Zero

"Zero" is the third single from The Smashing Pumpkins' third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. "Zero" was written by Billy Corgan and was the first song recorded for Mellon Collie. The song has six rhythm guitars, with two line-in twelve string acoustics. Commercially, "Zero" reached number one in Spain and number three in New Zealand. In North America, the song reached number one on Canada's RPM Alternative 30, number 15 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, and number nine on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. In the United States, the song was released as an EP, so it instead charted on the Billboard 200, making it to number 46.

The song was featured on "Homerpalooza", the penultimate episode of The Simpsons's seventh season. The cover artwork is of a Giorgio Armani model, photographed by Corgan's then-girlfriend, Yelena Yemchuk, who also directed the music video.

We like to call this style of our music 'Cybermetal.' 'Zero' has six rhythm guitars, with two line-in 12-string acoustics, plus those wacky Iha leads. Tracked live with overdubs added later, this is a true mover as well as the first song that was recorded for Mellon Collie, James has always said this reminds him of Judas Priest.

Background
"Zero" was the first song recorded for Mellon Collie. Lyrically, it touches on religion, with the line "god is empty just like me" being an allegorical reference that god is simultaneously fulfillment and emptiness. Similarly, Corgan may be referring to himself as a rock god, and the song is his response to the public interpretation of him at the time. He is to say he was worth nothing; that is, "I'm not your God, I'm your Zero." Lyrics to the song were first foreshadowed during the "art breakdowns" of "I Am One" performances throughout Lollapalooza 1994.

The namesake is the character behind which Mellon Collie is loosely based, and also shares the name with the iconic shirt that Corgan wore throughout the Infinite Sadness tour. The character named "Zero" would later be renamed "Glass" in the story of Machina, and later "Shiny" for 2023's ATUM.

Music video
The music video was directed by Yelena Yemchuk and described by NME as "very cinematic and creepy at times". 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 with the room's vibrant wine-stained colors that are associated with the Roman period. The video is the only such release to depict keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, who died in July 1996 from a drug overdose.

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. 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)" (originally B-side from the "Thirty-Three" single) and the riff called "Rachel" ended up being worked into the album track "X.Y.U." Eventually, 2012's reissue of Mellon Collie saw a number of tracks from the "Medley" released in full versions, and others on The Aeroplane Flies High reissue.

The track "Tribute to Johnny" is an instrumental, a homage to guitarist Johnny Winter.