The Aeroplane Flies High

The Aeroplane Flies High
The box set open with the individual discs visible
Box set by The Smashing Pumpkins
Released	November 26, 1996 (1996-11-26)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	138:53
Language	English
Label	Virgin
Producer	Billy Corgan, James Iha, Flood, Alan Moulder, and D'Arcy Wretzky
Professional reviews
Allmusic: link Entertainment Weekly (B+) link Rolling Stone link
The Smashing Pumpkins chronology
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) The Aeroplane Flies High (1996) Adore (1998)

The Aeroplane Flies High is a five-disc box set released by The Smashing Pumpkins in 1996. It contains expanded versions of the five singles from their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and also included a 44-page booklet with pictures and writings by the band's lead singer Billy Corgan, as well as lyrics. A limited edition release, the box reached #42 on the Billboard charts, and sold 300,000 units (1.5 million discs in all), generating a platinum disc for the band.^{[citation needed]} Originally intended to be limited to 200,000 copies, Virgin Records produced more after the original run sold out due to overwhelming and unexpected demand.^[1]

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Corgan, except where noted

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"

1. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – 4:16
2. "...Said Sadly" (James Iha) – 3:09
3. "You're All I've Got Tonight" (Ric Ocasek) – 3:10
4. "Clones (We're All)" (David Carron) – 2:43
5. "A Night Like This" (Robert Smith) – 3:36
6. "Destination Unknown" (Dale Bozzio/Terry Bozzio/Warren Cuccurullo) – 4:14
7. "Dreaming" (Debbie Harry/Chris Stein) – 5:11

"1979"

1. "1979" – 4:28
2. "Ugly" – 2:52
3. "The Boy" (Iha) – 3:04
4. "Cherry" – 4:02
5. "Believe" (Iha) – 3:15
6. "Set the Ray to Jerry" – 4:10

"Zero"

1. "Zero" – 2:39
2. "God" – 3:09
3. "Mouths of Babes" – 3:46
4. "Tribute to Johnny" (Iha/Corgan) – 2:34
5. "Marquis in Spades" – 3:17
6. "Pennies" – 2:28
7. "Pastichio Medley" – 23:00

The "Pastichio Medley" is a medley of riffs from a variety of sources recorded after Siamese Dream and before the completion of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It features: "The Demon", "Thunderbolt", "Dearth", "Knuckles", "Star Song", "Firepower", "New Waver", "Space Jam", "Zoom", "So Very Sad About Us", "Phang", "Speed Racer", "The Eternal E", "Hairy Eyeball", "The Groover", "Hell Bent for Hell", "Rachel", "A Dog's Prayer", "Blast", "The Black Rider", "Slurpee", "Flipper", "The Viper", "Bitch", "Fried", "Harmonia", "U.S.A.", "The Tracer", "Envelope Woman", "Plastic Guy", "Glasgow 3am", "The Road Is Long", "Funkified", "Rigamarole", "Depresso", "The Streets Are Hot Tonite", "Dawn At 16", "Spazmatazz", "Fucker", "In the Arms of Sheep", "Speed", "77", "Me Rock You Snow", "Feelium", "Is Alex Milton", "Rubberman", "Spacer", "Rock Me", "Weeping Willowly", "Rings", "So So Pretty", "Lucky Lad", "Jackboot", "Milieu", "Disconnected", "Let Your Lazer Love Light Shine Down", "Phreak", "Porkbelly", "Robot Lover", "Jimmy James", "America", "Slinkeepie", "Dummy Tum Tummy", "Fakir", "Jake", "Camaro", "Moonkids", "Make It Fungus", "V-8", "Die".

"Tonight, Tonight"

1. "Tonight, Tonight" – 4:15
2. "Meladori Magpie" – 2:41
3. "Rotten Apples" – 3:02
4. "Jupiter's Lament" – 2:30
5. "Medellia of the Gray Skies" – 3:11
6. "Blank" – 2:54
7. "Tonite Reprise" – 2:40

"Tonite Reprise" is a solo acoustic version of "Tonight, Tonight" with slight alterations to the lyrics. It also appeared on the vinyl version of Mellon Collie.

"Thirty-Three"

1. "Thirty-Three" – 4:10
2. "The Last Song" – 3:55
3. "The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" – 8:31
4. "Transformer" – 3:25
5. "The Bells" (Iha) – 2:17
6. "My Blue Heaven" (George Whiting/Walter Donaldson) – 3:20

Promotional CD

To promote the box set, a four-track CD single (Cat number 7087 6 11589 2 2 dpro-11589) was issued by Virgin Records America with customized cover sleeve and CD art.

1. "The Last Song" – 3:55
2. "The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" – 8:31
3. "Transformer" – 3:25
4. "Destination Unknown" (Dale Bozzio/Terry Bozzio/Warren Cuccurullo) – 4:14

Personnel

• Jimmy Chamberlin - Drums
• Billy Corgan - Vocals, guitar, piano, producer, liner notes, mixing, illustrations
• James Iha - guitar, vocals on "A Night Like This", "The Boy", "Believe", and "The Bells", producer, engineer, mixing
• D'arcy Wretzky - Bass guitar, vocals on "Dreaming" and "The Bells", producer, engineer, mixing

Additional musicians

• Keith Brown - Piano
• Bill Corgan, Sr. - Guitar solo on "The Last Song"
• Dennis Flemion - Instruments on "Medellia of the Gray Skies"
• Jimmy Flemion - Instruments on "Medellia of the Gray Skies"
• Nina Gordon - Vocals on "...Said Sadly"
• Chris Martin - Piano
• Eric Remschneider - Cello on "The Bells"
• Adam Schlesinger - Piano on "The Bells"

Production

• Andy Chase - Engineer
• John Craig - Illustrations
• Pual Eledge - Photography
• Flood - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Jeff Lane - Mixing
• Tommy Lipnick - Engineer
• Jeff Moleski - Engineer, Mixing
• Tommy Moleski - Engineer
• Alan Moulder - Producer, Mixing
• J. Nicholas - Mixing, Mixing Assistant
• Frank Olinsky - Art Direction, design
• Neal Perry - Mixing
• Claudine Pontier - Engineer
• Russ Spice - Engineer
• Howie Weinberg - Mastering
• Martin White - Engineer
• Yelena Yemchuk - Photography, "Zero" cover art

Chart positions

Notes