Review Summary: Without a care in this whole world!
Teenage angst has always been a fairly common theme in rock music, especially with the indie rock explosion in the mid 80’s and most of the 90’s and the alternative movement. So many bands have poured the emotions of their adolescence out into their music since then, and many have done a great job at it. It sounds cliché, but younger folks have a strong connection to it. It is a getaway for them. Some people are just better off spending time isolated with the sound of their favorite music. Sitting in your room alone as a teenager listening to some of your most beloved albums will never go out of style. Many people enjoy it even beyond their teen years. So many great records are meant to be listened to in different settings based on the albums mood. Trust me when I say that hearing My Bloody Valetine’s Loveless just doesn’t sound the same when you listen to it through headphones in broad sunny daylight as your going for a jog than it does say at night in a dim light room through speaker. Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled debut album just doesn’t have the same effect by candlelight in an upscale dining room as it does in a hole-in-the-wall basement with objects to smash at hand. Albums often target a demographic, but some even target a certain atmosphere. In late 1995, Smashing Pumpkins released the quintessential album for sulking, bedroom-dwelling teenagers with Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the bands most popular album.
In the years leading up to Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins were coming off of instant recognition with 1993’s Siamese Dream, the bands iconic sophomore effort, and Gish, their underappreciated debut. Despite containing sad lyrics, both albums had a bit more warmer, almost punk-influenced sound, thanks to stellar production from Butch Vig. The Pumpkins would take a different direction with Mellon Collie however, as they had U2’s handyman, Flood, take over the reins of production. Mellon Collie offered a somber, gloomier mood, which can be heard right away on the albums first two songs. The title track opens the album wonderfully with a reflective, pensive piano riff instrumental which leads into “Tonight, Tonight,” the beautiful starry-eyed ballad where Billy Corgan introduces us to the records mystical sorrow as he sings, “Time is never time at all/You can never ever leave/Without leaving a piece of youth/And our lives are forever changed/We will never be the same/The more you change the less you feel.” Along with the sad songs there are also some amazingly angst-ridden songs throughout the album, most notably with “Here is No Why,” “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” “Jellybelly” and “X.Y.U.” All of which are very raucous, almost metal-sounding jams. One of the albums finest and most underrated tracks comes towards the end of the first disc with “Muzzle,” a heavier song with a downhearted, almost angry tone as Corgan screams “And the world is drawn into your hands/And the world is etched upon your heart/And the world, so hard to understand/Is the world you can't live without.” The album does however contain some softer, more soothing tracks such as “Galapagos,” “Thirty-Three,” “Cupid de Lock,” and of course “1979,” which is one of the bands finest songs of their career. The lyrics, “Shake down to 1979/Cool kids never have the time” define what Smashing Pumpkins stood for and what their fans loved about them so much as they embraced the outcast as well as anyone. Two of the hidden gems on the album, “Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans” and “Thru The Eyes Of Ruby,” have terrific buildups into outbursts of distorted guitar, heavy bass and out of this world drumming. “Porcelina” is the albums longest track clocking in at over nine minutes. It does take a little while to get to know the album well, but many of these tracks jump out at the listener right away.
Double albums can often be a bit tough to get through and Mellon Collie is no exception as it lasts a little over two hours. There are a few weaker tracks that easily could have been scrapped from the album such as “Tales of a Scorched Earth,” “By Starlight” and “Love,” as they are noticeable down points of the record. However if there was any time for the Pumpkins to make a bold effort like this, 1995 was probably the best time due to a lack of competition with grunge dying down, and the indie and alternative rock scenes having a bit of a slow year. The only albums from 1995 that really rival Mellon Collie are Radiohead’s The Bends and Oasis’ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory. However, none of these albums grasped the alternative audience as well as Mellon Collie did. In terms of communicating to the younger demographic, Billy Corgan got it right all the way down to the album’s title and spot on artwork, with the misty-eyed woman in the middle of the glorious starlight. Just like almost every great album, Mellon Collie has a strong closer as well with “Farewell and Goodnight.” The song has a bit of a softer sound as at this point the album has cleared through the cloud of heavy distortion into this more down-to-earth and friendlier sounding acoustic track with both James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky joining Corgan’s vocals halfway through. What really makes this song is the fact that it ends with the same piano riff heard on the albums self-titled opener, only this time is has a higher brighter and more upbeat feel that is a perfect way to finish the album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was the album that truly put Smashing Pumpkins ahead of the alternative pack and made them one of the biggest bands in the world at the time. This is an album that is a depressed teenager’s sweet dream of sorrow. An album that truly defined 1990’s youth culture as it embraced the angst of adolescence, which was a pivotal aspect to its immense popularity. Many albums can help bring back fond memories of your youth, but very few have the power to actually make you want to go back to your teen years the way Mellon Collie does. A common saying in entertainment is to “always leave them wanting more,” but in this case it was okay for the Pumpkins to let us overindulge…just a little.
