ON THIS DAY, October 23rd, 1995, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS released their third album, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, through Virgin Records. By 1995, most of the bands that had ushered in the alternative rock boom of the early ’90s were in various states of turmoil. Pearl Jam was well into their retreat from the spotlight; Alice In Chains was in stasis, unable to tour due to frontman Layne Staley’s spiralling addiction, and Kurt Cobain had completely given up on life. While their contempor