Rotten Apples (The Smashing Pumpkins – Greatest Hits as titled on the album's cover) is a greatest hitscompilation album by alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. In the US, it was released on November 20, 2001, along with a bonus disc titled Judas O. The album's concluding track, "Untitled", was the Pumpkins' final recording before their breakup.[3] Completed in the days leading up to the band's farewell concert at the Metro in Chicago, it was also released as a single. Another notable track is "Real Love"; while previously released on Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, this was taken from the factory master tapes and, as a result, lacks the pops and clicks inherent in all copies of Machina II (which is vinyl sourced).[citation needed]
The title of the album is the namesake of a B-side that was released on the "Tonight, Tonight" single. Peaking at number 31 in the US,[4] the album sold 77,000 units in its first week of being released.[5]
Release and reception
Rotten Apples was released on November 20, 2001. According to Dan Tallis, writing for BBC, this album was "[a] rare pleasure these days, a collection of tracks that span a band's career that can actually justify the Greatest Hits title."[6] Regarding the Judas O disc, Tallis wrote, "[t]he Judas O B-sides and rarities collection will satisfy Pumpkin obsessives with its outtakes from the Adore and Machina sessions, but it simply cannot compete with its sister CD. 'Here's to the Atom Bomb', 'Waiting' and 'Rock On', (yes, a cover of the David Essex classic - which also features lyrics from Van Halen songs) stand out from the others, which at worst slip into incoherent rock ramblings."[7]
Track listing
There exists two versions of Rotten Apples; one is exclusive to North America and includes the song "Landslide", which is replaced by "Try, Try, Try" in the international version.
All tracks are written by Billy Corgan, except where noted
^a "Rhinoceros" is misprinted as "Rhinocerous" on the back cover and the disc. Also, the version on the compilation is the version off the Lull EP where the last 30 seconds of the original recording (some guitar noise) is cut off. ^b The last half of "Drown" is also cut, getting rid of the extended guitar solo.
Bon Harris – additional programming on "Ava Adore" and "Perfect"
Butch Vig – production on "Siva", "Rhinoceros", "Drown", "Cherub Rock", "Today", and "Disarm"
Flood – production and mixing on "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight", "Perfect", "The Everlasting Gaze", "Stand Inside Your Love", "Real Love", "Untitled", and "Try, Try, Try"; additional production and mixing on "Ava Adore" and "Perfect"
Roger Lian – digital editing
Alan Moulder – production and mixing on "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", and "Tonight, Tonight"; mixing on "The Everlasting Gaze", "Stand Inside Your Love" and "Real Love"
Jennifer Quinn-Richardson – production coordination