By: Eric Mulligan
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan once described “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” (released 25 years ago this month) as “The Wall” for Generation X”. While in recent years it’s become prudent to not listen too closely to anything Corgan has to say, I still am internally debating whether or not I agree with his statement.
Pink Floyd’s classic 1979 concept album was initially conceived as a rock opera and tells a remarkably complex and linear story. Whereas the songs on “Mellon Collie” are only loosely separated into groups based on themes of day and night. Or, by some interpretations, life and death.
It is interesting that Corgan referenced the work of a progressive rock band, however, since I have always thought the Pumpkins’ unique brand of alternative rock owed more than a little to the prog genre, a debt that is especially apparent on the musically ambitious “Mellon Collie”.
“Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” may not have a clear storyline or unifying concept, but it is still an impressive album in terms of significance, scope and sheer size. Not only did it confirm that the breakthrough success of the Pumpkins’ 1993 masterpiece “Siamese Dream”was far from a fluke by becoming the first – and to date, only – Smashing Pumpkins release to ever top the Billboard 200, but it also simply contains a huge amount of music. Its more than two-hour runtime had to be spread across two CDs/cassettes and three vinyl LPs when released, which makes its initial chart success even more impressive.
Someone who is only familiar with “Siamese Dream”might expect those 120-plus minutes to solely showcase the Pumpkins’ signature blend of shoegaze, psychedelic rock and heavy metal. But if that were the case, I would most likely not be writing about “Mellon Collie”25 years later. The album actually contains an incredible variety of musical styles and instrumentation. True, there are elements of some stereotypical “Siamese Dream” songs in “Mellon Collie”tracks like hit singles “Zero” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” But even those examples have a sound more reminiscent of heavy metal than anything that appears on the fuzzy, dreampop-influenced “Siamese Dream”.
And alongside these relatively few straightforward rockers is a diverse assortment of tender instrumentals (the title track), aggressive noise rock (“Where Boys Fear to Tread” and “Tales of a Scorched Earth”), radio-friendly anthemic rock (“Tonight, Tonight” and “1979”), and even some mellow alt-rock surprises (“Cupid de Locke”, “Take Me Down” and “In the Arms of Sleep”, to name a few). While some of these unique musical styles were hinted at on the more experimental tracks of “Siamese Dream”, they are fully developed on “Mellon Collie”.
The creative process behind “Mellon Collie” represented a big step forward for the band as well. “Siamese Dream”’s recording sessions were negatively impacted by all four band members’ personal issues and were made even worse by Billy Corgan’s borderline tyrannical perfectionism: he overdubbed many of fellow guitarist James Iha and bassist D’Arcy Wretsky’s parts with his own playing and would spend days layering guitar tracks for a single section of a song.
The other members felt much more included in both the songwriting and recording stages of “Mellon Collie”’s development, which led to productive and peaceful recording sessions as well as a finished product that was truly a Smashing Pumpkins album instead of essentially just a Billy Corgan album.
In trying to differentiate themselves from both the saturated alt-rock scene and their own previous success, the Smashing Pumpkins created a beautiful mess that has remained relevant for 25 years. While it is in some ways a product of its time (only during the alt-rock explosion of the 1990s could a rambling, experimental double album have reached the top of the Billboard 200), “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” is also a timeless snapshot of a band at the absolute top of their game.
In my opinion, “Siamese Dream”may be the better overall album, but “Mellon Collie”has the best individual musicianship and songs, which is why I have a feeling I’ll still be listening to it on its 50th anniversary and beyond.
Eric Mulligan can be reached at [email protected].