Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

So you're telling me that you take 2 hours out of your days to listen to this regularly, and call it great? I dunno man.

I remember hearing Smashing Pumpkins for the first time in school. Everything about them seemed strange, exotic, Avant Garde! And those vocals? Who let this alien sing on these records?

I then got to know more about the band and realised Billy Corgan is not very exotic at all. Less of an alien, more of a nasally goblin.

Still, the music holds up. And on this record we have a whole buffet of fuzzy alternative rock and gentle finger picked ballads. Like a lot of listeners, I too thought leaving a few tracks out would have improved the experience but I have to say, after revisiting Mellon Collie today it's all surprisingly cohesive and musically strong. I will always consider Siamese Dream their 'best' record but I think we have another 5 here.

Good but I don't love it like Grant and Kim.

It's impressive to make an album this grandiose while managing to keep things interesting throughout. Favorite track: Zero

This is an easy 5. I know Billy is a bit of an egomaniac but he’s a damn fine musician. Songwise Tonight, Tonight on top for me, it transforms me to a better place in time.

I actually thought this was way better than Siamese Dream but the fact that it's 2 fucking hours long kinda ruins it a bit.

Hmm, I think I would have told you I liked this album before listening to it again today. I’m more conflicted now. It’s sooo long, with lots of not great stuff. Saved by a few great highlights.

Is it necessary for this album to be over 2 hours long?

Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine?
No, but I do it anyway because its sterile and I like the taste

I finally get to listen to this one. I’ve been meaning to, and the fall weather is perfect for it. I mean, a two-hour-long album about the sadness and melancholy (hah) of adolescence? Quite appropriate.

Anyway, as a mythologized double album, this does it about as well as you can. It’s not that every song is some insane masterpiece, but they all contribute to the album. Obviously certain sequencing choices make this album much, much better (“Tonight, Tonight” as the album’s de facto opener, “Love” into “Cupid De Locke”), and certain songs stand out against others as clear moments of importance, high points if you will.

The album’s two anchors, aka the two best songs on the album according to everyone ever, are “Tonight, Tonight” and “1979.” Now lemme tell you about these two songs. The former? Yeah it’s symphonic, but that’s not what’s special about it. The lyrics are incredible, resonant, moving. The singing is, though an acquired taste, passionate and emotional. Where the song really shines though is the band playing. The drum work on this song is out of this world, that guitar riff is instantly iconic, and the chord progression on the chorus is about the same. The latter, is mesmerizing, subtly heartbreaking in its wistfulness and its longing, and it’s a cross between an anthem and a deeply personal song, and it’s understandably become both.

As for the rest of the album, it’s really just incredible; every single song feels like the cold, autumnal depression of adolescence, and the sequencing is absolutely excellent. It is by far one of the best double albums I’ve ever heard, and one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, period.
10/10
DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: ABSOLUTELY
REASON: quality, meaningfulness, influence, relevance

This is a magnum opus for Billy Corgan and the Pumpkins. Too bad they didn’t have the decency to end it all after recording it. They haven’t put out a good album since and Corgan’s bloated, self-aggrandizing douche-baggery is a huge reason why. This album has a lot of great songs but they are held down by all the ‘experimental’ shit around them that all sounds the same. The hits are strong and carry the ranking here.

A masterpiece of alternative rock that pushes every edge of the genre. There is never a dull moment here, just hit after hit. I love how it switches from heavy emotional stress to dreamy ballads and back like it’s nothing. At times it feels like this album loses itself in its own grandiosity

How is it so consistently good yet varied? I don’t think there can be any 2h+ album better than this

Before listening to this album, my mindset was "The Smashing Pumpkins is a prerty overrated band"

After listening to this album tho, I still believe that they are. But at least I know which is overrated in their music.

If they strip away the symphonic, dream, chamber, and some parts of their grunge sounds. They'd be a pretty good alternative rock band. That's not the case here so this album was only decent in my opinion.

3.5/5

People complain about Corgan's voice as if rock singers were always trained singers with actual technique. This could have been a great album but to make it double was just relasing some of the greatest songs 90's rock gave with many fillers.

This is a long album...but there are so many good songs on here. Add to that a hefty dollop of nostalgia and this is a 5 star record for me easy.

I owned this cassette and album. Bullet with butterfly wings forever altered my musical tastes. I appreciate this album now after listening with my old ears. Still not a huge fan of the ballads

a solid album despite Billy Corgan's best attempts to ruin it, both prior to and post release

I mean it's the smashing pumpkins, what can you have against them?

Very nice

Standout tracks: tonight, tonight and 1979

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long