mellon collie and the infinite sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins wreaked havoc with restless resolute rage in the enchanted emptiness of sacred starlight to find meaning in the mad murmurs of this mysterious musical missive.   The band had broken through with the multi-platinum success of their second album Siamese Dream and during the exhausting thirteen month tour that followed, band leader Billy Corgan had hatched a plan for an ambitious followup:   "After Siamese Dream, I really felt that we had no future, that it was the end of the line as far as the band went, emotionally and creatively. I felt that I had completely stretched my abilities beyond the beyond. Also, I started to feel my age. And I could sense other band members starting to root down. You start to lose just that little bit of edge. I think about the attack posture that the band had in the early days, the hunger, and then you see people getting more worried about mortgages and stuff like that...The third thing was that we were reaching the end of a creative cycle. Or at least I was, where the basic format of up-and-down rock guitars, pounding drums--all these elements that are classic Smashing Pumpkins was reaching its end point It's become such a formulaic thing and not just by us. People don't even bat an eye anymore. You start to lose at your own game just from sheer imitation...So I said, 'Let's approach this like it's our last album.' Because it either will be our last album, or it will be our last album as people know the Smashing Pumpkins. And it was a very freeing decision to make. It was just a matter of pushing it as far as we could go--in harmony."


 D'Arcy Wretzky considers the pressure going in: "If you don't sell more than the last record, it means you're going downhill...We all had our own head things going on that summer.  Not so much tension within the band, but just not being able to deal with other people in general."

Jimmy Chamberlin: "After putting everybody's egos and personal shortcomings aside, you have what you love to do, which is to make music...It was the sound of four people together."

James Iha:   "It was time to make another record or disband.  Nobody wanted to go through the high dramatic b.s. anymore. It was totally necessary for everyone to do the next record...It was about going for a feel rather than editing or cutting something into shape."

The band opted out of working again with Butch Vig (who had produced Gish and Siamese Dream) and tried to change things up by bringing in Flood and Alan Moulder as co-producers.  Some tracks were started in the fall of 1994 at Corgan's home studio Sadlands as well as Bugg Studios at Iha's home; but Flood insisted that they play live together on a daily basis.  They began recording basic tracks at their Pumpkinland rehearsal space on the North Side of Chicago, which ended up forming the foundation of the album.  More work was done at the Chicago Recording Company and The Village Recorder with multiple recording booths making it easier to get more work done.  And there was a lot of work to be done, adding sythesizers, sequencers, loops, and other embellishments gave each track its own sound.   In the end, 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'  had twenty-eight songs and clocked in at over two hours long.  

'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' features  Jimmy Chamberlin on drums, vocals on "Farewell and Goodnight";   Billy Corgan on lead vocals, lead guitar, piano, mellotron, production, mixing, string arrangement on "Tonight, Tonight", art direction and design;   James Iha on rhythm guitar; backing vocals, mixing, and additional production on "Take Me Down" and "Farewell and Goodnight"; vocals on "Take Me Down";   D'arcy Wretzky on bass guitar, vocals on "Beautiful" and "Farewell and Goodnight";    with   the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing on "Tonight, Tonight";   Greg Leisz adding pedal and lap steel guitar on "Take Me Down";  and  Audrey Riley doing the string arrangement for "Tonight, Tonight".   

It was a painstaking process.  Corgan admits:   "I know it looks anal...It is a means to an end  It's not the best means to an end. It's not the shortest distance between two points. But it is a means to an end. In a weird kind of way, music has afforded me an idealism and perfectionism that I could never attain as me...It's really the end of an era.  Most people don't know us except for Siamese Dream. In their minds this is our second album. But for me, it's seven years of playing in clubs, dragging your equipment upstairs, dealing with my dad, all those doubts, people writing stuff about us, the band almost falling apart--you look at all those things, and you can't help but go, 'We fucking did it.'...We finally managed to manifest everything I always thought we could do...Somehow we managed to get a lot of blood out of the stone...We've talked about it as a band.  It's a pretty amazing war horse, a great accomplishment. Fuck, nobody can take this away...It will be totally misunderstood by plus-30-year-old rock critics.  I'm not writing it for them, even though I'm on the edge of losing my connection to youth, as is anyone entering their late 20s, and you've got a house, you get married, and the things that are important in your life begin to change. But I wanted to communicate from the edge of it, an echo back to the generation that's coming, to sum up all the things I felt as a youth but was never able to voice articulately."


'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' soared to number thirty-six in Austria;  thirty-three in Japan;  twenty-one in Germany;  eighteen in Italy;  fourteen in Finland;  eight in Scotland and Spain;  seven in Norway;  six in France and the Netherlands;  five in Portugal;  four in the UK;  two in Belgium;  and number one in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the US.   In the US, the album made its debut at number one.  

'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'  earned The Smashing Pumpkins Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Record of the Year ("1979"), Best Alternative Music Performance, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ("1979"), Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), Best Pop Instrumental Performance ("Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"), and Best Music Video, Short Form ("Tonight, Tonight").  The band won only one:   Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal for "Bullet with Butterfly Wings".   

'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' has sold over ten million copies in the US alone.  








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"Tonight, Tonight" went to forty-six in the Netherlands, thirty-nine in Belgium, thirty-six on the US pop chart, twenty-one in Australia, thirteen in Ireland, seven in the UK, five on the US alternative chart, four on the US mainstream rock tracks chart, and number two in New Zealand. 






"1979" became the band's biggest hit, reaching number thirty-eight in France, twenty-nine in the Netherlands, twenty-one in Belgium, sixteen in Australia and the UK, twelve on the US pop chart, nine in New Zealand, six in Ireland, two in Canada, and number one on the US alternative chart and the US mainstream rock tracks chart.






"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" reached number forty-one in New Zealand, thirty-three in Australia, twenty-two on the US pop chart, twenty in the UK, eighteen in Canada and the Netherlands, seventeen in France, number four on the US mainstream rock tracks chart, and number two on the US alternative chart.  It gave the band their first top forty hit and their first Grammy.  





"Thirty-Three" hit fifty-one in Australia, thirty-nine on the US pop chart, twenty-four in Canada, twenty-one in the UK, eighteen on the US mainstream rock tracks chart, seven in New Zealand, and number two on the US alternative chart.  






"Zero"  found value at number fifteen on the US mainstream rock tracks chart,  nine on the US alternative chart, and number three in New Zealand.  

smashing pumpkins - zero by aquarius3





'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' 
full album:




All songs written by Billy Corgan, except where noted.

Disc one – Dawn to Dusk
1. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"     2:52
2. "Tonight, Tonight"     4:14
3. "Jellybelly"     3:01
4. "Zero"     2:41
5. "Here Is No Why"     3:45
6. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"     4:18
7. "To Forgive"     4:17
8. "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)"     4:51
9. "Love"     4:21
10. "Cupid de Locke"     2:50
11. "Galapogos"     4:47
12. "Muzzle"     3:44
13. "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans"     9:21
14. "Take Me Down"   Iha 2:52

Disc two – Twilight to Starlight
1. "Where Boys Fear to Tread"     4:22
2. "Bodies"     4:12
3. "Thirty-Three"     4:10
4. "In the Arms of Sleep"     4:12
5. "1979"     4:25
6. "Tales of a Scorched Earth"     3:46
7. "Thru the Eyes of Ruby"     7:38
8. "Stumbleine"     2:54
9. "X.Y.U."     7:07
10. "We Only Come Out at Night"     4:05
11. "Beautiful"     4:18
12. "Lily (My One and Only)"     3:31
13. "By Starlight"     4:48
14. "Farewell and Goodnight"   Iha 4:22

demos



01 - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness [0:00]
02 - Lily (My One and Only) [2:34]
03 - To Forgive [5:53]
04 - Bullet With Butterfly Wings [9:40]
05 - Here Is No Why [14:10]
06 - Galapogos - [17:50]
07 - Frantic Ab Groove [22:05]
08 - Autumn Nocturne [24:57]
09 - Ugly [26:27]
10 - Wishing You Were [29:14]
11 - Thirty-Three [32:21]
12 - Beautiful [36:35]





The album cover was done by illustrator John Craig, using a composite of images from classic paintings.   The face is Greuze by French painter Jean-Baptiste.

The body is from a Raphael painting of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

Moon demo

siamese dream

Smashing Pumpkins persevered through addiction, depression, heartbreak, and exhaustion to create the heavy progressive perfectionism and lush sonic soundscapes of this shoegazing grunge juggernaut.  With the success of their debut 'Gish' the band moved from independent Caroline Records to its larger parent company Virgin to record the followup.  

During the interim the members of the band were each undergoing personal crises:  guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy Wretzky were no longer a couple; drummer Jimmy Chamberlin had a problem with heroin; and band leader Billy Corgan was dealing with writer's block and suicidal depression after a nervous breakdown:     "I was suicidal, and I’d been plotting my own death for about two months, and if you’ve ever read anything about the warning signs of suicide one of them is you give away all your stuff, and I’d given away all my stuff, I gave away all my records, I started giving away my guitars. I was fantasising about my own death, I started thinking what my funeral would be like and what music would be played, I was at that level of insanity."

'Siamese Dream' was recorded over four months at Triclops Studios in Marietta, Georgia; where the band hoped they could focus on the album.  Butch Vig returned to produce the sessions with Corgan, who became so obsessed that he practically lived in the studio working sixteen hour days and even overdubbing many of the other member's parts to get the sound he wanted:     "We rehearsed a lot, we worked together a lot, we argued about things other than music, we actually never argued about music. They believed in what the album represented, they actually really believed in the album, but the actual physical making of the record, they couldn’t live up to that level of scrutiny, they couldn’t live up to that level of pressure. It destroyed my health you know, it destroyed my relationships, I went out of my mind." 

The album features Billy Corgan on lead vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar, Mellotron, string arrangements, production, and mixing; James Iha on rhythm guitar and backing vocals; D'arcy Wretzky on bass guitar and backing vocals; and Jimmy Chamberlin on drums; with Mike Mills on piano; Eric Remschneider on string arrangements and cello; David Ragsdale on string arrangements and violin; Butch Vig on production, engineering, mixing, and string arrangements; Jeff Tomei on engineering; Tim Holbrook on special technical engineering; Alan Moulder on mixing; and Howie Weinberg on mastering.  

'Siamese Dream' went to number sixty-four in Germany, fifty in Ireland, twenty-two in the Netherlands, seventeen in Australia, ten in the US, four in the UK, and three in New Zealand.  It sold over six million copies worldwide and made the band superstars, garnishing Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal.  Corgan considers:    "Even though it wasn’t the one that sold the most, it’s the one that seems to have come through the best. As dark a records as 'Siamese Dream' is, there’s a lot of fun in it, it's almost like we’re kind of laughing at how stupid the whole thing is. It’s like, here’s my pop song about suicide and here’s my epic song about child abuse, and here’s my big middle finger to the indie world." 





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'Cherub Rock' flew to number ninety-one in Canada, eighty-seven in Australia, thirty-one in the UK, sixteen in New Zealand, and number seven on the US alternative chart.  

Freak out and give in 
Doesn't matter what you believe in 
Stay cool and be somebody's fool this year 
'Cause they know who is righteous, what is bold 
So I'm told 
Who wants honey 
As long as there's some money 
Who wants that honey? 
Hipsters unite, come align for the big fight to rock for you 
But beware, all those angels with their wings glued on 
'Cause deep down, we are frightened and we're scared 
If you don't stare 
Who wants, honey? 
As long as there's some money 
Who wants that honey? 
Let me out Let me out Let me out Let me out 
Tell me all of your secrets 
Cannot help but believe this is true 
Tell me all of your secrets I know, I know, I know 
Should have listened when I was told 
Who wants that honey? 
As long as there is some money 
Who wants that honey? 
Let me out Let me out Let me out Let me out 






'Today' made it to number one hundred and three on the US pop singles chart, eighty-two in Canada, fifty-seven in Australia, forty-four in the UK, twenty-seven in New Zealand, and number four on the US alternative chart.  

Today is the greatest
Day I've ever known
Can't wait for tomorrow
I might not have that long
I'll tear my heart out
Before I get out
Pink ribbon scars
That never forget
I tried so hard
To cleanse these regrets
My angel wings
Were bruised and restrained
My belly stings





'Disarm' hit twenty-nine in New Zealand, sixteen in Australia, thirteen in Canada, eleven in the UK, and number eight on the US alternative chart. 

Disarm you with a smile 
And cut you like you want me to 
Cut that little child 
Inside of me, is such a part of you 
Oh, the years burn Oh, the years burn 
I used to be a little boy, so old in my shoes 
And what I choose is my choice, 
What's a boy supposed to do? 
The killer in me is the killer in you, 
My love I send this smile over to you 
Disarm you with a smile 
And leave you like they left me here 
To wither in denial 
The bitterness of one who's left alone
Oh, the years burn 
Oh, the years burn, burn, burn 
I used to be a little boy, so old in my shoes 
What I choose is my voice, 
What's a boy supposed to do? 
The killer in me is the killer in you,
My love I send this smile over to you 
The killer in me is the killer in you, 
I send this smile over to you 
The killer in me is the killer in you, 
I send this smile over to you 
The killer in me is the killer in you,
Send this smile over to you 





'Rocket' accelerated to number one hundred and fourteen in the UK, thirty-one in Canada, and number twenty-six in New Zealand.  

Bleed in your own light
Dream of your own life
I miss me
I miss everything I'll never be
And on, and on 
I torch my soul to show
The world that I am pure
Deep inside my heart
No more lies








'Siamese Dream'
full album:


All tracks written by Billy Corgan, except where noted. 


1. "Cherub Rock"   4:58
2. "Quiet"   3:41
3. "Today"   3:19
4. "Hummer"   6:57
5. "Rocket"   4:06
6. "Disarm"   3:17
7. "Soma"   Corgan, James Iha 6:39
8. "Geek U.S.A."   5:13
9. "Mayonaise"   Corgan, Iha 5:50
10. "Spaceboy"   4:28
11. "Silverfuck"   8:43
12. "Sweet Sweet"   1:38
13. "Luna"   3:20

1979

The Smashing Pumpkins had their biggest hit with this looped and sampled coming of age story. It was the last song completed for their 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' album. As they were getting down to the end of the album, Billy Corgan wanted to include '1979', even though it was unfinished. Producer Flood gave Corgan 24 hours to make it happen; so he went home and wrote the lyrics and they recorded it the next day. The song topped the Canadian Alternative, US Modern Rock, and US Mainstream Rock charts and was nominated for two Grammys: Record Of The Year and Best Rock Performance.

Corgan considers:    "Sometimes, when I write a song, I see a picture in my head. For some reason, it's just sort of an obscure memory I have. and the memory that I have for this particular song was I was about 18 years old and i was driving down the road near my home and it was really heavily raining as only it can seem to rain in a gloomy way it can in Illinois and I remember just sitting at a traffic light...and that's the memory and I don't know why that memory sort of stayed. but that's the memory I wrote the song from. that sort of feeling of sitting in a car at a traffic light. I know it doesn't sound very glamorous; but it emotionally connotes for me a feeling of waiting for something to happen, and not being quite there yet, but it's just around the corner."

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Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time

On a live wire right up off the street

You and I should meet

Junebug skipping 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

Double cross the vacant and the bored

They're not sure just what we have in store

Morphine city slippin dues down to see

That we don't even care as restless as we are

We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts

And poured cement, lamented and assured

To the lights and towns below

Faster than the speed of sound

Faster than we thought we'd go, beneath the sound of hope

Justine never knew the rules,

Hung down with the freaks and the ghouls

No apologies ever need be made, I know you better than you fake it

To see that we 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

The street heats the urgency of sound

As you can see there's no one around