Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
A 28-song double album with a day-to-night structure, the band's only number one on the Billboard 200.
The Smashing Pumpkins, 1995
- Released
- October 1995
- Recorded
- 1995
- Studio
- Pumpkinland, Sadlands, Bugg and Chicago Recording Company, Chicago; Village Recorder, Los Angeles
- Label
- Virgin
- Producer
- Billy Corgan, Flood, Alan Moulder
Corgan described the plan as The Wall for Generation X, a double album with two halves meant to represent day and night, though he rejected the term concept album. The band turned from Vig to Flood and Alan Moulder. Sessions began in April 1995 in a rehearsal space and the band worked in two rooms at once. Iha and Wretzky had much larger roles than on the earlier records. Pro Tools was used for guitar overdubs and looping. All guitars were tuned down a half-step. To Forgive is a single live guitar take, while Thru the Eyes of Ruby has about 70 guitar tracks. Tonight, Tonight features the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The count was cut from a planned 31 songs to 28, out of 57 candidates.
Take Me Down was written and sung by Iha, and all four members sing on Farewell and Goodnight. The artwork is by the Wisconsin collage artist John Craig. It entered the Billboard 200 at number one with first-week sales of 246,500 and was later certified 11 times platinum. Time named it the best album of 1995. Rolling Stone's Jim DeRogatis gave it three stars, calling it one of the rare epic rock releases whose bulk is justified in the grooves, while faulting Corgan's lyrics. Pitchfork's Ian Cohen, reviewing the 2012 reissue, called it one of the most generous records of the decade. The reissue added 64 bonus tracks. The album appears in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness2:52
- Tonight, Tonight4:14
- Jellybelly3:01
- Zero2:40
- Here Is No Why3:45
- Bullet with Butterfly Wings4:18
- To Forgive4:17
- Fuck You (An Ode to No One)4:51
- Love4:22
- Cupid de Locke2:50
- Galapogos4:46
- Muzzle3:44
- Porcelina of the Vast Oceans9:21
- Take Me Down2:52
- Where Boys Fear to Tread4:22
- Bodies4:12
- Thirty-Three4:10
- In the Arms of Sleep4:12
- 19794:26
- Tales of a Scorched Earth3:45
- Thru the Eyes of Ruby7:38
- Stumbleine2:54
- X.Y.U.7:07
- We Only Come Out at Night4:05
- Beautiful4:18
- Lily (My One and Only)3:31
- By Starlight4:48
- Farewell and Goodnight4:22
Personnel
- Billy Corgan vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, autoharp, production, mixing
- James Iha guitars, vocals, mixing
- D'arcy Wretzky bass guitar, vocals on Beautiful, 1979 and Farewell and Goodnight
- Jimmy Chamberlin drums, vocals on Farewell and Goodnight
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra orchestra on Tonight, Tonight
- Greg Leisz pedal and lap steel guitar on Take Me Down
- Audrey Riley string arrangement on Tonight, Tonight
- Flood production, mixing
- Alan Moulder production, mixing
- Howie Weinberg mastering
More from The Smashing Pumpkins
Gish (1991), Siamese Dream (1993), Pisces Iscariot (1994), The Aeroplane Flies High (1996), Adore (1998)
Sources
- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Wikipedia
- The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Pitchfork (2012-12-05)