A work of genius (Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins)

Member Name: hugon

Product:	Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Date:	27/01/01 (173 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great lyrics, unique sound, some absolute classics

Disadvantages: Few dub tracks

Released in 1995 to universal acclaim, the Smashing Pumpkins unleashed the double Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It underlined their reputation as fantastic songwriters and musicians, creating an almost unique sound that seems to come from an almost imaginary dreamworld at times.

Corgan shows his song writing talent really well on this album. The lyrics are complicated and obtuse, seeming to mix the feelings of the modern teenager with fairy stories and classical mythology. The lyrics area almost as fascinating as the layered and varied sounds each song produces.

The two discs contain about two hours of some of the finest music you’ll ever hear. Not al of it is outstanding, understandably there are some tracks that don’t quite hit the high standard, but there are so many outstanding songs on display here that many bands would struggle to come up with in a lifetime.

It’s my favourite Smashing Pumpkins album, the variation between the tracks and the innovation underlines why this band will be so sorely missed.

Released on two discs, the two discs are quite different – the first describing the day and the second the night. The second one is more dreamy, like it is telling tales of dreams and nightmares, while the first one deals more with affairs of the real world.

DISC 1 – DAWN TO DUSK

This disc is pretty evenly balanced between the gentler songs and the spikier, rocky songs.

MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS
The album opens with a soft, dreamy piano and strings track. It’s slow, serene and gorgeous. It’s not usually my type of music, but when it starts, you don’t actually want it to end.

TONIGHT, TONIGHT
This is my favourite song on the album; it’s a sprawling epic, laden with strings and some beautiful guitar work. It’s one of the most uplifting songs that I’ve ever heard; it can turn you around and make you
feel better when you’re down. It’s about putting your faith in love to make your life change and take you to a better time.

JELLYBELLY
The strings are quickly dispensed with for a harsh, aggressive riff, more typical of the traditional Smashing Pumpkins. Brilliant drums, great riffs and solos make this a really good track to jump around to. It’s all about going nowhere, having no memories and just hating yourself.

ZERO
This has one of the most fantastic riffs you’re ever going to here. It’s really simple but it manages to sound heavy and aggressive. The stop-start nature of the song is fantastic, it stops and just has vocals then they riff kicks in again. All about love, we’re told this girl is the only one for him, without her he is a “Zero”. I can’t recommend this song highly enough, the riff just keeps building up and gradually becomes more complicated, and I just love it.

HERE IS NO WHY
The dreamy feel returns with this more laid back sleepy number, with a stabbed but gentle guitar and subdued bassline. The guitar kicks in a little more during the chorus, but then it returns to its stabbed riff. It tells a story about growing up and trying to get through another day where nothing happens or changes, just sitting in the same places and becoming stagnant.

BULLET WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS
This is a dark, broody song, opening with just a quiet drumbeat, the vocals and quiet riff, but it is dark and subdued and you just know that it is all building up to a release of aggression, and when it comes, it feels really liberating to be able to let it all out before you have to stop again. The riffs are fiery and explosive, the bass emphasising the mood. The lyrics are all about anger as well, about being stuck in a cage unable to let out your true feelings.

TO FORGIVE
The rage doesn’t continue for long, and we descend back into the half-sleep with this
song, with really quiet picked guitars and a really slow drumbeat. It’s all about trying to keep everything inside in case you manage to screw everything up. It’s a bit of a let down after Bullet with Butterfly Wings, but the respite is welcome. It takes a little key change near the end, which gives it a whole new positive sound.

AN ODE TO NO ONE
The rest wasn’t long, the aggressive edge returns with this seething song, the heaviest there has been so far; just a stabbed riff and vocals which literally explodes into a fireball of venom aimed at all the people Corgan hates.

LOVE
The quiet/loud song pattern continues with this song, which is a bit more of a driven song than the quiet songs that have gone before it. A heavily distorted guitar is given an airy tone, with a simple but brilliant drumbeat; the title really gives away the subject of this song. It’s all about love and the feelings it extracts form people.

CUPID DE LOCKE
Dreamy is the only word to really do justice to the sound of this song. It has a harp-like melody going through the song the whole way through, and it’s like a song the fairies or angels sing. It’s a gentle beautiful song, about Cupid de Locke, who brings lovers together with his bow and arrow.

GALAPOGOS
The quiet theme continues with this gentle, soft ballad about a girl rescuing him from all the pain and disbelief in his life. It comes to life a bit more at the end, the guitars being taken up a few notches to inject a bit of life into what is a pretty average song.

MUZZLE
This song is excellent, it’s a simple guitar based song, it has another great riff, and some great drums and the lyrics are brilliant. It’s one of the highlights of the album, the song is uplifting, the guitar sounds bright and positive, and the lyrics extend this feeling by describing the feeling as he realises how he belongs in the world, and what his purpos
e is there.

PORCELINA OF THE VAST OCEAN
Running close to ten minutes, you could describe this as an epic, taking almost two minutes to actually come to life with a strong, loud riff, which only lasts for the opening before descending into the dreamy verse, where the lyrics are almost spoken rather than spoken, before the riff comes back in again in the chorus. It’s a great song, the way it swaps between the all out rock and the dreamy sound, almost as if the two are fighting each other.

TAKE ME DOWN
The first disc ends with a gentle acoustic ballad sung by James Iha. It’s a simple love song, about telling someone how much he loves them, the song gets more and more beautiful towards the end as it rises and soars, as if on the clouds.

DISC 2 – TWILIGHT TO STARLIGHT

This disc is more extreme than the first, it varies between seething aggressive songs and the really gentle dreamlike ones, and the difference is a lot more pronounced than Disc 1.

WHERE BOYS FEAR TO TREAD
A medium paced, loud, aggressive riff opens the second disc with a bang. It’s not a really fast song, so this track doesn’t sound as angry as some of the other songs, but it’s still possible to detect it. It opens in a blaze of feedback, and ends rather suddenly the same way, and really sets the tone for…

BODIES
This is my favourite song on this disc; it’s fast, really loud and absolutely spitting venom. It has an amazing riff, just played constantly throughout the song, the drums are loud and driven, set the tone really well for the subject of the song, about the bad side of love, the side that breaks your hear and kills you, and the song brings across the confusion, anger and pain perfectly, in an anti-love song – “Love is suicide”.

THIRTY-THREE
The aggression again doesn’t last for long, and we’re in the twilight period again, one of the dream-
like semi-conscious songs. It’s lazy guitar sound and gentle piano show the other side of love, the better side where twp people lead each other through life.

IN THE ARMS OF SLEEP
This is a more acoustic song; it’s very gentle with soft, slow drums and very quiet guitar. It’s another love song, trying to convey his feelings across to this person and trying to let her know exactly what he’ll do for her love.

1979
This song is brilliant, but it has a really odd sound that is hard to describe, except as very distinctive, with an almost computer like drumbeat and lumbering guitar which keeps speeding up and slowing down through the song. It’s a story about teenage life in a small town, and the things they get up to, the people they see and the feelings they have.

TALES OF A SCORCHED EARTH
The quiet period is quickly tossed aside with this angry rock monster, the heavy riffs and angry drums are back with the lyrics not sung but screamed this time in an effort to convey the anger and passion of the song. There is a tune trying to escape, and occasional it gets out, but it’s a difficult song to get into, but rewards the extra effort it requires as it picks up near the end.

THRU THE EYES OF RUBY
Another sprawling song, weighing in at almost eight minutes long, it’s as dreamy and daze-like as some of the songs that have been before, it’s gentle guitar and soft drumming, but it picks up the heavy riffs near the end to come to life, like we’re waking up from our dream. It’s a love song again, and the feelings this girl inspires.

STUMBELINE
This gentle, sweet acoustic number is delicate and beautiful, the vocals are subdued and soft, trying to convey the sweetness of this little girl, and we’re told how much he would love here and make her happy.

X.Y.U.
The final loud aggressive track before we are sung to sleep builds up and up so you
know that there is definitely something coming up, the drums are loud and there are plenty of distorted guitars and angry riffs. The verse is used to build up the tension that snaps in the chorus. At just over seven minutes long, it goes on for slightly too long, but it’s a brilliant song to let your aggression out on. The lyrics basically describe a lot of self-hatred and his opinion of himself, and reading those you can see where the tune comes from.

WE ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT
This song is actually quite boring, one of my least favourites on the album, it could have been left out and not really missed. It’s a dreamy, light number, with a shiny guitar and piano, but it doesn’t really go anywhere or say anything.

BEAUTIFUL
This song is much better; it’s a standard love song, telling of how beautiful this person is. It’s mainly a simple piano and the drums, and D’arcy and Billy sing the song, the combination of the vocals sounds really sweet and nice.

LILY (MY ONE AND ONLY)
Again this is another song that could have been left on the studio floor. It has an olde-world sound to it, with it’s odd drumbeat and slightly distorted piano. The subject is really strange to, about obsessing over this girl and spying on her because he loves her, and eventually being taken away by the police for his efforts.

BY STARLIGHT
This uses the dreamlike feel of semi-light to great effect, sounding like a lullaby to your lover, telling her how he’ll leave her happy and be the only one she needs. It’s really simple, mainly the vocals over an occasional guitar and a slow drumbeat. The guitar plays a solo in the chorus and it’s really slow and beautiful.

FAREWELL AND GOODNIGHT
This is a lullaby to us, the listener, and it’s prefect bedtime music, just wishing us a good night’s sleep, and may we always have happy dreams. They whole band takes turns singing t
he lyrics so we can feel it coming from all of them. The piano at the end loops into the opening track of the first disc so that we can begin it all again.

Overall, this is one of those essential albums that you just have to own. OK, there are a few dub tracks, but weighing in at 28 tracks, not everything can be outstanding! It’s only the greatness of the tracks around them that let the poorer tracks down, on any other album, we’d be commenting on their greatness.

There are so many classics on this album, it shows just how important and innovative the Pumpkins where. Yes they could be bloated and arrogant, and perhaps overindulgent in places, but as long as they produced these tunes who’s complaining? What I’m trying to say is buy it! You really won’t regret it.

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