Garbage - classic or dud

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Liking Garbage on here is risky business, because Tom and Ned both hate them, but this is possibly the only case where they are both WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Total classic for the first two albums and pretty much all of the pre-2001 B-sides. Last album a tad patchy, and made worse by the fact that the wrong songs were made singles. But "Can't Cry These Tears" is pure genius.

edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 16 March 2003 11:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

They use the alchemical powers of the make-up artist to impressive effect

dave q, Sunday, 16 March 2003 12:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Special" is great -- the rest I'm indifferent to.

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 16 March 2003 12:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Dave thats make-up? can she possibly look more scarier??

rex jr., Sunday, 16 March 2003 12:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

really horrible music. shirley manson: id hit it. meg lee chin was the original singer for one day then quit. id hit that too.

chaki (chaki), Sunday, 16 March 2003 12:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

Garbage = Disney-fied Curve.

ara, Sunday, 16 March 2003 16:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Tom and Ned both hate them, but this is possibly the only case where they are both WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Ah...no. ;-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 16 March 2003 16:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

i like the coldness of their sound, but their music is a bit over-produced sometimes. the first album is very good, the second one is good, their most recent singles are awful.

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Sunday, 16 March 2003 17:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

Their second album is miles better than their first, on a singles basis, & is more consistent (& Shirley doesn't sound so awkward). The third one could be their best, but A) the production is ... strange (some strange mixture of austere super-futuristic whiz bang & cheap inflatable furniture) and B) the two videos they made in support were awful and C) Shirley's new hairdo does not jive with my turkey at all.

Chaki, what wouldn't you hit?

David R. (popshots75`), Sunday, 16 March 2003 17:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

I found this band so irritating. Dud.

sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 16 March 2003 17:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

Overprdouced, but... I like Happy When it Rains and Stupid Girl and the first one off the second album... Heck, they're not classic but they're not dud either. David - agree about the hairdo. Blech.

Zora (Zora), Sunday, 16 March 2003 18:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

so dud its not worth saying why its dud.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 16 March 2003 19:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

Julio - with all respect - when you go out to a club and you're listening to cheesy music do you sit and sulk because they're not playing some sooper dooper obscure band that 10 people have heard of?

Or do you chill out, down a pint and have a fucking good laugh as you try hard to imitate Bradley while dancing to 'Reach' by S Club 7?

I'm just curious, because you seem to hate virtually any and every vaguely mainstream band I've ever mentioned. Garbage are fab and if you can't shake your butt to 'Paranoid' then you must be dead.

Calum, Sunday, 16 March 2003 19:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't go out to clubs 'cause I fucking hate them (as they don't play the music i like).

I don't 'chill out' or drink pints either.

I am 'dead' to most. so what? they are dead to me as well.

got it!

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

I have seen Julio chill out and drink pints firsthand.

sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

haha sundar...that was a yr ago. i have changed since ;-)

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

but seriously calum: I've heard 'em and i didn't like it. that was a while back tho'.

you did say c or d. I'm saying d.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

I dunno Julio, I suspect you have a secret stash of good time music somewhere like that Tom Joans album that was all duets somewhere (not that Garbage are good time music of course).

Calum, Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

I have plenty of 'good time music'. its just that my def of 'good time music' is diff from yours.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 16 March 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

i dont mind Garbage - i think i empathised with their target market of angsty teenage girls, heh

'Cherry Lips' would be okay except its a total rip off of Nikka Costa's 'Everybody Got Their Something', unless its the other way round (prefer Nikka tho)

stevem (blueski), Sunday, 16 March 2003 21:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

That Felix remix of "Androgyny" is a classic.

Mr. Diamond (diamond), Sunday, 16 March 2003 21:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

I love when MTV says " Next up we got Garbage" so true...

brg30 (brg30), Monday, 17 March 2003 02:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

They're ok. I think I should like them more because their aesthetic is similar to bands I like (at least it was in '98, maybe not anymore), but they really don't have the songs to show for it. "Only Happy When It Rains", "I Think I'm Paranoid", and "Vow" are the only Garbage songs I'd readily defend.

Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 17 March 2003 04:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

they're a real b-level band, but I'm gonna say Classic. "Stupid Girl" sounded GREAT the last time I heard it. Shirley Manson's almost like a Kim Gordon gone pro (or a female Greg Dulli) in her over-the-top attempts at grande dame sado-sexy but the music usually makes it tolerable. "Special" was a step in the right direction but that "Androgyny" song was soooo late '90s, right down to the three shmoes in sunglasses who still think they're hep.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 17 March 2003 04:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

TS: the Stones' "Stupid Girl" vs. Garbage's "Stupid Girl."

Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 17 March 2003 06:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

Garbage Vol. 2 sounded great at the time and in a funny way even better now as the sort of lost ancestor for Linkin Park-style digi-rock - only not much of the current digi-rock is as burnished and kaleidoscopic as tracks like "Temptation Waits", "Push It" and Hammer In My Head".

What I think is interesting about Garbage is that they fetishised the digital at a point when the obvious influence - namely, hip hop - was actually still in a fairly naturalist mode, so that they were forced to instead tie their mast to "electronica" (of course they might have decided to do this anyway to suit their audience). "Electronica" has receded in terms of influence on pop-rock (replaced by an electronically reinvigorated hip hop), and now what seemed like really obvious musical choices for Garbage to make at the time appear quite curious. The songs on their second album are quite light on groove in the conventional, hip-hop sense; they're much monolithic, in that they're so cluttered that the treble and the bass are essentially fused together. The closest modern reference I can think of is Max Martin; the obvious other one is Phil Spector. It means though that they sound much more unambiguously pop now than they did then... at least to these ears. It's a pretty "white" sound obviously, which is where I think they stand out quite clearly as predecessors to the more electronic end of nu-metal.

I don't have the recent album as both the singles annoyed me, the bridge of "Cherry Lips" excepted.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 17 March 2003 06:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

For 'Cherry Lips' and 'Can't Cry These Tears' alone, I think the 3rd album might be my fave. I've seen them live 3 times and the reception Shirley gets in Scotland is positively spine tingling.

Calum Robert, Monday, 17 March 2003 12:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

seven months pass...
(meant to post in this thread the first time - oh well)

CD80 Garbage "portable" go!

Vow
Only Happy When It Rains
Supervixen
Queer
Stupid Girl
Milk
#1 Crush
Push It
Temptation Waits
I Think I'm Paranoid
Special
When I Grow Up
The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
You Look So Fine
Thirteen
The World Is Not Enough
Androgyny
Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
Breaking Up the Girl
Parade

(chronological according to first release - single or album - and missing "Shut Your Mouth", replaced by key album tracks. 80:20)

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 6 November 2003 02:08 (twenty years ago) link

dud

Debito (Debito), Thursday, 6 November 2003 02:10 (twenty years ago) link

classic

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 6 November 2003 02:12 (twenty years ago) link

beautifulgarbage is still brilliant and I don't think they have another ace album in them but I still say classic.

Alex in Doncaster (Alex in Doncaster), Thursday, 6 November 2003 02:13 (twenty years ago) link

dud, absolutely.

over-produced angst rock with average vox, no sex appeal, and darkish-i-mean-it-man lyrics.
and the men in the group were just 40ish frat rockers

paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 6 November 2003 03:04 (twenty years ago) link

they had their fair share of classics though that "androgyny" song was sooo lame (haven't heard anything since). I kinda like how totally '90s the lyrics are on the first album's hits. She's gonna tear your SOUL apart! Pour your misery down on her! rowr.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 6 November 2003 03:18 (twenty years ago) link

If one is going to be pedantic, #1 Crush chronologically belongs before Only Happy When It Rains.

edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 6 November 2003 06:12 (twenty years ago) link

Garbage.

Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 6 November 2003 09:08 (twenty years ago) link

"Only Happy When It Rains" probably = classic. "Androgyny" was way beyond suck, even if only because it smacked of the impression Shirley Manson thought she'd invented the concept of androgyny.

Damian (Damian), Thursday, 6 November 2003 09:20 (twenty years ago) link

edward, I thought the album came out before #1 Crush showed up on the R&J soundtrack...?

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 6 November 2003 10:05 (twenty years ago) link

It did, but "#1 Crush" appears on the flip to the rather wonderful Subhuman single, as well as on some editions of the Vow single too. It's not the same mix, granted - the R&J version has the jagged edges smoothed out and loses most of its impact.

edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 6 November 2003 10:13 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...
i'm going to come out and say classic, though i never liked or bought them at the time. better than most of the bollocks i was listening to, on reflection.

Garbage Vol. 2 sounded great at the time and in a funny way even better now as the sort of lost ancestor for Linkin Park-style digi-rock - only not much of the current digi-rock is as burnished and kaleidoscopic as tracks like "Temptation Waits", "Push It" and Hammer In My Head".

OTM!

Theorry Henry (Enrique), Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:18 (eighteen years ago) link

some people i know went to see GARBAGE in concert recently and i was like "why da fuck are you wasting your money on the shit ps shirley manson has like five hundred stds"

ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:23 (eighteen years ago) link

don't call me shirley

Manson (Enrique), Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:25 (eighteen years ago) link

i think i'm saying classic to the first two albums, ie the ones i have actually heard.

Theorry Henry (Enrique), Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Given that they're now on indefinite hiatus and Shirley owes her former label a solo album, I'm really hoping for some kind of demented Stefani-esque pop blowout, rather than some variety of tedious authentic "rock" album.

edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:33 (eighteen years ago) link

"Given that they're now on indefinite hiatus"

did the new one tank that badly?

w. garbage, i dunno why they bothered playing live and stuff. they were really a prefab sprout type studio band?

Theorry Henry (Enrique), Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:34 (eighteen years ago) link

No, actually, the new one has already outsold the third one, I believe.

edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 20 October 2005 08:38 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Hits package out Tuesday

Fuck the remixes, where's the b-sides?

C. Grisso/McCain, Friday, 13 July 2007 16:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Tim Finney unsurprisingly OTM about Version 2.0 odd charm (can a record be an anachronicism yet ahead of its time?).

Their singles hold up fairly well. In a fit of euphoria I once called the above album the Parallel Lines of the nineties.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 13 July 2007 17:29 (sixteen years ago) link

i think they have about two pretty key singles: 'vow' and 'i think i'm paranoid'

i think i've still got that debut s/t record sitting around somewhere.

Charlie Howard, Friday, 13 July 2007 18:47 (sixteen years ago) link

"Cherry Lips" has to be the best thing to come out of the whole JT LeRoy affair.

C. Grisso/McCain, Friday, 13 July 2007 18:51 (sixteen years ago) link


The special limited edition 2-CD set adds to the original CD a bonus disc of remixes by some of the world s most renowned DJs, including U.N.K.L.E., Massive Attack, Todd Terry, Crystal Method, Fun Lovin Criminals, and Felix Da Housecat.

Fun Lovin Crims ? worlds most renowned DJs ?

what next a free prince album in a Sunday newspaper.

oh hang on ..

mark e, Saturday, 14 July 2007 22:08 (sixteen years ago) link

Alternacandy is the best!

u s steel, Friday, 6 February 2009 22:41 (fifteen years ago) link

i'd forgotten how exciting 'vow' was, having just heard it for the first time in probably ten years

carbonara not glue (electricsound), Wednesday, 11 February 2009 05:35 (fifteen years ago) link

Tubular bells + kettle drums in middle section of Cherry Lips = classic

ecuador_with_a_c, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 06:43 (fifteen years ago) link

I still really like 2.0

baaderonixx, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 08:52 (fifteen years ago) link

"I Think I'm Paranoid" was integral to my improvement as a Rock Band player last year.

Never thought I'd see Shirley T-1000 it up as urinal and then stab a guy at the time. Shows what I knew.

Gukbe, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 09:05 (fifteen years ago) link

one year passes...

I heard "Why Do You Love Me?" for the first time in years on the muzak where I had lunch yesterday. I'd forgotten how crummy it was. Sounds like an outtake form the first album. It seems like it should work--the band has a good pulse, Manson was a charismatic as ever--but it just doesn't gel. And that was their comeback single!

Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 September 2010 16:12 (thirteen years ago) link

I remember, as a 16 year old, thinking that Garbage would take over the world; be the next Sonic Youth or Nirvana. Hah! I pretty much only like the intro riff fromt he first song ont he first album now, even if it does sound like the intro of Loveless.

village idiot (dog latin), Friday, 24 September 2010 16:19 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

new album out, yeah? halfway through it and it's more like "bleed like me" than the earlier albums, unfortunately.

producer / dj / humanitarian (reddening), Thursday, 24 May 2012 04:09 (twelve years ago) link

eight months pass...

I stuck Supervixen (aka Only Shallow II) on the other day!

― Just got offed, Friday, 1 August 2008 15:01 (4 years ago) Bookmark

lol thought i'd bone up on old mbv and this suddenly hit me. and it's pink

now listening to this instead obv

r|t|c, Sunday, 3 February 2013 11:35 (eleven years ago) link

lol, so true.

This is better than anything on the new MBV record.

xyzzzz__, Sunday, 3 February 2013 12:00 (eleven years ago) link

beyond love the first two albums, especially v2.0 which is so generous in its devotion to thinking of sounds you haven't heard.

a permanent mental health break (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 3 February 2013 16:17 (eleven years ago) link

also never get tired of the "supervixen" drop-out gimmick; i am easily amused (aroused?)

a permanent mental health break (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 3 February 2013 16:19 (eleven years ago) link

well since it's asked way upthread this is the thread with the back and forth between ned and tim about garbage TS: Curve's "Horror Head" vs. Garbage's entire discography

an ilx classic imo

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Sunday, 3 February 2013 18:01 (eleven years ago) link

you'll take Version 2.0 from my cold dead hands

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 3 February 2013 18:12 (eleven years ago) link

three years pass...

anyone else heard the new one? the first track threw me off so much, i love it

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:15 (eight years ago) link

like it sounds like it belongs on portishead's third

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:16 (eight years ago) link

Yeah, I listened to it this morning. It's their strongest album in years. Some of the ballads are really great.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:31 (eight years ago) link

wow @ "magnetized." wow.

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:42 (eight years ago) link

very positive 4 star review in the current mojo !

mark e, Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:44 (eight years ago) link

I'm listening to it now. Accidentally had it on shuffle and "Sometimes" going straight into "Magnetized" was incredible - disappointed it's not the actual running order. "Empty" is the only weak moment out of the first five songs so far!

oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:45 (eight years ago) link

i am so excited to really enjoy a garbage album in 2016 !!!!

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:47 (eight years ago) link

Shirley's lyrics haven't got any better since the last album (which, no, stop saying things) but it really doesn't matter.

Opening of "Even If Our Love Is Doomed" reminds me of the melody of "Take Me Out". Like how part of "Night Drive Loneliness" seems to hark back to "You Look So Fine".

oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:52 (eight years ago) link

The enthusiasm in this thread is making me excited. Version 2.0 is like my original favourite album of all time but the last two were so not the direction they should have been following.

boxedjoy, Thursday, 9 June 2016 19:52 (eight years ago) link

Empty seems like a very strange choice of single. It's one of the weakest songs on here.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 9 June 2016 20:00 (eight years ago) link

Wish "We Never Tell" had had the megapop chorus it sounds like it should have had, and "So We Can Stay Alive" does but sounds like it shouldn't. Still like both of them! This is so much better than the last two records it's not even funny.

oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 9 June 2016 20:04 (eight years ago) link

revisited most of the catalog over the past two days, and yeah, this is the best since version 2.0. gets better every time i listen to it

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 10 June 2016 20:24 (eight years ago) link

Nice to see this getting some pretty good reviews.

Kitchen Person, Friday, 10 June 2016 22:07 (eight years ago) link

That feeling when your old favourite band releases their best album in 18 years!

oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 11 June 2016 07:06 (seven years ago) link

I was really wanting to like this, but I didn't think too much until Magnetized. And thought the rest of the album was solidly great from there.

also not that impressed. 'Sometimes,' 'If I Lost You,' and 'We Never Tell' are great, though.

KevRus, Saturday, 11 June 2016 17:53 (seven years ago) link

three months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcfOmhGJ8G4

their best song/video combination in... idk how long. reminds me of "push it' in moood

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 7 October 2016 17:36 (seven years ago) link

one year passes...
six years pass...

these guys have an amazing second act

ivy., Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:27 (one week ago) link

been going through the whole discog and it's very striking how not your kind of people, strange little birds, "no horses," and no gods no masters are cumulatively way way way better than albums 3 and 4 (beautifulgarbage still kind of an underrated mess)

ivy., Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:30 (one week ago) link

Listening to "Wolves" now, it occurred to me how Garbage still respect the vacillations in behavior we see in adolescents and respect how we can still have'em after 30.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:36 (one week ago) link

also, i really really really wish i could buy the dress shirley manson wears in the "stupid girl" video. i bought a polka-dot dress this week just to appropriate her "i think i'm paranoid" look. as with madonna and janet jackson, when i first saw shirley manson i thought "wow i want to be her," and that's never really stopped

ivy., Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:47 (one week ago) link

Wailing "Only Happy When It Rains" at karaoke was one of my finest moments in spring '23.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:50 (one week ago) link

briefly meeting Shirley Manson a decade ago at a coffee shop was one of the better brushes w/fame i've had.

omar little, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 19:56 (one week ago) link

Androgyny really was an insane choice of lead single

Beautiful Garbage is almost my favourite of their LPs (over the debut) but I don't think it starts well, which was reaffirmed by a relisten only a few weeks ago. The Timo Maas remix of Breaking Up the Girl would be a welcome bonus on my copy.

you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 21:26 (one week ago) link

Larry Mullins, subbing for an ill Butch Vig, kicked ass on "Cherry Lips" when they opened for U2 on the final leg of the Elevation tour in Miami.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 21:32 (one week ago) link

I drank a pinot grigio next to Butch at Eataly in Vegas, but was too shy to say hello.

KevRus, Wednesday, 29 May 2024 21:05 (one week ago) link

Androgyny really was an insane choice of lead single

Beautiful Garbage is almost my favourite of their LPs (over the debut) but I don't think it starts well, which was reaffirmed by a relisten only a few weeks ago. The Timo Maas remix of Breaking Up the Girl would be a welcome bonus on my copy.

― you can see me from westbury white horse

I quite like that song, but it was a insane choice indeed. Shut Your Mouth being put out as the last single was an even weirder pick and is probably their worst single. Take off that, Til The Day I Die and Untouchable and it's a fantastic album. Some really excellent album tracks on there. Cup Of Coffee is devastating and a career highlight. Parade should have been the first single really.

kitchen person, Thursday, 30 May 2024 01:45 (one week ago) link

Also, I revisited Bleed Like Me recently and it was a lot better than I remembered. I'm still disappointed Run Baby Run was cancelled as a single. It's one of the most obvious hits in their career. The title track is so great too.

kitchen person, Thursday, 30 May 2024 01:47 (one week ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8uuUkyv1x0

this remix is sooooooo much better than the album version of "bad boyfriend," can't believe it's the same song

ivy., Thursday, 30 May 2024 02:20 (one week ago) link

so you're saying i should listen to the later albums i guess

are there not some clunkers on there?

Swen, Thursday, 30 May 2024 06:53 (one week ago) link

Fewer than you think.

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 May 2024 09:24 (one week ago) link

"The World Is Not Enough" pretty great bond theme

corrs unplugged, Thursday, 30 May 2024 10:50 (one week ago) link

Just chiming into say their cover of 'Thirteen' is really lovely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO7fMJpUZoM

Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Saturday, 8 June 2024 00:23 (two days ago) link


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