| "Zero" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Smashing Pumpkins | ||||
| from the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness | ||||
| Released | April 23, 1996 | |||
| Format | CD, Cassette | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal[1] | |||
| Length | 2:41 EP length: 40:53 |
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| Label | Virgin Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Billy Corgan | |||
| Producer | Flood, Alan Moulder, Billy Corgan | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||
| The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology | ||||
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"Zero" is a song by American alternative rock band 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.[2] 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.[3]
The cover artwork features photography by Corgan's girlfriend at the time, Yelena Yemchuk, who also directed the music video.
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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.
The music video was directed by Yelena Yemchuk and described by NME as "very cinematic and creepy at times".[4] 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.
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.[5] 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.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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" | 25:59 |
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Alternative 30 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs | 9[6] |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 3[7] |
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