As to be expected with any b-sides collection, there are ups and downs throughout the box set. The hidden treasures are there, though--I've always believed that the "1979" single is ohe band's best releases, proving that SP has power-pop down to an art. The single also contains one of the greatest Pumpkins songs around, "Set the Ray to Jerry," a track that was at one time slated to appear on "Siamese Dream."

So...excessive? You bet. That's always been the name of the Pumpkins' game, and they pull it off masterfully. "TAFH" is a must-have for any music fan, and sits beside "Mellon Collie" as one of the great rock releases of the latter 1990s.


Amazing   October 20, 1999
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Buy this if you liked every single song on Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and you're very into the soft smashing pumpkins songs. Don't buy it if you just want something that rocks. The Zero single is the only one of the five that really rocks. Not that that's a bad thing. There are a lot of amazing songs on here, but unless you're a really big fan, don't buy this. If you liked James Iha's "Take Me Down" then you'll like this set, there are 5 more James Iha songs on here, and they're just as good, especially "The Boy" and "Said Sadly". There are also some cool covers. "My Blue Heaven" ends the collection in a very strange, surreal way. Don't expect this to be as good as the album. After all, these are all the songs that the Smashing Pumpkins didn't want to put on Melon Collie because they liked the other ones better. If you're a big fan of their soft stuff, you'll love this. My favorites are "Marques in Spades", "Meladori Magpie", "The Last Song", "The Boy" and "Pennies". Most of the songs on here are love songs that show you how shallow and phony most love songs you hear now really are.


Full of hits and misses, but ultimately rewarding   August 20, 2000
 11 out of 17 found this review helpful

This box set catches the Smashing Pumpkins at arguably the band's most creative period in the mid-1990s, and certainly the height of its commercial success. Experimentation and more non-traditional Pumpkin sounds were the order of the day on this five-CD set.

Disc one ("Bullet With Butterfly Wings") contains strictly cover songs that fall lamentably short at times, due to a synthesized, overproduced sound. "Said Sadly" is way too sugary and sappy, with substandard and feeble vocals from both James Iha and D'arcy -- neither musician a Bono behind the microphone. "A Night Like This" feels just as listless, and only a Cars song and the tune "Clones" really save this trashy disc from the trash bin. The Missing Persons' awesome "Destination Unknown" is completely butchered to processed bits, plus sung horribly by Billy Corgan. Thankfully, the cover of Deborah Harry's "Dreaming" does end the first disc on a solid note.

In the final analysis, disc two ("1979") is average material. Songs such as "Ugly," "Cherry" and "Believe" are the most boring tunes this band ever churned out. On the flip side, worthy songs on this disc are the peppy "The Boy," written and sung by a lovelorn James Iha, and "Set the Ray to Jerry," a mellow song that is definite A-side material.

Disc three ("Zero") is where the music begins to pick up, finally starting to rock out. This little disc would have made a fine EP release all on its own. The tunes "God," "Mouths of Babes," "Marquis in Spades" and "Pennies" are definite A-side material, and call to mind some of the band's early guitar-fuzzed glory. This is the best disc of the set, heavy on guitar, angry at times but tuneful as always. Perhaps the coolest part of the whole box set occurs on the 20-minute-plus "Pastichio Medley," a barely organized hodge-podge of hard and soft snippets (some of them achingly too brief) recorded in the studio between Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The barrage of cut-up songs is an in-your-face reminder of the talent, desire and productivity this band mustered throughout its heyday.

Disc four ("Tonight, Tonight") contains interesting and quirky acoustic songs, some of them quite pleasant. There's a feathery touch to this disc, but without the sappy feel of a James Iha-written song. The reprise of "Tonight, Tonight" is a lonely acoustic version with close vocals, which actually gives the regular studio version a run for its money.

The best thing about disc five ("Thirty-Three") is the beautiful single "Thirty-Three," plus the rocking and epic "Aeroplane Flies High," which was a potential radio single in its own right. The rest of this disc is a bit second rate, not terrible necessarily, but a little lame and lightweight by 1990s Smashing Pumpkins standards. "Transformer" shows signs of life, and the cover of "My Blue Heaven" is a sweet lounge-room ditty that is pulled off well.

Overall, this box set may not convert anyone who didn't enjoy the Pumpkins in the first place. Nonetheless, it was the perfect release to satiate the taste of Pumpkin-hungry fans at the band's commercial height, and it showed creativity, experimentation and a different side to the Smashing Pumpkins.


Bad format, but GREAT collection   February 12, 2003
 9 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is a surprisingly good collection of the singles and their respective b-sides from the Mellon Collie sessions, with many terrific tunes that aren't nearly as over-the-top as some of Mellon Collie's more silly moments. It's amazing that such good songs were relegated to b-side status. Though the format makes for a difficult listen, and a couple of the singles aren't that great, it's still a worthwhile set for anyone interested in delving into the Pumpkins further.

Disc 1- Bullet with Butterfly Wings is probably the weakest of the five, being mostly a collection of pretty mediocare cover songs. The second track, "Said Sadly", is the exception, a bouncingly sad original piece sung by James Iha and D'Arcy (I believe). Very heartfelt and sweet. I wish this were placed on one of the other discs instead. The Cars cover is pretty much the only other one worth listening to on the disc.

Disc 2- 1979 is where things pick up quite a bit. All of the b-sides here are exceptional, and combined with what follows, you wonder why they didn't even make a 3-disc album with Mellon Collie. "Ugly" is a simple plaintive tune the kind that Corgan is (or at least used to) be able to churn out by the handful. Despite his grating whine, he puts feeling and emotion into the melody. "The Boy" comes next, one of my favorite Iha-penned tunes, a rollicking number in the spirit of 1979, yet remove the generational context and replace it with simple longing. "Cherry" and "Believe", by Corgan and Iha respectively, continue the same great midtempo vein, and although samey, are rousing songs of loss and hope. "Set the Ray to Jerry"'s probably the sexiest (yes, sexiest) songs the Pumpkins ever wrote, with a lustful bass and rhythm section backing Corgan's almost cooing vocals. Good stuff all around.

Disc 3- Zero is again a mixed bag of sorts. "God" probably comes closest to the silliness of Mellon Collie with its over-the-top, quasi-cliched vocals. The lyrics could almost make a good NIN song (as good as NIN songs are considered to be, which isn't much). "Mouths of Babes" I believe was a song oringinally from the Siamese Dream era, and it shows with the same kind of grungy thundering pace of that material. One of the highlights, along with the almost-funky "Tribute to Johnny" (I think its a dedication to their deceased keyboardist). "Marquis in Spades" is so overblown, you can't help but like it. Probably the meanest vocal Corgan's ever done, and it comes off as convincing. For once the angst of the music is matched pound for pound with Corgan's own, and it doesn't come off so forced. He even pulls off a couple of great primal screams during the track. "Pennies" kind of clashes with the rest of the material on the disc, but it's still a jolly little listen with a great chorus. The last track, though, could really be done without. "Pisctachio Medley" is a 26 minute useless hodge-podge of bits and pieces from various outtakes. Though some of the melodies seem interesting, and you want to know what the whole song was like, in the end it's just trying.

Disc 4- Tonight Tonight is the most depressing fare of all the discs. All mostly acoustic guitar and little else, most of these tunes are genuinely affecting. "Maladori Magpie" has the gentlest rhythm to it that it becomes nicely catchy and bordering on the edge of depressing all at the same time. "Rotten Apples", on the other hand, is quite depressing, though a fairly good sad song. "Jupiter's Lament" is by far my favorite, a whistful tune about wanting to leave the world behind while holding onto the tinge of hope that remains. Short and very sweet. "Medellia of the Grey Skies" is unbearably dark though, and just might be the most depressing song ever. Sad and echoey, I can't stand to listen to it because of the plain moroseness of it all. "Blank" kind of relieves that, being a small simple acoustic song with a simple plaintive message. Very good, but quite a downer.

Disc 5- Thirty-Three rounds out the package nicely. The first 3 b-sides on the disc are absolute essentials. "The Last Song" is as affecting as any a Pumpkins song have been. Wonderfully beautiful guitar bridge done by William Corgan Sr., Billy's dad. Then comes "The Aeroplane Flies High", practically the centerpiece of this set. Fading in and out samples from the band, Corgan reading a bit of prose and the others making cryptic epithets, it all comes down in a crash of guitar noise that sustains through most of the song. A bit overdramatic, but still an intense piece of music. Uplifting in the darkest way possible, is probably the best way I can describe it. "Transformer" is next, which is simply a great rock song, with a terrific beat and guitar work by Corgan and Iha. Practically the same as their other guitar-based tracks, but with the company they're in, that's one of the highest compliments that could be paid. "The Bells" is another sad song from Iha that is kind of superfluous and not as good as his other material on the album. The closing cover "My Blue Heaven" is lilting and lulling in a good way, but kind of leaves one cold after the outstanding tunes before it. Still a great way to close the set.

Overall a wonderful collection. If you have the money and the interest in the Pumpkins, by all means go for it. The format, though, is what hurts it the most. It would be awesome if it were all put on a single CD, Pisces Iscariot-style. Then it would have been essential, and better than Mellon Collie even. In any case, it's definitely better that this music exists than not at all, and do yourself a favor and pick this up if you enjoy the Pumpkins to any degree.


"Aeroplane" flies high, indeed   February 15, 2005
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

The Smashing Pumpkins created a sprawling, rich rock masterpiece with "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness." They also created a lot of songs that didn't make it to the final cut, but ended up being attached to the singles as a series of EPs. "The Aeroplane Flies High" collects those five EPs together, and creates a B-side/single collection that is well worth having.

The first song on each disc is a song from the "Mellon Collie" double album, but the five or six songs that come after each single are unique to the EPs, originally from various recording sessions. These songs are often as good as -- sometimes even better -- than what did make it onto the albums.

Each EP has its own mood, and its own self-contained flow, keeping the B-sides from feeling tacked on. One is hard and angry, one is bitter, one is soft and sweet, one is feel good, and so on. As a result, the full range of what the Pumpkins were able to do -- rock, pop, metal, ballads and experimental -- got put on full display, in all their glory.

For example, in the "1979" disc, the Pumpkins get to explore their alt-pop side, while the "Zero" disc explores bitterness and loneliness, sticking to their hard-rock sound. Not to mention the orchestral/acoustic flavor of the "Tonight Tonight" EP, with its subtle strings and laments, and a lo-fi reprise of the title song.

But there is no lag in quality, just because the B-sides didn't make it to the final cut of "Mellon Collie." Songs like "The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" prove that Pumpkins B-sides are still exceptional, including covers of bands like Blondie and the Cars (yes, that IS Blondie's "Dreaming" you hear Corgan singing, strange as it is).

The heart of the Smashing Pumpkins was Billy Corgan, and Corgan's talents shine in most of the songs here. He delves into orchestras, distortion, lo-fi acoustics and jazz, all in the name of experimentation. Corgan's complex songwriting resembles poetry set to music, and his high, slightly offbeat vocals seem well-suited to the songs he sings. James Iha also wrote and sang a bit on these collections, including a pretty duet with Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt.

If fans have the EPs already, then they will already have the content of "The Aeroplane Flies High." But if they don't, this exceptional collection is definitely worth getting and keeping. A wonderfully overblown collection of B-sides and singles.