Shirley Manson is one of my all time favorite singers. Ever since I heard Garbage’s first album back in 1995, I was hooked. There is no denying the impact Shirley had on rock music over the years. And to this day, Shirley sounds amazing! While on a recent Garbage listening extravaganza, I looked into the times Shirley guested on other albums and here you go!
01) Queens Of The Stone Age- You’ve Got A Killer Scene There, Man (Lullabies To Paralyze):
02) Gavin Rossdale- The Trouble I’m In (Wanderlust):
03) Eric Avery- Maybe (Help Wanted):
04) Le Butcherettes- Shame, You’re All I’ve Got Left (Cry Is For The Flies):
05) Brody Dalle- Meet The Foetus/Oh The Joy (Diploid Love):
I don’t know how I wind up listening to things at times. The other day while I was working, somehow I wound up listening to the band Garbage. I still have no clue what brought that up but, I’m glad it did. I spent the rest of the day and most of the next delving back into their catalog and history. Garbage really have some pretty great songs and albums. Their newer albums too are pretty damn good. While listening to their debut album, I had a flashback to the first time I heard the band and their song “Vow.” I remember listening to the radio and being totally taken aback by the voice I heard. Shirley Manson really left a mark on me and the music the backed her up on that song was just as grabbing. Some interesting history on the song, Garbage had not initially planned to release “Vow” as their first single, as a single at all, or even include it on their self titled debut. According to the band, they felt that “Vow” was not representative of the album’s genre-hopping body of work, although they later came to appreciate the situation that led to the song becoming their debut. Manson declared that “now we can do whatever and people won’t know what to expect”, but if the band had instead settled for “of the more clubby tunes” as a single, “we would have been pigeonholed as a dance band and that’s a hard tag to shake.” Either way, I’m glad it was released and on their debut. It wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t.
The mid 90’s were a very special time in music. So many ground breaking and influential albums came out and shaped the lives of my people. On August 15, 1995, Garbage released their debut album. After spending time doing remixes and working on other peoples records, Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erickson decided they wanted to take the different instrumentation they had been doing and form a full fledged band. According to the way the story goes, Steve Marker was watching 120 Minutes on MTV, when he saw the music video of Angelfish’s “Suffocate Me.” He then showed the video to Duke and Butch and had their manager track Shirley Manson down. Shirley Manson met up with Erikson, Marker and Vig for the first time in London. Due to Shirley’s other band on tour, Garbage was put on hold till after they finished their cycle. The three guys then attended Angelfish’s show in Chicago and Shirley was invite to audition for the group. The audition did not go well, but after talking with the guys while there and they found they had a similar taste in music. Shirley then called Garbage’s manager and asked to audition again.
The album itself is a blend of many different genres from punk, rock, techno, hip hop all with an incorporated pop tinge. There are so many great tracks like, “Vow,” “Stupid Girl,” “Only Happy When It Rains” and “Supervixen.” Radio and MTV really picked up on the bands singles. To support the albums release, Garbage was the main support for The Smashing Pumpkins while on their tour for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
20 years into their career and Garbage still have a knack for creating great music. Their singles really still hold up well, as well as some of the deep cuts. The albums as a whole are a little iffy, but there is a real sense of pride within the bands as to what they have created. One thing I noticed while Listening back to all their albums, is that on Version 2.0, they really seemed to find their sound and hone it gracefully.
There is no doubt that all the members of the band are extremely talented, each bringing in something different to the table to create a great body of work. The one thing that always stood out to me about Garbage was Shirley Manson. She has a way about here that is part punk rock, alternative, and hypnotic. Her voice stands out amongst a lot of here peers in the entire genre.
Garbage is going on the road to celebrate their 20 year anniversary by playing their self titled debut in it’s entirety, as well as re releasing it with a slew of extras.
I find it very intriguing that while on my kick of listening to Garbage as of late I would stumble upon their cover of my favorite Ramones song, “I Just Want To Have Something To Do.” Shirley Manson really delivers the goods on this version, as well as the rest of the band.
audioeclectica 