It would be very easy for someone with no foreknowledge of the Smashing Pumpkins and their music to get so many incomplete or blatantly wrong impressions of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Take a look at the band's name. The Smashing Pumpkins? It conjures up images of jack-o-lanterns meeting their violent demise, which in turn could translate into an impression that the music is loud and bombastic. It is, but there's more to it than that.

How about the album's title: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness? It makes you think of dark and sad songs. They're there, but there's more than that.

Take a look at the artwork. The front cover shows an angelic women popping out of a star gazing absently into the heavens. The back cover features a smiling sun peering over the horizon. The liner notes show, among other things, a group of rabbits playing baseball before an audience of cherubic babies and cat wedding. The discs themselves are decorated with a cherub either laughing (first disc) or crying (second disc). So, one might possibly conclude that the music is pretentious, thick, and artsy. Sometimes it is, but there's more to it.

Finally, by taking a look at the back cover, one would find twenty-eight tracks on Mellon Collie. Considering that albums with half that many tracks are sometimes loaded with filler, it would be very easy to conclude that Mellon Collie is the same. There are some weak tracks, but the overwhelming majority of them are very strong.

The album begins with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a short but grand and beautiful instrumental dominated by a piano. Next comes Tonight, Tonight, a song about change. Change, even a generally positive change like marriage or graduation, can be scary and/or sad because it entails the losing of a part of ourselves and a journey into an unknown realm. "Tonight, Tonight" perfectly captures the conflicting moods and emotions involved in such a change. Lines like "And you know you're never sure, but you're sure you could be right, if you held yourself up to the light," display the fear, sadness, hope, and happiness one feels. Musically, the song alternates between grand and powerful and warm and intimate, featuring the Pumpkins backed by an orchestra. The only drawback is the fact that Corgan has trouble holding the high parts during the refrain, making him sound whiney and like he’s straining.

Right from the start, one can tell that Bullet With Butterfly Wings is a very angry song. It begins with Corgan's relatively soft but emotionally charged vocals backed up with a deep and heavy drum-bassline and a throbbing guitar, signifying a barely contained anger. From there, it explodes into full furry with Corgan screaming the famous line "Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage" backed by two raw electric guitars. Overall, its one of those songs for those times when you feel so isolated and used, and you're not happy about it.

Galapagos is an attempt to recall "Disarm" and "Mayonaise" from Siamese Dream. Like those songs, "Galapagos" is a sentimental and introspective song in this about coping with change. It's very subdued for most of its length, but eventually builds to a wonderful peak, powered by Corgan's heartfelt vocals. Although not quite reaching the emotional level of the aforementioned songs (that would be very difficult), it still packs quite an emotional punch, especially lyrically with lines like:
"Too late to turn back now,
I'm running out of sound,
And I am changing, changing
And if we died right now,
This fool you love some how,
Is here with you."

The second disc begins in a completely opposite fashion than the first with Where Boys Fear to Tread. Although the lyrics don't exactly blow me over ("A suck suck suck kiss. A suck suck suck smile."), its distorted riffs, pumping drums, and general heaviness make it a worthwhile song. "Where Boys Fear to Tread" brings us right into Bodies, one of the best songs on the album. "Bodies" is a very energetic, but slightly muffled, rocker about broken love. Although slightly melodramatic in its descriptions (if that's a problem) It has some of the best lyrics on the whole album, such as:
"The tragedies reside in you,
The secret sights hide in you,
The lonely nights divide you in two,
All my blisters now revealed,
In the darkness of my dreams,
In the spaces in between us."

The album takes a turn in just about every way imaginable with Thirty-three a slow song that sounds so delicate it would break if you could actually hold it. It’s mostly acoustic with a piano and dreamy electric chords in the background. The lyrics are the real winners, expressing contentment and love, making them a welcomed addition amongst an album full of vitriol and sadness. In the Arms of Sleep is a slow and haunting song, beginning with unintelligible whispers and then shifting into a somber accompaniment that features an acoustic guitar and entrancing bass effects. The heartfelt lyrics about desire, commitment, and love in no way let the rest of the song down.

1979 is a nostalgic song, telling the story of a group of kids and their carefree days before focusing on their uncertain future. The music is dreamy and mostly mid-tempo but speeds up near the end, featuring a steady drum beat, the strumming of an electric guitar, and some sort of woodwind instrument in the background.

While having some of the best songs, the second disc also has the two worst, both of which are in the top four heaviest. The thing that annoys be about Tales of Scorched Earth is how Corgan's voice overloads the speakers, making it difficult to understand the lyrics. X.Y.U actually begins with promise, featuring an cool riff (which sort of reminds me of a motorcycle kickstart), interesting and off-kilter lyrics, and Corgan's weaving and slightly moaning lyrics during the first verse. However, that promise is thrown to the curb as the song descends into Corgan's incessant and obnoxious screaming and a sickeningly fast tempo.

Farewell and Goodnight, the final track, is a bittersweet lullaby, a goodnight wish even though the day before and the coming day are not good. It's set to a simple acoustic guitar and light drum beat, backed by a piano with a few stretched electric guitar chords thrown in for a dreamy feel. More importantly, it's the only song in which all three vocalists (Corgan, bassist D'Arcy Wretzky, and guitarist James Iha) sing, with each one singing solo, Wretzky and Iha in a duet, and all three together. The only bad thing about the song is it makes me wonder why the Pumpkins didn't sing together more often, because they are great together.


In conclusion, the Smashing Pumpkins have amassed a wonderful and impressive collection of songs that are lyrically and musically diverse and engaging, despite the flaws with the vocals. Most impressive is there are able to achieve this not with an album of ten tracks or fourteen tracks, but instead with twenty-eight tracks, with there being only a couple that are sub-par. There is no way I could give this album anything less than five stars and my recommendation.


Tracks
Disc One: Dawn to Dusk *****
1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness *****
2. Tonight, Tonight *****
3. Jellybelly ***
4. Zero ****
5. Here is no Why *****
6. Bullet with Butterfly Wings *****
7. To Forgive ****
8. (F*ck You) An Ode to No One ***1/2
9. Love ***1/2
10. Cupid de Locke ***
11. Galapagos *****
12. Muzzle ****
13. Porcelina of the Vast Ocean ****
14. Take Me Down ***½

Disc Two: Twilight to Starlight *****
1. Where Boys Fear to Tread ****
2. Bodies *****
3. Thirty-three *****
4. In the Arms of Sleep ****
5. 1979 *****
6. Tales of Scorched Earth **
7. Thru the Eyes of Ruby ***
8. Stumbleine ****
9. X.Y.U. **
10. We Only Come Out Night ****
11. Beautiful ****
12. Lily (My One and Only) ***
13. By Starlight ****
14. Farewell and Goodnight *****

Recommended: Yes