New Music Review: GARBAGE ‘Garbage (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition / Remastered 2015)’

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REVIEW – Looking back on the 90’s and all the trends that came musically from that era no other band wears them proudly on their sleeves like Garbage. Even before this record 20 years ago came out there was already buzz about what was happening. The rumors were Lesley Rankine (Silverfish/Pigface/Ruby) was going to be the lead singer. Then it was Meg Lee Chin(Pigface), then it was Hanin Elias(Atari Teenage Riot/Fatome/Pigface). Next thing you know we find out it is Shirley Manson(Angelfish).Now what would make people care about a band named Garbage and so early on before music was even talked about? Butch Vig at the time was riding high on his work with the alternative bands Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins and L7. Oh yeah, I forgot he was responsible in this little indie record that no one ever heard of called Nevermind by Nirvana. Garbage’s debut record to me was something that created a bridge from bands like My Bloody Valentine and Portishead to bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Curve. They incorporated so many elements into the music from shoegaze, electronica and really put it under this alternative umbrella. This band really was the MTV baby in terms of the first time people saw the video for Vow. They had this style that meshed so many formulas then you get the young girl selling her image while displaying this delivery on vocals that just programmed you to buy the damn cd.

This is a band that when starting out was smart and ahead of the curve in its marketing plan. You had Vig who would give the band credibility for his past work, but you had Shirley Manson who would get you into discussions about Women in Rock. This debut record was to me such a great stage to showcase what this band could accomplish. While the next releases would all venture out to the deeper ends of music, this is the one that fans are the most familiar with, with the sing-a-long songs like Queer, Only Happy When it Rains and Stupid Girl. Though, I love the little nod to the Clash’s Train in Vain on the beginning of Stupid Girl so much. To me, As Heaven is Wide and Vow are incredible and live they really go over great. Garbage I feel get lumped into this category of being a “one hit wonder” or “one album wonder” which I will say bull shit, listen to Version 2.0 people, what do you expect, this is a great record that sorry did not have the poppy songs, but it still was a great follow up. Beautiful Garbage had the poppy hits and was such a great statement from a band that many wrote off. Bleed Like Me, was actually in my top 20 best. And their last record Not Your Kind of People was very mature but still a great record.

Shirley Manson showed on this record why she is such a compelling sexy dynamic singer. The pop instincts of the band are on display here from beginning to end, and though the record feels polished at times, it is so sleek and alluring. For diehard fans, the bonus disc is not much of a deal considering that most of the songs have been on EP’s and soundtracks. (I said EP, I think at the time they were cd single b sides) I think for anyone who forgot just how great this band is, this deluxe edition is well worth the price to showcase just how ahead of their time this band truly is. The funny thing, playing it today some 20 years later it sounds just as fresh and relevant than it did then. Great band live, in fact no offense to Smashing but they stole the show from the Pumpkins when I saw them. Great band, great cd, enough said.