So many words…

Karen Reading, PA, US

I was in high school and “trying to find myself”. I was born in 1979 and hoped the song would tell me something about my existence. I immediately connected with its crescendos and mellowness, and I followed it to the album. It was so inspiring as a creative writer, to explore and try to capture this art in my own words. I wrote so much, spent so many hours deeply listening. I was in love. I can’t begin to thank The Smashing Pumpkins enough for making this masterpiece. On the dichotomy of the record, the Pumpkins, and my personality – here’s the other half – Funny story: My dad liked “Bullet”, and I didn’t at the time. He said it was the Smashing Pumpkins, and I said “No Way, they do “1979””. Boy, was I wrong. Kids…

Seeing Smashing Pumpkins Open The New 930 Club in Washington, DC

Bob Fine Washington, DC, US

I can remember in late 1995 when WHFS announced on the radio that tickets were going on sale in a hour for Smashing Pumpkins opening the new 930 club. I was in my car half-way between Baltimore and DC on I-95. I don’t know how I made it in time to get tickets at the box office. Seeing that show with my then future wife from the 2nd floor balcony, and you all came out in pajamas. Something I have never and will never forget. 

Indescribable Moments

Greg Rochester, NY, US

Hard to put into words how much MCIS has meant to me. The first time I heard the album I was awestruck. How could one band be so versatile? The more I dug into the album the more it left a mark on me. It was the soundtrack to my coming of age. It gave me a place to go with my pain and sadness when I had no where else to go. It saved my life. I now have a 1 year old daughter, Lily, who’s first smile came  while listening to “Tonight, Tonight”. I sing “Farewell and Goodnight” to soothe her before bed. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. 

Love Always.

Laura Mendes Indaiatuba- São Paulo, BR

I’m already 19 years old, I wasn’t born in the Mellon Colie phase, at the time it happened, of course!

I went to listen to SP at the age of 14 and it was love at first sight.

This shows how much the band and the album have gone through generations and generations and still manage to attract millions of people of all ages.

thanks for everything. 💛

Just a 90s teenager fan

Heriberto felix castro Los mochis, Sinaloa, MX

It was mid 90s im in the high school when i heard bullet with butterfly wings and it blows my mind, this album reminds me a very close friend who passed away a few years ago.

My son was stillborn, but he was still born. 05-26-1996

Elizabeth RUNNING SPRINGS, CA, US

Right around the time MCIS came out, I found out I was pregnant. I was 17, a senior in high school, alone, afraid, and in tremendous pain. Seven months later, my son was born, but he was not alive. I listened to MCIS incessantly at this time. In Porcelina, Billy sings, “It’s all alright.” I named my son Nigel Corgan Shaw. Thank you, Smashing Pumpkins, for being there for me.  

Sempiternal

Tania Birmingham, GB

I have two CD’s of Melancholy permanently to hand.  This album has everything.  I never tire of listening to it’s contrasting layers of sound, changing moods and emotive lyrics.  The art work is beautiful – it is a work of art.  I will crank up the volume, especially XYU, Jellybelly and Where Boys Fear to Tread and blast myself with it – literally bathe in the experience, it’s the best therapy!  1979 echoes the idyllic parts of my childhood.  It is indelibly marked in my life and in my mind.  In you I’m understood.  In you I find a friend.  It’s so important to be able to truly identify with something, to gain strength from it and somehow Melancholy conjures this.  Billy, you’re my hero!

Tonight, tonight

Glenn Luzern, CH

Hi, I am Glenn.

I can’t believe this Album is 25 Years old. I guess I picked it up around 2002 when I was 18. I love the Album Artwork and Tonight, tonight was the first song I heard from Smashing Pumpkins on German MTV. Years later a film came out called Hugo Cabret from Martin Scorcese. That’s when I noticed that Tonight, Tonight is all based on Georges Mélies film “a journey to the moon”. I appreciate the song much more now. 

So that is my experience. 

Rocking My Way Through School and Life

Bradley Campbell Georgetown, IN, US

I remember being in college trying to get to pharmacy school and having many challenges with going through a very bad breakup and also helping to take care of my brother who is 16 years younger than me. The Smashing Pumpkins music kept me going, and inspired me to keep working hard and helped me to endure the mental and emotional challenges I faced. I know the band worked tirelessly in the Mellon Collie album, and hearing that in those songs was inspiring

Amor a primeira escutada

Moyses Barbosa São Paulo, SP , BR

Me lembro como se fosse hj quando ouvi a música Tonight Tonight em uma rádio rock de minha cidade… Foi em meados de 1996… Fiquei fascinado pela sonoridade… Estava na 7 série… Entusiasmado comentei com um colega de classe sobre a descoberta que havia feito e ele comentou q seu irmão tinha acabado de ganhar o Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness… Pedi para que ele me apresentasse seu irmão para poder pegar o cd emprestado kkk… Ouvi por semanas sem parar por dias o cd… Alguns anos depois montamos uma banda… E é claro que Smashing Pumpkins foi nossa maior referência… Essa banda mudou minha vida

There is Always Hope

Chris Morris Middleton, US

When MCIS came out, my life was in shambles. In brief: I had just moved into my grandmother’s apartment after my mom’s drinking got us kicked out of my step-dad’s house (rightfully so – long story there), I lost my long-time girlfriend as she left for college along with a lot of my friends, I was working at McDonald’s and getting into all kinds of trouble…among other things.

I was depressed. Lost.

But help was around the corner. I listened to this non-stop during this time and eventually made one of those decisions that seem small at the time, but in the end, absolutely transformed my life. I decided to join the Army and start over. Completely. I listened to this album as I studied for my GED. I listened to it as I drove through Chicago and the burbs endlessly for the last time. I listened to it as I said goodbye to my old self.

I love these songs because they are great, but more so, when I hear them now, they remind me there is always hope. When life isn’t going the way you want, you can take control. You can change and evolve.

A very special era of a very special band.

Matthew Palmer Christchurch, NZ

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.

Living Memories

Thomas Dalton Sugar Land, TX, US

At 23, the songs were singing my heart and head. I listen now and they continue to sing my heart. Simultaneously, I remember how I felt then in different situations and relationships. Like a novel, MCIS is a collection of marvelous chapters where each is a journey through space,time and innerspace.

Tales of a scorched book

Andrew H Westminster, US

In 2005, a friend of mine moved to St. Thomas and took my MCIS guitar book with him. A couple weeks later, the house he was renting burned to the ground. One of the few items that didn’t get destroyed was my MCIS guitar book. It was scorched around the edges, but amazingly, it survived.

My most highly anticipated christmas gift!

Rachel Sandy, UT, US

I was 13 when MCIS came out and begged my parents for it. I knew it would be waiting for me under the christmas tree and dug it out as soon as I could. My parents and sister got the pleasure of listening to the album all day long on our very nice sound system. It was a christmas gift for all 🙂 I still remember holding the packaging for the first time. I was so mesmerized!

Nostalgia

Juan QC Camp, MX

Estaba En el momento adecuado,En el dia adecuado,Un album con magia y amor,recuerdos inolvidables en dias inolvidables,me hizo ser mejor persona todo el album.

Mellon Collie saved my life

Michael Baltimore, MD, US

18 and my first semester at college. An unforgiving time, separated from everyone close to me, spiraling into recurring suicidal ideation. I got help. Whatever feelings emerged, I found reflections in these tracks, a tether to hope, and to this world more than once. Thank you just sounds so small.

Infinite Sadness on my Parents Portable Stereo

Christy Richtsmeier Boise, ID, US

I was born a little under a year after this album came out. It was my mother’s, and she loved The Smashing Pumpkins and eventually gave the CD to me when I was a child. She was a young mother and my dad was too, so they shared their music with me all the time but Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness stands out from the rest in my childhood.

I remember being around 7 years old — a little after coming to the US from living in El Salvador and taking my parents portable stereo in my room. I played Lily (My One and Only) over and over. It made me feel EVERYTHING, and of course I didn’t understand what the song fully was about except someone that longed for a lover. I swear this album made me like this kid that was a complete dreamer when listening to this album. I also remember laying on my bedroom floor closing my eyes and then switching CDs from blue to the pink one when the blue CD was over. 

I distinctly recall singing along to Stumbleine as well around this age, just me a small girl in my own world getting lost in this music. I am tearing up as I write this because it’s been so long since I have thought of these first memories with this album. I’m an only child, so I would keep to myself in my room and not say a word for hours, I could just listen. 

I still get the same rush of feelings going through Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and the depths I understand as an adult now makes it all the better. I will never forget how special it was and still is to me.  

A band that started a friendship.

Erik Lyday Chicago, US

I found my introduction with Smashing Pumpkins through their first release Gish. I really digged it. Then Siamese Dream came a couple years after. I absolutely love every song on that album. It helped me through a lot of difficult times. I often wondered what their next release would be like. I really was not prepared for what was going to happen. A double disc! The songwriting, the arrangements, the over all feel of this one was totally different! This album really does take you on a journey. They will forever be my favorite band. Quick side note. I remember getting ready to play a show at a local coffee shop when I was like a sophomore in high school. This guy my age came up to me and was like “nice shirt.” I was wearing the “just say maybe” shirt. We got to talking about The Pumpkins and ended up becoming very good friends. Even as an adult in my early 40’s, I still get excited when I hear their music. 

Sympathies Ready to Return

Caleb partida mercedes tx, US

What can I say about this album. I remember 95-96 pretty well it’s burnt in my memory waking up to go to school getting dressed and just cranking the morning MTV vids. every month was a new video from this and I loved it. It was in my birthday I bought this with a Gameboy pocket I skipped all the hit tracks and just was touched and amazed with the art and poetry, loud guitars, soft drums, and the strings! It was My Pink Floyd’s wall and I’m thankful Billy, James, jimmy and D’arcy where there when I needed them in my CD player on those lonely school nights! Thank you guys and keep moving forward I’m still jamming! 

TONIGHT, TONIGHT

Alex González CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 🇲🇽, MX

I married  november 2008

And we danced TONIGHT,TONIGHT 

The wedding guests holding sparklers during the song!!!

Magic moment!!!!

Memories of my teenage years

Djulzz Le muy, FR

I was searching in all disc sellers the bootlegs. In the mid 90’s…echo of my scratched heart …burn life

Here is my collection.

I saw them in lyon at the halle t’ont Garnier in 2000. Hudge gig

My Only Friend in Rough Times

Nina Johnson Kelowna, British Columbia, CA

SP has always been my favourite band and I adored them before MCIS but this album blew my 16 yr old mind. It was power and poetry, soft piano and crunchy guitar….beautiful. I was so depressed and alone at the time and the only solace I found was in those songs; I cried to them, rocked out to them, found inspiration through them. It got me through. It even inspired me to spend the summer of ‘96 painting the album cover on my bedroom wall and I’d never painted before in my life. It awakened my creativity. My senior high school years are indelibly inked with the notes of MCIS and for that I thank you SP.

Zero Girl

Carly Brisbane, Queensland, AU

I was a moody teenager who wore my Zero shirt everywhere. MCIS defined my teenage years and I loved having so many songs to fall in love with. I really miss those days!

The day I became a fan

Karina Padula Parra São Paulo SP, BR

I was listening to the radio in 2001 and I thought, oh, I love this song! The radio didn’t say the name of the song, but the melody was in my mind and I knew it was the Smashing Pumpkins. A few days later I was at a store and I found one SP album  there. I read the songs titles trying to identify the song I heard, and I bought it anyway. I went home and on the bus I opened the CD and loved all the arts and drawings, I read the lyrics and fell in love with it before even listening to the album. When I got home and finally listened to the CD, I found out the song was not in it, but I fell in love with the band. The song I was looking for was Tonight Tonight, and I bought Machina 😂. Later I looked for MCIS and it was the second album I bought, and from that time my love for the band grows everyday. ❤️

Out of order Walkman

Andres ignacio Santiago , CL

I was in the school and my Walkman didint work with radio. But a didnt have cassettes and a Girl classmate Has this pirate cassette she borrow to me. No names, no band, nothing. And I usually Listens to all in my way Walking home all Days.

months before a discover the name of the band and I already know all the lyrics

❤️thank you For that Ale, cause you show me an amazing ost in my life