Album: Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
Of the five singles released from the album, 1979 was the song that most captured my attention at the time. It's an absolute classic, with that distorted Corgan "ooh" voice sample adding emotional intensity to one of his most personal songs, about growing up but becoming aware of one's own mortality ("And we don't know / just where our bones will rest / to dust I guess"). The dreamy guitar line is full of melancholy hopefulness and the song was an instant hit, breaking into the Top 20 in the UK and US. My only criticism of the band is that Corgan's songwriting can be a little self-indulgent and weak, at times opting for the silly wordplay that's characteristic of bands like the Chilis and heavy metal. There's a line in Tonight, Tonight ("crucify the insincere") that always makes me cringe; only a teenager could connect with that meaningfully. I'm also not sure that naming the two halves "Dawn to Dusk" and "Twilight to Starlight" is anything more than an affectation, a nod to concept albums of the past like Pink Floyd's The Wall. What I most appreciate is the album's changing dynamics, its sound continually shifting from the heavier grunge rock of Zero and Bullet With The Butterfly Wings to slower, more mournful songs like To Forgive ("And I remember my birthdays / empty party afternoons") and the melodic baroque pop of Cupid De Locke. On side 2, the murky, heavy metal openers Where Boys Fear To Tread and Bodies give way to a more dreamy atmosphere, on tracks like acoustic confessional Stumbleine and the Prince-inspired groove of Beautiful. This was the album that saw Corgan and the band stretch their boundaries beyond teenage angst and grunge and reach for the stars.
Artist: The Smashing Pumpkins
Born: Chicago, Illinois
Released: October 1995
Genre: Indie Rock
Billy Corgan has explicitly stated that he made this album for 14-24 year olds, and there's no doubt it had more of a grip on me as a teenager than now. That's not to say that I don't still rate Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness highly, a sprawling double LP that could be accused of 70s-style rock star excess but was in the fact the result of Corgan's hot songwriting streak in 1995. The productive recording sessions for this album created 57 songs, which were first whittled down to 32, then 28. Corgan wrote all but two of the final 28 songs; guitarist James Iha wrote the others, including album closer Farewell & Goodnight, sung by the whole band. For a band that started out inspired by the gothic rock of The Cure, as well as New Order, The Smashing Pumpkins explore their musical palette to the full on this album, making it a "3D record" vs previous one-dimensional efforts like Siamese Dream. For some fans and critics this approach smacked of over-ambition and a dilution of the group's original heavy sound, but I'm all for a band going through a White Album phase. When the songs are good on this record, they're really good. Flood -- a producer already famous for his work on The Joshua Tree, Violator and The Downward Spiral -- was partly responsible for the group's experimental edge, encouraging more rehearsal time to loosen up the band and capture more of the intensity of their live sound on record. Wider use of instruments is also responsible for the album's distinctive sound, such as the synths & drum loops on 1979 and the live orchestra on Tonight, Tonight.
Billy Corgan has explicitly stated that he made this album for 14-24 year olds, and there's no doubt it had more of a grip on me as a teenager than now. That's not to say that I don't still rate Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness highly, a sprawling double LP that could be accused of 70s-style rock star excess but was in the fact the result of Corgan's hot songwriting streak in 1995. The productive recording sessions for this album created 57 songs, which were first whittled down to 32, then 28. Corgan wrote all but two of the final 28 songs; guitarist James Iha wrote the others, including album closer Farewell & Goodnight, sung by the whole band. For a band that started out inspired by the gothic rock of The Cure, as well as New Order, The Smashing Pumpkins explore their musical palette to the full on this album, making it a "3D record" vs previous one-dimensional efforts like Siamese Dream. For some fans and critics this approach smacked of over-ambition and a dilution of the group's original heavy sound, but I'm all for a band going through a White Album phase. When the songs are good on this record, they're really good. Flood -- a producer already famous for his work on The Joshua Tree, Violator and The Downward Spiral -- was partly responsible for the group's experimental edge, encouraging more rehearsal time to loosen up the band and capture more of the intensity of their live sound on record. Wider use of instruments is also responsible for the album's distinctive sound, such as the synths & drum loops on 1979 and the live orchestra on Tonight, Tonight.
Of the five singles released from the album, 1979 was the song that most captured my attention at the time. It's an absolute classic, with that distorted Corgan "ooh" voice sample adding emotional intensity to one of his most personal songs, about growing up but becoming aware of one's own mortality ("And we don't know / just where our bones will rest / to dust I guess"). The dreamy guitar line is full of melancholy hopefulness and the song was an instant hit, breaking into the Top 20 in the UK and US. My only criticism of the band is that Corgan's songwriting can be a little self-indulgent and weak, at times opting for the silly wordplay that's characteristic of bands like the Chilis and heavy metal. There's a line in Tonight, Tonight ("crucify the insincere") that always makes me cringe; only a teenager could connect with that meaningfully. I'm also not sure that naming the two halves "Dawn to Dusk" and "Twilight to Starlight" is anything more than an affectation, a nod to concept albums of the past like Pink Floyd's The Wall. What I most appreciate is the album's changing dynamics, its sound continually shifting from the heavier grunge rock of Zero and Bullet With The Butterfly Wings to slower, more mournful songs like To Forgive ("And I remember my birthdays / empty party afternoons") and the melodic baroque pop of Cupid De Locke. On side 2, the murky, heavy metal openers Where Boys Fear To Tread and Bodies give way to a more dreamy atmosphere, on tracks like acoustic confessional Stumbleine and the Prince-inspired groove of Beautiful. This was the album that saw Corgan and the band stretch their boundaries beyond teenage angst and grunge and reach for the stars.
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