Welcome back.
I wrote a thing yesterday about box sets and how difficult it was to acquire rare or obscure material from artists whose canon was too brief. To act as a counterpoint, today's piece is about the overwhelming volume of material released by The Smashing Pumpkins during their Mellon Collie era. I've previously looked at the double album in two separate posts, taking the time to really examine what each disc contained and what the songs suggested in their grouping. As an act of self-loathing, let's dive into the box set I loved so dearly as a teenager, the massive five disc singles collection The Aeroplane Flies High. Rather than spread this business out over five days, I'm going for gusto here and running them all in one shot.
The five singles were all excellent in their own right, songs that I reviewed in my posts on Mellon Collie. The Pumpkins had recorded a wealth of material during the sessions for Mellon Collie, well over the amount necessary even for a double album. When it came time to pick b-sides for the singles, Corgan and co. began releasing some of the unused tracks on the singles when the tone of the songs matched up. Where most artists tack on a live track or another mediocre album track, The Pumpkins ended up releasing an additional two album's worth of content with the singles. Their record label saw an opportunity to cash in on the multitude of music and decided for the Christmas season of 1996 they would release a 45-style box set of the singles, compiling all five singles (along with a neat-o book with pictures and lyrics) into a rad retro box. As a huge SP fan (then and now) I was in heaven.
Interestingly the first single off the album, 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', only had a single b-side, a soft ballad sung by guitarist James Iha and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt. It's a lovely little tune, but Corgan wanted to go deluxe with the box set, so when this single was set for inclusion the band recorded covers of some of their favorite artists. Added to the CD were 'You're All I've Got Tonight' by The Cars, 'Clones (We're All)' by Alice Cooper, 'A Night Like This' by The Cure, 'Destination Unknown' by Missing Persons and 'Dreaming' by Blondie. These covers were an interesting look into the history of The Pumpkins as well as nice twists on the originals. The Cars cover saw the band get a little loose and rootsy, 'Destination Unknown' saw them mine their burgeoning techno and electro elements. Corgan feels totally at home ripping into Alice Cooper's 'Clones' with its manic little guitar lines and buzzing drone. I think their version of Blondie's 'Dreaming', with a rare vocal outing from bassist D'arcy Wretzky, is a great reinvention of the New Wave number, turning it into a sleepy, ethereal trip hop song.
The second single, '1979', had the band show-casing their pop song craft instead of the angsty guitar-driven alt rock they were known for. The songs included on the single followed suit, being more reserved and introspective. 'Ugly' is just a drum click and some delayed guitars beneath Corgan singing about self loathing. 'The Boy' is a shiny pop song by Iha, with fuzzy little chords that fill the song with light. Iha also donated the peaceful 'Believe' to the single, a quiet acoustic song seems so fragile it might break under its arrangement. 'Cherry' is a slowed down almost to the point of spinning out tune that feels sad but really is rather optimistic. I love the twang on the guitar parts. One of my favorite songs ever is the haunting and subtle 'Set The Ray to Jerry'. Just a bubbling bass line and some solitary, sparse guitar leads, there's not much to this song. The air it creates, though, make it so unique and strange to me. I love how it changes a cool fall night when I hear it through some headphones. It's a great soundscape.
'Zero' brings the band back into their guitar-shredding wheelhouse. 'God', with its furious riffs and declamatory lyrics, is Corgan ranting and railing against the world at his best, all gnashing teeth and huge sounds. 'Mouths of Babes' could easily have been a Siamese Dream-era b-side with its Quiet-aping central riff and mid-tempo beat. I love harmony in the guitar lines. The band's tribute to Johnny Winter (titled as such) is a series of blistering solos and show-casing, a fun one-off track that feels like the band is blowing off steam in appreciation of a music legend. 'Marquis in Spades' is an aggressive, hit-you-over-the-head number that has Corgan mixing sonic guitar blasts and licks with vocals that segue from whispers to wails. Somehow it works, despite any subtly. The country twang of 'Pennies' seems out of place on this single, but it's still a darling little song coiled around a catchy riff. At the end we have the 23 minute marathon titled 'Pastichio Medley', which takes just about every fragment and idea the band had between Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and highlights a bit from each one. Citing over 50 songs, it's an exercise in endurance to listen to them all but there are definitely some fascinating bits in there, like a studio version of the live-staple Jackboot, bizarro takes on Cherub Rock's riff and my personal favorite - the long lost Depresso.
Interestingly 'Tonight, Tonight' served as a jumping off point for a collection of acoustic and pared-down songs instead of more pomp and grandeur. It feels, from this point on in the box set, like the band is beginning to channel an old-timey music group from the 20s. The twine and stomp of 'Meladori Magpie' is strange, but a fun change of pace for the alt-rockers. 'Rotten Apples' is of similar execution but more somber and downbeat (and a bit more in step with their canon). 'Medellia of the Gray Skies' is ornate and fussy, but worth it once it gets to its lush chorus. The three solo-acoustic songs here are Corgan at his finest. 'Blank' is simple and earnest, a plea to be something other than himself. 'Jupiter's Lament' is a beautifully strummed number that he had higher aspirations for, but ended up keeping as a stripped down demo. 'Tonite Reprise' is just what the title says, a brief, bare bones reprise of the album's codifier. Here, though, it becomes much more intimate and personal with all the orchestrations removed. Corgan's voice cracks and breaks in parts, but it makes it so much more human. I love to hear the difference of the two versions.
The last disc in the box set shows the band going farther to their extremes. Both 'Thirty-three' and 'The Last Song' are wonderfully written wistful songs, but they're a starting point from which we see two bands emerge. One, of the eventual Adore, is broken and healing, creating songs like the soft and loving 'The Bells' and the old-time standard of 'My Blue Heaven'. The other, a hidden dragon, is lying in wait for Machina, peeking out in the menacing death-pop of 'Transformer' and the long-form assault that is the eponymous 'The Aeroplane Flies High'. Eventually both aspects of the band would see their respective sides exposed in proper albums. Here, though, it was a clever (if unnoticed) hint as to what the future would hold. At the time I couldn't reconcile the two personalities of The Smashing Pumpkins. In hindsight it's apparent why - they were two different growth spurts that had yet to happen, ideas only roughly taking shape.
If you're a fan of the band, this box set was mana from heaven. It was a non-stop stream of material from the band's most prolific (and some would arugue highest quality) period of work. Coupled with the album that spawned it, the Aeroplane Box Set raised the total output for the era to a staggering 56 songs, all mixed and polished to a professional standard. That's impressive for any artist, let alone a multi-million selling group known for their complex arrangements and agonizing over production. It's a fascinating insight into the recording process and creative process for a group. These days you can cherry-pick the songs off of any online source; back then, though, you had to have the box set. It was a cool piece of memorabilia to have, one I still dig through every now and then. Do yourself a favor and sift through this massive box - there's some real treasure in it. Just don't go all in, you'll get lost in the depths.
I wrote a thing yesterday about box sets and how difficult it was to acquire rare or obscure material from artists whose canon was too brief. To act as a counterpoint, today's piece is about the overwhelming volume of material released by The Smashing Pumpkins during their Mellon Collie era. I've previously looked at the double album in two separate posts, taking the time to really examine what each disc contained and what the songs suggested in their grouping. As an act of self-loathing, let's dive into the box set I loved so dearly as a teenager, the massive five disc singles collection The Aeroplane Flies High. Rather than spread this business out over five days, I'm going for gusto here and running them all in one shot.
