Riding a creative crest - This was the Pumpkins last (only truly 2nd) masterwork, even though it is bloated up by tons of indulgences, and perhaps one of the last great first-gen (only gen as far as I am concerned) alternative releases before the sub-standard waves of mediocrity swelled inland, even corroding this band to the its core.
Pumpkins for the Rest of Us - If you like alternative rock, or just Rock n Roll period, do yourself a favor and buy Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I bought it for one reason: It contains some of the best radio hits of the 90s! I have a TERRIBLE time trying to remember the titles of the songs I loved as a teenager--thanks in no small part to STP and The Smashing Pumpkins (whose song titles almost never made sense). If you re in the same boat and deciding whether to buy this album, listen to the samples of THESE SONGS (if you listened to rock in the 90s, you ll know every one of them): Zero, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Muzzle, Thirty-Three, 1979, and OF COURSE Tonight, Tonight.What s great about this album is that even though it s LOADED with content, there is NO FILLER--just push play and enjoy. Unless you re a hardcore Pumpkins fan, you won t love every song, but many of them will have you nodding your head to the beat. My favorites (beyond the singles) are An Ode To No One, Jellybelly and Here Is No Why. This album is practically a greatest hits in its own rite, and if you do as I did and buy it along with Siamese Dream, and you will have every Pumpkins radio hit from the mid- 90s--and in my opinion, ALL of their best work!
Impressive And Ambitious - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is an incredible work from the American alternative band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released on October 24th of 1995, the double CD (triple album) features some incredibly diverse styles and more input from D arcy Wretzky and James Iha, though certainly Billy Corgan is still the dominant creative member of the band.The album is not afraid to take some chances. It opens with an instrumental, which is relatively soft. There is tremendous diversity, as the sound can go from acoustic to very heavy and vice-versa from one song to the next. The majority of the album is made up of relatively short pieces of less than five minutes, but there are a few longer pieces mixed in with the 28 tracks. The shorter pieces tend to stick to one type of sound, while a couple of the longer pieces are more diverse within themselves.The opening instrumental leads into the excellent Tonight, Tonight, but the softer and more orchestrated sound doesn t sound last as it then turns much heavier with tracks like Jellybelly, and Zero, and the first single Bullet With Butterfly Wings. The contrast in sounds goes back and forth, between the heavy and the light until eventually the group delivers a longer piece itself filled with contrast in Porcelina of the Vast Oceans, which is then followed with the first half closer Take Me Down. The album is a concept album of sorts, dealing with the very simple realities of life and death. The second CD is more of the same, which is to say more diversity of sound and more changes and surprises. The transition from 1979 to Tales of a Scorched Earth is a great example of moving from one type of sound to almost its polar opposite from track to track. Not that every track change is so dramatic, but their changes help to keep things fresh and interesting. There also is a rather unusual use of tunings as well as instruments. Overall, this is an album which one needs to listen to many times, and one which the listener will hear something new each time. With its incredible diversity, there may be pieces which you don t like on this album, but for myself I found that they were all at least intriguing. From the titles mentioned before, to the delightfully odd We Only Come Out at Night and the simple love song Lilly (My One and Only), this is a great album to experience over and over.The Smashing Pumpkins are Billy Corgan (lead vocal, guitar, piano), James Iha (guitar, vocals), D arcy Wretzky (bass, vocals), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums, vocals). Guest artists include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Tonight, Tonight), and Greg Leisz (pedal and lap steel guitar on Take Me Down)
Amazing! - This album is in a league of it s own. The diligence with which this album was written truly shows. Nothing short of genius. Just remember, the Pumpkins always deliver.
Half and Half... - There are some UNDOUBTEDLY classic songs on this album, and Billy Corgan s songwriting is top notch! However, I d say I enjoyed only about half of the songs on the disc. Billy Corgan s voice can be annoying sometimes, and their harder songs are poorly executed and just kinda emo-ish and lame. This album should be listened to in sort of a story structure, but for a new Smashing Pumpkin fan like myself, stick to Siamese Dream for now.