
nice beats
Paar mooie nummers, teveel gekrijs en te vaak irritante gitaaruithalen
Interesante.
Quite hard rocking but didn’t leave much of an impression
It was pretty good. It wasn't my usual style of music but it definitely wasn't bad!
I prefer the songs that weren't hits. And improved outlook on the band noow that I've listened to the full album.
Musically the songs are quite good but damn it's basically impossible for a 2hr album to be engaging the whole way through. So yea 3 stars but on the higher end of 3 stars cause the songs are for the most part pretty good
3.41
✸ Okay! Another banger album from an annoying man. ✸ Tonight, Tonight is so good. ✸ Zero!!! So angsty (complimentary). ✸ Bullet With Butterfly Wings!! ✸ With only a half work day today, there's no way I'm going to get through this two(!!) hour long album.
In an effort to get some of the longer entries from the 1001 albums to hear before you die challenge out of the way before I get exceptionally busy on Monday for the next 6 months, I wanted to listen to what is arguably the band's biggest album (commercially) in their discography, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. This 2 hour double album was a cultural statement when it released, and should have never succeeded with the length, genre, and experimentation this album had all over it and yet it became a cultural zeitgeist. This album isn't just a Grunge album like Siamese Dream or Gish, it is a much more lively collection of all sorts of different genres mixed together under one big 2 hour long umbrella. Personally I have never been big on this album and never really got the hype behind it all, and even still to this very day I do not. This album is extremely bloated and only really has a few highlights worth mentioning out of the 28 songs here. The complaint of Billy Corgan sounding "nasally" when singing really shows itself to be true all over this album and can definitely get under your skin if you let it do so. I was definitely feeling the rage boiling up inside me at By Starlight even though that is a highlight of the album for myself. The music is so all over the place that it is both admirable and sloppy in the same breath. I get Billy wanted to reach for the stars here but I really think he overshot his abilities when Siamese Dream does exactly what he wants with a much better sound/style/runtime. This album is good but should not even be close to considered a classic in my eyes as it truly lacks a much deeper focus and style I think that would make it something close to one.
One of the dumbest album + opening track titles of this entire list. Not as bad as Chocolate Starfish, but it's up there. 121 minutes is also definitely going to test my patience. The Smashing Pumpkins aren't looking too smashing, at least not off the bat. But there's a ton of excellent material here. Of course, it's balanced out by an equal amount of passable-to-mediocre music, but when you insist on releasing two hours of content, what else could you really expect? Still, I'd like to see some sort of concept tying this together. Other than the concept of melancholy. That ain't cutting it for me. But man, you have to give it to them. They can record a stunningly pretty instrumental. That combination of strings, Mellotron, and piano, with an uncertain yet gorgeous melody... wow. With Tonight, Tonight, you begin to understand why they launched us off with an instrumental. The singer resembles a really off-brand Mick Jagger. Fortunately, all the big orchestral stuff in the background more than makes up for it. It helps that Corgan doesn't try to belt anything. My ears might just waddle away if that were to happen. Props to the drummer – there are some solid fast fills, recorded cleanly and complimenting the strings nicely to create an almost cinematic, musical-esque feel. Then with Jellybelly we hear a complete stylistic left turn: metal. Who knew? A great jolt of energy that suggests these guys know what they're doing with album sequencing. Which is an extremely important factor in judging album-based listening. Zero takes a similar approach but with less focus on dark, distorted riffs and more sort of Ozzy-like "weird" vocalising. Here Is No Why and Bullet WIth Butterfly Wings continue the general hard-ish rock sound, with the latter once again boasting some excellent drumming (especially at around 2:30!) but not much otherwise. To Forgive breaks the streak, though, reminding us that the Pumpkins can pull off a strong, powerful slow-tempo bluesy number. Disc 1 drags on a lot in the middle, but I'll mention points of interest. Cupid De Locke is exactly what I'm looking for in the midst of a bunch of goofy anonymous rock. Great riff on a string instrument that I can't quite place, along with some violins, (electronic?) harps, and an airy, refreshing atmosphere that contrasts hugely with preceding songs. Galapogos acts nicely as a sort of extended coda to Cupid De Locke. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans worried me from its 9-plus-minute runtime, but it (in fact) kind of slaps. Especially that 2-minute ambient intro. A cool dark riff-rock intro to disc 2 with Where Boys Fear To Tread. But the quality completely flops as soon as the vocals come in. Overall, the second disc kind of drops the ball in terms of quality. Plenty of forgettably heavy, melody-less songs to go around, including Tales Of A Scorched Earth, Thru The Eyes Of Ruby, Bodies, and Beautiful. The song 1979 is good enough, but disappointingly tame and un-experimental considering it's the band's biggest song. Maybe I'm being a little unfair since I had this disc on in the background with a group of friends complaining about how bad it was. 3/5 Key tracks: Tonight, Tonight, To Forgive, Cupid De Locke
I bought this album when it came out back in the day as I was in the thick of grunge love. At first I was a little put off by it for sure, it seemed a lot softer, more artsy than Siamese Dream. Not sure why I thought that at the time as there are still a lot of heavy tracks here. Probably I just didn't like that there were softer moments on the album at the time. Now, some of those softer tracks sound pretty solid for me. I still don't think it's as good as Siamese Dream--the song writing isn't quite as good overall and the album is bloated. They could have easily dropped a few tracks from this to make it more killer single album. Zero is among the group's best tracks ever, and Bullet with Butterfly Wings is solid. I've even come to like 1979 more. Still not sure about Tonight, Tonight. Other tracks like Bodies are great. Thirty-Three is an example of a softer track I enjoyed more now. Underlying all this is probably my hate for Billy Corgan and his singing. He's a good song writer when he wants to be, I'll give him that. But man, as much as I listened to Siamese Dream back in the day, his personality and voice always still kind of annoyed me. High 3, could be a 4 but let's be real, I owned this album and barely listened to it when I was a teenager with all the time in the world.
Overlong and pretentious but with some great moments.
3.5/5
Well, that was epic. I never believed I could endure two hours worth of Billy Corgan's shrill whining, and as I've noted on Siamese Dreams, his voice drags down some pretty good musicianship. The lyrics are often mysterious, but they seem to point toward isolation and a vain attempt to find one's way in the world. And, while Corgan's vocals are grating and hard on the ears, I feel like they're perfectly suited for Bullet With Butterfly Wings.
вайбовый рок
The generator is bombarding me with double and triple albums lately. First disc is honestly pretty fire. Some of the Pumpkins biggest hits mixed with some nice deep cuts. This is much more metal than I expected. Corgan's voice and lyrics can be grating but it's also part of the band's charm. Porcelina has no business being as good as it is for a 9 minute track and Take Me Down is a nice come down closer. 4/5. Break for a few hours. Second disc starts hot. Less hits on this side besides 1979, but it's a good mix of hard and soft. Their drummer is a beast. X.Y.U. is a sludgy highlight followed by a softer closing stretch that didn't do much for me. 3/5. I will always be a stickler for excessive album lengths so despite some high highs, this rounds out to a strong 3. I want a rap album next.
There is no reason for this to be two hours??? I’m so sorry?? Look the fact there’s a nearly 6 hour version of this is silly :(
Smashing pumpkins always sounded like something Nigel Thornberry would say. Never listened to them as far as I'm aware. 1) Gentle piano opener. Technically competent. 2) **** [Tonight] Oh, pretty sure I have actually heard this one. The music is great, nice soaring strings. Those vocals are definitely an acquired taste. 3) ** [Jellybelly] Thrashy instrumentation. Can I swap the vocalist out? This would be way better with some gutteral growls. Or someone with pipes. Feel bad for the band this song is excellent otherwise. 4) **** [Zero] Heavy. Really like the drums. Fuzzy. The vocals are a bit more hidden in the mix. I like the bridge riff. 5) *** [Here is no why] Kinda dreamy vibes. Reminds me of something that might have come out around mid 2000s. 6) ***** [Bullet With Butterfly Wings] - Southern rock? Lars ulric drumming. Almost nu-metal. Has good energy. Vocals waay better when he's yelling rather than "singing". 7) ** [To Forgive] Organ led Ballard. It's a nice change of pace. Nothing inherently wrong with it. 8) **** [An Ode to No One] Tempo shift. More punk-y. The riff is kind of anxiety inducing. A crescendo song. 9) *** [Love] Space rock. 10) ** [Cupid de Locke] - Art rock. Tells a story. Harp? is a nice tone/riff. 11) * [Galapogos] - Does sound like I'm on an island. Shame Billy's singing. 12) *** [Muzzle] Alternative rock track. Perfectly listenable. 13) ***** [Porcelina of the Vast Oceans] Pink floyd worship? Dreamy fantasy vibes. Can see this being one of my favourites. It's very dynamic. 14 ** [Take Me Down] Oh. They found a different singer? An acoustic closer. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Side A Experimental, varied, prefer the heavier tracks. The vocals are difficult when they are put to the fore on the calmer songs. Need a break. Overall: 3/5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) *** [Where Boys Fear to Tread] - Aww I thought it was going to be an instrumental only piece. Would make a nice grungy/post rock ditty. do-do-do-do! 16) *** [Bodies] Proto KoRn energy. I like the drumming on this one. 17) *** [Thirty-Three] Acoustic, dreamy pop returns. A great contrast to bodies. 18) ** [In the Arms of Sleep] - Floaty rock. 19) ** [1979] - Appears to be one of their more popular tracks, for me this is quite sparse feeling. 20) ***** [Tales of a Scorched Earth] Opening riff captured my attention and brought me back awake after the last two tracks. Appeals to my metal sensibilities. 21) *** [Thru the Eyes of Ruby] - Dreamy Grunge. Enjoy the crescendo's pre chorus. Quite a lot of the tracks on this album have a soothing, wistful quality. This contrasts well with the heaviness. 22) * [Stumbleine] Acoustic track. Feels a bit like something the guy with a guitar would sing at a party. Probably more soothingly than Billy. 23) ****** [X.Y.U.] Desert rock/stoner! Lets go. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. Save me from the ballards! The section from 4:20 is SUBLIME. 24) **** [We Only Come Out at Night] I am a vampire and I've lost my fangs. Finally a new song for the Halloween playlist. Feels like a 60s/70s ditty. Beatles-esque - the vocals are very good (a rarity). 25) ***** [Beautiful] Cute song, nice duet with D'arcy. Can't she sing more often? Feels like it belongs in a coming of age movie. 26 *** [Lily (My One and Only)] Wait - when did we enter the Beatles zone? Track 24? Not too much going on here. Some nice piano twinkliness. 27 * [By Starlight] Ok, we are winding right down now. Feels like a radiohead or coldplay song. Very passive. DEAD EYES - nearing the end now. 28 **** [Farewell and good night] - The end. D'arcy is back. Nice duet by them again. The piano adds a element. Hypnotic/drone-y rhythms soothe. Feels like when the boys used to fall asleep on me. The fading to just piano at the end is beautiful. Part 2: 3.5/5 (rounding up) Vocals are better on the calmer songs. Or Billy is growing on me. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Overview: Inject [X.Y.U.] into my veins. That's the jam on this album. Now, this was a mission to complete. Breaking it in two definitely helped. There are a few songs that did nothing for me, a few that were really good and then a proportion that I'd happily listen to, but not choose to. This is a hard one to give an overall rating to. I don't think I'd put the full album on again so by my own rules it maxes at a 3. ....Yet, I think I just might one day. Who knows, maybe Billy's vocals will grow on me.
I just wasn’t crazy about this one. A lot of the songs blended together and Billy Corgan’s voice is so harsh. I felt like the colours of the one were a muddy blue grey mostly
Whole bunch of 5/5 songs here, but the album is just too long.
First impression: Surprisingly nocturne-esque in the opening and heavily contrasts itself with a sonic avalanche as you go along. Overall the album possesses a drastic range of dynamics and tone. Favourite track: Tonight Tonight One sentence: I love them, but admittedly this must be their most overrated album Will I revisit? Maybe a few songs but not the entire album
I'm not too opposed to the length on this one, they do a great job at keeping it fresh and varied in sound. Great pacing, too, as even if it's impossible to tell what they're singing, it does feel like there's a complete narrative within the whole thing. I enjoyed the ballads a lot more than I did the heavier songs though, in fact the latter started grating on me quite a bit by the end. Still a lot to like! Standouts: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness • Here Is No Why • To Forgive • An Ode To No One • Galapogos • Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans • 1979 • We Only Come Out At Night • Lily (My One And Only) • Farewell And Goodnight
W tym ukropie, ciężko słuchać przez 2 godziny grunge'a z lat 90. Głos wokalisty trochę mnie denerwuje. Nie zachwycił mnie ten album.
Trochę nudy
całkiem ciekawy blend grungowo rockowych brzmień, momentami zaskakujący ale długość trochę wkurwia
The songs are okay-ish, but repetitive and hard to listen to as a whole album. Too long of an album and the vocalist's voice is very hard to listen to for 2 hours. It's not bad, classic 90s grunge songs, but I didn't enjoy it or want to listen to it again.
its good but fuck its such a long album
Some good elements within most tracks, but the record felt rapidly too repetitive and two hours feels waaaay too long for any type of record.
6/10 pas habitué au hard rock mais c est sympa. Alternance de musique chill et venere
If this was edited down to 10 or so songs it would be an instant 5/5, but it’s just so long.
Semi-regularly when listening to Generator albums, I'll have a couple of runs through a record so I can really make sure I'm happy with my marking. But when your (double) album is this long, that ain't happening! Each of the records that make up this album are longer than I generally want an album to be (58 minutes and 63 minutes respectively) so my patience wore very thin by the end. Which is a shame because there are a number of tracks which I genuinely love. I owned Bullet With Butterfly Wings on a cassette single and 15 year old me adored that thing. It's still a fantastic song all these years later, as are a number of the other singles from this album. Tonight Tonight and 1979 I also remember very fondly. But while I love those tracks, I never bought the record in its heyday and I genuinely can't imagine listening through it all again. I will give it credit for being pretty varied in terms of sound (to the extent that a couple of times I had to check my music app hadn't somehow skipped to another artist) and when it leans into the distorted rockier end of their spectrum, I really enjoy it. But it's just so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so unnecessarily long. 3/5 P.S. Billy Corgan is an egotistical arsehole.
I never liked the singers voice or kind of singing, but the album is musically more diverse than I gave them credit for before hearing it. I wouldn't have needed to listen to 739 songs, though, most double albums are bloated, this is no exception.
I heard this in a new way. This is a good and extensive album, by Smashing Pumpkins. I honestly have not enjoyed their sound before, but after listening to the complete album, I have a new appreciation for this band and album.
El álbum indicado si querés desconectar un poco del mundo...
Bit soft
2 hours and only maybe a small handful of songs i liked... thats rough
I liked Disc 1 better. One scream song in the second half I did not care for. Some songs I like to listen to, the rest I didn’t care for. Would I listen again? Potentially
The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon collie yada yada Infinite is right. I’ve just listened to this album for what seems like a week. First half much stronger than the second half in my opinion. They could’ve dropped half of this thing and had a really strong 4 or 5* album but as it is, too many average tracks pulled the score down. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Enjoyed this not usually the type of music I listen to so a pleasant surprise
I've always had an attitude about this record because I think the title is dumb. But let's do this anyway! Because I have to! So the problem for me with the Smashing Pumpkins is that Billy Corgan's voice is so distinctive and the music so consistent from track to track that at some point it all dissolves into an indistinguishable Smashing Pumpkin slurry. This record isn't terrible - while the music is samey, it's at least samey grungey rock jams with a compelling bassline, and there were some proggy bits here and there. But still, there is no reason in the world for an emo Smashing Pumpkins album to be 2 discs long. 3 stars
Billy Corgan has one of the hardest listenable voice ever. The guitarist is carrying this whole entire band ON his back. The album is fine if I ignore Billy's voice and the fact that it's so long.
Too long!
Multiple Smashing Pumpkins albums means there are too many Smashing Pumpkins albums on the list. Frankly, one is too many. Maybe I like this album? Billy Corgan's whiny voice still irritates the hell out of me. There they are! Back to being a band I hate. Zero is terrible. Bullet With Butterfly Wings is one of the most overrated songs ever. His voice is inescapable. I bet Creed loves these guys. The less "rock" songs are generally better. I think I just don't like 90s rock. And maybe that's a hangover from living through it and being more into hip hop then. This album is better than Siamese Dream and not as bad as I thought going into it.
interesting, not heard any lyrics so far, sounds like a movie ost got to the lyrics, eh ok vocals so far very background music to do work to, i see myself putting this on and just studying and stuff, and its 2 hrs total so yk
Would have done better with just 1 disc
It's fine I guess
I’ve been waiting to hear this album for the first time for a while, though unfortunately it’s not really for me. However, I still have a lot of respect for it and I do like the overall feeling. I found myself enjoying more of the slower songs. It’s quite experimental and varied across the whole album. This is also the second triple album I’ve listened to this week, so I’m just slightly burnt out by them.
moody
I don't know if this is true for anyone else, but there are some artists that I think are fine, but I only really need one song by them. I'm not even talking about one hit wonders. It's usually artists that have a distinct sound but are kind of samey. Fall Out Boy is one. "Sugar You're Going Down" covers all I want from them. "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" is great, and the rest of what I've heard from the Offspring is similar but not as good, so I'm fine with just that one. If the rest of their discography vanished overnight, I wouldn't be too broken up about it. The Smashing Pumpkins are similar for me. The songs I like are really not doing too much different. If I ever have a craving for Smashing Pumpkins, I can put on "Tonight, Tonight" and have a listen, and then I'm good. Maybe "Disarm" if I want some glockenspiel. The rest of the album is fine, but I've really heard all I want with just one song.
3.5/5
Music is great. I could do without the vocals.
No iba mal pero queda pendiente
I had a bad attitude going into this and expected not to like it much at all. And my expectations were exceeded overall! I probably landed at a 3.5, but there were a handful of tracks that were so whiny/screechy that I found incredibly grating, so the 3.5 is getting rounded down.
Was excited for this and liked some of it, but the songs weren’t that strong and Corgan’s voice gets old quick. 2.5 rounded up.
This one didn't hit like Siamese Dream did for me, still a solid record though
why cant anyone sing bro :(
This is the album that put me off the Smashing Pumpkins. I loved the beautiful wall of guitars of Siamese Dream. I loved the psychedelic floaty vibe turning metal of Gish and Pisces Iscariot. But this just seemed bombastic and bloated. A sign of things to come then! There’s lots of bits I like but there’s also a lot of very lazy metal riffs and sappy songs. If you could cut this down by half there’s probably a classic album in it. But I dunno, it gives me the ick.
Ok
Overall a good album, with some highlights. Beyond their most popular hits here, I really liked XYU. As many have said, a little too long.
Despite all my rage I AM just a rat in a cage, but I found myself eager to skip through this one before lost songs were over. Fav song: bullet with butterfly wings
album is long but so are my sorrows
a pretty good album that is about 10 songs too long. it's a shame what happened to that billy boy, too. fav songs: zero/here is no why/farewell and goodnight
some good iconic songs at the beginning but feels very same-sy afterwards. not a bad listen
Lots of varied sounds. Clearly made well. Mostly pleasant. Listening to double albums idly in one go is excruciating when so many tracks sound the same. Maybe they don't, but tell that to the album, not to me!
never dug and still don't dig. so I feel bad for giving it a bad score because I know it's pretty good. just not for me
Still having troubles to know whether I like Smashing or not. This was okay though
Heard it a million times
Hideously long album and a little too juvenile. Still, I credit them for providing a good variety of sounds, tones, and moods. A few great songs don’t hurt either.
Tunes were good but I kind of got the point after 40 minutes
einzigartige klangwelt, aber nicht ganz so meins
SP har aldri truffet meg helt, mest sannsynlig på grunn av Corgans slitsomme stemme. Mye bra på denne dobbeltskiva, mye variert og interessant, men jeg klarer ikke å se det helt store i det. En helt grei treer.
This was so close to being a 4 for me. There are so many hits on this thing, I’m wondering if there are any other SP albums that are anywhere near as relevant as this one. It’s surprisingly heavy at times with fantastic drumming. Billy’s voice gets a bit old after a bit, but it’s still very unique and complements the music overall. The tracklist is so long, as the album clocks just over 2 hours. Some songs could might have been cut. But it’s a good listen if you’ve got time to spare. 3.9/5.0
At times It's brilliant, at times it's boring. Way too long with too much filler.
Great, a double album from a pretentious singer who rips off his band mates. A few of the songs are good, though.
3.5
Five singles were great, but too many songs. I’m not a massive fan, just the odd song.
Canciones q me gustaron: -Bullet With Butterfly Wings -Tonight, Tonight -An Ode To No One -Here Is No Why -Jellybelly -Zero
expected more. also too long and not enough entertaining
Some solid songs but overall too long
tonight tonight was kinda sweet the second song was ok, not amazing. I mean they sound a little generic!
2 really good songs too long of an album
Geras fonas
Some good songs but others were a bit too metal for me!
Too long. If it was shorter it would be a 4.
A fantastic description of marriage to Len Houmous 3.4 19/28 1979
pretty good, no muy mi onda eso si
I have not listened to much of the Smashing Pumpkins but I'm excited!! Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: Instrumental, nice piano, but pretty boring. 2/5 Tonight, Tonight: OMG I KNOW THIS SONG. People love this one. I quite like the guitar. The singing is quite a surprise though. I kinda relate to this too lol OMGG the drums are wonderful. 4/5 Jellybelly: Oh okay I love the drums. But a little boring otherwise 3/5 Zero: I like the start. 5/5 Here Is No Why: Not a huge fan- cliche rock song lol. 2/5 Bullet With Butterfly Wings: LOL i know this one too. I really really like this. RAT IN A CAGE RAAAAH 5/5 To Forgive: I quite like the vibe of this one 2/5 An Ode to No One: OMG I LOOOVE THIS 3.5/5 Love: 2/5 Cupid De Locke: Whimsical vibe- cute. 2/5 Galapogos: A bit boring. 2/5 Muzzle: Not memorable. 1/5 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans: Starts off boring but it picks up! Nice, not the best though. 3/5 Take Me Down: Ohh I really love this. It's so cute. feels like a lullaby 4/5 Where Boys Fear to Tread: Ooh I like the start with the guitars. 4/5 Bodies: LOVE IS SUICIIIIDE5/5 Thirty Three: Nice and slow- not my favorite 2/5 In the Arms of Sleep: Good 3/5 1979: Oh yes I know this one- everyone loves this. Personally, I think it's cute but not my favorite 3/5 Tales of a Scorched Earth: I like this one 4/5 Thru the Eyes of Ruby: Not my favorite 2/5 Stumbleine: eh 2/5 XYU: Ooh yes this is so good 4/5 omg its so hot We only come out at night: 1/5 Beautiful: 1/5 Lily (My One and Only): 2.5/5 By Starlight: 2/5 Farewell and Goodnight: Soo cute and sweet 4/5 Overall rating: 3/5 very good and lots of diversity
So long. So very very long.
Wel in m'n straatje maar veel te lang
Favourite song: Galapogos
Gillade "zero" och kände igen "bullets with butterfly wings". Pluggade samtidigt så missade senare låtar lite.
no es mi tipo de música en definitiva. no la pasé bien escuchándolo
Two hours of Smashing Pumpkins is about an hour and a half too much for me. Couldn’t make it all the way through the first disk let alone the second.
Never got into this band. They are just not really my thing. In fact (with some exceptions) grunge and this particular American alt rock from the 90s and I really do not gel at all. I am usually not one to worry about voices, but i really do not like his. All that said, I know that this is a much loved record by many and especially our friends on the other side of the Atlantic, so I am listening to this with an open mind. It took 10 songs in to find a song that really caught my attention (Cupid de Locke). "Tonight tonight" and "To forgive" were ok, and I remember "Bullet with Butterfly wings", but it never grabbed me in 1995, and it did not now. On the whole, of 28 songs, I considered 7 notable, 7 were ok, and 14 i did not like at all. Honestly, about halfway through the second CD I had had enough. This could have easily been cut down into 14 tracks as opposed to 28. Notable songs were: Tonight Tonight, To Forgive, Cupid de Locke,Galapogos, Porcelina of the Vast Oceans, 1979, Beautiful. The two standout tracks were 1979 and Galapogos. I have always liked 1979 and have had the CD single since it came out, but i actually preferred Galapogos. Both these songs were the most indie songs of the album. The positive takeway from this is discovering Galapogos. 3 stars
Good. A rollercoaster. Matched the vibe of my videogame very nicely and added some umph. I don't think I'll be listening to it again though.
Listenable for background music, didn’t hate it
Enjoyed listening but was quite long my attention span is so rubbish
This isn’t bad. Much better than the other SP album I listened to. Nothing remarkable but listenable. Could do with being half the length though - it’s very long.
This is just offensively long. I'm not saying the album is bad, but it is hard not have the length count against it when I'm not a pre-existing fan of this band.
I have to say I expected more. I love 1979, but anything else just didn't really speak to me. The production is amazing, and in general it's a great rock album, I guess it just didn't really speak to me.
3.5/5 if it was shorter it would be at least a 4. Love this record has some all time SP songs, just needs to be trimmed down.
singers voice hard to get past
Lot of good songs but more dross than I remember
this album is like 14 songs too long. like if you've recorded 28 individual songs either make a separate album or put them on the Deluxe Edition. something. jesus, man decent, drags in some parts but overall is just good old fashioned hard rock 7/10 FAVOURITE SONGS: BULLET WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS, GALAPAGOS, 1979, BODIES LEAST FAVOURITE SONGS: LOVE (holy fuck dude turn down the fucking overdrive it's like a version of the song someone on youtube "bass boosted" for a dumb joke)
3.5 - definitely a solid album! Needs a bit more of a deep dive, but I enjoyed it. 28 songs is too long tho!
The first thing that strikes me about *Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness* by The Smashing Pumpkins is its sheer length—over two hours. During that time, there’s a pretty wild mix ranging from quiet instrumental pieces to typical Pumpkins songs. It’s a nice idea, but I still find the Pumpkins’ sound too undifferentiated—even though it has improved compared to “Siamese Dreams.” Plus, I don’t like Billy Corgan’s whiny voice. At least it’s not a step down from its predecessor.
Too many fillers on the album level for ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ But certainly some of their best tracks on here
Enjoyable album, very long but enjoyed the slower songs rather than the rocky ones. Listened to with morning coffe
The Smashing Pumpkins son una banda de Chicago, EU. Álbum de 1995. Dentro de todo me gustó. No es muy de mi estilo, creo que el disco 1 es algo que yo no acostumbro a escuchar, un poco de rock "ruidoso" pero hay algunas canciones que resaltaron y se asemejan a lo que me gusta. El disco 2 me atrajo un poco más, tiene canciones más tranquilas o "melódicas". Me gustó mucho el concepto del álbum se nota una estructura todas las canciones tiene un sentido triste, melancólico, habla un poco de la esperanza o de la falta de esta. Aprecio el juego de palabras con "Mellon Collie" que suena a melancholy. Me gustaron varias canciones pero creo que mis favoritas son Galapogos y Thru The Eyes Of Ruby. 3/5
The back half of this marathon reminded me more of System Of A Down than anything else. Let's just make a compromise with a mid tier rating. I mean, it's a Smashing Pumpkins album that goes on for over two hours, yet, is sprinkled with their best hits. Favorite Track: "1979".
Nothing was added that I didn't already know, but good album overall.
Well, that was interesting. This double album seems to offer something for everyone. I found myself skipping through the loud screamy ones, but the more chill melodic ones were really nice. With this many tracks, they can't all be bad and they can't all be good. So it's a 3 for me, dawg.
nice, middle of the road album. not special but enjoyable.
6/10
I really liked their first two albums but this one is a bit much. There’s lots of good songs on here but a two hour double album is a lot to ask of the listener. An extreme example of how the age of CDs ruins a reasonable listening experience. This album could possibly be made into a masterpiece though with some track editing. Although the sound of this album is a bit strange. It’s as if they were trying too hard to make it sound warm and we’re just left with a lower mid-range mess of a mix. There are some great moments here though but it might be praised more for the scale of ambition rather than a set of good songs. So let’s leave this one off the list and substitute it with their first album.
Bardzo eklektyczna płyta. Od grunge, po cięższe brzmienia. z kilkoma przyjemnymi balladami w roli przerywników. Niestety, jak to przy tak długich albumach - nie jestem w stanie dać więcej niż 6.5/10 równane w dół, bo jest nierówno - momentami wybitnie, często nie w moim guście. Ale doceniam i bardzo szanuję.
Tiene excelentes temas, pero noto el album desbalanceado. Los temas de Soft o los "no tan pesados" son una maravilla, pero lamentablemente tiene temas muy pesados que no condicen con el resto del album (y son varios). 2.5 estrellas.
On my first listen I was annoyed by how long the album was, but on the second listen I liked how varied it was. They used the length of the album to include a variety of styles. Some of those styles I preferred to others, but that’s the nature of having a lot of variety. The lyrics can get a bit cheesy, but as a former angsty teen there was a certain nostalgia to the album, and not just because some of the songs were already known to me. I don’t think I’d listen to the full album again, maybe if I was still an angsty teenager, but it was nice to have listened and been reminded that I made it through those years. Fav song: 1979 - an honourable mention to Bullet With Butterfly Wings which I'll always sing along to when it plays. Least fav: Tales Of A Scorched Earth
This is a big fat impressively executed album. I don't care for most of it, mostly because of Billy's vocals, but, whatever. There are a few great tracks here, but Billy is best enjoyed in very small doses. This double album is too much. I was astonished to learn that they cut a lot of material to get it down to the size. I think they should have kept going.
"The Smashing Pumpkins are one of the most iconic, and influential bands of all time, shaping alternative music and culture" - is what they say about themselves on Spotify, where they get 14 million listens a month, okay that's a thing. For my part, I didn't/don't get it. They're okay as some type of rock band - maybe 'alt' enough to be cool, while also mainstream enough to sell big. (Noting that "popular with Americans" =/= good.) Some songs on this album are pretty uninteresting. But I do give it credit for range of styles and moods, I like some of the grungier bits. Interested that Robert Christgau said '1979' is a good song, on an album not worth buying :-) (Also why is the singing so often so extraordinarily nasal? Do some ppl like that? Sits poorly with "grumpy teen" theme of the lyrics.) Anyway I'll say the album is Mix of Good and Bad, 5/10.
Ja leuke lyrics en style, maar het raakt me niet helemaal
Thought I loved this album until I sat through two hours of it
Alright
6/10 The Smashing Pumpkins are a band that should fit right into the sweet spot for me. 90s grunge adjacent alt rockers with an artsy edge and an eclectic range of influences, willing to dip into a variety of different genres within their sound. But they've just never really clicked. Could a 28 track, two hour long record hook me in? Things didn't get off to the greatest start, with the first couple of tracks feeling a little repetitive and self important. I was also not convinced by Billy Corgan's singing voice. When they're doing cleaner, more melodically focused stuff, he sounds like Eric Cartman doing an indie whisper singing pastiche, which is not the most appealing of sounds. With the heavier stuff, it does start to work though, so that was a definite relief. The album does start to get going after the first couple of tracks, and there's some really good stuff here. They blend ideas well and offer some interesting uses of rhythm and intensity to create some really engaging music. There were times during this first half of the record where I was impressed and was leaning towards a higher score, but as it progressed, it started to feel far too flabby and rambling. Sonically, it feels a little inconsistent too. There are gritty, dirty little numbers like Love that embody an effectively filthy aesthetic to stuff like Tonight, Tonight that are super clean, over written and over produced, and as a result, it doesn't feel completely coherent. I do like the ebb and flow of it, but I feel like they overwork things in places and it feels a bit too try hard, while also not managing to make those sonic transitions in a particularly smooth or nuanced way. It's a massive shame, to be honest, because I really feel like there's an excellent album in here, but it's obscured by self indulgence and an unwillingness to trim the fat. Although the fact that they subsequently released a box set with a further 28 tracks suggests that self editing is perhaps not one of the most practiced skills in Billy Corgan's toolbox. Sadly, despite the fact that I'd class myself as more of a Smashing Pumpkins fan after listening to this record, this album just started to get a bit boring after a while and there was way to much guff to weed through to pick out the gems. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness - This is a bit of a rambling opening that's quite repetitive in the rhythm and cadences of the playing. Sounds a bit like someone who's not that good at the piano who thinks that they are. With some mellotron for a bit. Tonight, Tonight - This is quite dramatic, but also quite repetitive. It's got good and varied pace, but it feels a bit heavy on the drum rolls and pomposity. It just kind of feels quite overworked for what is fundamentally quite a simple song. And Billy Corgan sounds a bit like Eric Cartman whisper singing. Jellybelly - This is more like it. Heavy, grungy, grubby and rhythmically interesting too. His voice works much better with this type of sound to my ears. It's got a fury to the delivery and the muddiness of the recording gives it an effective aesthetic. Quite a jarring production change from the previous track though. Zero - Great riff, and this continues the feeling from the last track well. The lyrics are a bit tortured, but otherwise this is a solid track. It drives, it's sonically interesting and it's pretty weighty too. The chorus is excellent, making good use of that riff. Here Is No Why - This is quite chunky and again, there's some decent rhythmic interest in the composition. There are some elements of it that I really like, but it feels a little bit ponderous in places too. I can't quite put my finger on this one really, it feels like it's almost really good, but just doesn't completely connect. Bullet With Butterfly Wings - There's a bit of subtlety to this one that's good. It's a slower burn that builds tension well and then has a frantic fury to the heavier sections. Solid performances across the board, even if there are the odd bits that get a tad repetitive. Pretty good though. To Forgive - The vibe to this is good. It's got a nice soft groove underpinning it and it has some really cool tonal changes that take it in unexpected directions now and then. It gets a tiny bit meandering, but still decent. An Ode To No One - Now this is more like it. Tonally fierce, throbbing and packed with drive. They do throw in interesting rhythmic breaks here and there that I like. The breakdown felt a little overworked, but when it comes back in, it's great. So much going on but it still feels coherent and has a lot of forward direction. Good stuff. Love - The falling to pieces tone of the saturation here is lovely. It's sonically gritty and lush. The song rumbles along brilliantly with some tasty bits of ear candy popping out from beneath the wash of dirt. It's got a great chorus too. What an interesting combination of composition and production. Really good. Cupid De Locke - I actually quite like the orchestration here and there's still a bit of muddiness that underlies the clean top end that connects it to the previous track better than I initially thought. The interwoven lines from the different instruments give this great momentum and feel, and the little sprinklings of reversed audio are gorgeous. Galapogos - A pretty little song here that has some really, really nice guitar work. It threatens to build to something a few times and pulls away before delivering, but it works effectively, with a bubbling tension that always gets whipped away at the last moment. There's some really nice subtle use of mellotron in here too. Nice. Muzzle - It's got a restrained pace to it, but the groove to this is pretty good. It ebbs and flows as it goes and the different sections feed into each other pretty well. It's another that I think is pretty good, but perhaps doesn't completely connect with me and feels a little lacking in something that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's a tad rambly and also vocally repetitive. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans - A nice, slow build here. It's subtle and restrained and the production is lovely. It's quite a jarring jump into the distorted guitar riff though. The crispy grit that layers when it drops back to the quieter section is lovely. The heavier sections are pretty good too, actually and I like the different elements of production they use in each of the quieter sections, giving it sonic depth and an evolving quality that allows a long song like this to feel justified and fresh to the end. Take Me Down - A weaker song to finish side one, but I guess they've got to give James Iha one. It's just a bit dull and despite the fact that Billy Corgan's voice is a bit weird, at least he has a distinctive style. Ihas' voice is just weak and he struggles to hit the higher notes. Meh. Where Boys Fear To Tread - It's a bit of an aimless start, but the riff is solid when it gets going. That being said, it feels a bit rhythmically and dynamically flat and monotonous. There's something in there, but everything feels like it lacks the urgency and intensity that the better songs display. Bodies - There's a bit more to this than the previous track, but it still feels a bit dynamically limited. At least Corgan's vocal attempts to give things a bit more intensity and the breakdown in the middle adds a bit of extra variety. I'm not entirely sold on the vocal melodies here though and he does get a bit repetitive. Thirty-Three - This is quite pretty and has some interesting sound design elements to it. It is quite repetitive, particularly on the percussion side of things, but it's got enough going on in the tonal elements to keep it from getting too bogged down. In The Arms Of Sleep - There are some really nice bits and pieces in here, but it's a bit bland from a songwriting point of view. It's pleasant enough, but it doesn't really go anywhere and despite the production efforts to give it a bit of depth, which add a bit of life to it, things do feel just a little musically thin. 1979 - Things are picking up again now. The mix is excellent and the production gives depth, while the musical foundation is really strong. That combination is a winner. There's dynamic range, some solid vocal melodies and interesting development of the musical themes. The building intensity in places is really nice too, although it feels like a higher peak would have been nice. Tales Of A Scorched Earth - Quite the tonal shift, not just musically, but from a production point of view too. This is cool, but it's very muddy and sludgy, especially after 1979. I like it and it has good intensity and tone, but it's such a sonic shift that it feels jarring. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby - Another sharp direction change. It's pretty and swells and pulses beautifully and then develops into something nice and weighty. It's another where there are some really strong bits, but I'm not sure it justifies a seven and a half minute runtime. The stripped back section at the end is really nice, but it just took too long to get there, and then the acoustic guitar bit feels more like a move into another track than part of this one. Stumbleine - Another pleasant enough song that is melodically quite pretty but doesn't particularly do much other than dance around its core theme. Its just a tad rambly and aimless, but it's not bad. X.Y.U. - This is a bit more like it again. Good riffs, driving grooves and plenty of dynamic range. It has the right level of intensity from the vocal to match up with the simmering and then pulsating sections from the rest of the band. The breakdown is cool too and builds back up nicely with the increasing pace and Fury working really well. I'm not sure this needed to be 7 minutes long, but it would have made for a great album closer. We Only Come Out At Night - This has got some interesting sounds in it, but it's quite plodding. I feel like I'm saying this a lot, but there are some great elements about it and some weaker ones. I quite like the slight weirdness of it, but it's not that musically interesting. Sonically, it's cool though. Might work ok if it wasn't more than an hour and a half into the record. Beautiful - Again, this is quite plodding. There's some nice bits of sound design, but it's less sonically interesting and it's very basic musically and doesn't have particularly satisfying flow. It's quite maudlin, but not in a very interesting way. I don't really rate the drumming here either. Feels like this is really petering out now. Lily (My One And Only) - Yep, definitely petering out. Again, this is plodding, the drumming is quite annoying (why is that repetitive hi-hat so prominent) and it feels very musically basic and quite unoriginal. It kind of feels like an early demo rather than a finalised track. By Starlight - This is a bit better. It feels more well rounded and tonally consistent. It's a shame that this has come after a couple of quite plodding tracks, because it really feels like the album is running out of steam, but this is actually really nice. It's well written, has good melodies and has a good emotional core. A really nice track. Farewell And Goodnight - A fairly generic and uninteresting ballad. It's ok, I guess, but I don't really see what it offers as the 28th track on the album apart from giving Iha another vocal and writing credit. Big old meh.
There’s an amazing album in here somewhere… but two hours of Billy Corgan is just too much
Me gusto, pero algunas canciones muy metálicas. Disco doble eteeeeerno estoy entre 2 y 3 pero le pongo 3 porque esta piola igual
Im not listening to all of this. Stupidly long. The music isnt too bad but the infinite length detracts
I can see objectively that this is a great album but I don't know that it's for me. I need to listen to it a few more times.
yeah pretty. good. i get why its so famous. reminds me of a 2004 house party.
two hours of Billy Corgan's voice is hard to digest. while there are some good songs on the album like, "bullet with butterfly wings" and "Zero", the double album is just waaaaaay toooooo looooong. this is one of those where if they narrowed it down to one album, you would have a winner. full disclosure, i do own this album and probably the last time i listened to it was probably 1995. True Story: when i was at Kutztown, i was working at The Morning Call in the mail room. usually from 10:30 pm to about 5:00 am, or whenever the papers finished printing. So i would then go home, shower, eat breakfast, park at the store, grab a quick mug of coffee out of my snap-on mug, and go to classes. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, i usually had a break from about 10ish to about 2. i would make my way up to the NAPA store, have lunch with Mike and Bruce, hang for a while, and about 1pm, go to the library, make my way up to the second floor, into the Russian section (which was huge, i believe one of the largest collections in the country). no one would ever go in there (it was a separate room). i would go in there, and take a nap with headphones on, listening to this album (first record) until i had to go to class.
Some really good tunes but a little too harsh for me at times
In theory I like The Smashing Pumpkins. In practice they're very hit and miss. Something about Corgan rubs me the wrong way. I'm not usually overly picky about vocals but sometimes I wish he would just shut up and let me listen to the music. I've had this album in my mp3 collection for 20+ years (thanks Jenny) and this is the first time I'm listening to it in its entirety (sorry Jenny). It's fine. The hard rock bangers are good. The drummer is sick with it. The ballads are completely forgettable. The stuff in-between is somewhat in-between. The lyrics kinda' suck. This won't be getting any full replays after today.
Multiple Smashing Pumpkins albums means there are too many Smashing Pumpkins albums on the list. Frankly, one is too many. Maybe I like this album? Billy Corgan's whiny voice still irritates the hell out of me. There they are! Back to being a band I hate. Zero is terrible. Bullet With Butterfly Wings is one of the most overrated songs ever. His voice is inescapable. I bet Creed loves these guys. The less "rock" songs are generally better. I think I just don't like 90s rock. And maybe that's a hangover from living through it and being more into hip hop then. This album is better than Siamese Dream and not as bad as I thought going into it.
wildly angsty and SO of its era.
I think that they were overly ambitious and just missed the Mark completely
Scweam
Favorite songs To Forgive By Starlight Really like the lyrics in By Starlight the melody it’s catchy and simple OBSESSED with To Forgive for sure a favorite smashing pumpkins songs. I love the guitar part Not many other songs stood out to me on a first listen but definitely could get into a couple more on a few more relistens but his voice just so damn silly
- once again, the gerard way of it all - cool instrumental title track - tbh i think it drags a little but the good tracks are really good - favorites: cupid de locke, mellon collie and the infinite sadness, 1979, - rating: 3/5
thank u smashing pumpkins for giving me my favorite pre-split panic! cover 😂 anyways i'm ngl a 2 hour long album is a bit egregious and i was checked out by the end of disc one notable: tonight tonight, zero, thirty-three 3.5/5
no es mi tipo de música, pero se lo recomendé a una amiga y le encantó, es una mezcla diversa de un rock no metalero, música relajante e instrumentales.
ok
I quite like this album. I had not yet listened to it due to its runtime but it remains a good listen. I think that it has better highs than Siamese Dream but it is too long for its purposes. 8/10 [KEEP]
Pretty alright. Not sure if I loved how long it was
I have a soft spot for bands with strings and singers with grating acquired taste vocals and a kind of operatic vision they probably aren't talented enough to meet but they're doing it anyway? (to an extent. like when you reach the point where you get My Chemical Romance or Panic! At the Disco then something has gone very wrong and I am off the train) the biggest problem with Mellon Collie, aside from the title and wrestling with the weight of how much you dislike Billy Corgan vs the understanding Smashing Pumpkins is Smashing Pumpkins in large part because Billy Corgan is involved, is that it's a double album. More isn't always better, especially when you're judging something as an album rather than just a disparate collection of music, and the score for this would be meaningfully higher if it were trimmed down to the good parts. Unfortunately I like this album quite a bit. unfortunately it is a million hours long and needed to be cut down considerably. either a high three or a low four depending on my mood when I press the rate button
Raro pero está bueno
не оч приятно 2 часа слушать это голос , сори..
Wären easy 4 Sterne, wenn der Knilch nicht singen würde. Wie ein ungeöltes Scharnier, ganz furchtbar.
Musikalisch ganz nett, aber Gesangstechnisch sehr unschön.
Homer Simpson, smiling politely
An album that caused quite a stir in its time, I imagine, has a couple of standout tracks, but I think overall it's a bit flat. Lots of guitar distortion, and the drums sometimes seem overpowering for each track. Even so, it's not bad for an iconic 90s album. Maybe it's not entirely my cup of tea.
A very interesting album, as of halfway through. Half the songs seem ballad-y, with piano and orchestral elements, and the other half are very guitar focused. The distortion on a lot of the songs i’d very interesting and crunchy, and production is pretty unique too! Nothing to say that hasn't already been said about Billy Corgan’s voice, but I’m surprisingly impressed with the drummer. Great album, love the concept, but a little long for my taste.
I think i prefer latent Smashing Pumpkins in more bite- sized pieces
The album was good, with great vocals, and I enjoyed the guitar. Some lyrics felt a little too experimental for me, but I understand why other people like it.
Whiplash from the sudden change in mood, cathartic. Favourite tracks: Cupide de Locke and Bullet With Butterfly Wings
I was in high school when this came out and it just wasn't on my radar. I mean, the singles were...you couldn't escape them. I never bought the album though. It's really good...even great in parts. Somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for me. Double albums are always tricky...if you like the artist, chances are you'll love more of their work. If you're not a fan or indifferent to them, well, a double album can feel a bit bloated, self indulgent...and this trends towards that. I like the Smashing Pumpkins a little bit, but this was just a bit much for me. It's not bad, but having now listened to it all the way through 30 years later I don't think I missed a whole lot.
First time listening to The Smashing Pumpkins. Knew them only from name. Trying to expand my music taste :) Forma de cantar bastante inusual para lo que escucho generalmente, nuevo pero divertido.