30 Years of The Smashing Pumpkins' 'Mellon Collie', And What Makes It Their Masterpiece
Released on October 23rd and 24th in 1995, “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” remains not just the defining album by alt-90’s legends The Smashing Pumpkins, but also one of the greatest and most versatile (double) records of all-time
I’ll be completely honest – I didn’t really start getting into music until later in my life. Maybe late high-school age, or around there. And right around that time, there was a popular video game called Rock Band for all the big gaming platforms (like Xbox 360, Playstation 3, etc.) where you could play guitar, drums, or sing vocals for some of the most popular songs of the last 30-40 years or so.
I remember that “Cherub Rock” by The Smashing Pumpkins, off their critically acclaimed record Siamese Dream, was basically one of the entry level tracks to get you warmed up to the game. I recall playing the song on the game, and thinking immediately that the lead singer, Billy Corgan, had a super unique and almost dream-like voice. It’s one of those voices that people either love or hate, in all honesty.
Heading into college, I remember going to Fenwick Island, DE to the beach with family for the day, and putting that album on and listening to it front to back. I was instantly hooked. Every track seemed to have such a warm, fuzzy sound, with lyrics focused on things such as the innocence of youth, losing it over time, and feeling unprepared heading into adulthood. Some of those songs really connected with me at the time as I was leaving high school (I went to the same tiny school, K-12), and heading into unfamiliar territory as a commuter to University of Delaware (a big school, where I felt like I was going to feel like an outsider not living on the dorms, which turned out to be accurate).
To put thing simply – Siamese Dream could not have entered my life at a more perfect time.
I remember after that pouring myself more into the Pumpkins, specifically their history and how strange yet fascinating Corgan’s personality was. As an aspiring writer myself, his lyrics were inspiring to me, and some of the best I had ever read.
When I decided to sit down and listen to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, I was expecting a continuation of what made Siamese Dream so brilliant. The vulnerability, the surrealistic atmosphere, and the overall positive vibes. And while there are certainly a lot of that in Mellon Collie, it’s also an album that injects a fair amount of fever nightmare sounds and themes to help offset the dreaminess. Track like “X.Y.U.” (which toys with thrash metal, amplified by Corgan’s screaming and cracked vocals), “Jellybelly”, “An Ode to No One”, and of course “Zero” and “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”, are a dose of needed nastiness to help give this record a distinguishable bite and unique sound.
Corgan’s lyrics effortlessly veer from themes of love, rage, betrayal, pain, optimism, all of which are ultimately wrapped and rooted in nostalgia and the scattered, tumultuous thoughts of a victim of childhood abuse. Music and writing have always been Corgan’s escape, and in turn, one for his listeners who have dealt with similar situations as well.
The power and multi-dimension aspect of Mellon Collie isn’t just merely impressive – it’s legendary. Just the fact that it’s a double-album so Corgan could give the finger to music execs who wanted it to be just like Siamese Dream and just one record, is both funny as well as incredible.
Not only that, but it also has some of the best music videos (remember those!?) ever assembled. Tracks like Tonight, Tonight, 1979, and Bullet With Butterfly Wings, are different and special in their own way. And have amassed hundreds of millions of views collectively on YouTube. That’s not an accident.
I could go on for hours about how fantastic the lyrics are, especially tracks like “Muzzle”, “Thru the Eyes of Ruby” (my personal favorite song off the double-album), and “Stumbleine”. There’s even a super popular wedding song called “Thirty-Three”. This is a record that seems to have almost every kind of mood and emotion in it. Maybe I’m showing my age when I say this – you don’t get that with many albums or artists anymore.
Although the band is still around and making music (I’ve seen them in concert four times, and Corgan once on a solo tour), nothing tops this work. I think it’s fair to assume most people know who they are, and have heard some of their popular songs, but if you really want to dive into them and listen to one of the greatest albums ever made, I can’t recommend this one enough.