MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS
The Globe and Mail - November 4, 1995.
Transcribed by Simon Coyle
Alternative, schamlternative. The spirit of 1970s rock excess lives on in Billy Corgan, the urban spaceboy behind Chicago's Smashing Pumpkins and this big, fat two-hour log doube-CD magnum opus, written, as far as I can tell, in the aftermath of a failed love affair. Corgan wails in psychedelic day-glo about his romantic betrayal, surrounding the laments in heavy metal thump, orchestral grandeur and punk-pop-craft. He's a whiz with a riff, and there are some great singles here, including the lead-off Bullet with Butterfly Wings, but taken as a whole, Corgan's monsterpieces seems bloated, clumsy and self-obsessed.