Riffiter on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Pitchfork's first review called "I am still just a rat in a cage" angst at its arena-rocking worst. Thirty years later it is the name of an arena tour, and the line still works because it is honest about how small that anger feels from the inside. Mellon Collie is too long, and that is part of the point. 28 songs over two discs let Corgan put Tonight, Tonight next to Jellybelly, and Zero next to the closing lullaby, Farewell and Goodnight. Those jumps are what stays with you. Cut it to one disc and you lose the feeling of a teenager playing everything he owns at once. Some of disc two drifts, but Porcelina and Thru the Eyes of Ruby both run past seven minutes without wasting any of it.