Getting back to business..

7. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995) - Smashing Pumpkins

I noticed I hadn't touched the 90's yet, which seems waaay out of line, given that it was the decade that brought us Tamagotchi, Power Rangers, and, of course the Nintendo Gameboy. What not a lot of people know is that other stuff happened in the 90's too! Nelson Mandela got out of jail, Bill Clinton "did not have sexual relations with that woman", CERN published their new project, an information superhighway designed mainly for the purpose of pop-up advertising, known as "Teh interwebz", and Billy Corgan shaved all his hair off, and donned a black t-shirt with "zero" emblazoned across the chest, capturing the hearts of pissed off teenagers worldwide.

If you haven't heard of Mellon Collie, I guarantee that you've heard at least one track from it and it's buried there in your brain, waiting to be reawoken. (unless you were born in the late 90's or whatever it is we call the 2000's... noughties is stupid, and I won't say it..) It's probably Tonight, Tonight. Go, listen and then continue reading. I'm not going anywhere.

It's not terrible, is it? And that's far from my favourite track off the album, which, at just over two hours, is packed with quality tunes! Billy Corgan himself describes the album as being based on "the human condition of mortal sorrow". Under the heavy coating of douchebaggery, read "Life". That's what this record is, a chronicle of all the emotions and experiences of life, which in Billy's head required serious studio messing. "Thru The Eyes Of Ruby" contains 70 guitar tracks... But hey, It's a great album!

Highlights include: Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Love, An Ode To No One, Zero

Ben's Verdict:

Something special (this might be a long one)

6. Sainthood (2009) - Tegan And Sara I was going to leave this record for later in the list (which I HAVE written! It exists, I'm not winging this... not entirely.), but then I saw that this record had been shortlisted for The Polaris Music Prize (It's a Canadian thing. They're up against some big enough indie bands, like Caribou, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out in September.) And so, filled with delusions of grandeur I envisaged that my plug might well give them a helping hand on their way to scooping the award!

Back in the real world, I only came across this Indie Pop duo recently (to my eternal shame), and was unable to catch their live show in Dublin, or their instore in Tower Records due to "big important exams" I should have studied for! Don't be fooled by the "Indie Pop" label though... This is by no means an album about how hard it is to find good skinny jeans, or how lattés are becoming so expensive that writing in Starbucks is no longer financially possible- some of this stuff is incredibly raw, while at the same time being catchier than AIDS (tasteless? yes. I know, that's why I said it) We've all probably had the infectious synth-poppy "Alligator" in our heads at some point this summer, but there's some major tunage throughout the album (which is the first album on which the sisters, yes they're sisters, should've mentioned that, but I'm not scrolling up, came together to write songs as a pair.) And did I mention that their producer is god? Well, he is! Chris Walla, I salute you! He's from Death Cab For Cutie

Anyway, I digress... repeatedly. This album, and its predecessor "The Con" have provided hours of quality listening time. (Just noticed, while I was writing this it became my birthday! Isn't that nice?) From a guitarhead point of view, it's INCREDIBLY refreshing to see a band that plays something other than Gibson Les Pauls.. From what I've seen of the Youtubes, they use the Malcolm Young Signature Model Gretsch G6131, which earns them +5 respect points, although I did spy a Les Paul in one video...

Back to the point, this is a QUALITY album, but the real experience is to be had at their live shows (what's the benefit to plugging albums anymore? You're all just downloading them illegally, while looking up LOLcats or porn, while you tell anyone who'll listen how much you "liek mudkipz" anyway... Musicians need moneez too, except for Bono. Do your worst to Bono.), where fans are regaled with amusing anecdotes of their childhood, life on the road and whatever other shit pops into their heads! Great live banter and a fantastic album!
Highlights include- Hell, Red Belt, Alligator, Sentimental Tune

Ben's magical birthday verdict:


'Tis a good 'un!


tegan and sara herpes and weed banter @ terminal5- 3 of 26