SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE SMASHING PUMPKINS – MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

The latest in a series of anniversary releases that make elder millennials really feel their age, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (30th Anniversary Edition) is perhaps the best example of the greatness The Smashing Pumpkins were capable of before hubris overtook their work, and it retains almost all of its former glory in its third-decade rerelease.

The album’s tracking and pacing remain as great as they did in 1995, with random bursts of anger like “Zero” and “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” sitting next to the majesty of “Tonight, Tonight,” and “1979.” Those are just the best-known songs. Revisiting the likes of “Lily (My One And Only)” and “Farewell and Goodnight,” deep into disc two of this sprawling four-disc epic, is also a pleasure. Mellon Collie will forever remain an album that captures the band at the peak of their powers, and it’s enhanced rather than diminished on this celebratory release.

Speaking of the peak of their powers, however, the real winner is the unearthed live tracks on the two extra disks, a rare capture of the original lineup (now likely never to be seen again, for various reasons), in wonderful quality. They sound tremendous, and between the spot-on vocals and a tight band at their very apex, this is arguably the best live Pumpkins committed to tape. All of that seems to be the major selling point, and it would’ve been nice to hear some demos and B-sides, but in all honesty, even if you’re just buying this to revisit a tremendous album, you’re unlikely to come away disappointed.

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