O Smashing Pumpkins é a banda da minha vida e o Mellon Collie é a trilha sonora.

Tânia Seles BR

Eu conheci o Smashing Pumpkins quando tinha 10 anos de idade em 1998, mas só consegui ouvir o Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness completo aos 17 anos quando comprei o disco numa loja no centro da cidade de São Paulo.

Desde então esse disco me acompanha nos momentos de tristeza e alegria. Canções como “In The Arms of Sleep” e “To Forgive” ajudaram a moldar a pessoa que eu sou hoje. Ele foi tão importante que até inclui as letras em alguns trabalhos artísticos quando conclui a faculdade de artes.  O Smashing Pumpkins é a banda da minha vida e o Mellon Collie é a trilha sonora.

Mixing My Wedding

Arthur Youngstown, US

I blended the first and last instrumental songs  for the pianist to play at my wedding! I was proud of my “mix.” However, I started my marriage off with a lie since the only way the church would allow the song was that it had to be religious! Well, Mellon Collie was religious to me so it wasn’t a complete lie!

Whale wars

Lucas San Francisco, CA, US

When I was younger, like a kid, I loved watching discovery channel, and one of my favorite shows was whale wars. And right after the very first episode I watched, I had the intro song stuck in my head, to the point where my 7 year old ass googled the lyrics, and discovered the smashing pumpkins. I fell in love, and 6 years later Mellon Collie became the very first album I ever bought in my now huge collection. 

Tibetan Freedom Benefit Concert San Francisco Golden Gate Park July 1996

JOHN Los Angeles, US

I saw the SP at the GG Park SF Summer 1996 Billy segued into Zero from Bullet by far the most electric experience I’ve had with the band in an outdoor venue….there were many bands there that day the Beasties (great) Chili Peppers (awesome) but the Pumpkins (energy electric feel and musical sound for a live show ) better than the before mentioned bands they did a ten song set and everything was perfect Billy’s voice, James sound effects on Bullet D’arcy miss her badly of course and Jimmy on the drums POWERFUL I am a Generation X’er and that concert resonates with me the most!!! Thank you SP love your guys!!!

Psych Ward Surprise

Michelle Pennock Winnipeg, Manitoba , CA

I was 14,in psych ward when they were in town for the concert. I had tix for it,but wasn’t going to be able to it go.A Dr knew someone at radio station interviewing Billy Corgan the morning of the concert.He told him about sad fan in hospital,could he ask for autographed pic?He asked, and an hour later,Billy himself walked through psych ward doors to say hi! I almost fainted.His words would later save my life.Years later, after Oceania concert,I got to tell him how much that visit saved me, I got to say thank you.(&get a pic!)Bonus-I also got a pass to go to the concert in ‘96!

Timing was perfect

Dez Sunshine Coast QLD , AU

I was 15 when MCIS came out. I had moved from NZ to Australia a few months earlier and that album became such a “homebase” for a teenager who was feeling displaced and at times alone.

A few years later, having invited a bunch of friends aboard the Pumpkin-train, a few of us formed a garage band and played A LOT of SP material. My all time favourite song to play on the drums was Where Boys Fear To Tread (starting with that epic intro of course) We were probably terrible – but my memories of back then are of us nailing it – along with BWBW, Zero, In The Arms Of Sleep and Muzzle and a few  Siamese and Adore-era songs.

To this day, I can still feel the sadness, loneliness, joy, anger, rage, awkwardness, love, loss, and every other emotion I was going through in that chapter of my life…. and I smile at them all. MCIS is THE soundtrack to my life. It has shaped, defined and moulded me into the guy I am today.

The garage band broke up (who’d have known?!) The drums are gone. Replaced with guitars that only get played every once in a while. Friends have come and gone and made their way back again. The dreams were replaced with our own children. And we still smile at those memories we had.

…. and by the way, there is a certain amount of pride felt when your 20 year old daughter asks you to teach her Tonite Reprise on guitar.

REVELATION

Aurélien Cirot FR

Year 1999. I was 18 years old, I met a rock music fan in high school. I was a fan of the Rolling Stones, newly converted to Rock n’Roll, and I wanted to have my own band. I told him I wanted him to be a part of my future band and I wanted to be the singer. He wanted to hear how good (or bad) I was so he asked me to sing two songs that he liked. He gave me an audio cassette with the instrumental version of Losing My Religion by REM and the other song was Bullet with Butterfly Wings by a band that had a weird vegetable name. I remembered I had heard this song somewhere. I quite liked the song. So I rehearsed for a week then I gave him my performance which he found acceptable.  I was curious about those “Smashing Pumpkins” so he brought me the VHS of Viewphoria which didn’t appeal to me a lot. I was still not convinced this was such a great band. So he brought out the big guns and lent me Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the double CD.  At first listen, I thought it was quite good. Then I listened to it again. It was really good. Actually, it was more than really really good. It was beautiful and epic. That winter, this new friend told me The Smashing Pumpkins were going to come to France on January at the Elysée Montmartre concert venue. We bought two tickets for the show and when it was over, I knew one thing: I was a Smashing Pumpkins fan. I still am. Forever.

The World Is A Vampire

Josh Tacoma, WA , US

It was the summer of 1995 and I was working for my father’s construction company while all my friends were at the lake, enjoying themselves.  I decided to take a break and sit in my truck and turn on the AC to cool off.  I turned on the radio and the first thing I heard was “The world is a vampire”! I was instantly hooked, I cranked up the volume as loud as I could get it! And it was all downhill from there, I bought every CD I could, including the “Aeroplane” box set, which my parents found and made me burn so I wouldn’t go to hell.  I never bought another box set, I wish I had, but I still listen to The Pumpkins every day, as loud as my stereo will get! Your music was the only thing I could turn to, during some pretty dark times.  

Love again

Luke Campbell Vancouver, BC, CA

I’m 95 I found myself listening to MC resolving my loss of my first love.  Fast forward 24 years and my first love reached out two days after I committed to the universe to date Again after my divorce.  It was a magical reuniting In Europe for 10 days and I fell for her again, but things have changed and she was scared and ultimately it was not to be.  It did spark a huge transformation and with that making a playlist for a new friend I met i rediscovered this treasured album as it let my heart open to new love once again. 

1/24/1997 Sat next to Billy’s Girlfriend

J Hernandez NY, US

I decided to go and try to get tickets for the show at the Nassau Coliseum on 1/24/97 along with my girlfriend and got extremely lucky when a girl told us she had tickets.  She said she wouldn’t take any money and gave us two free tickets.  She said we might was well follow her and during all the excitement I didn’t even notice where the seats were located.  We wound up walking down to the stage level and the seats were on the 10th row.  The girl explained she got the tickets for free since she worked for the Ford Modeling agency.  When I sat down I was sitting next to Helena Christensen who I recognized since she was very famous at the time.  I knew she was dating Billy Corgan and during the whole show Billy would constantly look at her.  

1/11/996 Infinite Sadness Tour

J Hernandez NY, US

1/11/1996 NYC at The Academy which is a small venue.  They put on a great show for the begining of the Infinite Sadness Tour. 

Inge Campbell during video shoot. One of my moms fondest memories. She passed in 2002, but whenever I hear the music, I remember how happy she was.

Jochen Kunstler Atlanta, GA, US

She used to tell me how you all were so incredibly gracious in dealing with the Extras on the shoot.

That First Listen

Joshua Bolinger Plainfield, Indiana, US

My dad would used to always talk to me about SP and I respected them but I wasn’t the biggest fan. Until a couple months ago i heard this album. Its so haunting and it touched me on a personal level. I remember crying as soon as it was over and ranking it as my second favorite album of all time. It truly is the soundtrack of adolescence 

Surviving high school

Robert PA, US

I got this album after asking for it for christmas when i was about 14. I remember being amazed as i still am at the vast span of different kinds of songs and I played this album among other SP albums in my walkman on the bus to and from high school. It helped me get through the rough days and many mixed emotions one has as a teenager. Thanks to SP for making great music and I look forward to seeing you once again in concert.

20 Years Later…

Gerry Hitchcock Mexico City, MX

I discovered SP first through Pisces Iscariot; my father have just died and i had a bunch of albums my family gave me as a gift my previous birthday… i was mourning him and at the same time trying to cheer me up listening to diverse artists. A year went by and suddenly i begin watching this cool videos pop through MTV, all the aesthetic, music and lyrics got me very interested, so i went to my local record store but the album was sold out, i had to wait for months until i finally bought it. I remember being with my friends listening music all day; we reserved the best albums for the night and listened to Mellon Collie in an almost religious way, smoking pot and just getting lost in the album, sometimes we sang it along, sometimes we just enjoyed the music…

A couple of years later i had my first girlfriend and a lot of the songs took a deeper, more personal meaning, it was the soundtrack for our love until i said i wanted to marry her and she told me all have been a lie, to distract her parents while she was having a lot of affairs with different teachers and classmates at college. When it happened (year 2000) i just couldn’t listen to any SP album anymore without feeling devastated and heartbroken. It was until Zeitgeist that i listened again to SP (and i found the album brilliant btw) but couldn’t listen to Adore, Pisces or Mellon, the music still remimded me a lot about her, i had a new girlfriend then but i was emotionally crippled somehow. Fast forward to 2020, i find Shiny and Oh So Bright and got hooked, then Cyr obsessed me with SP again and it finally happened: listened to MellonCollie in full since 2000 and it felt SO RIGHT! I remembered the best memories with my friends, rediscovered a classic and started listening frequently since. No more bad memories, just the joy of listening to a masterpiece! 

I’m thankful to that girl for betraying me because due to that i found my real talents and set them into motion, i learnt to play bass, went to video editing, film school and now i have the greatest job, always in company of the greatest music, Mellon Collie being one of the most important albums in my sonic universe. I will buy the deluxe vinyl if i find it available someday, meanwhile i will play the CD to death.

Thanks for being a part of my life and writing such great and diverse music, i hope when i die i will have all this songs tattoed in my soul, i want to listen even after death!

16

Susanne Vienna, AT

I was sixteen when Mellon Collie came out. I played it every day for weeks, months. Every time I listen to it from the beginning onward, it brings me right back to sitting on the brown carpet in my room, putting the CD into my CD player and feeling a tingle on the tip of my tongue, the promise of a world that’s out there for me. I was not alone, there were others.

A Classic album still after 25 years.

Sam Sandilla Tampa FL, US

Been a fan since the days of Gish.   I was going to college at South Suburban College., during 1995.  Had XRT, and Q101 playing most the time of my headset.  I didn’t see a show from this era.  Was lucky to hear the “Blackout Show”  on the radio.    Seeing “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.”  On the TV.  Knew that is album was going be epic.  (Still is).  When to the record store.  I wanted to get this.  Not until 2000 I finally got this, with Machina that year.   (The t-shirt is from the tour, and not a reprint)  

Time to grow up…

Mike Clear Lake, Texas, US

95 was my senior year in college and had only discovered the SP a year before during Lollapalooza 94.  Now MCIS comes out 10/24, a week before  my bday.  I bought MCIS, made a cassette copy and gave it to the girl of my dreams.  I graduate December 95,  and don’t land a job till May 96… In those 5 months, I lost my girl, my bank account went almost to 0 without a job and no one was hiring at the time. I occupied myself by continuously listening to MCIS trying to decipher it and my life.  I realized during reflection I was a childish prick.  Fast forward to August 96, I am in West Kalimantan Indonesia, working 6 days a week, blasting MCIS at the man camp I was living in finally feeling that I needed to stay in this world.

Brixton Academy

David Edgatown, MA, US

My one and only show was at the Brixton Academy, May 15th 1996.  It was a great show given the circumstances of what you had been through.  I was grateful but sad for the band at the same time.  D’arcy stopped the show at one point when it got rowdy out of fear something would happen again.  All I can say is, I was ex-pat from Boston and I had been a fan for a while.  Mellon Collie, O’K Computer and Grace got me through some tough times in London. I went to Kalamazoo with Molly Wretsky circa ‘88-‘90.  I didn’t know the connection until after I had left school.  I was living in New Haven, CT and our local paper listed Gish as one of the 10 best albums of the year .  I bought it and instantly became a fan.  Thank you for all of your great music and for being true to yourselves.  I greatly appreciate what you had to say about Rush on Beyond the Lighted Stage.  Presto got me through my time at Kalamazoo and I was at the Auburn Hills show they included on their last DVD.   Music can save lives and yours and Rush’s have done that for me.  All the Best to you and your families!  David

Where do I even begin?

Laurie Kristin Bazaar Greensboro, NC, US

Well, the picture is of me, when I was 1 or 2 and my Grandma Victor in Arlington Heights, IL. Circa maybe 1975-76?  Not exactly sure.  It is all blurry after this photo. My Grandparents lived right on Arlington Heights Rd.  I was born at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights in 1974, moved to NC when I was 13 (stepdad job transfer and then some) and graduated from Northwest Guilford High School in 1992.  Weird, yes, but not the only interesting correlation in my life so I guess I am used to it.  Didn’t know there was a new album until today so I will be listening to it tonight.  Thank you.

As most things, A Girl was involved.

Mark Oklahoma City, OK, US

I was dating this emo girl back then and she put on this album, and skipped to Here Is No Why, but half way through she skipped it to Zero and acted like HINW was a mistake. I remember thinking “hey, that was a great song, I was into that”. And asking her why she skipped it. It was because it was a “happy” sounding song, and she was, well an Emo girl. After I got off work that night I bought the cassette and never looked back, to this day I still love that album and Here Is No Why.

Our Song

Miss V Philadelphia, PA, US

Tonight, Tonight is our song.  We’ve been married 18 years and we wanted to pay tribute to our song with our holiday card.  Thanks to our good friend and fellow Smashing Pumpkins fan, Celeste Giuliano Photography, for bringing our vision to life!

3rd row seat at the biggest show in the World-first Pumpkins concert.

Erik St. Paul, US

From the first time I heard Cherub Rock, I knew a great band had arrived.

4 Siamese Dream, and 2 Pisces Iscariot cd’s later I found myself walking into the Target Center in Minneapolis. My friend and I were chain smoking Northern Lights as our pre-rolled cigarettes made it inside to row 3! Silver pants, zero shirt, bald head. The guitar between Corgan and Iha insanely great. Darcy reminded me of Sesame Street and Matt Walker was on, but I wanted Chamberlin, didn’t we all. I’m happy to say

I went to Adore outside 7-17-98, Machina at the Northrup, Zwan at First Ave, Zeitgeist at Roy Wilkins, then Oceania at Roy W and lastly Shiny and oh so Bright in 2018 at Xcel. I love SP. Blinking with Fists, SP tattoo, MCISin 1997 in France-FN great show! So glad the Xanax I had laced with Morphine didn’t kill me as I took the train home in the wee hours after the show in 2018, St. Paul. I kept hovering above my body and could see that I had a “Believe in Me” shirt for my 6 year old. I’m alive.

The Aeroplane Flies High!

Erik

Christmass Collie edition

Tomas Vychovaly Trenčín, SK

Many years ago I found on Christmas market this small wooden decorative plate (author unknown). Istantly I knew what that pictures remind me, so I took a marker and made Xmas Mellon edition from it :))

soñábamos ser como los del video de 1979

Diego Cono Buenos Aires , AR

En esos años con mis amigos íbamos mucho a recorrer ferias americanas a revolver ropa y ver si encontrábamos alguna prendas que se parezcan a las que usaban los chicos del video. Los mejores recuerdos de mi adolescencia van de la mano con Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

1997 High School Rooftop – Zero

Shaun Perry San Angelo, US

I got caught jumping off of the roof of my High School, and immortalized in my Zero shirt!