The Aeroplane Flies High (Box Set)
by The Smashing Pumpkins

From Brad1770 04/17/2018 10:54 | #213110

70/100 over all with several stand out tracks lead by 'Aeroplane Flies High'

But let down by the James Iha tracks , demo's and shockingly bad 'Pistachio Medley'

From Brad1770 04/17/2018 10:50 | #213109

CD 5 Thirty Three
Track 1 - 'Thirty Three': 5th and final single from Mellon Colli which feels like it was released to squeeze every last bit of juice from the lemon , not the best track this one & really surprised it was the single (TICK BUT ONLY JUST)

Track 2 - 'Last Song': beautiful song that should have been included on the album and should have been the albums LAST SONG (TICK)

Track 3 - 'Aeroplane Flies High': which brings us to the stand out track in this package , not only could it have been included on Mellon Colli it SHOULD have . Quite correctly included on B-Sides collection "Juda-O" (BIG BIG TICK)

Track 4 - 'Transformer': another meaty track that is rather good (TICK)

Track 5 - 'The Bells': a James Iha/D'Arcy duet and yet another Iha shocker . Stick to guitar James (CROSS)

Track 6 - 'My Blue Heaven': a very obscure cover of a song written in 1924 and first performed in 1927 ! . Disappointing way to close out the package (CROSS)

Verdict ? PASS on the back of 'Aeroplane Flies High' track

From Brad1770 04/17/2018 10:31 | #213106

CD 4: Tonite Tonite
Track 1 - 'Tonite Tonite': a standout favourite track (BIG TICK)

Track 2 - 'Meladori Magpie': country tinged track which features Jimmy and Dennis Flemion of The Frogs. "Another believe it or not, this left-over from Siamese Dream was written in the last minute crush. Butch Vig never thought much of it , but it is one of my secret favourites" Billy C 1997 (CROSS)

Track 3 - 'Rotten Apples': mellow track that goes ok (TICK)

Track 4 - 'Jupiter's Lament': sounds like an acoustic unplugged track with Billy and guitar (CROSS)

Track 5 - 'Madella Of The Grey Sky': feels like an incomplete demo that didn't go anywhere (CROSS)

Track 6 - 'Blank': a home demo recorded in Billy's bedroom , was apparently never meant to be released (CROSS)

Track 7 - 'Tonite Reprise': essentially an acoustic demo of 'Tonite Tonite' (TICK)

Verdict ? FAIL , easily the weakest disc with 4 of 7 tracks poor and or a demo

From Brad1770 04/17/2018 08:09 | #213102

CD 3 Zero CD9
Track 1- 'Zero': superb and clearly one of the very best tracks from the album (BIG TICK)

Track 2 - 'God': cracking rocker that could easily have appeared on Melon Colli (TICK)

Track 3 - 'Mouths Of Babes': another rocker very similar to 'God' (TICK)

Track 4 - 'Tribute To Johnny': a guitar instrumental tribute to Blues Rock Legend Johnny Winter (TICK)

Track 5 - ' Marquis In Spades': another rocker , "The band never really liked this song. They were always snickering at it , but I always liked its sheer brutality. It was recorded live on my 8 track cassette recorder " Billy C 1997 (TICK)

Track 6 - 'Pennies': pulls the pace back a few cogs , largely forgettable (CROSS)

Track 7 - 'Pistachio Medley': dreadful !. A 23 minute track that begins with 16 minutes of 2-3 second guitar riffs , followed by a 7 minute closing heavy guitar riff that goes on and on and on painfully . 23 minutes of awfulness (MASSIVE CROSS)

Verdict? Pass despite the excruciating Pistachio Medley

From Brad1770 04/17/2018 07:34 | #213100

CD 2 1979 CD
Track 1 - '1979': defining 2nd single release (TICK)

Track 2 - 'Ugly': was apparently a Melon Collie inclusion right up to the very last minute and was originally an acoustic track (TICK)

Track 3 - 'The Boy': another tame James Iha track that doesn't work (CROSS)

Tack 4 - 'Cherry': a dreamy track that would not have been out of place on the album (TICK)

Track 5 - 'Believe': poor James Iha strikes out again with this acoustic stinker (CROSS)

Track 6 - 'Set The Ray To Jerry': nice enough track that also appears on the B-Sides and Rarities album "Judas-O" (TICK)

Verdict ? PASS , despite the 2 James Iha stinkers

From Brad1770 04/17/2018 06:51 | #213095

CD 1 Bullet With Butterfly Wings CD
Track 1: 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings': fantastic lead track from Mellon Collie , when this single dropped we all knew the coming album was going to be something very special & we weren't disappointed (BIG TICK)

Track 2: 'Said Sadly': romantic duet featuring James Iha and Nina Gordon from Veruca Salt on vocals which kind of works (TICK)

Track 3: 'You're All I've Got Tonite': the first of 5 consecutive covers . This one was originally by The Cars from their 1978 self titled album (TICK)

Track 4: ' Clones (We're All)': covers Alice Cooper from his 1980 album "Flush The Fashion" (TICK)

Track 5: 'A Night Like This': a pretty awful cover of The Cure song from "The Head On The Door" featuring James Iha on vocals (CROSS)

Track 6: 'Destination Unknown': an obscure cover originally done by the band Missing Persons off their 1982 album "Spring Session M" . I know this because I actually owned this single on 7 inch vinyl back in the 80's , and this cover definitely does the original justice (TICK)

Track 7: 'Dreaming': of course by Blondie off 1979's "Eat to the Beat" with D'Arcy leading on vocals . I give this one a pass but only just , I'm a huge Blondie fan and the original absolutely smokes this one (SMALL TICK)

Verdict?: PASS , the covers are really interesting

From lightmyway 04/27/2012 02:15 | #41015

This set collects the five singles from Mellon Collie, plus all their b-sides and more, which adds up to more songs than were actually on the album. It's all good stuff.