Everyone wanted that shirt. Billy Corgan had shaved his head, donned those ridiculous silver pants, and worn a long-sleeved black t-shirt with the word ZERO emblazoned across it in the photos for the liner notes of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 double album release Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It was the shirt that became an icon.
I myself was not the most dedicated Pumpkins fan. Sure, my sister had bought Mellon Collie, one of my best friends was raving about Gish and Siamese Dream (I even think I bought him Adore for his birthday one year); but I myself was never that captivated by the Pumpkins. To me, they were just another radio band, with a weird looking frontman who wore a cool t-shirt.
It took a while for me to properly appreciate the greatness that was the Smashing Pumpkins. One of the things that stands out to me, is the brutal egoism of Billy Corgan, and his belief that he was actually God’s gift to music. I remember reading an interview from a 1995 issue of Guitar Magazine, where Corgan claimed to have started the alternative rock movement, then went on the deny it’s validity as a movement, and finished up by accusing other alternative bands of not touring enough. Wow. That either takes extreme guts, or extreme naiveté. I read another interview (and I have no clue what magazine this one was in, nor when I read it) in which Corgan claimed that during the Mellon Collie years, he was writing the best music of his life, and could have continued to do write the greatest rock music if he had really wanted to (which is pretty interesting considering that during this concert he mentions that 1979 is the best song he ever wrote; a song he wrote when he was 12).
Either way, I think that it was his never failing belief in his abilities that allowed him to be such a great live performer. There’s a reason that his songs have a soaring quality during all of his concerts. The recording of this show isn’t perfect, and the sound could be better; but the music makes up for it in pure intensity.
Just a few highlights to consider while you’re listening: “Tonight, Tonight” sounds so perfect- complete with the string section and everything. The sped up version of “Cherub Rock” is so freaking intense, and the vocals on “Muzzle” soar like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
So please, grab this show, and listen to it in its entirety. You will not be disappointed.
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Smashing Pumpkins – Tonight, Tonight
Smashing Pumpkins – Cherub Rock
Smashing Pumpkins – Where Boys Fear To Tread
Smashing Pumpkins – Rhinoceros
Smashing Pumpkins – Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Smashing Pumpkins – Thirty Three
Smashing Pumpkins – Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Smashing Pumpkins –Thru the Eyes of Ruby
Smashing Pumpkins – By Starlight
Smashing Pumpkins – The Aeroplane Flies High
Smashing Pumpkins – Silverfuck
Buy Smashing Pumpking @ Amazon.com
P.S. I never did get that ZERO t-shirt. Maybe I felt like I wasn’t enough of a fan to wear it back then. Or maybe I just didn’t want to be doing it just because everyone else did. But maybe it’s time. Either way, it’s a pretty cool iconic relic of the 90s.
1 comments:
Great post-- I totally missed the Siamese Dream/Gish bandwagon, and jumped right on during Mellon Collie. Muzzle was my favorite song during the high school years. And yeah, I had the T-shirt-- in fact, when it was getting worn out I cut the sleeves off and wore it to varsity basketball tryouts.
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