Album of the Week #5: "Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness" by The Smashing Pumpkins

John

This has been one of the most requested albums in the suggestions thread. Well, is this the Pumpkins crowning achievement or an overworked follow-up to Siamese Dream? Is it too long or not long enough? One of the prettiest sleeves ever or fugly sub-surrealist crap? Dawn to Dusk or Twilight to Starlight?

dalk

Heh... The mid-90's. At the time of its release i dont think i ever made it the whole way through this album. Even though i had been a fan of the previous 2 albums. I have no idea why. They had probably gotten too popular for me, and i was pulling a indie-snob-sell-out hissy fit. :rolleyes:

Maybe its time i paid a revisit?

smackbunnybaby

this whole album links together so well.you couldnt dispense with any songs.
i think everyone who has listened to this album has listened to different segments at a time and realised each song is a classic.

i have a friend who listens to it everyday.
it was the first album i bought on cd and signalled the end of the cassette tape

Doctor J

I still think it's too bloated. It could have been one of the greatest albums ever, though it is still a remarkable release. If they'd pruned it to one CD's worth of tunes... :v:

smackbunnybaby

Doctor J wrote:

I still think it's too bloated. It could have been one of the greatest albums ever, though it is still a remarkable release. If they'd pruned it to one CD's worth of tunes... :v:

i hear what you are saying, but i dont think the album works that way.....you can leave out anything......;)

Doctor J

"Prune Mellon Collie down to 14 tracks" would be an interesting thread

PiE

Doctor J wrote:

"Prune Mellon Collie down to 14 tracks" would be an interesting thread

Oh it was :O

Classic at the time, and I still put it on rotation in work but I rarely listen to it at home any more. As I've said before, like most of the Pumpkins albums, it was very much of it's time. Not to say a newcomer couldn't pick it up now and love it, but when was the last time you heard somebody say "yea I'm just getting into the Pumpkins/Mellon Collie now and I'm loving it!"...?

From a purely "success" point of view, yea it could have been more accessible had it been a single CD, but you can't really argue with 12m(?) sales worldwide.

lucernarian

PiE wrote:

Not to say a newcomer couldn't pick it up now and love it, but when was the last time you heard somebody say "yea I'm just getting into the Pumpkins/Mellon Collie now and I'm loving it!"...?

I think Nirvana was even more of its time yet there are millions of youth out there who follow them almost religiously, despite the demise of over a decade ago.

I think what you're saying applies to most bands, quite a lot of music will sound outdated after many years.

Kudos to John2 for the choice aswell. It's a comprehensive CD from one of the best alternative acts of recent times. (IMO)

jtsuited

one of the first cd's i ever bought. a true classic. an album you can get lost in. it's a world inside itself. Beautiful

pbsuxok1znja4r

Brilliant, brilliant album. I listen to it nearly everyday.
I wouldn't take a single song from it, either. God knows they whittled it down from so many in the first place.
I personally don't think it's all that "of it's time". I've only been a Pumpkins fan for 2 years and it's as relevant and important to me as any other more recent release.
Twilight to Starlight, for me.

anonymous_joe

Classic album, it might be overlong and a tad self-indulgent, but that's part of its charm. Definitely one of the best albums of its era.

While it lacks the raw talent of Siamese Dream, it's an album from a band at the absolute height of their popularity and power. Fantastic.

Bodhidharma

To those who say its bloated, i suppose you would say that the sistine chapel was a bit much, or War and Peace was a bit long! Wrong, Billy is a genius and has to be allowed his space.

I think its the greatest album of all time.

KnifeWRENCH

PiE wrote:

Oh it was :O

Classic at the time, and I still put it on rotation in work but I rarely listen to it at home any more. As I've said before, like most of the Pumpkins albums, it was very much of it's time. Not to say a newcomer couldn't pick it up now and love it, but when was the last time you heard somebody say "yea I'm just getting into the Pumpkins/Mellon Collie now and I'm loving it!"...?

From a purely "success" point of view, yea it could have been more accessible had it been a single CD, but you can't really argue with 12m(?) sales worldwide.

I dunno bout that......i really got into the pumpkins after they split up and since listening to "Rotten Apples" and having bought all their other albums,they became my favourite band......and still are.
in my defense,i was 6 when Mellon Collie was released!so thats why i only got into them a few years back...but anyway i think in 50 years time,(if bird flu hasnt destroyed us all)it will still be as brilliant and accesible as it ever was...simply because Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness is one of the greatest album ever released,if not,then THE best (imo)and no length of time will distract or take away from that.i think and i hope....

Shanerie

Doctor J wrote:

I still think it's too bloated. It could have been one of the greatest albums ever, though it is still a remarkable release. If they'd pruned it to one CD's worth of tunes... :v:

This man speaks the truth!
And i was at the point to see the mellon collie tour way back when! (that poor girl eh )
Going back on the albums now Gish and piscies iscariot would be the ones id still listen to.

And for you nerds out there, there is a sample from the game "DOOM" in mellon collie too.

Pigman II

Christ I can't believe it's 10+ years since MCIS? Thanks for making me feel old OP!

MCIS was one of the first LPs I ever bought so I had no real comprehension that it was this mega-long album and just took it at face value. Thanks to it any record I've bought since that's sub-60mins automatically seems 'short' to me

I know it's a cliche/joke but I must have played it enough between 1995-2000 to wear a hole in the CDs

I was a huge Pumpkins fans but I don't really listen to them much anymore I'm afraid. I guess just as Billy (and his music) has grown up in the intervening years so have I and I can't 'go back there' without feeling a bit sad/lost etc.

Den_M

Mellon Collie is probably my favourite album after 'Adore'. Yep I'm a diehard Pumpkins fan. Still listen to it regularly. Always thought 'Tonight, Tonight' would have been better placed on the Twilight to Starlight disc. Which is my favourite of the two. I have a real soft spot for 'Thru the Eyes of Ruby'.

Pet

I'm in the "pare it down" camp. There's a lot of great ideas in there, but I think if Billy and co had focused on making 14 earth-shattering songs rather than 28 good ones, it would have been a much better album. His focus was too wide and some of the songs suffered for lack of proper attention. You can definitely hear it if you listen to some of the live reworkings - they sound so much better.

Also, I think this album suffered because of its popularity. I was only a wee child listening to the Cranberries and such when it came out, but I think if it came out now and got the same rave reviews, I would have resented and avoided it. Sales-wise it did well, but there was a big backlash against the overhype of the Pumpkins.

It doesn't have the absolute, every-second-is-gold quality of Siamese Dream, but it's definitely a classic. I think it's timeless, I can still see myself listening to it on and off in 10 years' time. All in all, an excellent album by an excellent band. I await their return eagerly.

Time Magazine

Brilliant album.

I think there's certainly an argument to be made about it having about 14 of the best songs from the 90's; and so even though the rest of them are good, they sound a bit of place among the brilliance.

I remember pointing this out in a Smashing Pumpkins chatroom and I shattered their lives. Look at the album cover. Look at where her left hand is relative to her body. Look at her eyes. Work it out.

Did you ever notice this before?

John

Angry Banana wrote:

I remember pointing this out in a Smashing Pumpkins chatroom and I shattered their lives. Look at the album cover. Look at where her left hand is relative to her body. Look at her eyes. Work it out.

Did you ever notice this before?

:eek: How did I miss that.

And by the way, I'm still not understanding the pare it down argument. I can't think of any songs on it that don't sound they belong there. In fact, listening to the Airplane Flies High box, I think there are some more tracks that could have gone in.

BleakestH

Wouldn't change a single thing...and absolute classic of 90's rock.

quarryman

Ibid wrote:

Brilliant album.

I think there's certainly an argument to be made about it having about 14 of the best songs from the 90's; and so even though the rest of them are good, they sound a bit of place among the brilliance.

I remember pointing this out in a Smashing Pumpkins chatroom and I shattered their lives. Look at the album cover. Look at where her left hand is relative to her body. Look at her eyes. Work it out.

Did you ever notice this before?

sorry to call up an old thread but what am i looking for here?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Smashing_Pumpkins_-_Mellon_Collie_And_The_Infinite_Sadness.jpg

dead air

quarryman wrote:

sorry to call up an old thread but what am i looking for here?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Smashing_Pumpkins_-_Mellon_Collie_And_The_Infinite_Sadness.jpg

Maybe it looks likes she's at herself.

On another note, I was the foggy dew the other day and they played MCIS disc one in it's entirety. Good stuff

John

Does anyone know where the woman is taken from on the album cover? It looks like she's been taken out of a painting and the album cover is a collage, or is that just me?

Tanabe

This is one of my favorite albums of all time undoubtedly. The Pumpkins were an amazing band, love Billy's side project he had with Zwan & his solo album too.

Heard a rumor too.....did anybody else?

Kingsize

BleakestH wrote:

Wouldn't change a single thing...and absolute classic of 90's rock.

I wouldn't change the musical content at all, I always thought the name was a bit cheesy though..

Mushy

Great band, great album. How I wish I was at that SFX gig when they previewed this album. Pity I was only 7 when it happened. This may not be my favourite album but Im not really sure, it has all sorts on it. Defiantely wouldnt takeanything off it, then it just wouldnt be the same

deaddonkey

it's a good album, but damn, I'd love to have been the editor on that before it was released.

I still love it though. butterfly wings is a classic tune.

Den_M

John wrote:

Does anyone know where the woman is taken from on the album cover? It looks like she's been taken out of a painting and the album cover is a collage, or is that just me?

Yep that's right, I actually knew the name of the painting and saw it in the original but can't remember where.

pig on the wing

few people know that this is actually the best selling studio double album of all time. (that is, excluding compilations, like greatest hits, and soundtracks) nevertheless, an underated album that will always be in the shadow of siamese dream, which itself is an excellent album.

Black NG-60-90

Love that album to bits! Changed my outlook on music forever.

Acid_Violet

Den_M wrote:

Always thought 'Tonight, Tonight' would have been better placed on the Twilight to Starlight disc. Which is my favourite of the two. I have a real soft spot for 'Thru the Eyes of Ruby'.

I'd be in the same camp as you in the above cases.

I'll always think of this album as the album that made me. I listened to it first when I had just turned 13 and the whole self-indulgent, angsty, twisted romantic attitude absorbed me. I've just started listening to it a lot again, will always love it and they were really my favourite band from then on and they still are and that'd be my favourite album. It came out when I was only four but I feel as if I can completely relate to it, I wish I was a teenager in the early 90's actually, when grunge was at it's peak. Aye me!