10
Thursday, November 16,1995
Pumpkins Album Filled
With ‘lnfinite’ Variety
Coming to a conclusion about The
Smashing Pumpkins’ latest album, Mellon
Collie and the Infinite Sadness, is like try
ing to decide if a meal of hot wings and
Dom Perignon tastes good; individually,
the parts taste pretty rad, but at first you
just can't decide if it all settles well in your
stomach.
Billy Corgan and company’s third all
new studio album, following on the heels
of the mega-hit Siamese Dream LP and the
popular B-sides collection Pisces Iscariot,
does conclusively prove that the Pumpkins
are capable of
making com
pelling, differ
ent music and
should cement
wonder-boy
guitarist/
songwriter/
singerCorgan’s
GREG KALISS
Music Rumr
Mellon Collies and
the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing
Pumpkins
A-
reputation as a song-writing master.
Corgan could never be accused ofbeing
overly optimistic and giddy, and, as the
album’s title suggests, the songs here aren’t
full of bright cheer, either.
Butthey move with abeauty and melody
and passion that hits more often than it
misses.
The band is at its best on numbers like
the rousing “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,"
“Muzzle” and “Bodies” and the softer “33,”
“Stumbleine” and “Galapagos.” And it
pretty much stinks on scrappy, death-metal
jams like “X.Y.U.” and “Tales of a
Scorched Earth,” in which a screeching
Corgan’s voice is so lost in the mix as to be
nearly inaudible.
And considering the broken quality of
these vocals, that’s not even such a bad
thing.
But back to the good stuff. The produc
tion on the album, by Corgan, Flood and
Alan Moulder, makes all the difference.
One thing this album definitely is not is a
repetition of Siamese Dream’s epic, mas
sive sound. On that album, Corgan and co
producer Butch Vig cranked up a huge
sonic wall of driving guitar sound as the
backdrop.
While that technique lent to the album’s
sweeping quality, it also tended to hit lis
teners over the head by the time they made
it through the 60 minutes-plus of music on
the album.
On Mellon, the producers go for a more
spare sound, allowing for a clearer, more
distinct feel.
On tunes like “We Only Come Out at
Night,” “Cupid de Locke” and “1979,” the
sound is nothing like anything the band
hasputoutbefore, with industrial-like char
acteristics and synthesized vocals and ar-
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rangements showing a willingness to
branch out from the band’s signature driv
ing anthems and soothing ballads.
Things really come together on songs
like “Bullet," in which a brief a capella
vocal introduction by Corgan and a clean
guitar/bass line open up the song for
Corgan’s lyrics of Pruffock-esque frustra
tion at being unable to make a viable differ
ence and have some greater meaning in
life.
In the bridge, Coigan asks to be told that
he’s “the only one... the chosen one” and
in the anguished refrain sings “despite all
my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage/and
I still believe that I cannot be saved."
Couple this with the lyrics of the song
“Jellybelly” - “living makes me sick/so
sick I wish I’d die” and the somber (but
beautiful!) title track instrumental, and lis
teners may get the feeling that the album is
one of those whining, everything-sucks
“Generation X” LPs.
To Corgan’s credit, however, and the
album’s betterment, some songs are even
hopeful in their themes. But these are few
are far between.
Although Corgan still seems tortured
by a cynical world view, he does allow for
moments of release when he can truly feel
happy.
In the poignant “33,” for example,
Corgan sings “and for a moment I lose
myself/wrapped up in the pleasures of this
world.”
And he harbors a positive outlook for
the future: “I’ll make the effort, love can
last forever/graceful swans of never topple
to the earth/ tomorrow’s just an excuse/
and you can make it last, forever...”
From bile-laced music and lyrics to soft,
sad and sometimes sadly hopeful songs,
Mellon runs the gamut of emotions and
textures in the Pumpkins’ arsenal. James
Iha’s guitar work, D’Arcy's bass, and, in
particular, Jimmy Chamberlin’s drumming
all contribute to an album that not only
sounds different from Siamese Dream but
moves beyond the multi-platinum album
in its own right.
Hard to swallow, perhaps, because of
its diversity of sounds, Mellon Collie and
the Infinite Sadness nonetheless captures
the poignant emotion of its brilliant
songwriter and stretches the boundaries of
music.
After the album’s 28 songs, the listener
is not out ofbreath but is somehow soothed
by the cathartic sadness inherent in the
album.
Although that sadness occasionally boils
over too much in rage and at times seems
to drag the album’s pace, it is always,
always compelling.
DIVERSIONS Music
Green Day and Kravitz Attract Different Listeners
Music lovers are divided pretty clearly
into two groups: people who are interested
in good music and ... radio listeners. The
radio listeners frown upon WXYC, dis
missing it as a tangle of noise, disorienting
vocals and abrasion; meanwhile, those who
pursue the less popular musicians in our
country (as well as in other countries) turn
up their nose at
GlO5 and their
ilk, reducing
every song on
non-college ra
dio to mediocre
pop fluff.
In a sense,
both groups are
right; each
group’s objec
tions find at
least some ba
sis in fact. How-
TODD GILCHRIST |
Music Review
Green Day
Insomniac
(Reprise)
B
Lenny Kravitz
Circus
(Virgin)
B
ever, the XYCers often miss the point that
there are many artists who are at least good
for what they are, if not good entirely (the
same holds true for pop listeners). Both
Green Day and Lenny Kravitz fall into this
grey area (that is, good for what they are).
Lenny Kravitz, who seems eons away
from his first album (temporally, at least),
certainly hasn’t changed in his three subse
Bad Religion Explodes Back Into Punk Rock
Arroed with leather jackets and thesau
ruses, everyone’s favorite educated punk
rockers, Bad Religion, exploded onto the
L.A. Hardcore/Punk scene way back in
1980. What followed was a story, punctu
ated by nine albums and several lineup
changes, that continues today.
Along the way (sorry, bad pun), the
band has had its share of ups and downs.
From their ill-advised venture into prog
rock, the album
Into the Un
known, to the
Cinderella-like
success they
created by
themselves on
| STEVE FERRARA |
Music Review
All Ages
Epitaph Records
B-
ex-guitarist Mr. Brett’s independent label,
Epitaph Records, the band has endured.
This set, All Ages, is a retrospective of the
band’s work while on Epitaph. From the
first LP, How Could Hell be Any Worse?, to
the last true Epitaph record, Generator, this
record presents a cross-section of these
albums.
Kicking off the record in true BR fash
ion is the opening solo of “I Want to
Conquer the World. ” This song is a perfect
opener as it is analogous to most of their
work. Hella-fast, supermelodic punk rock,
backed with intricate, vocal harmonies are
quent albums, and frankly I’m beginning
to wonder if he’s not getting bored. Circus,
his latest release, follows the same psyche
delic-rock formula as the others, and espe
cially seems like a companion volume for
Are You Gonna Go My Way. The first song,
the ballsy-titled “Rock & Roll Is Dead,” is
as much a suggestion of his source of influ
ences as it is an outward comment on
modem rock. A repetitive bundle of power
chords, this isn’t exactly the kind of radio
compatible single that would fit into the
omnipresent “feel-good” music that inun
dates the airwaves. “Circus," “Beyond the
Seventh Sky,” and “God Is Love” are all
performed in Kravitz's trademark bor-
the norm here.
The lyrics in this song also expose an
other facet indicative of the BR experience;
big words and social commentary are com
mon. They sing: “Hey moral soldier, you’ve
got righteous proclamation / and precious
tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations.” I
think I passed my SATs by listening to
these guys in high school.
Following this song, the collection works
its way through five albums of material
and two previously unreleased live ver
sions. Only two very old songs (pre-1985),
“We’re Only Gonna Die” and “Fuck Ar
mageddon ... This Is Hell” are included.
The majority of the set comes from the
secondera, ‘BBto ‘92,oftheEpitaphyears.
The albums Suffer, No Control, Against the
Grain and Generator are all represented here
with their title tracks and several others
each. It all adds up to 22 songs in about 50
minutes, which isn’t bad for a bunch of old
guys. Classics like “Flat Earth Society,”
“Automatic Man” and “Do What You
Want” make this a good introduction, not
a substitute, to an extensive discography of
West Coast Punk Rock.
Basically, All Ages serves to demonstrate
how good a band Bad Religion used to be.
The music here speaks for itself. It tells of
a time before the band left their creation
and home at Epitaph for bigwig Atlantic
Records and of a time before Brett made a
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rowed style, and “God Is Love” uses the
same echoing effects that made “Believe”
from Are You Gonna G 0... such an interest
ing song, but this time its effect is much less
dramatic. On “Can’t Get You Off My
Mind,” Kravitz channels the Eagles circa
1974; the harmonizing brought to mind
images of “Lyin’ Eyes;” it’s his version of
“Interstate Love Song.” “Magdalene” is a
perky little bastard of a song that would do
the Partridge Family proud: “She was
0n1y... seventeen!” Green Day may have
lost any and all credibility as a serious punk
band, but their music is well done, consis
tent, and fun. Their “fourth” album (their
first was a collection of singles and EPs),
Insomniac, is an enjoyable piece of pop
punk fluff that is tied just tight enough to
their roots to please both the public and
theirpunkfans. The majority ofthe album’s
songs are Dookie- style punk, impolite and
incoherent, but a few of the songs, such as
“Geek Stink Breath,” are curiously placed
rockballads.ThenlhearditonGlos. “No
Pride” sounds like it would better fit on
Kerplunk, but its appearance on the album
only proves that they haven’t completely
soldouttheirstyle. “Bab’s Uvula Who?” is
great punk, but “86” belongs on the
“Clueless” soundtrack. The punk is decid
edlyradio-palatable, except forafew tracks,
I P R'grr^Qvr , -.lg,^a
fortune with Offspring and decided to quit
the band. Because of the loss of the
®t)r Saily ®ar Heel
■Hpf* .
including “Brain Stew,” which liberally
borrows from Led Zeppelin and is a great
song, and “Tight Wad Hill,” which sounds
more like 1,000 Slappy Hours-em Green
Day than their more contemporary albums.
Like my roommate remarked, “I don’t
know if I like their albums anymore, but
they play fun music and I like them.” The
band’s charisma smooths over a grand
majority of their loss of purity. There’s an
oversight by the music listening “aristoc
racy” who run in terror of anything that
more than four people want to buy because
they don’t consider that success. Popular
ity doesn’t necessarily have to spoil music’s
quality (even though it often does).
songwriting of Brett, who has developed
into a much better writer than singer Greg
Graffin, and the disruption of their previ
ous chemistry, (Brett was replaced by Brian
Baker, ex-Minor Threat, Dag Nasty), the
future of Bad Religion is uncertain. All Ages
gives new listeners a chance to hear the
band the way they should be remembered
in their prime, before recent events
brought about their decline.
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