Mellon Collie was released as a double CD and triple LP in 1995, having been written following an epic worldwide tour supporting Siamese Dream, the previous album. Flood and Alan Moulder were recruited to produce the record, and got the band working more cohesively as a group, rather than Billy Corgan dominating proceedings. The two discs were labelled as representing day and night, although it is not a concept album as there isn't a truly cohesive narrative knitting them together. Corgan wrote much of the material with a view of encapsulating his youth, and this seemed to sit well with the market, going on to reach number 1 in the US and number 4 in the UK.
The eponymous opener is a gentle piano number, that is then taken by the scruff of its neck into the masterful Tonight, Tonight. Corgan's voice is supreme on this, and the staccato drumming and swirling strings entrap the listener completely. Jellybelly is a slightly identikit grunge number, whereas Zero has a recognisable guitar intro from the outset. It was one of the numerous singles of the album, and has that wonderful "emptiness is loneliness, loneliness is cleanliness, etc." moment halfway through, alongside a relentless wave of sound. Here is No Why follows this up with some passion, but is blown out the water by the astonishingly good Bullet with Butterfly Wings, the first single off the album. The quiet-loud-quiet approach works an absolute treat, with the reverb on Chamberlin's percussion giving a claustrophobic feeling during the calmer sections, before the band explode led by Corgan's "just-holding-it-together" voice. To Forgive then takes things down a step, with a much more laid-back feeling. An Ode to No One is a pretty relentless wall of guitar noise, but slightly forgettable with it. Love makes one of the best modern uses of the phaser in recent memory, with a wonderfully distorted texture to the song. Cupid de Locke is too saccharine for me, whereas Muzzle has a bit more balance to it. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans is an epic song, clocking in at nearly 10 minutes, and whilst it takes a while to get going, has sufficient variety to engage for the duration. Bodies is a superb song, although slightly lyrically melodramatic. 1979 was another single off the album, and it is radio-friendly rock, with a piercing snare and jangly guitar offering it an identity quite different to the rest of the album. Tales of a Scorched Earth and X.Y.U. are far edgier, with a real intensity to them, complete with squealing guitars, and Corgan's rasping, broken voice. Whilst I'm not entirely convinced, the variety and conviction are both impressive. Stumbleine is another delicate lullaby, but with a deeper guitar tone, which makes it less saccharine. The electronica of Beautiful completes the genre-jumping of this quite wonderfully bizarre album.
It is clearly a momentous work of art, and there are some outstanding pieces of music here - some of the best rock songs of the 90s. However, I find the overall album a bit too binary; either all out rockers or syruppy sweet ballads, with little in between. The former I am a big fan of, but the latter does not quite work for me, as they tend to sound a bit samey, and rely too much on Corgan's, admittedly impressive, voice. Lyrically it is also a combination of limited and pompous, with angsty, meaningless epithets riddling otherwise cohesive tracks. That having been said, the high points of this album are genuinely impressive, and with even more time I feel like it would have offered even more to the listener. I appreciate it more for its misses as well as its hits because it signifies a band trying so hard to try new things, and, on the whole, succeeding.
Chloe's album rating: 7
Chloe's favourite track: 16. Bodies
Olly's album rating: 8
Olly's favourite track: 6. Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Next week is an album from the same year, but with a remarkably different feel - 800. Liquid Swords by Genius/GZA.
No comments:
Post a Comment