The Smashing Pumpkins and the 28 (!) song masterpiece Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins 1995 (fltr: Billy Corgan, D’Arcy Wretzky, Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha)

Introduction

After the release of the incomparable Siamese Dream in 1993 and an extensive world tour, band leader Billy Corgan changed gear yet another time. A dizzying amount of songs was written and recorded. The creative explosion resulted in one of the most important rock albums of the 1990s, the double album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.

On the way to Mellon Collie

Following the tense recording session for Siamese Dream, The Smashing Pumpkins went on a grueling 13 month tour. The band became well-rehearsed, played better and were perfectly tuned in to each other. After the tour, band leader and composer Billy Corgan didn’t take a moment for himself, but instead set to work on the next album immediately.

Corgan had struck gold. For Siamese Dream, the band briefly considered releasing a double album, but ultimately decided against it. From the early stages the consensus was that the new album would definitely be a double album. Given the number of songs Corgan wrote, it could easily have been a 5,6,7 disc double album. The output was incredible. So was the ambition, before its release Corgan described Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness as “The Wall for Generation X”.

Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream

Problems

The problems the band was dealing with hadn’t gone away. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin’s heroin addiction had reached almost epic proportions, and the band, especially ex-couple bassist D’Arcy Wretzky and guitarist James Iha, had little faith in the next recording process, which had been disastrous for Siamese Dream.

Meanwhile, the pressure put on Corgan was huge. After Kurt Cobain’s death, Corgan was expected to make the next Nevermind and take Cobain’s place as the standard-bearer of alternative rock. Corgan realized it all too well. He regularly stated that this album was a “do or die” situation: “It either goes up or it goes away”, ‘it’ referencing The Smashing Pumpkins.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Recording session

Recordings

The first decision was to employ a different producer, Butch Vig was replaced by Flood and Alan Moulder. In December 1995, Corgan said: “To be completely honest, I think it was a situation where we’d become so close to Butch that it started to work to our disadvantage… I just felt we had to force the situation, sonically, and take ourselves out of normal Pumpkin recording mode. I didn’t want to repeat past Pumpkin work”.

The new producers encouraged the band to play together every day and familiarize themselves with the new music. Many of the basic recordings (drums and bass) are live recordings, often done in one or two takes. The rest of the music was completed in two studio booths. D’Arcy and Iha worked together extensively and recorded their own parts. Corgan gave them the space to do so, this time around. Vocals and Corgan’s solos and additional guitar parts were recorded in the other booth.

The new way of working probably had something to do with the huge amount of new songs Corgan had written. This number was approaching 80(!), leaving less room for the paralyzing perfection that had characterized the Siamese Dream sessions.

Towards the end of the sessions, Corgan came up with another new song, 1979. Producer Flood wasn’t impressed, but Corgan knew the song had something special. He worked on it, refined it, replaced musical passages, and presented it again: 1979 made the final cut.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

On October 23, 1995, The Smashing Pumpkins’ third album, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, was released. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and made global stars of the band and its members. The album would go on to sell more than 10 million copies in the US alone. The album was a resounding success in the rest of the world as well.

By the time the recordings were finished and the band had deleted about 60 songs, they were still left with 28 (!) songs. The record company was apprehensive, to say the least. This was almost unsellable (a double album is relatively expensive) and the length of the album exceeded the 120-minute limit. The band persevered and proved themselves right. A week before the album’s release, the single Bullet With Butterfly Wings was released. It became an (international) hit.

Corgan had aimed the album at young people (aged 14 to 24), because “that’s the age group that’s really listening”. He assumed the album would be poorly received and misunderstood by critics: “It will be totally misunderstood by the plus-30-year-old rock critics. I’m not writing it for them … I’m waving goodbye to me in the rearview mirror. Tying a knot around my youth and putting it under the bed”.

However, the reception was positive. Reviewers, critics, and the public alike embraced Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness with abandon. It would prove to be the biggest success of The Smashing Pumpkins’ career and became one of the best-selling rock albums of the 1990s.

The fact that an album like Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness achieved such sales figures and produced so many hit singles is remarkable for a double album. Add to that the number of tracks and the musical scope of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, and the achievement is nothing short of miraculous.

The Souvenir (Jean-Baptiste Geuze) & St. Catherine of Alexandria (Raphael)

Album cover

Corgan had several ideas for the album’s artwork. He got in touch with collage artist John Craig but still wanted to find someone who could better capture Corgan’s Victorian style. Craig: “Billy had such a big idea in mind; he must have had this whole booklet idea already conceived. He really wanted to do Victorian paintings, so after looking at my portfolio, I think he liked what he saw. But still wanted to find someone who could paint in that style”. After an initial proposal from another art director, Corgan was still not completely satisfied. Back to John Craig.

Corgan and Craig agreed that Craig would start with a proposal for a booklet image. The first image he delivered was of two children in a cornfield. Corgan was convinced: the full booklet would be done by Craig. The cover had not yet been decided on, so Corgan and Craig began working on a design. Craig combined two paintings for the woman on the cover: The Souvenir by Jean-Baptiste Greuze and St. Catherine of Alexandria by Raphael.

The album cover and the artwork, including the typeface, were nominated for a Grammy.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Booklet

Review

The predictable reactions that fall upon a double album were also expressed about Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. Too long, too much, too excessive, further editing would have resulted in 1 sublime album, etc. Personally, I love double albums. Bands that stick their necks out, experiment, embrace multiple styles; it often results in beautiful musical experiences. I have written a lot about double albums. Also read the stories about Tommy, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Alive!, Here, My Dear, Sandinista!, Plays Live, Sign O’ The Times, Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus and LCD Soundsystem.

The same applies here, with 28 songs spread over 2 discs. The music ranges from grunge and heavy metal to (alternative) pop, and art-rock. Some of the quieter songs point ahead to the heavily underrated Adore album. The band’s instrumentation is also more extensive than ever, which isn’t limited to percussion instruments alone.

The structure of the album has been carefully thought out. The third track, certainly in terms of lyrics, reveals the true theme of the album. After the piano instrumental and the upbeat Tonight, Tonight, Jellybelly hits hard.

Livin’ makes me sick
So sick I wish I’d die
Down in the belly of the beast
I can’t lie

© 1995 Billy Corgan

The album is filled with unforgettable and catchy riffs. In Zero, the line “And God is empty just like me” stands out. Corgan is religious and was so at the time as well. Corgan in 1996: “This friend of mine asked me, “Do you really mean it when you sing, ‘God is empty just like me’?” And 363 days out of the year the answer is no. But those two days that I feel it, I feel it pretty intensely”.

One of the most famous lines from the entire oeuvre of The Smashing Pumpkins comes from Bullet With Butterfly Wings: “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage”. Frustration about hopelessness? Is doom always lurking? Does emotion serve any purpose at all?

After the beautiful interlude To Forgive and the wild Fuck You (An Ode To No One), a number of songs follow that seem to point forward to (the sound of) Adore, beautiful songs. The first disc closes with Take Me Down, written and sung by guitarist James Iha.

The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979 video

And, after 14 songs of splendor, we are only halfway through. Disc 2 opens with Where Boys Fear To Tread, a heavy riff with lyrics that Courtney Love claims are about her. Bodies is followed by Thirty-Three, which is still a live favorite. And then it’s time for the album’s prized song, 1979.

Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet

Junebug skippin’ like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we’d never see an end to it all

And I don’t even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don’t know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth
Below

© 1995 Billy Corgan

1979 sounds like no other song in the band’s body of work, or in pop music in general. A beautiful song, beautiful lyrics, original sound, almost funky, a highlight!

Tales Of A Scorched Earth is hard ^squared, complete with extremely distorted screaming vocals. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby is vintage Smashing Pumpkins, small and big, bombastic and sensitive, everything that makes the band’s music so addictive. Following the beautiful Stumbleine, another glorious riff song, X.Y.U., is next. It’s not until We Only Come Out At Night that the first song that’s not as good as the rest makes its appearance. The album ends on a quieter note, with the closing Farewell And Goodnight standing out because every band member sings along.

Every time I hear and listen to the album, I am impressed by the high level of the music. Only after 23 songs does the first (minor) dip occur. It’s beyond impressive just how much good music Corgan has collected on the album. I was crazy about the album at the time and still am. The only downside is the production; I don’t like the dense wall of sound that Flood applies to many of his productions. In my opinion, Butch Vig would have produced a much better album. The question is, of course, whether the chemistry that developed in the studio and during the sessions for this album would have been as productive with Vig at the helm.

So, has Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness really become “The Wall for Generation X”? No, fortunately not. Whereas The Wall succumbs to its own weight and pretensions, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness still stands as one of the most exciting albums of all time.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Singles

Singles

Five singles were culled from the album.

Bullet With Butterfly Wings
(released on October 16, 1995)
1979
(released on Januari 23, 1996)
Zero
(released on April 23, 1996, in the VS)
Tonight, Tonight
(released on May 6, 1996, in the VK)
Thirty-Three
(released on November 11, 1996)

Songs

All songs written by Billy Corgan, unless stated otherwise.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Dawn To Dusk

Disc 1 (Dawn To Dusk)

Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
Tonight, Tonight
Jellybelly
Zero
Here Is No Why
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
To Forgive
Fuck You (An Ode To No One)
Love
Cupid De Locke
Galapogos
Muzzle
Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans
Take Me Down (James Iha)

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Twilight To Starlight

Disc 2 (Twilight To Starlight)

Where Boys Fear To Tread
Bodies
Thirty-Three
In The Arms Of Sleep
1979
Tales Of A Scorched Earth
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby
Stumbleine
X.Y.U.
We Only Come Out At Night
Beautiful
Lily (My One And Only)
By Starlight
Farewell And Goodnight (James Iha, Billy Corgan)

Fuck You (An Ode To No One) was named An Ode To No One on initial pressings, but was later renamed to its original, intended title.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Live Saturday Night Live 11-11-1995

Musicians

Billy Corgan – vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, autoharp
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums; vocals on Farewell And Goodnight
James Iha – guitar; vocals on Take Me Down, Farewell And Goodnight
D’Arcy Wretzky – bass; vocals on Beautiful, Farewell And Goodnight

Guest musicians

Chicago Symphony Orchestra – orchestra on Tonight, Tonight
Greg Leisz – pedal and lap steel guitar on Take Me Down

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Remaster

Remaster

Special attention for the album’s remaster, which was released on December 4, 2012. The complete remaster series of all the early Smashing Pumpkins albums should be a template for the way projects of that kind should be handled (as far as I’m concerned). All albums up to and including Adore are part of the series and every release is special, elaborate and beautifully packaged and has many extras, like unreleased material, rehearsals, live recordings and DVD’s. This applies to the Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness release as well, that has 3 extra discs and a DVD.

Disc 3 (Morning Tea)

Tonight, Tonight (Strings Alone Mix)
Methusela (Sadlands Demo)
X.Y.U. (Take 11)
Zero (Synth Mix)
Feelium (Sadlands Demo)
Autumn Nocturne (Sadlands Demo)
Beautiful (Loop Version)
Ugly (Sadlands Demo)
Ascending Guitars (Sadlands Demo)
By Starlight (Flood Rough)
Medellia Of The Gray Skies (Take 1)
Lover (Arrangement 1 Demo)
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (Take 7)
In The Arms Of Sleep (Early Live Demo)
Lily (My One And Only) (Sadlands Demo)
1979 (Sadlands Demo)
Glamey Glamey (Sadlands Demo)
Meladori Magpie
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (Home Piano Version)
Galapagos (Instrumental/Sadlands Demo)
To Forgive (Sadlands Demo)

Disc 4 (High Tea)

Bullet With Butterfly Wings (Sadlands Demo)
Set The Ray To Jerry (Vocal Rough)
Thirty-Three (Sadlands Demo)
Cupid De Locke (BT 2012 Mix)
Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans (Live Studio Rough)
Jellybelly (Instrumental/Pit mix 3)
The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
Jupiter’s Lament (Barbershop Version)
Bagpipes Drone (Sadlands Demo)
Tonight, Tonight (Band Version Only, No Strings)
Knuckles (Studio Outtake)
Pennies
Here Is No Why (Pumpkinland Demo)
Blast (Fuzz Version)
Towers Of Rabble (Live)
Rotten Apples
Fun Time (Sadlands Demo)
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (Acoustic Version)
Chinoise (Sadlands Demo)
Speed

Disc 5 (Special Tea)

Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (Nighttime version 1)
Galapagos (Sadlands Demo)
Cherry (BT 2012 Mix)
Love (Flood Rough)
New Waver (Sadlands Demo)
Fuck You (An Ode To No One) (Production Master Rough)
Isolation (BT 2012 Mix)
Transformer (Early Mix)
Dizzle (Sadlands Demo)
Goodnight (Basic Vocal Rough)
Eye (Soundworks Demo)
Blank (Sadlands Demo)
Beautiful (Instrumental-Middle 8)
My Blue Heaven (BT 2012 Mix)
One And Two
Zoom (7 ips)
Pastichio Medley (Reversed Extras)
Marquis In Spades (BT 2012 Mix)
Tales Of A Scorched Earth (Guitar Overdub Mix)
Tonite Reprise (Version 1)
Wishing You Were Real (Home Demo)
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (Pit mix 3)
Phang (Sadlands Demo)

DVD

The live DVD comprises recordings made at Brixton Academy, London 1996 & Live at Rockpalast 1996. The songs: Tonight, Tonight, 1979, Zero, Here Is No Why, Thru The Eyes Of Ruby, Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans, Jellybelly, Silverfuck, Disarm, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Fuck You (An Ode To No One), Muzzle, Cherub Rock and X.Y.U..

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – 30th Anniversary

30th Anniversary Release

On November 21, 2025, a special 30th Anniversary edition will be relesed. The original album will contain 2 extra discs filled with live recordings, stemming from the 1996 US tour. The songs: Geek USA, X.Y.U., Cupid De Locke, Here Is No Why, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Galapogos, Bodies, Where Boys Fear To Tread, Zero, Muzzle, Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans / Beautiful / Rocket, Siva, An Ode To No One and Thru The Eyes Of Ruby / By Starlight.

The Smashing Pumpkins – The Aeroplane Flies High

After Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

In 1996, while the band was still on tour, The Aeroplane Flies High was released, a compilation of the Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness singles, supplemented with B-sides and previoulsy unreleased material. A total of 33 songs. Originally, the compilation was to be released in a limited edition of 200,000 copies, but the band’s popularity created enormous demand. More copies were hastily pressed to meet the demand.

After the release of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the band went on tour. Unfortunately, tragedy followed the band. A fan died in Dublin, keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin died of an overdose, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was fired because of his addiction, Billy Corgan’s marriage imploded and his mother died.

It was the prelude to the fourth album, Adore. Read that story here.