Review: Smashing Pumpkins Revisit 1995 Magnum Opus With ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (30th Anniversary Edition)’

One of our favorites down here at B&V, the Smashing Pumpkins, are looking back to their magnum opus LP from 1995 and have released Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (30th Anniversary Edition). This “double album” was so momentous I even included it on my list of our essential “old school” double albums. While it was predominantly purchased on CD and not at all old school, it just had that 70s, double vinyl vibe that I’ve always loved so I included it on the list anyway. Billy Corgan (lead vocals/guitar/keys/songwriting) is nothing if not a rock n roll classicist. Billy is one rock star we include in our “great man (or woman)” theory of rock n roll. While I typically try to shy away from being overly sentimental (and usually fail) this one does have me saying, “Thirty years? Really? Where’d they go?”

We find music in different places. When I was kid and first started down my rock n roll rabbit hole, it was typically either through local rock radio (KY/102 in KC) or through my peer group – what everyone else was listening to. As I got older I found music through MTV, rock magazines and even public radio as terrestrial radio had died. I was quickly aging out of my 20’s when Mellon Collie came out, and admittedly not much else had changed in my life since I was 13. Well, I had a job and lived by myself but my world view hadn’t changed much…and I was still eating Capt’n Crunch for breakfast. And, as such, I discovered the Pumpkins the old fashion way, through my best buddy – still to this day – Doug.

In that ’93 – ’94 time frame Doug was still living in Chicago. That sentence doesn’t really do him justice. He fancied himself, as did we, “Mr. Chicago.” Since he was a “dazzling urbanite,” living in the Windy City he was an early adopter on the Pumpkins, a Chicago band. He flew down for my birthday in the spring of ’94 with a CD in hand as a gift. It was the Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream and I have to say, I was impressed. Of course at the time I knew nothing about Billy Corgan, James Iha (guitar), Jimmy Chamberlin (drums) and D’Arcy (Wretzky, bass). I thought this was another Poi Dog Pondering, a Chicago based, mostly regional band. It wasn’t until I saw the video for “Today” with the ice cream truck that I realized, “Hmm, these Pumpkins might be bigger than I thought?”

Nobody I know was really into the Pumpkins prior to this album. There were so many bands exploding in the early/mid 90s it was hard to keep up. My pals were aware of the Pumpkins, but I was the only one who owned a CD of theirs. All that changed as soon as we heard “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” in the fall of ’95. People were racing to get on the band wagon… “The world is a vampire….” Of course I told people, “Oh these guys, I’ve been listening for years…” We all rushed down to the CD store and picked up our copy of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness as soon as it came out.

This album really is the Pumpkins’ magnum opus. It should be thought of as their White Album (aka The Beatles). Corgan and the band do it all here. We were so taken with this record I had a friend start doing research into classic music featuring a piano simply based on the instrumental title track that opens the album. The Pumpkins had eschewed their previous producer Butch Vig (of Nirvana Nevermind fame) and brought in a couple of English guys Alan Moulder and Flood. What they got was a cleaner, more classic rock/heavy metal sound which differed from that grungy, murky sound of the previous record.

How many albums can go from the majesty of “Tonight Tonight” with a full orchestra to the metallic crunch of “Jellybelly”? “Zero” is one of the greatest riffs of all time. Corgan was rumored to have played all the guitars and all the bass on Siamese Dream, but on this album he split the solo’ing with James Iha and let D’Arcy play bass. The band, pleased by this development, clearly responded. Personally I don’t think there’s a bad moment on this thing. Sure, a song like “Bodies” might be a little crazy heavy for some folks but then the metal heads might not have been happy with the beautiful “1979.”

“Stumbleine” is a beautiful acoustic ballad. Each disc ends with a James Iha penned, acoustic almost folky track. Admittedly, when I burned these discs to my iPod, I skipped loading those tunes, but re-listening now, I kinda like them. To further my White Album analogy we even get an old-timey track “Lily (My One And Only)” of the ilk that only McCartney loved. That song still makes me laugh. “Galapogos” is another lush, beautiful ballad. There are too many highlights to pack into one post.

If you don’t have this album, this would be a nice opportunity to pick it up, as every serious fan of rock n roll needs this record. But we must now consider the bonus material. I was delighted when I saw that they’ve included live selections from the tour in ’96. I have to say, the Pumpkins have some live stuff out there but it seems all hard to get. I don’t think they’ve ever put out a “proper” live album… there’s no The Smashing Pumpkins Come Alive album for me to include on my list of Essential Live LPs.

That tour was actually the first time I ever got to see the Pumpkins. I can remember, like it was last night, standing on the chairless, GA floor of Kemper Arena on September, 1, 1996 with a ziplock bag of vodka in the front of my pants. While I was happy to see some live stuff from that tour, I’ll admit I’m a little disappointed that it’s not a whole, unedited concert. They’ve picked different songs from different shows from San Diego to Cleveland and weaved them together. The result is we don’t get a complete picture of the Pumpkins live in ’96 but only a feel for it.

We get a mix of really hard rock songs with a few mellow tunes like “Cupid De Locke” or “Galapogos” to break things up. These tracks are great. The guitars attack and Jimmy Chamberlin’s drums pound. Corgan’s voice is high in the mix which is nice. His vocals are crystal clear. The sound is great but yet, I’m left wanting a whole show, especially when I peruse the setlist from the show I saw. There’s no “1979” or “Tonight Tonight.” It’s just a great grab bag of tracks from Mellon Collie and Siamese. I was happy to see a version of “Siva” on here too. But would it have killed them to give us a whole show? It’s a nit but it bothers me. However, with the dearth of live stuff out there from this time period, I should be happy we got this much.

I know the tour ended rather tragically. Chamberlin and concert keyboardist Johnathan Melvoin were doing heroin and Melvoin sadly OD’d. Heroin is insidious. Maybe that’s why the band doesn’t want to fully revisit this tour with a full concert. I do think there is enough great live stuff here for any Pumpkins’ fan to enjoy but as usual, I want more!

Enjoy revisiting this classic 90s album at full volume. Stay warm out there! Cheers!