Zero

"Zero"
Single by The Smashing Pumpkins
from the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Released	April 23, 1996
Format	CD and Cassette
Recorded	1995
Genre	Alternative metal
Length	2:41
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer	Flood, Alan Moulder, Billy Corgan
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology
"1979" (1996) "Zero" (1996) "Tonight, Tonight" (1996)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness track listing "Jellybelly" (3) "Zero" (4) "Here Is No Why" (5)

For the song by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, see Zero (Yeah Yeah Yeahs song)

"Zero" is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the third single from their third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and was a return to the familiar angsty rock of the first single, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". This style of their music was called "Cybermetal" by Billy Corgan. "Zero" was written by Corgan and was the first song recorded for Mellon Collie. The song has six rhythm guitars, with two line-in twelve string acoustics.^[1] It is characterized by its guitar riff and renowned drumming by drummer Jimmy Chamberlin; the drumming on "Zero" placed 238th on digitaldreamdoor.com's list of the greatest rock drum performances.^[2]

The cover artwork features photography by Corgan's girlfriend, Yelena Yemchuk, who also directed the music video.

Live performance

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"Zero" was played virtually intact, but simply played quicker than usual during the Mellon Collie tour. It was almost never played during the promotion and tour for Adore, only as a brief teaser, but was reintroduced in the brief Arising! tour in 1999. The Sacred & Profane tour of 2000 included a variant: it started off with a pulsing drumbeat and build-up to the song, which then would be played in style reminiscent of speed metal, removing much of the nuance and grunge-sludge anthemic appeal of song. Late in the tour, the band would segue from "Cash Car Star" into "Zero", the same as "Everlasting Gaze" was segued into "Heavy Metal Machine" or "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". Billy changed "and God is empty just like me" part for "and God is empty just like you" for the tour. "I'm your lover, I'm your zero" was also changed to "I'm your lover, I was your zero".

Zero was reintroduced in 2007 in the promotional tour for the band's reunion album Zeitgeist.

Music video

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The music video was directed by Yelena Yemchuk, her first of many contributions to the band. The concept of it was to set it in a Roman Mansion, with lounging guests, while the band acts as their entertainment. The band predominantly wears black, which contrasts the room's vibrant wine-stained colors that are associated with the Roman period.

B-sides

Unlike most singles, "Zero" was released as an EP and included "Pastichio Medley", a medley of parts of songs from the Mellon Collie sessions that mostly remain unreleased. The medley runs over 23 minutes and features over 70 songs.^[3] The medley also features snippets of songs that actually were released; the snippet of the song "Disconnected" is a riff from an early version of "The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" and the riff called "Rachel" ended up being worked into the album track "X.Y.U.".

The track "Tribute to Johnny" is an instrumental; a homage to guitarist Johnny Winter. Not long after the release of the EP, Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin died of a heroin overdose, leading many uninformed fans to assume this song was a tribute to Melvoin.

Additionally, the title of the song "Marquis in Spades" is a reference to the French aristocrat and novelist, Marquis de Sade.

In other media

• The song was featured on The Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza", where the band appeared as themselves.
• A master recording of the song became available as downloadable content on the video game Rock Band on April 29, 2008.

Cover versions

• The metalcore band Evergreen Terrace have a recorded cover of "Zero" on two albums. Once on their cover album Writer's Block, and a live cover on At Our Worst.
• The band 32 Leaves provided a cover version of the song for the tribute album The Killer In You.
• The band Evanescence has also covered this song during live performances.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Corgan unless otherwise noted.

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

References