Title:The Aeroplane Flies High [Box Set] By: Smashing Pumpkins Released by: Virgin Released on: 1996 Rating (out of 10): 7 Date: 06/26/2001
Repackage! Resell!
Every great artist or band has a period of a couple of years when they connect so completely with their audience that they seem to be everywhere, completely ubiquitous in our pop culture world. The Smashing Pumpkins went through this phase several years ago when they released Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
The recently disbanded Pumpkins were all about excess (their final show was over four hours long!). From the lengthy pretension of the album title to the double compact disc and even to the artwork, the Pumpkins' time had come and they were living the rock star’s dream.
However, the excess didn’t stop there. Billy Corgan had written so much music that it couldn’t all fit on the double compact disc. These lost songs found their way into release as bonus tracks on all the CD singles that were released from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. All the fans went out and bought the CD singles and were happy that Billy was so hyper-prolific. The music on the B-sides alone, mostly material of exceptional quality, could have filled at least another entire album.
After having released all this music, the Pumpkins made the ultimate rock-star move. They repackaged it all with very slight changes so the die-hard fans (and there were so many of them at the time) would end up repurchasing the entire thing. What an idea! Get people to buy stuff they already own.
Is The Aeroplane Flies High worth purchasing if you already own all the singles? Nope. The box that the entire package comes in is nice to look at but its cumbersome shape makes it difficult to store. If you are over 30 years old, you might recognize the box as being similar to ones that people used to carry 45s around in. It has a metal latch and a handle. It’s nice if you have a lot of space but you can’t stack anything on top of it because of the handle. This thing just ends up sitting on a shelf in the back of my closet.
The booklet is average for a box set. Lets face it: When you purchase a box set, much of what you are paying for is decent packaging and artwork. There are a lot of photographs of the band members, all in black and white, a semi-comprehensive discography, lyrics, and some stream-of-consciousness ramblings by the band members.
One of the reasons why hardcore fans were supposed to run out and get The Aeroplane was because of the inclusion of several cover songs from groups that influenced The Pumpkins. This should actually be the last reason to pick up the set. Their cover versions are horrible.
All of the covers are on the first single, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings.” When this single was originally released it contained only two songs, the album version of "Bullet" and the James Iha-penned “…said sadly.” I guess they felt they had to add some extra songs to give the fans something for their money. “…said sadly” is average Pumpkins with a slight nudge into the above average category because of Nina Gordon’s guest vocals.
Then comes the dreck. There are five horrible covers rounding out the single, “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” by The Cars, “Clones (We’re All)” by Alice Cooper, “A Night Like This” by The Cure, “Destination Unknown” by Missing Persons, and “Dreaming” by Blondie. These versions sound like the Smashing Pumpkins were sleeping through them. Not a single one of these performances sounds like there is any inspiration involved whatsoever.
The “1979” single contains five bonus tracks. “Ugly” brings the quality of the bonus material back up to standard with a mopey, plodding guitar line and self-loathing lyrics. In other words, it’s vintage Corgan. “The Boy” is an upbeat number, more bubblegum than most efforts by the Pumpkins. The reason for this, most likely, is that it is a James Iha-penned track. The songs written by Iha appear to have more pop and less crunch than the average Pumpkins song.
“Cherry” is another moody Corgan piece. It has a stripped-down sound (like many of Corgan’s B-sides). It’s not all that impressive musically but is pleasant to listen to nevertheless. “Believe” is an Iha track, acoustic in nature with some nice strings in the background.
“Set The Ray To Jerry” rounds out the "1979" single. It’s another moody piece, one that shows off Corgan’s vocal talents. Billy Corgan has an unusual voice but he uses it very effectively to convey his emotions and it is even more apparent on this track.
The bonus tracks on the “Zero” single follow along with the guitar crunch of that song. This is the stuff that made The Pumpkins popular. When they started to abandon this type of music in favor of a more electronic influence, their fans started to abandon them in droves.
The first five of the six bonus tracks on "Zero" are stellar in every way with a full-out guitar-heavy sound. This would have made an excellent “between albums” EP. The sixth bonus track finds the Pumpkins caught up in rock-star excess once again. The “Pastichio Medley” is an unproduced collage of guitar bits from 70 unreleased songs that extends for 25 minutes. It’s somewhat interesting to listen to it once. Just once though.
The six bonus tracks on the “Tonight, Tonight” single are just as strong as the tracks on the “Zero” single. The songs could be mistaken for Billy Corgan solo material or even demos. “tonite reprise” (sic), an acoustic version of “Tonight, Tonight,” especially sounds like a demo. The best track here, “Rotten Apples,” consisting of just a string section, light acoustic guitar and Corgan’s voice, could easily have been one of the standout tracks on any Pumpkins album.
The “33” single rounds out the box set. The five bonus tracks on this disc are a hodgepodge of material. “The Last Song” sounds like another Corgan demo that was never finished. The song just doesn’t go anywhere.
“The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)” is a majestic mini-epic at eight-and-a-half minutes long. It contains plenty of the Pumpkins' signature guitar crunch. “Transformer” is another guitar-heavy track but, like “The Last Song,” it doesn’t seem to be fully realized. “The Bells,” a James Iha track, is much more mellow than the preceding tracks. The single and box set closes with a cover of the classic “My Blue Heaven.”
Is The Aeroplane Flies High worthy of purchase? Well, the music is great but you can save some money by going out and picking up the individual singles (as people were duped into repurchasing all this material they dumped their singles at used CD stores in droves).
