When this album came out in 1995, it absolutely blew my 15-year-old mind. 28 years later, and still nothing has come close to taking its place as my favourite album of all time.
Same. I was 13 years old and I got lost in the songs and lyrics. It became an all-time favorite and all these years later I still listen to it on the stereo. Except on vinyl although I still have the original cd I purchased all those years ago.
There are plenty of better albums by other bands out there. Ones with fsr more hit songs too. Godsamck faceless blows this out of the park. Alice in chains dirt. Greenday dookie. Nirvana in utero. Nirvana nevermind. Staind break the cycle. I could go on forever.
This album has a song for every mood you could possibly be in… yet at the same time it all sounds cohesive and nothing sounds out of place . Top 5 album for me
This is the band at their peak in my opinion, never heard a more complete sounding album by any band. So many tracks that other bands in the 90s could only dream of writing, Billy is a genius.
Not sure myself. I mean it's a 10/10 for sure, and super creative. Just to me Siemese Dream is more concise, drums are mental and pretty much the perfect alt-meta/rock album. Melancholy is a whole other thing though... both albums together are great. Glad I don't have to choose :)
Agreed, this is peak Smashing Pumpkins. So many cool riffs, unique drums, and Billy's song writing is incredible. It is my absolute favorite album. Siamese dream is a close second for me since it doesn't quite have the same amount of variety as Mellon Collie.
The Aeroplane Flies High tracks are great too. I grew up with those so I was into the raw sludgy Pumpkins sound first and then backtracked and was surprised how clean their early albums’ sound were. But to me the 95-96 era is when they really were their own unique sound
Siamese Dream is my #1 but Melon Collie is still magnificent for sure. I wouldnt call MC cohesive but wow does it take you on a roller coaster journey with every “scene” leaving an impression. Few double albums have 0 filler tracks like MC
it was literally their peak. During the tour supporting this album, the drummer was booted for being involved in the drug death of a keyboardist. The bad never TRULY recovered from it. Adore and Machina were good albums, but not to this level.
This is actually an album that I can say changed my life, it changed how I viewed music, it revealed itself to me in different phases throughout my high school/college years. It’s the best non-perfect album I’ve ever listened to.
Double for me on the "changed my life" sentiment. Listening to MCIS I have a memory for every love I had, every loss, every fun time, every hope and dream I had, and all my teen anger. Even today, the songs I wore out simultaneously bring me back to those feelings AND give me new appreciation as viewed through the context of my older self. And the songs I used to either skip or glazed over have new meanings to me as well. The nostalgia hits so hard that I teared up watching her discover this album.
I remember first hearing some of it at my cousin's after only knowing a couple SP songs from the radio and being taken with the diversity of MCIS so I saved up and bought a copy for myself (I was 15 at the time). I was just starting to play guitar at the time and remember the first time I listened through I was overwhelmed and perhaps felt even slightly defeated by the range and depth of the album. But it was also inspiring. Then I discovered the singles had great songs too and of course was first in line when the box set of those came out (even though I had more than half of them already).
It definitely changed my life. I brought it when I was 15 years old. Must have listened to it a thousand times. I can’t really explain it but it actually changed my personality. I went from being quite shy and a bookish geek to more extroverted and adventurous etc. i started dreaming big. I absolutely credit this album. Strange I know.
@@michaeljacyna1973not just teen experiences, but those I'm experiencing up to now (34). It still resonates when you're older, especially songs like "Tonight Tonight" and "Thirty Three".
Omg you are right, that one was amazing! I really enjoyed it actually, but it's been so many years since I listened to it. Hella was Zachs best project by far! @@evanoverzet921 EDIT: I didn't even read your comment correctly, just saw Hella mentioned, and instantly thought of their awesome double album Chirpin something something... Gotta check out that track you mentioned too of course xD
the only double album where every single song is worth listening to. and each song gives you something. There are a lot great double albums but they all have filler songs, nothing here is a filler.
What I love about Melon Collie is how perfectly it embodies the transition from your twenties into your 30s. Siamese Dream has that aching angst of youth and then Melon Collie widens the lens out to a greater sense of purpose and lived experience. It still deals with life, love, hurt and loss but has this kind of introspective mature feel to it. This then continues on Adore which feels even more insightful. I was 12 when Melon Collie was released and I basically grew up to the sound of my favourite band collapsing. I couldn't have hoped for a better band to hold my hand through the adolescent years. 'I fear that I am ordinary just like everyone. To lie here and die among the sorrows.' Just beautiful.
Agreed. I think a lot of people focus too much on the whole "teen" thing regarding this album, simply because they 14-17 when they bought it and the age of the actual kids used in the "1979" video (15 and 16). The band were in their late 20s/early 30s at the time, and as an almost 34 year old trying to settle down and come to grips with getting old, the album speaks to me even more than it did when I was 15-18. Back then it was mainly songs like "Bullet" and "Bodies" I went to, as I was frustrated with myself for doing poorly in social situations. Now I can appreciate the full gauntlet a lot better. For example, now I understand how Billy felt when he wrote "Bullet" as a grown man becoming disillusioned with the record industry, something my 17 year old self wasn't able to comprehend.
There are actually four vocalists in Farewell and Goodnight - Billy, James Iha (guitar/vocals), D'arcy Wretzky (bass/vocal) and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums). the four original members of the band. James was also the lead vocalist on the song that ends the first disc. And you are right that By Starlight has a mournful quality to it. It's actually about Billy's wedding day with his first wife. He says that the song is about how during the ceremony he looked at his bride and saw that her eyes were glazed over and that she was daydreaming and how he worried about whether they were making a mistake getting married so young. The lyric "Dead eyes are you just like me?" is him wondering whether they were both really ready to make the commitment they were making.
YESSS I really enjoyed that track as well! I love how it so perfectly balances their more aggressive rock sound with a sort of watery haziness that transports you into this dreamscape of sorts. This entire album was such a journey sonically, I enjoyed every minute of it.
I've always thought the final few bars of 'Farewell and Goodnight' are like a farewell kiss to the 90s alt-rock in some ways...as if Billy and the band knew the world and music were changing around them, their listeners were growing up and maybe heading out of the angsty teenage and early-20's period of their life, and driving into the sunset of the unknown. It has such a beautiful yet melancholic tone. It always moves me and reminds me of a time long past now.
Beautifully said. Billy himself said that he knew he was losing his connection to youth at the time of writing his album and that he wanted to write a final statement to youth from his adult perspective.
As a millennial I really wish we had our own version for 1999, the nostalgia I feel from 1979 takes me right back to the days of Pokemon and razer scooters
@illicitleafcombuster i agree its def not the strongest on the album. But its a ridiculous earworm with some of the most conventional production on the album and does have beautifully simplistic lyrics. I also didnt get the hype as i was listening to the whole album imagining this as the big hit. But overtime it grew on me and i can understand why most can relate and feel something even if you arent a fan of the band
@spartan1121 Well, the song actually came out in '96 and the video features older kids (15 and 16) doing stereotypical teen stuff, not little kids though. That said, I hated the video when I was a teen since I felt envious of the characters for having such close friendships, and now at 34 it makes me sad for missing out on those experiences I could have easily had at 15-18, had sexuality and religion not wrecked my life at the time.
James is the lead vocalist on "Take Me Down," and the whole band sings on Farewell and Goodnight - Billy, James, D'arcy and Jimmy; describing that ending piano as "stars in the night sky" is perfect!
It is amazing that a band can write an album like this. That is why Smashing Pumpkins are so special. Thanks for your perspective and sharing your first listen with us, Molly.
I'm surprised you only heard the two tracks before. There was a couple years you couldn't avoid hearing Tonight Tonight. It was everywhere! This was certainly the epic album of my youth.
I am more into metal than alternative music, but this album might be the best album of the 90's. It is an utter masterpiece and Billy was on some type of song writing tear that has hardly been matched. To write that many great songs in such a short period is crazy. Still love this album to this day.
Billy and co really played the long game with this album. This defined an entire era of music in the 90s then 20-something years later, listening to it, you realize why it's called Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness when nostalgia tugs at your heartstrings.
1979 was not only the biggest song for Smashing Pumpkins but one of the biggest songs of the 90s. This is a most diverse albums I have ever heard. Metal to classical and everything in-between
So happy you enjoyed it, it truly is a gem of a recording. I love that it still sounds both fresh and nostalgic after all these years. It's always come across as a very sincere project, open vulnerability on display and free of cynicism. As you noted, love is a constant theme throughout but it never comes across as cheesy or pandering. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime release. Really look forward to you experiencing the departure that is Adore at some point.
Listening to this when it first came out was truly a cinematic experience for me. You really have to watch a live performance to see how James Iha creates those guitar effects and to appreciate how hard Jimmy Chamberlin's drum parts are.
Cinematic is a great way to describe the sound of this album. It really transports you into another world when you're listening to it. I'll definitely have to see them live one of these days, I'm sure they're amazing.
Oooh. I have an idea. Easier than going to see them live....react to their VH1 storytellers!!! Please!!! I'm begging you!!! You will hear alot of the songs you've already heard....but in a WHOLE new way.
100%. The live version of "Thru The Eyes of Ruby" from Brixton Academy, London (1996) is the perfect performance to see both of those things. IMHO you will not find anything from any rock band in the 90's that can come even remotely close to a live performance like this... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-avr_AB6xEbc.html
This might not be the type of music most people listen but check out symphony no 3 by Witold Lutoslawski.And maybe do a reaction video.... It'll be incredible
I bought this album in 95 but mostly listened to the singles. Then one night by myself in 96 I got really stoned and listened to the whole album back to back. I remember having what can only be described as a spiritual experience when I heard porcelina of the vast oceans for some strange reason. Such a good song and the instrumental at the end always makes me emotional. It's like the instruments are talking to my soul in a language only it can understand
Pumpkins, compared to their contemporaries, have a vastly higher female demographic and watching this listen-through I understand why. Pumpkins have such a delicate, romantic quality to their music & lyrics. Even the heavy songs have a romantic core to them
From start to finish this album is filled with pure genius. The slow and quiet is in the right place, the loud and fast stuff is right where it belongs. When you just get hit with the heavy stuff they cool you down with the soft stuff. Just incredible.
My favourite album of all time, if you get it, you’re forever blessed and treated every time. I love watching someone listen for the first time and get it too, it’s such a special piece of work.
This is my favorite double album of all time. Representing the passing of each day and each night, from Dawn to Dusk and From Twilight to Starlight. Packed to the brim with different styles, moods, and emotions all throughout. The way the beginning and ending songs reference each other with their piano parts, to signal the cyclical nature of the album. I just love it so much.
Oh awesome! I totally understand why it's your favorite album, Mellon Collie was such an experience to listen to. They really go to all corners with their sound on this record, so many soft and emotional moments and then they'll yank you into an intense whirlwind of chaos. I love it!
@@mollyesanbornBilly Corgan was an extremely prolific songwriter at the time. Mellon collie also came with about 25 b sides which they released in a box set called ‘aeroplane flies high’. Many of the b sides are as good as the albums songs (avoid the deluxe version though). Their next studio album Adore is a complete and total change in style for them which divided fans at the time. Some love it and some hate it, i’m in the love it camp p.s on the last track farewell and goodnight all 4 band members sing!
@@jakehixon4073Yeah, the deluxe version is basically for completionists. The original track listing is more manageable, with the disks all having a unique vibe of their own that can really be gone through in any order.
Album is fantastic. Thru the Eyes of Ruby is still my favorite track from that album and encapsulates the album. Beauty and heaviness all wrapped into one.
Your reaction was very good. You have a very chill but knowledgeable "vibe". This is my favorite SP album of all time, and one of my favorite albums period. Adore next please- it's completely different!
I had such high expectations for this album and was still absolutely blown away by it. I've been taken by surprise at times with music, but nothing touches this album and how it hit me when it came out. It's still a regular listen for me, start to end.
The Smashing Pumpkins have been my favorite band since 93. They shaped my entire adolescence. MCIS is my favorite album of all time. I used to listen to this album on repeat, to the point that I wore out the CDs. 😂 I still have all of my original Pumpkins CDs and they are all too well loved to listen to.
My second favorite album of all-time (Siamese Dream is number one). 😁Farewell And Goodnight is sung by all four members of the band. Fun fact, the piano part of Farewell And Goodnight's ending is the piano from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness played backwards. Perfect bookends to the album.
Great choices for your first and second favorite albums! Both Mellon Collie and Siamese Dream are amazing. That makes sense about the whole band singing on Farewell and Goodnight, I kept hearing all of these different voices haha! I didn't realize that it was the same piano from the album's opening track, that's very creative. Such a nice touch to really pull the album into a cohesive project.
@@mollyesanborn Agreed. Though be warned, starting with Adore things changed a bit. Jimmy Chamberlin was fired from the band during the MCIS tour so his trademark drums aren't there, and the songs are more electronia in nature. It takes the electronic feel of tracks like Beautiful and We Only Come Out At Night and runs with it, so it'll be a bit of a different experience. There's also The Aeroplane Flies High which was released between MCIS and Adore, consisting of singles from MCIS with some killer b-side tracks that didn't make the album and some cover tracks. The solo Billy acoustic version of Tonight, Tonight (Tonite Reprise) is excellent. In between MCIS and Adore is also the songs from the Batman & Robin soundtrack, which was a major hint towards the electronia direction Adore has. With Machina, Jimmy comes back into the band so his drums are back though retains some of the electronia influence Adore has. The only complaint I have about Machina is the mix and the mastering, the damn thing was mixed and mastered too loudly ruining some of the amazing songs like The Sacred And Profane and This Time. Apparently Billy's been working on remixing Machina (and Machina II) so hopefully that comes at some point. There's Machina II that was released free on the internet back in 2000, it has alternate versions of tracks, some covers and a few great tracks too. Beyond Machina though... that's where SP kinda ends for me. Everything they've released since then has been very disappointing, honestly, with only a few small gems here and there.
Wait. What? Really? You are seriously making my head explode right now. I've been playing melon collie on the piano for years and years, and I used to know the ending of farewell on the piano also. Is it seriously the same notes, just backwards?? Seriously??? I'm gonna Google this before I have an aneurysm!!
This album is notorious for its building in nature like a lot of their other albums. That’s why I absolutely love this song through the eyes of Ruby. I love how it escalates. It’s always best to follow along with the lyric booklet. It makes these songs even more profound.
Chino from the Deftones is actually a huge pumpkins fan. He even sang the songs snail and bodies with them at one of their anniversary shows in new jersey a few years back. Also not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but Billy said the 2 albums were supposed to represent day and night. So the first album is daytime and the second is nighttime.
I was at that show. It was epic. Billy kept bringing out musical guests, one of whom was Courtney Love, who came out hammered (shocker) and tried to sing during "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" but completely botched it. We were all booing her, and so she goes up to the mic and yells "You fuckerrrrrs!!" Billy was just standing there laughing, it was great.
This album rocked my world and expanded my musical horizons more than any other in my lifetime. While Siamese Dream is the most perfect SP album, MCIS is the best example of how diverse and unpredictable they can be. So many tracks here are simply incomparable to anything else. I’ve imagined it as a soundtrack to life, full of every kind of mood and emotion. Relatable on a human level, yet it transports you to another world. In short, this album is an experience. Thanks for sharing that experience with us!
Spot on. I find it even hard that someone would like all tracks, given how radically diferent from one another they are. but its an unique experience, hearing such an album as a whole
First off, thank you so much for doing this, Molly. I can’t begin to imagine how much time you must’ve spent not only listening and reacting, but editing this behemoth afterwards. It speaks to the dedication you must have towards your channel and us as viewers that you’d take all of this time out of your day to do this for free! Now that aside, it was a joy to see (hear?) this. Mellon Collie came to me at a very specific time in my early 20s; I’d dropped out of uni (decided my course wasn’t for me), but continued living away from home in the town I was previously studying in, hanging out with my new friends from the local “alternative” scene. I had no idea where I was going at that point, but it didn’t matter. It was the summer of 96 that I first heard Mellon Collie and every song brings back memories of that time and what I was doing at the time. This remains, and always will be, a very special album for me and I am genuinely grateful for you doing this and especially glad you enjoyed the ride. 😊
Its the guitarist James Iha singing on Take Me Down, he's also one of the guitarists in A Perfect Circle. On Farewell and Goodnight, its the whole band singing I believe, maybe not Jimmy Chamberlain the drummer, but Billy, James Iha and Darcy Wretzky the bassist.
@@mollyesanborn No problem. Will you be continuing with the Pumpkins? Its Adore next and that is a massive change in sound for then, probably their most underrated album of their whole catalogue.
@@jameswallace5235 I will definitely do Adore, and a lot of people have suggested Machina as well so at least those two. Not sure if I'll go all the way through their discography or not though.
Thanks for reacting to my favorite album! I loved seeing you enjoy this masterpiece for the first time. For me this album captures that nostalgic feeling of being young and growing up in your teenage years and your 20s. I'm excited for the reactions of the next Smashing Pumpkins albums!
adore is a sad amazing album smashing pumpkins drummer quit the band and billys (singer) wife divorced him and billys mom died of cancer during this album. really dark and beautiful album.
this completely changed how I thought of music in high school and college. it's a wonderful album. 14:30 it's literally fuzz/distortion using a big muff opamp fuzz pedal.
I love this album so much. The first disc is practically flawless and the second one has some of their best tracks (Thru the eyes of ruby, 1979). The somber, slightly dark fairy tale atmosphere is incredible. Grade: A-
The sudden shifts between consecutive songs is what gets me in this album, going from something grand and beautiful like tonight tonight then immediately thrown into jellybelly with its insanely distorted sound. The track listing has changed from the original vinyl release but I love it either way. also the art that comes with the physical album is awesome.
I love how much you appreciate this album, Molly! It reminds me of exactly how this hit me when I first heard it around 14-15 years old, and how much all the production and songwriting just blew me away. I was already a big fan of the Beatles' White Album by that point, and this felt like Billy had picked up the mantle of that beautifully, in taking and absolutely exploding all of the different genres and elements they'd ever used as a band and growing it into a whole new universe of sound. I've always been so delighted by all those tiny pop touches of the "squeaks" and filters and strange little distortions, and how those all serve to elevate and frame the songwriting rather than trying to cover anything up or hide it. Also gotta say, I loved your metaphorical comparisons and those images you drew from the music!
Stunning... this is the best-selling double album of all time, more copies than "The White Album" and "The Wall". Corgan is a genious and Chamberlain one of the best drummers i've ever heard
I've been waiting for this video since your first Smashing Pumpkins reaction video. It's the peak of their musical progression before the band/Billy takes a different path.
I almost teared up on a few moments like during Galapagos, 33, Porcelina and By Starlight. Thank you for all your effort. Made me fall in love with this album all over again and also picked up on some of the concepts of his new album ATUM. did you know Ruby is robot character as revealed by Billy Corgan in his podcast thirty three?? Soo cool.
An epic album indeed, took me quite a bit of time to film/edit but I'm so glad I finally heard this one! A very special body of work, that's for sure. I can't believe how much music the Smashing Pumpkins put out during this time, this record is loaded with stellar tracks.
@@mollyesanborn I'm sure the review was an editing challenge in itself! 😁 A double album was a gutsy move on their part but it certainly remains their most impressive opus, nothing else came close afterwards...but don't let that put you off listening to their later offerings, some of them are still good.
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness is the greatest album of all time, Double Album, Diamond Album, 95% is amazing, no album comes close to these stats
Wow, after hundreds of listens only now after you’ve mentioned it do I hear the themes of the sea and ocean lyrically and effects on the instruments. It’s a true masterpiece!
every song is the most underatted song in there catalogue. Idk how it makes sense. It just does. All of it is so good, none of it can each recieve the love and attention it deserves.
Aww yeah, you made it! It's fun huh? It's wild how much the tone completely varies from track to track, but still sounds cohesive to me. I know Billy and the producer Flood had a lot of fun in the studio, I think that's why there's so much sonic experimentation everywhere. Also thanks for mentioning how long the video actually took to film! (Never mind editing it.) Cheers Molly, you're a star People have already mentioned the vocalists, but basically in the studio it was always usually Billy layering his vocals, with some occasional backing vocals from D'Arcy (bass) or James (other guitarist) - D'Arcy sang lead on Daydream on Gish though. But on this album, everyone else was more involved in the recording, and you can hear the others doing backing vocals more often too. Farewell and Goodnight has them all (including Jimmy, the drummer) taking lead vocals, which is nice - I like when bands do that sometimes. Also James sometimes has a song here and there that he wrote himself, and he usually sings lead on those - so that's what you're hearing on Take Me Down, or Blew Away from Pisces Iscariot One cool thing you can try is listening to the end of the last song on the album, and then the start of the first song - it's a nice bookending theme, and the way the mood has shifted is neat I think!
My friend was going to school in Chicago in the 90s and waited at a bus stop every morning and would get dropped off there by the bus after school. While sitting at a bus stop he could always hear music coming from a building. It was SP in an old candy factory or something that they were renting to play and write this album.
The piano at the end of Farewell & Goodnight transitions into the piano in the beginning of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It's meant to create a sense of repetition and "the infinite".
And you have another double album's worth of B-Sides from Mellon Collie that are equally as good! In fact, the album should have been a quadruple album. Look up The Aeroplane Flies High
You must continue with the Pumpkins! They have such a rich and varied discography. Also the last song is all four band members singing together, that’s the only track that’s ever happened I believe. Love what you’re doing!
