10 Perfect Grunge Albums With No Bad Songs
7. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpkins (1995)
Much to Billy Corgan's dismay, The Smashing Pumpkins were slapped with the badge of grunge after labels were eager to capitalise on the hype of Nirvana. Now, it's true, Corgan's band displayed far more variety in sound than many other groups of the era. Indeed, this album saw the band dip their toe into the realm of art-rock and folk. But, for all that, these guys waved the banner of grunge even if they didn't mean too.
You've got the crashing guitars, the sentiments of frustrated isolation and vocal outcries of impassioned pain. Bullet with Butterfly Wings is up there with Smells Like Teen Spirit as a quintessential grunge anthem. Sorry Corgan, your band was grunge...
The structuring of the album is such that you've never resting in one musical realm for too long, however. Bullet With Butterfly Wings, is immediately followed by To Forgive - a track with sombre and spares guitar melodies, and soaring string sections - Billy Corgan also sang far more delicately than he had previously. This number is then preceded by F**k You, another all out rager...
With a run time surmounting to just over two hours, there's plenty bang for you buck with this record. By the time your done listening to it, you feel as though you know Billy Corgan personally - for all his brilliance he does hark on about being in a bad mood an awful lot...