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Smashing Pumpkins return
by Joe Ryan
Collegian Staff
The Smashing Pumpkins have
built a reputation on being hard
rocking and unusual. Their chief
lyricist, Billy Corgan, is an
angst-filled timebomb waiting to
explode, which occurs in part on
his band’s latest album “Mellon
Collie and the Infinate Sadness.”
The music and corresponding
lyrics are a mix of two extremes -
pure, unabashed rage, and a
slower, more thoughtful form of
self-pity. The music itself tells
the sad tale of a fairy-tale gone
horribly awry. It starts with a
BEHREND—Talented new comic Troy Thirdgill will perform at
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Friday, January 26 at 8:30
p.m. He will appear at Bruno’s in the Reed Union Building. The
performance is free and open to the public.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, where audiences packed his
shows, Thirdgill has appeared on A & E’s “Evening at the Improv,”
and on Fox’s “In Living Color,” and “Martin.” His high-energy
performances present a colorful and insightful take on life in the
nineties.
Thirdgill recently landed a deal with Warner Brothers Studio to
develop a sitcom based on his life. Currently, he is on an international
tour, headlining clubs, concert venues, and college campuses.
Thirdgill appears as part of the Penn State-Behrend Cultural and
Performing Arts Series. For more information, contact the Office of
Student Activities at 814/898-6171.
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sweet little instrumental number
composed by Dave Kresl and
Billy Corgan entitled
appropriately with the album’s
title. The song leads itself into
the next song “Tonight,
Tonight,” which combines the
same fantastical orchestral music
with biting guitar and a drum
solo by Jimmy Chamberlin that
would make the late John
Bonham proud.
The rest of the album centers
on suicidal tendencies and the
rage that results and causes them.
The first single, “Bullet with
Butterfly Wings,” is an angry
release of the pent up anger
Entertainment
associated with such morbid
thoughts and feelings. More
examples of these come from
songs such as “F— you, an ode
to no one,” where the complaints
and gripings are interrupted by
solid, fast guitar.
The second CD in this set is
more of a retrospective of where
life went wrong. The music
itself is more melancholy and
slower, detailing missed
experiences and unachieved
dreams. “1979” paints a portrait
of Corgan’s childhood and early
adolescence. The song is ironic
in that it appears nostalgic, when
in reality it tells of a young
outcast ostracized by his friends, taken his pent up angst and
What makes “Mellon Collie” released it on two CD’s. Perhaps
such a good album is that the the greatest part of the band is
Smashing Pumpkins have grown Chamberlin, the drummer. It is
as artists and touched on new said that good drumming is never
subjects without drastically noticeable, but great drumming
changing their style. Corgan’s W *H stand out above the music,
singing is such that it can only That’s exactly what Chamberlin s
come from experience. He has solos have accomplished.
"Power of One"
worth renting
by Adria Kovaly
Collegian Staff
Hard to believe, but it’s
Saturday night and you have
nothing to do. There’s nothing
on television and you’d like to
see a movie, but nothing appeals
to you. If this is a problem for
you, I may have a solution.
On Sunday, the movie “The
Power of One” was shown in the
Reed Lecture Hall. While you
may have missed it then, it is
available on home video, and I
highly recommend you check it
out. The movie stars Stephen
Dorff, John Gielgud, and Morgan
Freeman and is directed by John
Avildsen. The story itself is
excellent, along with the music
and images in the movie.
Set in South Africa in 1930,
before the Afrikaaner government
came into power, the story
follows the life of an English
boy, P.K. At a young age, he is
sent to an Afrikaan boarding
school where he is tormented for
being English. Some time after
the outbreak of World War 11, he
is sent to live with his
grandfather. His grandfather
introduces him to Doc, a German
concert pianist and cactus farmer.
From Doc, P.K. learns the value
of thought and how to find
answers in nature.
Shortly after this, Doc is sent
to a prison for failing to register
as an alien. Here, P.K. is taught
to box by one of the prisoners
and becomes friends with him.
Several incidents occur in the
prison that have an impact on
P.K.’s life, and it is these he
carries with him when the story
■ POSTER ANNEX
Thursday, January 25, 1996
.loves forward to a college-bound
P.K. and an Afrikaan controlled
government.
Still boxing, P.K. meets
Maria, the daughter of an
Afrikaan official and it’s love at
first sight. Trouble begins to
arise when parts of P.K.’s past
show up, but the movie shows
how the “power of one” can
accomplish great things.
Other aspects of the movie I
enjoyed were the music and the
images. From the sound of the
Zulu rainmakers at P.K.’s birth
to the chanting of the prisoners
and South Africans, the music
can really move you. So, too,
can scenes in the movie. A boy,
about six years old, standing up
to a bull elephant in the middle
of an empty plain, or the power
and majesty of a waterfall where
P.K. seeks his answers. They
can really open your eyes.
This movie is great for just
watching. At first, it is hard to
understand, since P.K. narrates it
as a child with a heavy accent,
but once it moves past this,
you’re fine. Humor is put in,
even though it doesn’t seem
intentional, so you get laughs
from the movie as well. Some
scenes, though, are unsettling and
violent. Prisoners, as well as
“free” South Africans are beaten
and even killed, young P.K.
suffers at boarding school, and a
few others. Nonetheless, these
only make the message of the
movie stronger. Trust me on
this one and make it a point to
see “The Power of One.” It’s an
excellent film and one I’m sure
just about everyone can enjoy.