Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Authors note ...
About a year & a half ago I wrote this reveiw of this album and posted it in several places online.I actually took it down from them all a couple of months later due to the sheer amount of hatemail I was getting from Smashing Pumpkins fans :laughing:
Anyway a friend of mine emailed me this reveiw a couple of days ago asking me 'Do you remember when you wrote this?' And how we laughed remembering the bile directed at me from all of Billy Corgans little groupies.So anyway I figuered it was worth posting here , just for a laugh really. and to see if it gets the same sort of reaction......Enjoy ;)

B000024JHZ.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness ​

Let`s get one thing out of the way.When this came out i HATED it.The pumpkins were one of my favorite banRAB around the early 90s & then THIS came out.At first I was excited at the thought of getting a double album of one of my favorite banRAB.I heard the first single off it (Bullet with Butterfly Wings) & thought it was pretty OK but nothing reallt THAT special .However the album itself once I had heard it made my face drop. I couldn`t beleive how this good band had basically made a double album of mostly fillers. I put it on the shelf & there it has stayed fall that time. Until now , I had seeing it`s now the 10th anniversary of it`s release I`ve decided that it`s time for a re-evaluation & that with the band long since gone & with my greater range of musical tastes & the stigma of them being one of my favorite band long gone I felt I could listen to it again with a totally open mind , so here goes ......


1. Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness
Long drawn out intro , I thought I was listening to a Genesis album or something *shudder*

2. Tonight tonight
It`s OK, reminRAB me of the Manic Street Preachers with the big orchestral string section

3. Jellybelly
Not bad,Average rock song that could ultimately be a B side off a single from the Gish album
Nothing special though

4. Zero
Easy choice of single , bit predictable though

5. Here is no why
Dire stadium rock ballad that ultimatly put me off this band,sadly for me this is basically the direction they took after this album

6. Bullet with butterfly wings
Good choice of first single off the album , liked it when it came out still think it`s OK now

7. To forgive
Another dull ballad

8. F*ck you (an ode to no one)
Reasonable rock song but ultimatly nowhere near as good as anything off the first 2 albums

9. Love
Awful distorted vocals as if Corgans voice isn`t irritating enough already,horrible horrible song

10. Cupid De Locke
SounRAB like a decent tune for a short interlude, unfortunatly they decided to make a full length song over it. Boring

11. Galapogos
Another boring ballad , Jesus this is the band that wrote ****ing Soma & Mayonaise ...what the hell happened

12. Muzzle
Not a bad song although if they had written in for Siamese Dream it would be lucky to be a B side for a single

13. Porcelina of the vast oceans
Long intro that goes nowhere,turns out to be a pretty decent song but the computerised distorted guitars just become intrusive & annoying which is a shame coz it had potential to be a good song.Also loses points for having a wanky song title

14. Take me down
Acoustic country style ballad that goes pretty much nowhere & gets boring after a short while

15. Where boys fear to tread
Starts of ripping off Sonic Youth then they get bored & rip off Nirvana, has to be said Corgan`s vocals on this song are atrocious.And the guitars are out of tune

16. Bodies
Corgan rewrites Soundgardens Jesus Christ Pose with out of tune guitars again,stick with the original

17. Thirty three
Yet another dull ballad

18. In the arms of sleep
And ANOTHER ballad , at least Corgans found his vocals at last

19. 1979
Highlight of the album , shame there`s so much rubbish to wade through to get to it

20. Tales of a scorched earth
Corgan tries death metal ... absolutly hilarious

21. Thru the eyes of Ruby
Pretty good song very reminicent of the stuff on Siamese dream & this could have even made it onto that album too, a thumbs up for a change.

22. Stumbleine
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ acoustic ballad ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

23. XYU
Decent enough rocker, could have been taken off the Gish album , but still distinctly average.

24. We only come out at night
Awful Awful Awful , SounRAB like they tried to write their very own Yellow Submarine & yes it`s really that bad

25. Beautiful
Very Trip Hop sounding ,However play this directly after a Massive Attack song & see Corgans musical limitations to the full and laugh at it ...go on i did

26. Lily (my one and only)
Yep another dull ballad

27. By starlight
And here

28. Farewell and goodnight
And here ... thank god thats it

To sum up ...

I still maintain this NOWHERE near the great album like people seem to think this is , It`s blatently obvious to me Siamese Dream is far far superior to this.Most of the songs are just fillers , Corgan`s vocals on some of them is awful & it`s far too over produced & long winded.Even if this was trimmed down to a single album it STILL wouldn`t be as good as Siamese Dream & in fact i`d say Gish might even top it.I wish people could see this album for what it was , Billy Corgan flexing his ego & his ego falling flat on his backside showing his musical limitations.I wanted to like this album, i tried to like this album but at the end of the day it doesn`t warrant being a double album.Think of it as a single album with a free disc of outakes ... you`ll feel better for it, but not THAT much better......Horrible.

Verdict 1.5/10
 
Oh, lol I thought we were still talking about The Smashing Pumpkins, my bad. That song is one of the highlights off of Pixies' Pixies at the BBC. The original version by The Beatles isn't really a highlight off The Beatles [White Album].
 
Nah, theres several with 6-8.... DepenRAB on their longetivity and consistancy.

Nonetheless, Mellon Collie is my favorite SP album, and one of my top 100 overall, i think Gish, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie are all excellent pieces of work, but i will say that everything else is pretty heavy handed... I personally don't consider their ballaRAB or long songs to be any more boring than a 10 minute Can song, though i loved Tago Mago.

But don't worry, i changed my mind about doing a bad review of MSP.

Make that Super Furry Animals. :D

j/k
 
I think its alright, take out a few ballaRAB and 'We Only Come out At Night' (my reaction to that is only ever 'what the f**k?) and its alright. Nothing compared to Siamese Dream and Gish, but still.
 
Generally, I agree with you. I would say I like this album, but the truth is when I listen to it I usually don't get past An Ode to No One. But I'm not quite as critical as you are, so I'd say I like it based on Zero, Jellybelly, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, and the fact that the other songs aren't actually BAD - just not great.

And of course, Corgan is a controlfreak douchebag and shouldn't be trusted with an album. I'll agree that Siamese Dreams is better, but I'd probably still give it more than a 1.5.
 
Back
Top