Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.87 You Save: $11.11 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.07 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
Free Music Review: Two ferocious tigers let out to play
Hit: 5 Stars
So many sounds, lyrics and emotions fly around on this grand opus that, taken as a two-disc whole, it's hard to decipher the true heart and sound of "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness." I suppose the piano on the title track is as good a place as any to decipher this ambitious double album. The stately intro to the disc suggests changes are afoot, and it's a beacon of calmness amid the eclecticism that follows. Though studio embellishments played an important role in enhancing these discs, "Mellon Collie" is also hugely raw in spots, both sonically and lyrically. Billy Corgan's voice, for instance, is often much more stretched and strained, and it's less self-conscious and meditative than on past material. He almost completely neglects the lullabylike vocal stylings of Siamese Dream, and lets a lot hang out on both these discs.
Corgan's lyrics often veer toward grasping life's challenges and dealing with them in a headstrong manner, bettering yourself: "You're not the same, you're different," he advises on "Tonight, Tonight," a glorious song with an elaborately added string section. At the same time, Corgan can be equally despondant and hopeless: "Living make me sick, so sick I wish I'd die," he moans on "Jelly Belly," a tough, guitar-fuzzed rocker that hearkens back to the early Pumpkins days. The uplifting "Here is No Why" is one of the top songs from disc one, easily as good as the released singles and probably more powerful. Just as powerful -- yet not as sonically pleasing -- is "An Ode to No One," a definite take-no-prisoners rampage that doesn't rest for a grinding, vocally puzzling five minutes. More experimental sounds come from the perfectly distorted "Love," the poetic and fairy taleish "Cupid De Locke," and the tenderly nostalgic "Galapogos." The Pumpkins save some of the best gems for last on disc one, tunes such as "Muzzle" and the moving "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans," which boasts one of most foreboding and mysterious opening two minutes ever heard on a rock album. The song proceeds to jam out for seven more minutes, and that wraps up disc one.
The second disc begins like a house on fire with "Where Boys Fear to Tread" and the ripping "Bodies," but then promptly settles down with the mellow and lyrically beautiful "Thirty-Three." Disc two may get the slight nod as the superior material between the two discs. It ranges from the Sabbathesque (song 1), to hip and jumping beats ("1979"), to a tinge of country ("In the Arms of Sleep"), to refreshingly tender and quiet ("Stumbleine"). A gem among the many on disc two -- as sonically pleasing as the Pumpkins have ever sounded -- is "Thru the Eyes of Ruby," a beautiful and gripping tune that uniquely changes course a few times. If "Bodies" represents the Pumpkins' classic garage sound, then "Ruby" is where the band plays when it's in its palace. Curiously, "Ruby" got a somewhat indifferent reception when I heard it played live in the mid-1990s. The raging "Tales of a Scorched Earth" is a purposely scorched song, which won't be welcomed by casual fans, or perhaps even die-hard ones. However, after a few listens the song grows on you and blends in like a fiery haze. "X.Y.U." may be the worst of the entire lot, a song with too many lyrics and music so crushing that it practically snuffs itself out. Perhaps the biggest surprises occur at the end of disc two when the songs take on a calmer tone, as if winding listeners down from the whirlwind ride. Strangely enough, "Beautiful," "Lily," "By Starlight" and the closer, "Farewell and Goodnight," though far from the loud, fuzzed-out rock 'n' roll that preceded them, may be the best, most coherent, most effective material from the entire "Mellon Collie" opus. The sharing of lullabylike vocals on the last song is especially heartwarming and touching, as a sense of pride and cooperation pervades.
Released smack dab in the middle of the 1990s, "Mellon Collie" was an unbelievable accomplishment by Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins, at once majestic and hopeful, yet also raw and downtrodden when Corgan so chose.
Free Music Review: successful and not-so-successful experimentation
Hit: 5 Stars
Don't let Billy Corgan's whiny voice or the Pumpkins "teen angst" label keep you away from some great music. I am 21 now and have moved away from popular alt-rock, but I haven't outgrown the Pumpkins. I think their music is truly special and you owe it to yourself to give them a listen. Many bands may have the emotional intensity, but very few bands can shape that intensity into such unique and uncategorizable music.
Mellon Collie has some of the Pumpkins' best songs, but it also has a fair number of songs which I find boring or annoying. But I am giving it five stars anyway because the sum total of this effort is so much better than most else that's out there. In my opinion, Siamese Dream is the best Pumpkins' album, and Pisces Iscariot is better overall because it's more balanced (fewer stinkers). Gish is about on par.
Here's my breakdown (1-5 stars scale).
DAWN TO DUSK (Disk 1)
-- Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness (4): very pleasant piano opening. sets the mood perfectly.
-- Tonight, Tonight (4): a blast of emotion (nostalgia? optimism?). Corgan gets at something totally unique here and the string instrumentation is a stroke of genius, although the song gets a bit repetitive musically speaking.
-- Jellybelly (4): one of their best "hard" songs. pure energy.
-- Zero (3): strange Halloween-esque song. Catchy but borders on juvenile.
-- Here is No Why (5): rhythmic guitar opening builds to a killer climactic guitar solo. One of my favorites.
-- Bullet with Butterfly Wings (3): radio hit. Too high school. A shame that the Pumpkins are known for this song more than any other.
-- To Forgive (4): nice ambience, but a little too slow.
-- An Ode to No One (3): intense but too frenetic for my tastes
-- Love (3): interesting fuzzy sound, builds to a highly distorted "solo" of sorts, but most of the song is relatively boring.
-- Cupid de Locke (1): experimental song which I find annoying. Some may like it.
-- Galapagos (3): slow, haunting feel. another good "mood piece"
-- Muzzle (5): if this isn't the sound of happiness, I don't know what is. Short and sweet.
-- Porcelina of the Vast Oceans (3): experimental piece which has its moments but drags on too long. Starts off great though.
-- Take Me Down (3): Iha's "Blew Away" on Pisces Iscariot is so much better.
TWILIGHT TO STARLIGHT (Disk 2)
-- Where Boys Fear to Tread (4): heavy song with classic guitar riff. Killer opening. An aggressive song if there ever was one.
-- Bodies (4): lots energy and power chords, but this one gets old
-- Thirty-three (3): sentimental song. sorta boring, in my opinion.
-- In the Arms of Sleep (4): nice low-key song. almost folksy.
-- 1979 (5): wow, what a special song. You've heard it on the radio. Give it a close listen. The lyrics to this song are first-class poetry (about nostalgia, I think). This song is genius.
-- Tales of a Scorched Earth (3): loud and boring
-- Thru the Eyes of Ruby (4): epic song. a huge sound.
-- Stumbeline (2): boring, annoying
-- X.Y.U. (2): too frenetic. noisy and chaotic.
-- We Only Come Out a Night (1): very annoying song. Corgan takes big risks and falls hard when he fails.
-- Beautiful (4): starts out uninspired, but turns into quite the love ballad. Hints of The Beatles.
-- Lily My One and Only (4): lighthearted song (about a peeping tom?). Another good one.
-- By Starlight (4): sad, slow song. Starts off soft and builds to an emotional outpouring of sorts. Better than the fluff they play on "adult contemporary" radio stations.
-- Farewell and Goodnight (3): sleepy song suits its title and lyrics. but sleepy means rather boring ......
Free Music Review: one of the best albums i have ever had the privaledge to hear.
Hit: 5 Stars
physical graffiti? the white album? the wall? sure, these are treasured double albums (i personally do not enjoy the wall though), but this one really puts the others to shame. the mellon collie era of the pumpkins career was perhaps the creative zenith of billy corgan's career thus far-and this is scary good. not only did he almost single-handedly construct this double album himself, but he also made a double album of bsides (titled aeroplane flies high and split up into eps, but is really 28 tracks, just as long as this set), in which half the songs approach the quality level of this double album. from the cover art and liner notes alone, you can tell this album was ruthlessly, meticulously combed over, processed from the rawer, more grungy rock of siamese dream and gish to a both more accessible and yet still adventureous state.
both discs alone are 5 star albums, and it is incredibly hard to choose which album is better. each has its wierd elements, each have a commercial song or 2, but they are never formulaic, and each has a little something that'll get you hooked.
dawn to dusk is a bit more commercial than starlight to twilight- not to say its worse. the album starts with a piano instrumental, then the sweeping, majestic, unforgettable orchestrally-backed tonight, tonight. (speaking of which there is an acoustic, low-fi beautiful companion to it called tonite reprise on aeroplane) After that, the rocking side of the pumpkins comes back with perhaps their heaviest song ever-jellybelly. a stunning rocker, with an intro and outro that'll leave you stunned. then its zero- an anthemic, grindy and catchy short rocker, one that is reportedly very good in concert. here is no why uses multi-layered guitars and an awkward but loveable chorus to good use. then, of course, its bullet with butterfly wings. *drools* then we have to forgive, a heartbreaking ballad in the vein of soma's beginning from siamese dream. an ode to no one explodes then hits home with a beautiful spoken word rant in the middle, love and cupid de locke are industrial-style electronic expiraments-muzzle...well, theres a reason billy corgan says its his favorite from the album, simply because of the beautiful lyrics. and then the expirament porcelina (which succeeds), and the serene take me down.
Disc 2 takes a different approach-much more out there. where boys fear to tread and bodies are both grindy, incessantly heavy rockers, 33 and in the arms of sleep are softer acousticy numbers, 1979 is a bizarre effects-laden alternative classic, tales of a scorched earth just blazes around with deranged electronic vocals. thru the eyes of ruby is a siamese-style rocker done amazingly, stumbeline is another beautiful acoustic song, xyu is a brutal last gasp of metal, and then it goes from beautiful to calming to more beautiful-we only come out at night may be the dark horse of the set, it is beautiful, anthemic, uplifting and definetly unique. beautiful is like love, except nicer, lily, by starlight, and farewell and goodnight are laid back, calming and, well, lullaby-type songs that'll send you off in a great fashion.
the singing? sucks. the lyrics? amazing. the guitars? great riffs, some good solos, overall above average. the drums? amazing, great free-form style stuff. the bass? holds it all together. song structure? the simple stuff is kept simple (thank god), the longer numbers are written in a way to always keep it fresh and new (something that plauged hummer from siamese dream).
this is one of the few more recent albums i can say that are masterpieces. after 95, and this album really, music has taken a turn for the much worse. the only albums i can say since then that are masterpieces would be lateralus by tool and degradation trip volume one and 2 by jerry cantrell, both of which should appeal to you if you enjoy this.
lets just hope the pumpkins can come back and rock again!
Free Music Review: Double album that everyone loves and knows
Hit: 5 Stars
'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' was probably the most influential double album of the 90s, and arguably moreso than Pink Floyd's Wall album or the Beatles' White album (neither those artists greatest). And although I prefer NIN's Fragile album, this is more diverse and eclectic.I was first exposed to the entire album nearly three years ago, and I kept listening because every track stood out so much to me.
The band's first two studio albums, Gish and Siamese Dream showed the band's ability to have many midtempos and a solid mix of soft and more rocky songs on their discs. On this album, there are several hits, yet it's also an album needed to be heard with an open ear, but surpringly, many people have caught up to opening their minds on this one. And even though Billy isn't the greatest singer to everyone, I like his vocals because they never fail to show the emotion intended in the albums.
The singles aged well, also. "Tonight Tonight" has some of Billy's best lyrics ever, and is a good way to build an album up from an awesome piano instrumental. It's got many strong things in it. As well as the fact that "Zero" has the craziest guitar solo ever, even though I don't care as much for the lyrics admittedly. As well as the fact that "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" is instantly catchy and everyone knows the chorus. "Thirty Three" kind of reminds me of "Disarm", but it's distinct enough from that one to where it stands out on its own, and I still love it. As well as the fact that it has their biggest hit ever, "1979", with a bit of a new wave influence, as that one also had well-done lyrics and some memorable bass from D'arcy. One thing I remember about the time when I was 8/9 years old and this album came out was the music videos, all which were experiences. MTV actually played music videos then, and Smashing Pumpkins vids for that matter.
The band's electronic side even slightly comes in on this album. That's how much it's got in it. Songs like "Love" and "We Only Come Out At Night" have elements of that, although the latter is more of its own style.
Some songs, I feel, are as long as they should have been. "Thru The Eyes of Ruby" is just amazing, so that song's placement is very valid. "X.Y.U." is just explosive, one of the album's heaviest, with an amazing guitar solo, and some of Corgan's most memorable yells in music.
As well as the fact that there are other ways to describe tracks unlisted. There is cool guitar on "Farewell and Goodnight" that stands out,
Jimmy Chamberlain's drum talent still shines through, whether it be the memorable cymbals of "Lily" or in many other tracks on the album. I was shocked that I liked the follow-up album which lacked his drumming.
So all in all, this album has almost everything. Music has influences that range from heavy rock to even classical and jazz influences, as shown in the title track.
This was their most diverse album ever made, so if you look in that for an album, pick this up first from the band. However, I prefer 'Adore' and 'Siamese Dream' to this, but it's still excellent, and that's not by much that I prefer the two. I wonder how you wouldn't own this in the first place, but it's a double album, so I guess that's why. So I guess, if you see it used and have the money for a full album and wouldn't be willing to spend 25 dollars, buy this used.
Free Music Review: The Smashing Pumpkins' pinnacle
Hit: 5 Stars
"Time is never time at all, you can never ever leave/without taking a piece of youth" sings Billy Corgan delicately to open the first non-instrumental track on the Smashing Pumpkins' most ambitious album. Indeed, time and life and youth turn out to be themes of this amazing album, although Corgan has stated this is not specifically a concept album. This theme is never echoed more strongly or touchingly than in the stunning "Muzzle", which has anthemic, soaring music coupled with probably my favorite lyrics ever. The lyrics "I fear that I am ordinary just like everyone" and "Time heals but I'm forever broken" beautifully sum up everything Corgan is on about. Other highlights from the first disc, subtitled "Dawn to Dusk" in keeping with the album's cyclical theme, include the mental, blisteringly fast and loud "Jellybelly" which contrasts sharply with the dreamier, more optimistic "Tonight, Tonight" that precedes it; "Zero", which might be regarded as Corgan's personal theme song, carries a killer riff and creates a dark mood; "Bullet With Butterfly Wings", understandably the biggest hit from the album, has an absolutely unforgettable chorus and instant-classic lyrics; "Cupid de Locke" and "Galapagos" are dreamy, drifting and memorable in their beauty and simple arrangements while the 9-minute monster "Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans" has two many riffs and hooks to count and dreamy lyrics to match. Certainly the darker of the two discs, "Twilight to Starlight" opens with the oft-overlooked but extremely worthy "Where Boys Fear To Tread", whose metaphorical pit of darkness is unlike anything the Pumpkins, and indeed anyone else, has ever recorded. The hard-rocking "Bodies" finds Corgan at his angriest but is soon soothed by the lullaby-like softness of the beautiful "Thirty-Three". "1979", a contender for the album's best song (and also Corgan's personal favorite), has a strange riff that will never leave your head and wistful lyrics about Corgan's youth. It is unfortunately followed by "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" which is the only slip-up on a remarkably consistent (and long, at 2 hours +) album. This could easily have been replaced by many of the far superior b-sides of the era which later cropped up on the 5-disc throwaway set "The Aeroplane Flies High". Later gems include the beastlike, chugging "X.Y.U.", which is a potent and explosive 7-minute piece of rage, but whose anger is quickly smoothed over by the closing trilogy of slow, beatiful songs. "Beautiful" is the pick of the three; its final moments, finding Corgan's reassuring lyrics of "I'll be under your stars forever" are among the most spine-tingling moments I've ever heard in a song. And the solo piano that closes "Farewell And Goodnight" is the perfect way to end the album and link it to its lighter version which starts the first disc. This album has immense personal meaning for me and I rank it up with Radiohead's "OK Computer" as one of the best albums of all time. Although the Pumpkins' other albums are almost universally brilliant, especially "Siamese Dream", this album has it all.