Memories | The Smashing Pumpkins

The first and beautiful Smashing Pumpkins experience.

Alex Montpellier, FR

It was the first Smashing Pumpkins CD I bought when it came out. I was a teen back then. I already knew some of the songs heard on radio. But I wasn’t ready for the strong and beautiful feeling this album give me. As a lot of people the band help me in various way as a cathartic experience. And Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, in some way, healed my mind, helped me feel better. And it was the first time music had so much impact on me. A majestic album! Thank you!

Learning the Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness on Piano

Jeff Bartell Somerville, MA, US

I have never formally learned to play piano; no lessons and no training. I spent the entire winter of 2017 learning to play Mellon Collie and The Infinite sadness on piano, practicing day in and day out to get the timings and hand formations right from scratch. It was a life long dream to be able to play it straight through with no mistakes. It took me about 5 months. I rented it out a studio to play it on a grand piano and film it. As you see in the clip, it’s not played with a lot of finesse, but maybe that’s OK for a non-player?

Mellon Collie And The Infinite Companion

Brian Illanes Rossi Ferrari Buenos Aires, AR

For me, MCIS is one of my favourite albums of all time. It’s really especial, and I love it.

What I cherish more about it is the melodic nature of it, and the way it delivers it’s melancholy with different dynamics. It’s the perfect balance between happy-sad, hopefully-lost, sadness-anger.. I could be crying with the slower songs or shouting all off my chest with the heavier ones.

When I think about this album, ‘companion’ comes to my mind. MCIS is always there for me, whenever I want no matter how I’m feeling, and I can listen to it front to back because there is not a single bad song.

It makes me less alone, comprehended and it’s the light I sometimes need.

Thank you Smashing Pumpkins for creating this masterpiece!! 💫

A stranger travel throught the feelings, love and existence…

Claudia lima, PE

I was born when MCIS was celebrating 8 years and when I discovered this album what impressed me at first sight was the wonderful art, music was a separate topic, I was in another world. The Smashing Pumpkins for me will continue in my life as a journey of emotions and my heart is in every song I laugh, cry and dream with. This album is a complete jewel that is part of my life, so many songs that inspire me like In the arms of sleep, thru the eyes of Ruby and Beautiful. Thanks for everything.

Pumpkins for life

Ivan Imperial beach, California , US

I still remember when I first heard them .. since then I always watched their concerts on YouTube and even their movies .. just wish I could’ve been there to go to a concert for this album tour or to watch the og band play… my dream came true last year when they played the Oh so shiny and Bright tour with all the origins members of the band expect D’arcy :(… that was dope especially when they played songs of this album and pices iscariot … and what makes it even cooler is that this album was released on my birthday :)) (2 years b4 tho) lolol.

I was 8 years old.

Justin Shandorf Shelby Montana, US

I was 8 years old when the album came out. I saved my allowance for several months to be able to purchase the album. When I had enough money to buy it, I couldn’t get to the record store fast enough. Once I got home with it, I put it on. It changed my life forever. It helped shape who I am to this day. I still listen regularly.

Driving Down LSD with MCIS

Brienna Chicago, US

I don’t think there is anything more magical than driving towards the city on Lake Shore Drive, on a crisp Fall night, with “Tonight, Tonight” playing. Looking at the glow of the buildings as Billy sings, “and the embers never fade, in your city by the lake” gives me chills and reminds me that there is always hope and a chance to rebuild bigger and better.

To Forgive

Simon Ogle Decatur Alabama, US

When MCIS was released I was 14. This CD was so deep and groundbreaking for me even at that age. I could never listen to “To Forgive” in public I would just breakdown. On a different side of the same coin “Tales of a Scorched Earth” would stir a fire inside my soul that would make me fearless. I still have my original case and CDs both a little scratched, but this album means so much to me that I cannot ever see me parting with these precious pieces of my life. Although they have never met me Billy, James, Jimmy and D’arcy knew and spoke to me with their music. Thank you.

How MCIS got me into the Smashing Pumpkins

Matthew Tommasino San Diego, California , US

When I was a junior in high school I was in a play called “She kills Monsters”. I played the main character’s boyfriend who was into all sorts of 90s pop culture. He had a line where he had just bought the “double disk” , aka MCIS. I at the time had never heard of the Smashing Pumpkins so I went on spotify and looked up the band and listened to a few songs from the album as well as Gish. I Immediately became a fan. MCIS is also the album I give credit to why I started playing guitar! So thank you Pumpkins, for the music and Inspiring me!

A girl and her music

Ang Sunbury, PA, US

I was in eighth grade when I bought my copy of MCIS. I remember listening to it in my room on my discman with my headphones on. I looked through the album art and followed along with each song. I still have the same copy except now both sides of the case fall off and it’s a bit banged up. With that beautiful double album, The Smashing Pumpkins became my favorite band.

A Lifetime Ago

Katie Kansas City MO, US

As a girl at fourteen, back in the 90’s, I first heard ‘Today’. The Pumpkins quickly became my favourite band and have been since. Your music was the only music my mom never yelled at me to turn down. While going through some trauma I had Siamese Dream to help me out. I think listening to you helped heal my soul. Then my love for SP grew. in 2018 I finally saw my favourite band live. It was three days before my birthday so it was like a birthday present to myself. I can’t remember smiling so much. I think the whole following week. To this day, I can honestly tell everyone the Smashing Pumpkins will always be number one.

Thank you for your art. Some of my best memories were made to SP.

UW Zero

Ryan James Miller EAU CLAIRE, US

Exactly 25 years ago tonight on Fall day at UW Oshkosh in Wisconsin, I walked from my dorm room with my roommate to the local record store for the midnight release of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I remember walking back home and staring at the celestial artwork on the cover, and then opening the CD and reading the book inside. We got back to the dorms, and I laid down on my bed. I placed the first disc in my Discman and heard those opening piano notes for the first time. I played the whole album over and over again all night. Switching between Dawn to Dusk, and Twilight to Starlight until the sunrise lit up the room. My life was never really the same again after that moment.

Life changing

Tristan Brunsdon Melbourne, Victoria, AU

When I was 13, shortly after MCIS release, a kid from school had bought the album, had listened to it and told me he hated it. He offered to sell it to me for $20 – It was one of the first albums I ever purchased and was a pivotal moment of my life. From that day on I felt like I had an identity and it helped me through my tough teen years.

Glow stick bullet, caught

Omar Hijaz Brookline, MA, US

It was the 1996 MCIS tour at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia. Packed arena, great music and crowd. Except for one dude. I remember this perfectly because it happened right in the middle of Bullet with Butterfly Wings, during the part where it goes quiet and BC is playing “despite…” without distortion. The crowd is fully engaged and all of a sudden a green glow stick goes shooting from the middle section of the floor and right Billy. What happened next blew me away. He catches the glow stick mid-guitar-plucking, with cat-like reflexes. The song stops. BC pinpoints the dude in the crowd, gets crew to shine a spotlight on them, and has them kicked out of the show, all in less then a minute. The crowd cheered loudly with the justice that had just been served. It was the most rock and roll thing I’d ever seen. Then, without missing a beat, Jimmy, James, D’arcy, and Billy continue where Bullet left off and with an intensity to match what had just happened.

Thanks for the music and favorite song

Ricardo Muñoz R. MX

I am from Mexico, his music accompanied my childhood, adolescence and my present adult life in happy, sad, rare and exciting moments. So every time his music plays, many memories come to me. I was 12 years old and Mellon Collie was a journey of emotions, it contains "Tonight, Tonight" my favorite song of all the music I listen to, it makes my skin crawl to this day, I had the opportunity to enjoy it live at his concert in Guadalajara 2008. It was a moment I will never forget. Thanks for the music.

The greatest album in history

Matthew Dallas, US

Lyrically, musically, structurally, MCIS and The Aeroplane Flies High counterpart are the greatest works of art I’ve ever heard. It’s a sublime, inspired masterpiece and speaks to me even now as I approach middle age. Even when my brother and I didn’t speak to each other for 12 years, whenever SP came to town we would talk.

Discovering SP

Macy Chamberlain Reading, PA, US

I was 17, now I’m 18. Around January/February, I heard Tonight Tonight and 1979 on the radio and added them to my Spotify. After loving those two songs, I delved further into their music. Something about it just scratches my soul— there’s a song for every mood, situation, or thought I have. Plus, it’s just pure art. My parents went to college in the 90s, so I’ve been around that era of music my whole life, and it’s great to share an interest in something from “their time”. My dad and I both play guitar, and I love to show him all the SP songs I’ve learned . Even though it’s only been a few months, I have a lot to thank SP for. I’ve had a deep love for music all my life, and they’re one of the groups I’ve clicked the most with. They’ve seen me through the crazy ups and downs of this new chapter in my life, and I’m so grateful that when I look back, they’ll be on the soundtrack of it!

Didn’t mean to write a novel and this definitely sounds cliche, but it’s just the truth!!

Best friend

Pedro Funchal, Madeira, PT

My dad bought this album because of the first track, and it became my all time favorite. I was 9y old, it was there all along my youth, a true friend, a reminder that I wasn’t alone. And that is what SP means to me, to my life, that is ok to be different, that the right thing to do is to be true to yourself. And that someday someone will love you for that. It kept me going through the hard times, from the loneliness of small towns, throught the doubts of growing up. Listening to it always feel like home. And that the band is playing just for me, by my side. This is how special and great this album is.

Admission day

Pavel Solís Lima, PE

So many things to say… At dawn on a winter day in 1998, I set my alarm and listened to the first two: MCIS and Tonight. I was 16 and that day I was going to enter university (in Peru we have entrance exams). I hope my loved ones put the day of my funeral: Farewell and Goodnight. This record goes like this with my life. Thanks to you for those past and future memories.

Still don’t own a legit physical copy of this after 25 years

AJ Sharma CA

I remember when this album came out when I was in grade 8. I remember wanting the double LP but not having the money or a CD player for it so I spent all of my time hoping it would come up on the radio or hoping it would come up on Much Music. I managed to snag some of the MP3’s from a BBS at the time but the idea of downloading a whole album at that time was impossible. Someone had decided to title one of the tracks “the world is a vampire” and I went around calling it that much to the ridicule of my friends.

Smashing Pumpkins - Memories!