Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 7 - A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness

like nothing else at that time. A document of the band’s audacious ambitions and showcasing an expanse of musical experimentation, Mellon Collie is widely regarded as a definitive statement from The Smashing Pumpkins. The two discs, Dawn to Dusk and Twilight to Starlight , present a sprawling and immersive day and night in the life of “a death rock boy,” as one lyric notes. The album zooms across moods and sonic realms, ranging from the breakneck guitar and percussion assault of “Jellybelly” and blistering distortion of “Tales Of A Scorched Earth” to the wistful reflection of “Thirty-Three” and hypnotic romanticism of “Beautiful.” The band channels wounded vulnerability in “To Forgive” and heartfelt yearning on “In the Arms of Sleep.” And it’s a testament to Mellon Collie’s range that “X.Y.U.,” as barbed and rabid as anything in the Pumpkins’ songbook, can exist on the same record as the lighthearted love song “Lily (My One and Only).” “ Mellon Collie is weird in that it’s a combination of nihilism, sentimentality, and epic hope,” Corgan would share with Rolling Stone in 2012 in support of the record’s T here are a multitude of reasons Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness still resonates so strongly with music fans worldwide three decades after its debut. The treasure trove of songs. The raw emotion. The shimmer of teenage nostalgia. The sheer scope of the project. The stunning arrangements and electrifying guitars and thundering percussion and, oh yeah, the voice. The one that can breezily belt out that “Weeee don’t even care” and then turn around and lament that “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.” Released in October of 1995, the third studio effort from the original lineup of The Smashing Pumpkins (frontman, singer, and songwriter Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D’arcy, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin) arrived during a turning point for rock. Alternative culture had proved to be a commercial success, and with that came a deluge of new radio-ready post- grunge acts looking to strike while the iron was hot. This was the backdrop for the arrival of an ambitious double album from Chicago’s hometown alt-rock heroes. Spanning 28 tracks across two records and clocking in at just over two hours, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was Lyric Opera of Chicago | 16 Photo by Joseph Cultice Photo by Joseph Cultice