Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness [Deluxe Edition, Box set, CD+DVD]

Smashing Pumpkins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 4, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 1995
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Deluxe Edition, Box set, CD+DVD
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Virgin Records
• ASIN: B008Z9L8QI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (730 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,969 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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Editorial Reviews

MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS is being released in multiple physical and digital configurations, including an expanded 5CD+DVD Deluxe Box Set (also available digitally) and the remastered original album in 4LP Vinyl, 2CD, and digital formats. The Deluxe Box Set's 5 CDs include 64 bonus tracks of previously unreleased material or alternate versions of MELLON COLLIE era songs, and its DVD features a live show filmed at the Brixton Academy, London (1996) and bonus performances from the German music television show Rockpalast (1996). It all comes housed in a 12 x 12 lift-top box with magnetic closure, reimagined cover art and velvet-lined disc holder. The package includes 2 books containing personal notes, lyrics, new collage artwork, plus a Decoupage kit for creating your own scenes from the MELLON COLLIE universe. The bonus content and special features were curated from the band's archives by CORGAN, and have been painstakingly remastered for the first time from the original master tapes by Bob Ludwig.

Originally released October 24, 1995, MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS would debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified 9x platinum by the RIAA. It yielded major hits like "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" the band's unlikely first Top 40 hit the exquisite "1979" and epic "Tonight, Tonight" as well as a thoroughly inspired series of videos. Produced by BILLY CORGAN, Flood and Alan Moulder, the album would also earn a Grammy Award (1996 Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bullet With Butterfly Wings") as well as seven nominations. Beyond the more obvious hits, though, MELLON COLLIE is a song cycle of unusual depth and considerable range. It is a collection of stunningly beautiful moments when everything lined up--a moment in time that's still here to be treasured.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 148 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Mellon collie" album April 10, 2004

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" avoids the pitfalls of many double albums -- too much filler, too few good songs, not enough of the good stuff. Instead, this is in the spirit of the Beatles' "White Album" or Pink Floyd's "The Wall." Billy Corgan's tight writing and the Smashing Pumpkins's brilliant instrumentation make this sweeping double album a must-have.

The first disc, "Dawn to Dusk," builds up slowly with a mournful piano song, only to bounce into the sweeping "Tonight Tonight." Forming the rest are sizzling rockers ("Jellybelly," "Zero"), sparkling softer songs ("Cupid De Locke"), and quiet alt-rock ("Galapagos") and a few songs that stray into unknown musical turf (the sweeping ten minute "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans"). "Take Me Down" ends the first disc on the same quiet note that it began on.

Second disc "Twilight To Starlight" starts off on a very different foot. Jerky guitar riffs and drumming start off, sounding like a warm up, before exploding into the solid "Where Boys Fear To Tread." Having gotten that over with, Corgan and Co. switch into a somewhat quieter collection: gentle acoustics ("Thirty-Three," "Stumbleine," the sweet "In the Arms of Sleep"), catchy alt-rock (new-wavey "1979," "Thru The Eyes of Ruby"), blistering hard rock ("Tales of a Scorched Earth," "XYU"). The gentle "Farewell and Goodnight" rounds off the double album on a quiet note.

"Mellon Collie" has just about every kind of music you can hope to find -- ballads, prog, metal, alt-rock, and so on. A handful of songs feel superfluous, but the vast majority of them just feel like a musical quilt. That is, two musical quilts. The tone of each disc is quite different, with "Dawn to Dusk" being a rockier album more in tune with the past Pumpkins releases. "Twilight To Starlight" has a more experimental, sad feel.

Billy Corgan's reedy voice weaves seamlessly into the complex music, singing songs about loneliness, pessimism and longing for love. His songwriting is exceptional here ("breathing under water, and living under glass..."); his style is best described as poetry set to music. James Iha also dips into songwriting with "Take Me Down" and cowritten "Farewell and Goodnight." Guitar riffs both furious and gentle, sweeping strings, piano, Chamberlin's percussion and D'arcy's good bass work move up and down the scale, from soft to scathing.

With its epic music and tight lyrics, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is madly brilliant and among the best work that the Smashing Pumpkins did. Dark, sweet, sad, and angry, this is a modern classic.

96 of 106 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Next to Godliness. January 3, 2002

By A. Estes

Format:Audio CD

For all of their previous accomplishments, nothing could have prepared the world for what the Chicago-based Smashing Pumpkins would bring to the table with their double-album/masterpiece, "Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness." Co-produced by Flood (Nine Inch Nails), the set -- which marks the third effort the band -- is as lush as it is intimate, as ambitious as it is focused and every bit as grand as such an affair should be.

From the opening swells of the hit "Tonight, Tonight," the amount of growth marked between this and the band's previous effort, "Siamese Dream" is evident. A sweeping ballad that is unlike anything the band had poduced before, it's not only indicative of the what was to come, but also merely a sampler of the wide variety of sounds the album has to offer. From there we are treated to the retro-pop of "1979," a nostalgic anthem of sorts that finds the band working with a drum machine for the first time since recruiting drumming powerhouse Jimmy Chamberlin. Bassist D'arcy Wretzky dominates on heavier fare such as "Zero" (a signature song of the band) and the superior "Tales of a Scorched Earth," which threatens to overload and obliterate even the best sound system. It's not all sonic bombast, though, as some of the simpler tracks like "Muzzle" (which carries the trademark vintage Pumpkins sound) and "Thirty-Three" are the stars that burn the brightest.

From front to back, not a moment on "Mellon Collie" is wasted. Not only is the band in top form and firing on all cylinders (arguably for the first and last time in their career) but Corgan's songwriting hits an all-time high as well. Unlike many of their fellow rockers, Smashing Pumpkins weren't afraid to embrace accessibility and reach new heights creatively, and to that end, "Mellon Collie & The Inifinite Sadness" is one of the most competent and most compelling rock releases of the 90's. A true classic that no collection -- alternative or otherwise -- should go without.

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Masterpiece, Courtesy Of The Pumpkins... September 22, 2002

By Nicholas Alla Koholick

Format:Audio CD

Although a shade less brilliant than Siamese Dream in my book, Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness is a magnificent 28-song opus spanning 2-CDs and a multitude of musical styles. At times, the disparate influences and diversity between tracks cause some sprawling, unfocused tracks, but all in all, it's akeeper. One of the great acheivements of the 1990's, that probably won't(and shouldn't) be ever replicated or attempted.

The first disc, Dawn To Dusk, has more of the radio hits. The sweeping, orchestral "Tonight, Tonight," the heavy grunge of "Zero," and the famous 'rat in a cage' line of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings." Other highlights are the rockers "Jellybelly," and "Ode To No One," and the soft, epic soothing songs "Galapogos," and "Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans."

The second disc, Twilight To Starlight, is harder to digest in that many songs are softer than on Disc 1. "1979" is found here, a 90's new-wave song. Other highlights are: the other Disc 2 hit, "33," the epic rockers "Bodies," "Tales Of A Scorched Earth," "X.Y.U.", and a plethora of other tracks consisting of lifting, grand, and sweeping design--all done in the Smashing Pumpkins' signature style. Billy Corgan's high-pitched whine of a singing voice, James Iha's textured guitar, D'Arcy's supporting bass lines, and Jimmy Chamberlain's intricate, progressive, technical drumming.

Just by reading the song titles and their cryptic lyrics, looking at the front and back of the mammoth CD case, and the pictures inside the two booklets, I get a feeling of magic and wonder. A feeling of surrealism, as if this is more than just a piece of music. It's art. More so to me than any Tool or Pink Floyd album. Each person is entitled to their own interpretation. You can find the music boring, or Corgan's voice annoying, or the whole thing too long. It might be laughable to compare it to Pink Floyd or Tool. Fine. But you'll never know until you try it...