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.
First!
Justin Chicago Illinois, US
This was the first album I paid for with my own money. I remember it being sold out everywhere I went with my mom and how excited I was when I got it. I played it constantly and when I hear it I can close my eyes and see myself in my room with my cd player.. Good times.
A 13 year old’s first concert
Edi Phoenix, US
I was 13 years old when I attended my first concert. After being sucked into the magical realm of pumpkinland from hearing SP tunes on the radio, watching their artistic videos on Mtv, and begging my mom to buy me the 2 disc opus at Costco, I just wanted to see my new heroes live and on stage for what would become my first concert ever. My mom wouldn’t take me so she had my older cousin Lupita take me. It was at the San Jose Arena, and on a school night lol. I’ll never forget when Garbage opened, what a great act it was. But I still dream and vividly remember the moment Pumpkins went on stage to the intro track. And then with a loud bang they began their set list to the sound of roaring guitars and thunderous drums, it was friggin loud and it was so damn awesome. Billy with his Zero shirt led the band through a very well thought out song list like a conductor leading his orchestra through an opera. The energy and the magic was all there. I remember that was the moment I wanted to become a musician myself. I am 37 years old now, still in a band, got my own recording studio, and now I’m teaching my kids to be musicians themselves. I still play MCIS as well as all their other albums whenever we go on road trips and every time I feel 13 years old again, seeing Billy on stage giving the cue for the next song.
Record Store Memory
Gregg OXNARD, CA , US
I was 20, my then fiance had just gotten pregnant and we needed extra money. So I started working a part-time job at a record store for the holidays, Record Town at the Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, CA.
I remember the promo version of the album being there, and the staff always got to claim “dibs” on them. Which I did. But not after playing it each and every shift for the three months I worked there. I absolutely fell in love with the album and it was the soundtrack of one of the most important times in my life. We even listened to the album on our way to get married in Vegas in December, 1995. We’re still married to this day.

Untitled
Taylor B Des Moines, IA, US
My father introduced me to “Pumpkins” as we call you. I was very young when my father used to play the album for holidays and we spent a lot of time trying to learn Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness on the piano by only listening. After our piano went out of tune, we would continue sharing this song by singing along. This song and album have always been our go-to. My father passed unexpectedly last year and every time I hear a song from this album, it brings me back to the days of laughing and singing in the living room or kitchen.
Because of this song and album, I’m able to remember my father in the best way.
Thank you ❤️

Gone Titles, Forever Memories
Brad white Oneonta, AL, US
The night before Mellon Collie and the Infinite Saddness came out, the band played Live at the Rivera in Chicago and the show was syndicated to a station here in Birmingham, Alabama. I stayed up on a school night and recorded the entire show on my boombox. The next day my sister asked me if I wanted to go buy the album with her. I was hoping she would ask me because I was itching to go and she had wheels to take us. After school we bought the cassettes so we could jam out to them in her glorious 80’s blue mustang on the way to school everyday. I opted for the CD’s but she insisted on the cassettes. Over time, these cassettes got played in my portable cassette player so much from long car rides, mowing grass, or falling asleep to them while playing, all the writing has diminished from them. After a while of saving lunch money, I bought the cd version of the album. To this day, I cannot find the original holders for the cassettes. But I do have the long box incasement for them that held them before they went to the smaller version.
Me and My Girlfriend
Merry Richmond, Va, US
My then girlfriend and I met through our mutual love for the pumpkins, and most of our relationship was spent talking about how much we adored Mellon Collie, analyzing our favorite songs and what made the album so great. Now that we’re engaged, those memories are still fresh in my mind 🙂
1979 cover
Jace Matthews Burlington, NC, US
My high school band mates and I covering 1979 at a local restaurant in Burlington, NC. MCIS had a massive influence on us and even though the guitarist on the left passed earlier this year; I will always treasure the affinity we shared for Smashing Pumpkins, and all of the times we shared a stage covering some of our SP favorite songs.

“Just a Young Girl Raiding Her Sister’s Music Collection
Marissa Danielle Niles, IL, US
When I first discovered MCIS, I was 14, just a young girl raiding her sister’s music collection that was kept off limits! I’ll admit I would wait for her to leave, and listen to the album from start to finish, reading along the with the lyrics, and would be captivated by the beauty and artistry of everything with MCIS. It became my routine, every weekend on Fridays usually just me and the music, discovering MCIS with such excitement! As I listened more I grew to develop a deep love and appreciation of SP. I instantly was moved by Thirty-Three, Tonight, Tonight, and Cupid De Locke which would transport me into another dreamlike world that no other music has ever done (or at least since I discovered The Beatles). It was pure magic, and I will always remember MCIS this way!
Timeless
Nathan Walden Decatur, AL, US
Back when cds were a thing I know I went through multiple copies. Probably bought it at least four or five different times.
Infinite Inspiration
Edmundo Veloso Rancagua, CL
as an 18 year old moving from Rancagua to the capital of Chile, Santiago, MCIS meant the soundtrack for my coming of age and since the inspired my work. https://open.spotify.com/album/3IKQSosKvctAVdAP4k0p6p?si=U_q9dugtTdOJMRMniVfi_w

How MCIS changed my life at 16
Ryan Payne Friendswood, TX, US
So. When I was sixteen, I was a troubled youth. My father knew I really liked Siamese Dream and surprised me with my first cd copy of MCIS. From there, I was hooked. Flash forward to three years later, I started a band. Bought the MCIS deluxe edition and started learning how to play the songs. Not only did the record make me a better musician, but it gave me a unique outlook on life. The record pulled me out of a dark self-destructive place, and taught me to use those feelings in my art.
My mother
Jordan Whatley Bristol , GB
My mother borrowed the album from the library!! She is 70 now so smashing pumpkins has been a big part of her life!! When I was younger I was brought up on the album it’s become literally the album that shaped me as a musician to experiment be weird try new things and I’m pretty sure after all my mental health issues (eating disorders, depression) without this as an outlet I wouldn’t be where I am now and that’s studying at a music university trying to create my own masterpiece!! I don’t expect anyone to read this or go anywhere but it’s nice to just say that I love this album and it brings me joy most days <3 thank you guys

Last row
Gillian Long Island New York , US
Summer before our very first year of college we bought the only tickets we’re could afford at the time which happened to be the absolute last row of the stadium. It was hilarious, we had all the room to sing and dance to every song without bothering anyone, because there was no one else there with us. A night I’ll never forget. Plus for more then half the show we snuck into the seated area up front and enjoyed the opening acts up close before security caught on.
1996
Andrew Mitchley Sandton , ZA
I had cassette tapes of MCIS, first year of high school. Poor and lost, on days when I had nothing else to live for, I’d hide away in my father’s car, close my eyes and let the music take me to a better place. MCIS made me find that in music there is love in love there is hope. Never let tomorrow be your excuse for today!
The Vast Oceans
Ignacio Sánchez Parra Olivos, Buenos Aires, AR
I still remember the first time I heard “Porcelina of The Vast Oceans”. I will never forget the feeling of being lost in an ocean, levitating as if I was in space. Ever since then, no other song has given me that same feeling of hope, positivity and dreams that got me through high school as much as that song did. It maybe was not the intention of the song, but the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. It is still my favorite song to this day.
The Bus Ride
Paul HOFFMAN ESTATES, US
When I was starting my freshman year of high school in 1995, our bus driver was a cool, young lady. She put on alternative radio for us, and I just chilled, listening to the radio playing. Then I heard Bullet With Butterfly Wings. From the opening line, I bolted upright to listen carefully. This…was the coolest song I had ever heard. I hadn’t gotten to alternative rock yet, but this was my gateway, and it’s still my favorite song of all time. The Pumpkins were my gateway to great music, but I still always come back to them, because you can’t mess with perfection.

Infinite
Howie Noel New York, US
This album is an artistic masterpiece. Mellon Collie is the album that I remember the strongest from high school. It was the first double album I ever owned and it contained so much artistic inspiration. Friends knew I loved the band and we’d bond even more over it as everyone loved that album. Even the art I drew for my high school yearbook was in tribute to the album with several references to the songs. The lyrics are especially meaningful to me as they really connected with them. From Bodies to Muzzle, my love for this album has never lessened.
The Past, Present, and Infinite Future
Holly Hampshire, IL, US
Age 4 in a suburb of Chi I saw 1979 on MTV & fell in love with SP. At 25 I had my first child who could only fall asleep if MCIS was on repeat. At 29 my 2nd child claims her favorite band is SP with Love as this week’s repeat song, last week was Cyr. It’s incredible to grow up feeling an unyielding connection to all of SP’s music, to then have your own children love it so dearly.