Garbage has a muscular industrial sound that could be accurately described as hard rock with an electronic flavor. They’re not exactly balladeers.
But the band has a tradition of ending each album with a slow, usually sad, song. On 2001’s Beautiful Garbage, the band’s third album, that song was ‘So Like a Rose.’
Alt-rock band Garbage was one of my favorite acts of the 90s, releasing three excellent albums between 1995 and 2001. Their blend of grunge and techno felt entirely new during the dawning of the new millennium.
The band waited four years to release their next album, 2005’s Bleed Like Me, and it felt like a step backward. The band must have sensed that, too, because they went on an indefinite hiatus that seemed a lot like a break-up.
When this track from Garbage’s 1985 debut popped up as today’s Random iTunes Selection, I was positive I’d featured it on the blog before. I almost skipped to the next track without checking.
Turns out I was half right. I did feature the song, but not the studio version. Rather, I blogged about the live MTV Video Awards performance during a week on singers I find sexy. Having watched that performance again just now, I can confirm that I still find Shirley Manson sexy.
‘Metal Heart’ is a track from Garbage’s 2005 album Bleed Like Me, the last record they released before 2012’s comeback album, Not Your Kind of People.
Following their excellent first three records, Bleed Like Me was a bit of a disappointment. At least that’s how I remember it. I’ll be honest, I haven’t listened to it very often since its release. When I want to hear Garbage, I will almost always reach for their sophomore release, Version 2.0, one of the very best 90s albums.
It’s been seven years since Garbage’s last album — 2005’s Bleed Like Me — and for most of that time it was unclear whether the band would ever record together again. So the announcement of this year’s Not Your Kind of People was a pleasant surprise.
The sound of this album is similar to that of the band’s self-titled debut — hard-edged grunge with a splash of techno. On subsequent albums, Garbage dabbled in genre flourishes such as 50s pop and punk, but they’ve always been most comfortable in this mode.
Meet Me In Montauk 