Oh man, this album: one of the defining sounds of high school for me. It carried me through the death of my best friend, falling in love for the first time, and SO many more pivotal moments.
The singles captivated me: Muzzle spoke directly to my teen soul, Tonight Tonight was an anthem for all the firsts of that time in my life, and 1979 surprised me with its tender nostalgia - until the radio stations played it to death.
After buying the album, Porcelina, Bodies, Beautiful, and many others became instant anthems for me as well.
But, as you mentioned, it was the achievement of the album taken as a whole that made it a classic. As a student of classical music, and recently exposed to my stepdad’s extensive collection of rock operas and early prog, I immediately groked what they were trying to do, and LOVED it.
Yeah, you got it, and I don't want it (Mudhoney) SP's were on my 109 Records distributor's label Caroline before they hit it big and their music made you groan, "Oh no... bombast is back" but when Mellon Collie came out, we all knew rock would be good fun and serious business again. Quite a feat considering how self-serving and referential it had become post-grunge. I remember listening to it end to end after a rehearsal at Niagara's one night on Ave. A & 7th St. formerly the site of my first EV gig as a drummer back in '83 in a reggae band at THE A7 when the star of the Stones video "Waiting on a Friend" handed me his sticks and said, "You play drums Mon, I got to do a deal. Cool Mon?" No kick no problem just tapped the head with my toe. The old days! Now owned for many years by our D-Gen hero Jesse Malin. Long story but you know how I roll. Well, the bartender had a tattoo on her arm that simply said "Joel" (her former BF) she played every song on it and it was a perfect record at the perfect time. Mellotron hadn't been so well used since St. Pepper's Mystery Tour days. You never hear more than one song now if you can call most of today's drivel "songs" and we were amazed at how great a double album it was even though CDs had already destroyed the LP market by then. But hey it was still back in the day so make it a double. I think they never recovered from Jonathan Melvoin's overdose death (touring keyboardist) the night they played the Garden, which was unheard of even in Nirvana's heyday. Too much junkie business like Johnny Thunders used to say. Better to have a long, long and productive career like Jesse "Silver Manhattan" Malin and the Rolling Stones than one big important record. And if you're a nobody like me your best work is still ahead of you. I'm just a singer in the GSO Big Band (Moody Blues) doing Night and Day and Ipanema on Nov 9th. Check out my not so important rock music on soundcloud.com/stevegabe My one hit wonder and crack at the brass ring? "Morocco" by Youth Gone Mad on Celluloid Records LP entitled "Day Job" my advice? Keep it. Oooo Yeah!
Oh man, this album: one of the defining sounds of high school for me. It carried me through the death of my best friend, falling in love for the first time, and SO many more pivotal moments.
The singles captivated me: Muzzle spoke directly to my teen soul, Tonight Tonight was an anthem for all the firsts of that time in my life, and 1979 surprised me with its tender nostalgia - until the radio stations played it to death.
After buying the album, Porcelina, Bodies, Beautiful, and many others became instant anthems for me as well.
But, as you mentioned, it was the achievement of the album taken as a whole that made it a classic. As a student of classical music, and recently exposed to my stepdad’s extensive collection of rock operas and early prog, I immediately groked what they were trying to do, and LOVED it.
Wow such a great anecdote, thanks for sharing!
Yeah, you got it, and I don't want it (Mudhoney) SP's were on my 109 Records distributor's label Caroline before they hit it big and their music made you groan, "Oh no... bombast is back" but when Mellon Collie came out, we all knew rock would be good fun and serious business again. Quite a feat considering how self-serving and referential it had become post-grunge. I remember listening to it end to end after a rehearsal at Niagara's one night on Ave. A & 7th St. formerly the site of my first EV gig as a drummer back in '83 in a reggae band at THE A7 when the star of the Stones video "Waiting on a Friend" handed me his sticks and said, "You play drums Mon, I got to do a deal. Cool Mon?" No kick no problem just tapped the head with my toe. The old days! Now owned for many years by our D-Gen hero Jesse Malin. Long story but you know how I roll. Well, the bartender had a tattoo on her arm that simply said "Joel" (her former BF) she played every song on it and it was a perfect record at the perfect time. Mellotron hadn't been so well used since St. Pepper's Mystery Tour days. You never hear more than one song now if you can call most of today's drivel "songs" and we were amazed at how great a double album it was even though CDs had already destroyed the LP market by then. But hey it was still back in the day so make it a double. I think they never recovered from Jonathan Melvoin's overdose death (touring keyboardist) the night they played the Garden, which was unheard of even in Nirvana's heyday. Too much junkie business like Johnny Thunders used to say. Better to have a long, long and productive career like Jesse "Silver Manhattan" Malin and the Rolling Stones than one big important record. And if you're a nobody like me your best work is still ahead of you. I'm just a singer in the GSO Big Band (Moody Blues) doing Night and Day and Ipanema on Nov 9th. Check out my not so important rock music on soundcloud.com/stevegabe My one hit wonder and crack at the brass ring? "Morocco" by Youth Gone Mad on Celluloid Records LP entitled "Day Job" my advice? Keep it. Oooo Yeah!