Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness Downers Grove IL

Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

Smashing Pumpkins

Virgin Records, 1995

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 06/28/1997

One of the most maddening aspects of the Smashing Pumpkins ishow critics have waffled on their monster hit Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. When it first cameout, "overblown", "self-indulgent" and "pretensious" were wordsthat were associated with this opus.

A year later, after the bum rush of videos and airplay, thisalbum was mopping up awards left and right. "Ambitious," "epic" and"brilliant" were the key words of association. I've listened tothis album in its entirety at least 9 or 10 times and I'm stillleaning towards the "overblown" argument. It's admirable in itsambitions (one album could have been a double album in the 70s),but before handing Billy Corgan and company the "Best Album of theDecade" crown, its flaws equal each stride the album achieves.

Let's start with the good, so I won't get too much hate mail.Producer Flood gives each song a full, rich sound. It's a fatdouble album and it sounds like you're listening to an epic."1979", "Zero" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" will be staples injukeboxes in both frat bars and pizza pubs well into the nextmillennium.

The lesser known songs will have cynics of the band giving thealbum another listen. The spacey "We Only Come Out At Night", thecatchy riffs of both "Here Is No Why" and "Stumbleine" showcase avery talented band that MAY have deserved a lot of the acclaim thatthis album landed. At least a marginally talented band occpies thecollection of many high school and college kids.