I first heard SP at my friends birthday party in Dec 1995 when my other friend showed us the Bullet With Butterfly Wings video. Then for my eleventh birthday in May 1996 my parents bought me Mellon Collie on tape as well as a stereo. This was the first music I ever owned & remains my favourite album of all time. This album perfectly encapturlates the spirit of youth & for me it is very special because it is the only time in my life when something I was passionate about was extemely popular and considered cool. Very rarely does something truely alternative become that successful and mainstream like MCIS and the Pumpkins became for a  short while. It also remains in my view the greatest contemporary body of work from any rock band that I have come across from a songwriting stand point I have not known of 50+ songs that were written & recorded all in the same time frame to such a high & consistant standard of excellence. Mellon Collie and the other SP albums inspired me to learn how to play the guitar and sing in order to write & record my own songs which has become a lifelong passion .

I want to thank Billy Corgan & the band for creating such a special album & moment in time. Like so many others I continue 25 years on to enjoy all the songs of the Smashing Pumpkins.