Remembering Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie With Fondness and Weariness
 |
More than likely, no one looks back on "Take Me Down," "Beautiful," "Stumbleine" or "Cupid de Locke" with fond reverence.
A few years back I edited down the album myself -- as nerds are wont to do with too much time on their hands -- using B-sides from the era that I had fallen in love with through collecting all the singles.
Those singles would be collected on The Aeroplane Flies High, a box set released in 1996, which is now a treasured fan item that sometimes runs up to $200 a box on eBay.
The 23-minute "Pastichio Medley," found on Aeroplane, is a pastiche of all the riffs and ideas that were thrown out in the Mellon Collie sessions. No telling how many songs the Silversun Pickups, Muse and tons of alt-rock also-rans cribbed from this catch-all.
The Mellon Collie that I tracked comes in at just over 41 minutes and 11 tracks. Looking back, "God" and "Ugly" shouldn't have been buried as B-sides, but I am glad I bought those compact disc and cassingles when I did.
Yes, cassingles.
Follow @hprocksoff
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
