Italian ebook tribute

Roberto Gennari Arezzo, IT

A bunch of Italian SP fans put together 28 stories inspired by the album. You can find the free ebook here https://laschiumadeiblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/una-punta-di-malinconia-e-tristezza-mai-infinita/ 

Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Crystal Las Vegas, NV , US

I was 10 years old when I started listening to SP, I was fascinated with everything Bullet with BFW, the lyrics, the video cinematography, Billie’s Zero Tee that I was too young to purchase myself and my parents wouldn’t get for me….and when I brought their album – my very first CD in fact – I was hooked. I can listen to every song over and over for 26 more years and never get bored. Tonight tonight is wonderfully made, how can something so sad be so beautiful… my favorite lyrics besides “Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in the cage” is from Zero: “Intoxicated with the madness, I’m in love with my sadness… I never led on that I was on a sinking ship, I never let on that I was down” 

Nostalgic beginnings

Eric Bertrand Chippewa Falls, US

It’s more of a collection of memories and places that revolved around people and places in my hometown.  Of course relationships that existed and never were but it’s the idea that came from it.  A genuine sense of wonder enveloped in magic.

A familiar place

Alondra MX

It was right before the Y2K. I had just moved to a new country with my belongings in a backpack. Mellon Collie was the first album I bought with my money after I started working. I had a room in an apartment with brown carpet and no furniture in it. I would spend hours in there listening to my album; you see, there were no cell phones or social media back then, so listening to music was my favorite pastime. Eventually I learned all the lyrics, I knew that album like the back of my hand. Those were strange times, between the move and the whole Y2K craze, people storing food supplies and stuff and I had nothing, so I hoped for the best and took refuge in my music. Mellon Collie always felt familiar, like a home; and to this day, when I hear one of the songs I can’t help but sing along 🙂

Singing on the rain

Hugo Rodrigues PT

Cascais, May 2, 1996, two hours of phenomenal rain concert.  The first and best of many live concerts in Portugal. Days after the concert, i read an announcement in the Blitz music journal of one guy that have record the concert on tape.  I buy the tape, which I still keep today. My precious.

1979 Life.

Amor Valdovinos Las Vegas, NV , US

I always tell everyone 1979 is my favorite song ever. One of my friends recreated the whole entire music video for me, even paid a store clerk to let us “steal” slushees from them. We cranked the album and drove in the dark to a party by the lake, as I screamed the lyrics from the open sunroof.  Considerably one of the best days of my life. 

That sweet Music

Chris Tunbridge Gloucester , GB

The first time I listened to this Master Piece I was transformed to a magical place of sonnets and Billy Corgans beautiful voice it felt like the Smashing Pumpkins had created a different memory and feeling for every song on the album.i first was introduced to this great band on Top of The Pops watching Butterfly with the Broken Wings music video and a later date a live performance of Tonight Tonight.

Mellon Collie transforms me to a place I love and cherish everytime I revist listening to it.

It is a classic that will never age and is in my top 5 albums of all time.

Speak to me in a language I can hear

Chad Calahan Jacksonville, NC, US

Thirty-three still resonates with me. This song and others got me through tough times living with divorced parents. I drew this in High School Design class circa 1995-96. Billy vocals are amazing and is what truly makes the Smashing Pumpkins 

it was like heard an eden

VIOLETA Córdoba, Córdoba, AR

I was 14 y-o and I was feeling deeply lost, didn’t know what to do, where to go, who i was. I listened to one song and i loved it, so i decided to close the door and put this album. It was like hear an Eden. 

Since that day, when I feel lost, i find myself on Mellon Collie. (so sorry for my bad english haha)

Chip Off The Old Block

Craig Bird Texas, US

I’m only 16, but The Pumpkins are one of my all time favorite bands, thanks to my dad who was obsessed with the pumpkins when he was my age. Mellon Collie got me through tough times, just as Siamese Dream and Pieces Iscariot did. My all time favorite pumpkins track, Here is no Why, is on there. 

The F Word

Brad Los angeles, CA, US

When I was 10 in 1996 i asked my mom to buy me the album. She finally agreed, being under the impression that SP was a “clean” band. I got the last copy of the cassette version in the store. I open it in the car and look at the artwork. Then I see the song title “Fuck You” and i thought if my mom sees this she’ll think i was hiding it from her and i’ll get in trouble, so i act all surprised and disgusted when i point it out to her. She gets mad but says i can keep the album as long as i dont listen to “that terrible, ugly song. I thought they were better than that!”

Tonight, Tonight

Sylvia Chastity Ingram McAllen, Texas, US

I have so many wonderful memories from MCIS era. The one that
will always stand out to me is the very first one. I was 10 years old and in
5th grade. One day, a boy I had a crush on was wearing a Pumpkins shirt and
singing “Tonight, Tonight” in class. I asked him what he was singing
and he told me it was The Smashing Pumpkins. Shortly after, I saw the video on
MTV. I was definitely intrigued by the music video but I originally tried to
get into it to impress the boy. I ended up developing the greatest love for SP
after this song. I was so in love with the strings that I joined Orchestra the
following year when I got to Middle School. I listened to Tonight, Tonight over
and over again until I learned to play along with the recording on my Viola. I
had my dad buy me the cassette tapes and listened to them over and over until
they eventually wore out. I had posters on my wall, a Pumpkins shirt for every
day of the week, and would write songs and lyrics all over my school notebooks.
I had my mom buy me some vinyl pants and I would wear them with my long sleeve
zero shirt to school. About 1 year later, my parents got divorced. I got
severely depressed and nothing comforted me quite like MCIS from start to
finish did. I would listen in my room in the dark, every night until I fell
asleep. To this day, I will run into old classmates and the one thing that they
remember about me was my love for The Smashing Pumpkins. The attached picture
is of my 6th grade Orchestra teacher and me. 

three.thirty-one.two thousand six

Chris Blevins Webbville, KY, US

I was in charge of music for my wedding. I’ve always been a fan of the Smashing Pumpkins and I selected the title track from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as the song for my wife to walk down the aisle to.  Probably ironic since I’m sure it’s supposed to be a sad song.  However, it will remain, now and forever, a reminder of one of the happiest moments of my life.  Every time I put that album on and that first track begins to play, I am always overcome with emotion.  Thank you for that. 

My 2nd Music Obsession

Bryan Oshkosh, US

It was the summer of 1997, I was about 11 or 12 years old. I was already a Rush fan thanks to my parents, but other than Rush I wasn’t a fan of any other band, until one day sitting in the backseat of my parents car on our way home from up north, a song played on the radio and it immediately captured me in a way that I made my mom turn it up, it was Tonight, Tonight. I had no clue who the band was but something about that song triggered me to wanna hear it again, after the station announced that the song was by Smashing Pumpkins I knew I had to hear more. A few days later my parents brought me to the mall and we stopped into a music store where I could pick up headphones and listen to sample tracks of popular albums, luckily Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was one of them, after listening to 1979 and Zero, I begged my parents to buy me the CD, they did. I got home and played the shit out of that CD for WEEKS! From there on, I was a SP fan. 

Fast forward 20 something years, I watched a Rush documentary film that had Billy in it, professing his appreciation of Rush. I had no idea! I laughed and said, yep…thats why I connected with SP.

Thank you, Smashing Pumpkins.

Haunts

JERICO Obando, Bulacan, PH

Love, Sex, Drugs, Sadness, Regrets. mmuah…. 

Play Smahsing with my son Ernesto

Oscar Lima, PE

My son became a fan just like me, since he was little he already played the guitar and tried to get his songs out ... it is a pleasure to be able to pay a humble tribute to our most beloved band ... thanks to you I have fulfilled my dream of being able play with my son. It is a small extract, because due to the size of the video I could not send it ... in the complete video we played cherub, 1979 and Galopogos in a single version.  
Infinite thanks... 

MCIS – The Gateway to a Lifelong Obsession

Michele Pittsburgh, PA, US

Siamese Dream was where I first heard the Pumpkins, but MCIS is where I fully fell in love with them. I bought the double CD and played it so much I wore it out and had to buy a second copy. My best friend at the time was also a fan, and she actually got to go see the band on their tour and I recall being completely jealous that she got to go. I bought every magazine that had even a tiny photo of the band, and would cut the photos put and paste them to my wall in my bedroom. My favorite songs on the album were “In The Arms of Sleep”, “Thru The Eyes of Ruby”, “Bodies” and “Porcellina of the Vast Oceans”.  The Pumpkins really helped me through a dark time when that came out and I credit them for literally saving my life. 

Youth and first travel alone

Nayeli Ramos Mexico City, Mexico City, MX

It was my first time traveling out of Mexico, I was alone, I was 15 and I was in Canada. I went to the local record store wearing just a sweater in the middle of April’s snow . I bought MCIS and arrived home. The first time I played the record was extraordinary, I finally felt accompanied and at ease with myself even though I was in a strange place. This record made me embrace myself in a time full of doubts, oh! It was youth and rock and roll. 

Jake and Billy: A Conversation

Jake Moskowitz Port Washington, New York, US

When I was 14, my Dad bought me VIP tix to see SP in Brooklyn. I asked Billy a question (see video)…this album and day saved my life! 

I Used To Be a Little Boy

Brooke H. Yorktown, IN, US

I was around seven years old when this album came out.  SP was the first rock band I started to like multiple songs from.  I remember I used all allowance I saved up to buy MCIS (around $25 at the time) and it was the first CD I purchased myself.  As far as I remember, it was also the first purchase I had made that was solely my decision and no one influenced it at all.  It was and still is a great album.  I was obsessed with “Thirty Three” which is still my favorite number and I even covered it in the last band I was in.  Thank you SP for the years of continued music! ❤️

Falling in love

Lizzie Mason , US

My boyfriend and I bonded over our love of SP. I realized I was in love with him while he was singing along to Tonight, Tonight 

11th Birthday

Jake Kelley DONCASTER, GB

I bought the cassette version with my birthday money. It’s the only cassette i still have.  I still remember getting home, running upstairs and playing it in my bedroom. Just incredible. There isn’t enough words to describe how much this album shaped the person I am today.

History in the making

Øystein Reinertsen Oslo, NO

I was sitting in the living room with my parents November of 95, doing some last minute studying for a history test the next day. It was late in the evening, and the tv was on. I didn’t pay much attention to it, as it was a program I wasn’t very fond of. Towards the end of the show they announced that a band was out with their new single, and they were going to premiere their new music video. When I heard the words “The world is a vampire”, and the music started, my eyes were transfixed upon the tv and I immediately knew that this song was special. Couldn’t remember the name of the band, though. The next day after school, I went back to my best friends house and I asked him if he knew what song I had heard. He just smiled and pulled out Mellon Collie and played the whole album for me. That was the start of a long and everlasting love for the band. I also got to see them for the first time in April of 96, during their European tour, in Oslo, which cemented my everlasting love for the band.

Amazing

Anita Fnugg NO

The soft intro title song really sets the tone with it’s contrast to the rest, with it’s piano and violins. I love the orchestra in tonight…🤩 But my favourite is an ode to no one, and especially the transition from «lost my innocence to a no good girl» to «and I give it all back to you» This pause in the song is simply magic! And, as always, Billy’s vocal, bursting with emotion, hits me so hard. I Don’t even have the words…. So much love for this album, my heart breaks❤️

Midnight Release

James Braglia Chicago, IL, US

The night of release I was living in Carbondale, IL on the SIU campus. A few friends and I lined up outside the record store of the Main Street drag to buy Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness at the midnight release. We all got CD copies, which I still own. That night I listened to every track, it all blew me away. 

Job=$=SP4Ever

Becky Marietta, GA, US

My first time hearing Smashing Pumpkins was in 8th grade, 1995, when my crush at the time had a band called Emerald City. They covered Today. He would play it for me over the phone after school on his guitar. I was mesmerized… I fell in love with the song (and the guy) and to this day it’s my favorite song ever. The summer of ’96 I got my first job and had money in my pocket. I went to the local Wal-Mart and purchased Mellon Collie, took it home and listened to it all the way through while flipping through the beautiful artwork that came with the cd. I don’t have a favorite song, I love them all. That summer I became a huge SP fan, smoked weed for the first time, made friends that I would ramble around with throughout high school getting into trouble (but rarely getting caught haha) and in general becoming a heathen, with SP being the soundtrack. Best memories ever.