Garbage album reviews

 

Bleed Like Me [7/10]

4 Reviews
Betty Clarke After losing themselves under the weight of second hand identities on their last album, Garbage have spent four years finding their way back to the grungy guitars, girl-group melodies and adolescent angst that made them famous. But Shirley Manson and her misunderstood-bad-girl persona remain unscathed. Falling somewhere between boy-baiting Madonna and the Boy's-Own style of Chrissie Hynde, she entices and discards with equal disdain. "I'm no Barbie doll, I'm not your baby girl," she sings in Why Do You Love Me, like a bra-burning Ronnie Spector. Yet she bemoans the feminist cause on the campaigning Sex Is Not the Enemy, in which she advocates free love through a loudspeaker yet vocally sounds at her most weak. Boys Wanna Fight equates world politics with a Saturday night punch-up - which might be merely a simplification, if Manson didn't sound like a stocking-wearing schoolmarm glorying in the masculinity of the fight. She is equally voyeuristic on Bleed Like Me, coldly observing self-imposed starvation, self-harming and sexual confusion. However, while Manson's changeling vocals are always worth listening to, Garbage's songs often aren't.

6/10 [published 5/8/2005 12:00:00 AM]
Marco Passarelli Ever hear the saying “back with a vengeance” applied to a band’s long awaited new album? It is a phrase that gets over used in the world of pop journalism but it could not be more appropriately used here. So, allow me that bit of ‘journalistic mediocrity’ when I say that Garbage is, indeed, ‘back with a vengeance’.

After 2001’s disappointing and underachieving, “Beautiful Garbage”, the band has found their inspiration once again; retaining the sound and hooks that brought them to the masses while simultaneously pushing into harder-edged territory. The album’s catchy first single, “Why Do You Love Me”, opens with a power chord sucker punch that commands your attention while making you question who, indeed, you are listening to. While there are a few techno flourishes here and there, including the pulsing guitar line from “Right Between The Eyes”, “Bleed Like Me” is a straight ahead rock and roll record. And with rock and roll, comes sex and with lead singer Shirley Manson, you can be sure that she oozes “sex” with every syllable. Getting the album started with the loud & raunchy “Bad Boyfriend”, Manson purrs, “We may not last but we’ll have fun till it ends, c’mon baby be my bad boyfriend”, to all would be suitors. Even on the slower tunes her seductive delivery is enough to get temperatures rising.

While high energy rockers are the focus here, the quiet moments speak volumes as evidenced by the somber title track, the dark anthem “Happy Home” and the beautiful, “It’s All Over But The Crying”. “Sex Is Not The Enemy” retains more of the band’s earlier sound, combining ballsy guitars with dance floor approved grooves.

It is no wonder why the band’s previous albums were so meticulously recorded, having three producers in the group but with “Bleed Like Me”, the band sounds like they are experiencing a newfound musical freedom, one apart from the high-tech studio toys. It is a much more immediate sounding record, one unhampered by slick production techniques where the band’s spirit and energy are transferred directly to the listener.

With this amount of change it is heartening to know that the band still sounds like, well, Garbage. And that’s a good thing.

6/10 [published 6/20/2005 12:00:00 AM]
donnarama Upon first listen,I wasn't sure what to make of this highly anticipated return and so I found myself between interrested/torn.Then remembering my strange romance with music and the realization that I've never heard an album I immediatly loved (believe it or not,Version 2.0 didn't grab me at first,now I could SLAP myself for that stupidity!)I put the new Garbage on repeat and soon enough,BOOM!Here we have an album that takes a short while to generate it's heat,but when it does it BURNS!"Bad Boyfriend" is a clear and delicious example of what makes Garbage and Shirley Manson so unique and interresting...dark theatric guitars,rock mama lyrics and vocals and an utter desire to rock the hell out.Signed sealed and delivered.The hooks found on the new G rival previous efforts as "Run Baby Run" is one of Garbage's catchiest ever,followed by "Why Do You Love Me" and "Sex Is Not The Enemy" as their funnest.The title track is a song only Garbage or very few could pull off,without sounding whiney or desperate to identify and connect(think the annoying vocals of Evanesence)."Bleed Like Me" is an eerie moody and miraculous piece of music history in the vein of Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wildside".Immediatly,love and eyes and ears are caught with "Metal Heart",this albums most obvious electro effort,an excersise in the Garbage sound of yesterday,it would not be surprising to throw this in the mix with"Push It" or "Hammering In My Head" from Version 2.0,bringing us to my favorite song "Boys Wanna Fight".This song is happy,angry and deleriously unsettled,fans of Garbage will rejoice.I know I myself am at yet another effort from one of modern rocks most adored yet strangly underrated bands.Garbage are truly leaving behind a fabulous cataloge that hasn't been heard since the likes of Blondie or The Pretenders,leaving Miss Shirley Manson as the reigning Queen of the female lead.

8/10 [published 7/7/2005 12:18:00 AM]
Steve Browning Well

Take a listen to most rock these days and you will hear little originality, mostly template driven orchestration and arranging. There are few hard-edge sounding bands these days that don’t sound like they are TRYING to appeal. Garbage manages to find a dark original sound (some say over produced, but I think not). They have interesting lyrics – I especially like them in ‘Bleed Like Me’! Who cares if Beautiful Garbage failed – I could care less. Garbage has a good legacy of work, the only thing too bad is that they are under rated. I would at least put ‘Bleed Like Me’ akin to the quality of Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ or Linkin Park’s Meteora. Sure there are a few flat or regurgitated sounds but think about your own life and how many times you have repeated your behaviour to realize that it is just part of life. In my books ‘Bleed Like Me’, ‘Boys Wanna Fight’, and ‘Why Don’t You Come Over’ are the most interesting tracks – ‘Bleed Like Me’ interesting lyrics and Shirley sounds great, ‘Boys Wanna Fight’ has an infectious chorus, ‘Why Don’t You Come Over’ styled like some punk classics in the early 80’s. Love the album; hopefully you didn’t choke on this review.

9/10 [published 7/25/2005 9:00:00 AM]

Version 2.0 [10/10]

1 Reviews
k their best album
great pop songs

10/10 [published 2/14/2008 8:06:00 AM]
 
 
 
 

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