I always thought that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was an overly-ambitious mediocre album with too many b-sides or crappy songs surrounding a core group of songs that would have made a pretty damn good album. Help me create the 10-14 song album that should have been. * and bold for songs that make the cut, + for songs that could, N for songs that don't have any business on a major album. Feel free to agree, disagree, suggest. After we choose songs, we can get the mix right. I have 9 songs that I think definitely make the cut.
From Disk 1:
N 1. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" – 2:52
* 2. "Tonight, Tonight" – 4:14
+ 3. "Jellybelly" – 3:01
* 4. "Zero" – 2:41
* 5. "Here Is No Why" – 3:45
* 6. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – 4:18
+ 7. "To Forgive" – 4:17
+ 8. "Fuck You (An Ode To No One)" – 4:51
N 9. "Love" – 4:21
N 10. "Cupid de Locke" – 2:50
+ 11. "Galapogos" – 4:47
* 12. "Muzzle" – 3:44
N 13. "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" – 9:21
N 14. "Take Me Down" – 2:52
* 1. "Where Boys Fear to Tread" – 4:22
+ 2. "Bodies" – 4:12
N 3. "Thirty-Three" – 4:10
N 4. "In the Arms of Sleep" – 4:12
* 5. "1979" – 4:25
+ 6. "Tales of a Scorched Earth" – 3:46
* 7. "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" – 7:38
N 8. "Stumbleine" – 2:54
* 9. "X.Y.U." – 7:07
N 10. "We Only Come Out at Night" – 4:05
+ 11. "Beautiful" – 4:18
N 12. "Lily (My One and Only)" – 3:31
+ 13. "By Starlight" – 4:48
N 14. "Farewell and Goodnight" – 4:22
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6 comments:
Easy enough, but I suspect mine's gonna look a lot like yours:
N 1. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" – this is just dumb
* 2. "Tonight, Tonight" – good
* 3. "Jellybelly" – pretty good
* 4. "Zero" – very good
* 5. "Here Is No Why" – pretty good
* 6. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – bueno! my favorite on the album
+ 7. "To Forgive" – meh
* 8. "Fuck You (An Ode To No One)" – underrated
+ 9. "Love" – (maybe if they used *more* distortion)
N 10. "Cupid de Locke" – wtf?
N 11. "Galapogos" – no, no and no
* 12. "Muzzle" – me likey
N 13. "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" – if it's more than 6 minutes, it had better be good. This sucks.
N 14. "Take Me Down" – 2:52
+ 1. "Where Boys Fear to Tread" – "Anywhere but Darren's Pants"
* 2. "Bodies" – I'd listen
N 3. "Thirty-Three" – 4:10wasn't this on the first album somewhere?
N 4. "In the Arms of Sleep" – not really interested
* 5. "1979" – poppy, fun, good
+ 6. "Tales of a Scorched Earth" – silverfuck wanna be
N 7. "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" – I seem to be waiting for it to be over
N 8. "Stumbleine" – does nothing for me
* 9. "X.Y.U." – breaks the streak of crap on the 2nd album
N 10. "We Only Come Out at Night" – resumes previously mentioned streak
+ 11. "Beautiful" – eh, okay, I guess...
N 12. "Lily (My One and Only)" – I don't know what to say except bad
N 13. "By Starlight" – again, no
N 14. "Farewell and Goodnight" – at least they keep the scheisse flowing
So, we coulda had a good 10-song album with enough tracks to make it memorable.... but all I ever remember is the sheer amount of unadulterated crap you have to skip over to hear the good stuff.
--Baker
Okay, so I'm thinking:
Tonight, Tonight
Jellybelly
Zero
Here Is No Why
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Fuck You (An Ode To No One)
Muzzle
Where Boys Fear to Tread
Bodies
1979
X.Y.U.
I'll concede Thru the Eyes of Ruby simply because there can't be two 7 minute songs (and X.Y.U. is better). I can go either way on Tales of a Scorched Earth, adding it would raise us to 12 songs.
Anyone want to think about the mix? I'm thinking Tonight, Tonight as the opener was great, especially because it was so hopeful versus a pretty bleak album. I thought it was Corgan's idea of a joke on the listeners. I think it would be funnier to follow it immediately with Zero, but I'll have to think about this a little more.
I actually did this exercise back in the day on two different maxell tapes , making the best of each disc. Removed from the album a few years I have to agree with some of your nixes. Either the song is too cheesy or sentimental or bad (like Lily).
Here's my go with my preferred order.
14 is my favorite number and I think there are enough tracks to warrant a 14 song release. Sort of functions as "two sides" as well. And, Tony, EVERY album is an exercise of pretentiousness to some degree or they wouldn't be putting it out.
Open hard.
1. an ode to no one
2. bullet with butterfly wings
3. zero
4. tonight, tonight
5. here is no why
6. tales of a scorched earth
7. galapogos
8. where boys fear to tread
9. bodies
10. 1979
11. x.y.u.
12. muzzle
13. thru the eyes of ruby
14. stumbleine
Free Bird!
Different strategy for me…Below are the songs that should have encompassed a 1 cd album. I did not designate any songs that are close…
"Tonight, Tonight"
"Jellybelly"
"Zero"
"Here Is No Why"
"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
"Fuck You (An Ode To No One)"
"Muzzle"
"Where Boys Fear to Tread"
"Bodies"
"1979"
”Tales of a Scorched Earth"
"X.Y.U."
Here are my reasons…
•The Smashing Pumpkins was arguably one of the biggest bands at the time, and expectations for this album were extremely high
•Concept albums generally fall into the category of dumb
•After the release of Siamese Dream in 1993, the band released 4 cds in 1993-1994 to support their Siamese Dream singles that were full of b-sides, extra tracks, and even guitar riffs that were developed into songs
•You cannot follow the release of Pisces Iscariot in 1994, which was a compilation of B-sides, with a double cd full of songs that are considered by all to be b-side quality
•Billy Corgan reportedly wrote 56 songs for this album. Sometimes quality is more important than quantity
•Do I need to pay more money for a double cd to support your exercise of pretentiousness? The answer is no…
Dang.
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