Blow the Dust Off: Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

I thought of a new idea for a series where I talk about older albums that people probably don't listen to anymore but if brought up will say, "Oh hell yeah, that album was awesome!"

So, I think the best way to start this new series would  be to pick an album that no one has listened to in a long time but also an album that no one has listened to period.  Why has no one listened to it?  Because it is a double album.  Double album means double trouble, double time, double dragging on.  A lot of double albums flop because more than half of it is filler.  And, quite frankly, I used to think that about this album as well.  Sure, it has its known songs like "Zero," "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," "Tonight Tonight" (not to be confused with shitty Hot Chelle Rae), and, of course, "1979."

But, this album is GREAT!  It's without a doubt my favorite double album.  And you might be thinking,, "Well, there aren't that many double albums out there and you just said that most of them are shitty."  Well sure, but, there's also The Clash's Sandinista!, Pink Floyd's The Wall, The Jesus Christ Superstar Rock Opera and several others I'm probably not thinking of at the moment.  So, what makes Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness better than any of those?  Well, just listen to it!  Or, I guess I could tell you about it instead.

I guess the best way to start talking about this album is to start from the beginning.  I always really liked that melodic piano.  Just listening to it you can tell that something really big, really dramatic is coming up.  The opening track "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is essentially a piano intro for the following song "Tonight, Tonight" but the buildup and transition into "Tonight, Tonight" is really just brilliant.  It ends, has a bit of silence and then just runs away with the starting violins in "Tonight, Tonight."

I don't want to talk your ear off going in-depth about a double album (or I suppose in this case, write your eyes out).  So, I'll cover the highlights.  But really, you ought to listen to this album all the way through.

I'm gonna already assume that you know about "Tonight, Tonight," "Zero," "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," and "1979." If you don't, I truly feel sorry for you.  Stop reading this and check them out right now.

The first disc has some cool stuff on it.  "Jellybelly" and "Here is no Reason Why" really feed your hunger for hard rock riffs and string bends.  Oh, and "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)" fulfills that need as well.  Though, some of the songs I find most notable are at the end of the disc.  Sure, the first ten tracks are pretty amazing but this disc really starts getting good at track 11.  The song "Galapagos" is a good example of what Smashing Pumpkins do best.  Melodic guitars, heart felt lyrics, great dynamics changes.  Along with "Galapagos" also add onto that "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" and "Take me Down" and you have a great ending before our intermission.  Quick trivia bit as well, "Take me Down" is actually written and sung by the lead guitarist of Smashing Pumpkins at the time James Iha (who is also known for being in the band A Perfect Circle).  The song is really good.  So, Smashing Pumpkins is not exactly the Billy Corgan band.  Just 99% of the way there.

Anyways, onto Disc 2!  What does disc 2 have?  More of the heavier stuff like "Where the Boys Fear to Tread," "Tales of Scorched Earth," and "X.Y.U."  Most notable of the heavier songs on this disc is the song "Bodies."  I think I mostly like the play on words in the chorus "No bodies felt like you, nobody's."  I also really liked the line that simply says "Love is Suicide."  Because...well, it sure feels like that, doesn't it?

I guess only some of us feel that way.  hahaha

So, beyond those songs, the songs on the second disc are all slower songs.  And, for this very reason, it is why I like the second disc better than the first.  It's Smashing Pumpkins doing what they do best.

The first quiet song, "Thirty-Three," is really good.  And for some odd reason, the piano part in it is really catchy to me.  And, of course, there's "1979" which is very well known.  No use talking about it because you should have listened to it before getting to this point in this post.

Like the first disc, the second disc gets tremendously good at the end.  In fact, it's really only the last two songs that are tremendously good but this is certainly a case of quality over quantity.  "By Starlight" is, without a doubt, my favorite song on this double album.  This past summer, I have probably listened to that song more than any other.  In the past, I kind wrote this song off as just another Smashing Pumpkins song.  But, this song is truly amazing.  The mood is set perfectly in this song.  The lyrics match the rest of the music perfectly.  Not to mention that the lyrics are amazing themselves.  The song is a love song.  In fact, it is now my favorite love song of all time.  Why?  Because it's a love song that I can relate to.  Too often do artists get dragged into writing these fairy tale type love songs.  This song hits the realism all too well.  Especially for someone who is a little messed up like myself.  Well, let's be honest here, you wouldn't be listening to Smashing Pumpkins if you weren't at least a little bit messed up.

The lyrics in this song are just phenomenal.  It's about being in love with a girl and her being in love with you.  But, there's that worry in the back of your mind that she doesn't truly know you and that when she realizes a part of you that she doesn't like so much (or despises) she will stop loving you.  But, you also hope that maybe she's kinda messed up like you are so that she will understand and love all of you, including the messed up part of you.  I think the part of it that makes it really emotional is the idea that you don't know if she would leave you or not and that hopefully she accepts these bad parts of you.  The instrumental part of the song really captures these emotions.  I really just love this song.

The last song is also pretty great.  The last song was also written by James Iha.  "Farewell and Goodnight" is works great as a closer to an epic type of album.  What I also really like about "Farewell and Goodnight" is that every band member sings.  Quite frankly, they are all above average singers.  This song truly works.  I also like how it ends with a similar piano line to the one in the opening track.  Good end to a great album.

After reading all of that, I hope you will listen to this album.  I highly recommend it if you like darker and quieter music.

I will let your eyes rest now.