Playing God with Mellon Collie

The challenge was simple. Austin decided to play god with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by chopping off an hour and rearranging the tracks to make it better. But oh how it hurt.

Favorite albums are favorite albums for a reason. When I am drunk, I do participate in games questioning the validity of some of the songs, wondering whether certain tracks could be lobbed off to create a more cohesive whole. But essentially what I am doing is trying to make other people agree with what I know. That Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is perfect. And perfect things should not be destroyed and rebuilt.

But the gauntlet has been thrown and I will unfortunately respond with senseless vengeance.

At first it was easy. “Tales of the Scorched Earth” is needlessly distorted, which is a shame because a great song is buried in there. James Iha’s wonderful “Take Me Down” doesn’t really fit. “In the Arms of Sleep” has never really excited me...
...and that’s where it ended. Then it felt like I was burning friends alive as “Beautiful” disappeared, and “To Forgive” said goodbye. But enough apologizing for something that hasn’t been said. All I will say is that this was hard.

1. Tonight, Tonight
Well how else could it have started? The instrumental that starts the real album is really just an intro to the swelling strings that soar from this song. The song needs no explanation, it’s greatness, I don’t believe, is in any question. I thought briefly about stealing the b-side “Tonite reprise” is sort of an intro to the real song, but half its charm is the hidden quality of discovering it for yourself. It should stay only with the devoted.

2. Muzzle
Deleting portions of the album was hard enough, but chopping it up felt like destroying steal. This song is number 12 on Dawn to Dusk. What I decided to do was place like minded material together, hoping to stretch a certain mood long enough, until it would eventually get destroyed by other styles. So the follow up to “Tonight, Tonight”’s soaring romance fell natural to the warm-hearted “Muzzle”. Probably a ballad in it’s inception, and played like one on their remarkable pre-farewell concert at Chicago’s United Center.

3. 1979
Continuing with the nostalgia trip comes a song that has only grown more remarkable each year. Putting it so close to the beginning feels little greedy, but I guess this is the point of the whole exercise.

4. Thirty-Three
Not necessarily the best song on the album, this one still probably comes closest to encapsulating the message of this album the best. It’s gorgeous melody and reaffirming chorus of “Love can last forever” hide some pretty troubled doubts that tinge the beautiful veneer. Most people will forever swear there love for Siamese Dream, but that one had always felt too cold. And this song is one of the prime examples of what was missing from the polished surface of its more reputable predecessor.

5. Jellybelly
Sometimes I get these sounds in my head that race back and forth like an electric wash where the noise just boils over and I have to hold my head because these loud noises start piercing the sides of my skull and I can’t stop shaking. It’s usually the opening to this song that I hear. I’m not sure if I wish I was in a band that could play this song, or that I’m going insane, but I do enjoy it for some reason.

6. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
By now, the dream-laden rush of the beginning of the disc is gone, and we are in the middle of rocking seriously. The great wonder of hearing all these songs together brings out the junior high student in me, when I first realized that all rock was not created equal, and that the bridge freak-out contained here is close to godliness.

7. Zero
As we peer further into the dark eyes of the beast, one thing becomes clear. Billy’s long phrased poetry that appears at the start of the disc has slowly disappeared to simple declarative ranting. Much has been written about the clumsy writing contained in this song, but that is only when the lyrics are removed from the cyper-punk background. Not everything is wonderfully explained in life, and dangerous thoughts are not always eloquent. That doesn’t make them any less powerful.

8. X.Y.U.
In High School, Eric and I would ride around at night listening to music in my car, and at least once a week we’d crank this song to the highest setting and yell as loudly as we could into the night air. The complete desolation you hear is no mask. This is the angriest song they’ve ever made. The power of this song might come from all guitars set at destroy and the drums mercilessness pounding, but the strength actually lies in the catchy melody of “And I said, I want to give you up”. One of the few take-no-prisoners rockers that could have been easily turned into a pop song. Though, thankfully, it was not.

9. Cupid De Locke
With no where to go but the fiery pits of hell, I decided to look up to the most heavenly song in the whole album. Not that it has much to do with god, but both the lovely plucked strings and the sentimental romance, give heart back to this album that had just looked like it wanted to kill your babies and eat them.

10. Galapagos
Really two in the same, number 9 and 10 belong together as they first appeared on the original for no other reason than they sound like two sides. “Cupid’s” dream like narrative is fulfilled by “Galapagos’s” more human approach to love.

11. Stumbleine
If “Cupid” felt like the rush of young love, and “Galapagos” felt like the fight for innocence, then this one feels like acceptance of the dirty truth. That it remains so hopeful gives hope to the maturing attitude towards love that we all no is approaching but don’t really want to look for quite yet.

12. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans
The most romantic of the epics is also the most mysterious. It doesn’t become audible till nearly 30 seconds in. I’ve always been drawn to its lovely stature, and it feels most at home with the rest of these odes. This combines the other three songs meditations on love, lust, and growing old. But throws in monster guitars, solos and whispering background noises.

13. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Surprised? It’s a lovely intro, but played at the end the sadness of the whole experience comes back to you. The rollercoaster ride through this album is nothing but an emotional trip through nostalgia, heartbreak, and ultimately love. Because this album is really just a concept album to trying to sort through your own emotions. That’s why I love this album so much. And for some reason ending with this song is like the rolling of the credits. Seemingly unnecessary but moving at the same time.

total running time: 56.3 minutes