Smashing Pumpkins “1979” charted

1979 Smashing Pumpkins

Writer(s): Billy Corgan (see lyrics here) Released: January 23, 1996 First Charted: November 25, 1995 Peak: 9a US, 11 CB, 7 GR, 9 RR, 30 A40, 3 AA, 12 AR, 11 MR, 16 UK, 2 CN, 16 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.6 radio, 221.8 video, 411.49 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Smashing Pumpkins were an alternative rock band who formed in 1988 in Chicago, Illinois. Their debut album, Gish, was released in 1991. It flew under the radar, peaking at #146, but eventually selling a million copies. Their second album, 1993’s Siamese Dream, was a huge leap forward, selling four million copies and reaching #10 on the Billboard album chart. In 1995, they released Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album that saw the group reach #1 on the album chart and achieve diamond certification for ten million in sales. The lead single, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” gave the group their first entry (#22) on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first of five alternative-rock top-ten hits from the album. It was the second single, “1979,” which gave the group their biggest hit. It reached #1 on the alternative-rock chart and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#9 airplay). Frontman Billy Corgan wrote a version of the song long before it appeared on Mellon Collie. SF It started as a song called “Strolling” and ended up the last of 56 songs written for consideration for the album. WK Flood, the album’s producer, didn’t think it was good enough and gave Corgan 24 hours to make it work. SF That night Corgan spent four hours writing “a nostalgic coming-of-age story.” WK He considered the year 1979, when he turned twelve, to be “his transition into adolescence” WK and eventually being in high school “and having adult responsibilities like a car and job, but still being very much a youth and dependent on his parents.” SF Flood immediately approved and Corgan considered it “the most personally important song” WK on the album. The song was nominated for Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Smashing Pumpkins SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/20/2023.

 

Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie released

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Smashing Pumpkins

Released: October 24, 1995 Peak: 11 US, 4 UK, 11 CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): 4.9 US, 0.3 UK, 11.2 world (includes US and UK) Genre: alternative rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Song Title (Writers) (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Tonight, Tonight (5/18/96, 36 BB, 33 BA, 25 CB, 35 GR, 43 RR, 14 AA, 4 AR, 5 MR, 7 UK, 32 CN, 21 AU, 10 DF) Jellybelly Zero (2/17/96, 49 BB, 15 AR, 9 MR, 23 DF) Here Is No Why Bullet with Butterfly Wings (10/21/95, 22 US, 27 CB, 4 AR, 2 MR, 20 UK, 18 CN, 33 AU, 7 DF) To Forgive An Ode to No One Love Cupid de Locke Galapogos Muzzle (9/14/96, 57 BA, 10 AR, 8 MR) Porcelina of the Vast Oceans Take Me Down (James Iha) Tracks, Disc 2: Where Boys Fear to Tread Bodies Thirty-Three (11/23/96, 39 US, 18 AR, 2 MR, 21 UK, 24 CN, 51 AU, 21 DF) In the Arms of Sleep 1979 (11/25/95, 12 BB, 9 BA, 11 CB, 7 GR, 9 RR, 1 AR, 1 MR, 16 UK, 2 CN, 16 AU, 7 DF) Tales of a Scorched Earth Thru the Eyes of Ruby Stumbleine X.Y.U. We Only Come Out at Night (27 DF) Beautiful Lily (My One and Only) By Starlight Farewell and Goodnight (Iha, Corgan, Chamberlin, Wretzky) Songs written by Billy Corgan unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 121:39 The Players: Billy Corgan (vocals, guitar, other instruments) James Iha (guitar) D’arcy Wretzky (bass) Jimmy Chamberlin (drums)

Rating: 4.085 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Quotable: “One of the most ambitious and indulgent albums in rock history…it’s a rewarding and compelling one as well.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Sprawling Double Album “The Smashing Pumpkins didn’t shy away from making the follow-up to the grand, intricate Siamese Dream. With Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the band turns in one of the most ambitious and indulgent albums in rock history. Lasting over two hours and featuring 28 songs, the album is certainly a challenging listen. To Billy Corgan’s credit, it’s a rewarding and compelling one as well.” AM Although the artistic scope of the album is immense,” AM the songs “are as eclectic as their themes are epic and ambitious” AZ and “the Smashing Pumpkins flourish in such an overblown setting.” AM “Some of the songs don’t work as well as others, but Mellon Collie never seems to drag.” AM The Sound of Gen X Taken as a whole the album proves that the Pumpkins were “one of the more creative and consistent bands of the ‘90s.” AM “Pessimistic and feeling trapped but still wanting to believe in love, in a future, in something – this is the sound of Gen X at the millennium, with all the self-indulgence and power that would suggest.” AZ It is “one of the most beautiful albums in rock’s history.” RD Corgan’s Songwriting “Corgan’s songwriting has never been limited by conventional notions of what a rock band can do, even if it is clear that he draws inspiration from scores of ‘70s heavy metal and art rock bands. Instead of copying the sounds of his favorite records, he expands on their ideas.” AM “Mellon Collie’s heavy orchestrations are well served by Corgan's beautiful and poetic lyrics.” RV His “thin whine isn’t much of an instrument, but he makes the most of it by writing smart songs that take emotional chances that more-typical alt rockers would deem uncool.” AZ “The desperate lines from Muzzle establish Corgan as the poet laureate of Generation X. ‘I fear that I am ordinary, just like everyone / To lie here and die among the sorrows / Adrift among the days / For everything I ever said.’” RV “Mellon Collie contains virtually the entire spectrum of the human experience in its 28 tracks. Even the infamously muffled mastering job can’t smother its beauty.” CQ The album “boasts everything this once-a-generation rock band could do,” CQ showcasing “an array of musical styles, drawing from rock, pop, folk, and classical” AM “with equal aplomb.” RV The Songs The album “is a model of contemporary alternative songwriting from the opening self-titled track consisting of nothing but arresting piano.” RD “For every blustery rocker like” RV “the raging, bitter grunge rock of Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” RD and “the Metallica-influenced alternative rock of Zero” AZ “there's a luscious ballad like “ RV “the sad, loping Thirty-Three” CQ “to prove the Pumpkins' scope.” RV There are also “emotionally over-the-top pop extravaganzas like” AM “the mournful and longing symphony of strings” RD in Tonight Tonight.” AM “The techno via new wave of 1979” AZ “exudes a nostalgic stardust felt deeply by much of Generation X.” CQ These “sit comfortably against the volcanic rush of Jellybelly,” AM “the bittersweet fireworks of Here Is No Why to the hangdog and punchy To Forgive,” CQ “and the snarling, animalistic meltdown of X.Y.U.” CQ Aftermath “A tumultuous series of events propelled the album and band alike into the public eye. Within 12 months, they achieved seven Grammy nominations, touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvin died of a heroin overdose, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession and fired from the band.” RD

Resources: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AZ Amazon.com review by David Cantwell (essential recording) CQ Consequence.net (9/12/2022). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” RD Robert Dimery (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Quintet Publishing Limited: New York, NY. Page 756. RV The Review (Oct./Nov. 2001). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher Related DMDB Links: First posted 3/17/2011; last updated 11/29/2024.