This album marked the most prolific period in the Smashing Pumpkins recording career. Billy Corgan's songwriting was at its peak and the band recorded literally dozens of tracks.
The album was a response to the minimalist insticts of the alternative rock scene of the time. By daring to take on the momentous task of a double album Corgan boldly placed the band in the same league as such rock masterworks as Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, The Beatles White Album and Pink Floyd's The Wall. Whether or not he succeeded is debatable but to many Mellon Collie is one of the defining albums of a generation.
The most remarkable feature of the album is its amazing diversity of styles and production. Corgan uses many tracks to openly pay homage to his influences, such as Bowie-esque musings on the meaning of rock stardom in Here Is No Why. Most of the lyrical content is either deliberately overblown and angst-ridden or almost Dylan-esque in its obliqueness. A few memorable tracks also revive a wonderfully antiquated view of the innocence of love, such as Porcelina of the Vast Oceans and Lily (My One and Only). Others reveal new wave sensibilities (1979 being the best example) and there are also some truly epic stadium rockers with Zeppelin-esque track times.
The album spawned a devastating run of singles: Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight, Zero, 1979 and Thirty-three all dominated the airwaves over a two-year period. Each of these was accompanied by a remarkable film clip, particularly the MTV favourite 1979. The album itself also went multi-platinum, and as a consequence of this success and the naked ambition of the band in the post-Nirvana era the Pumpkins were gradually blacklisted as commercial and consequently uncool by the self-appointed masters of coolness, although anyone making such a judgement has clearly not fully experienced this album. The band's cause was not helped, however, when their touring keyboardist John Melvoin died of a heroin overdose when getting into some rough South American stuff with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in 1996.
The album was produced in a factory-like atmosphere of creative energy. Corgan wrote a vast body of music, much of which was later released on The Aeroplane Flies High boxed set of EP-singles. Corgan supposedly once said "You give me a f*cking kazoo and I'll write you a good song," and fans of the band would tend to agree that he is one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation. He has also indicated that years later and despite the existence of the Internet there is still unreleased material from the Mellon Collie era. The album makes subtle use of sampling and less-subtle use of symphony orchestras and very distorted guitars and vocals.
Critically the album received a mixed response. It was viewed as lacking the alternative rock cred of Siamese Dream and something of a let down to the harder-rocking crowd. Others were quick to recognise the album for what it is, though, Corgan's magnum opus and a masterpiece of modern rock.