COMPLETE GARBAGE: The Discography Rate (WINNER!)
- Thread starter NecessaryVoodoo
- Start date
Aww, It's All Over But The Crying is such a stunning track and I'm disappointed that it missed the top 20 at the final hurdle. Milk, You Look So Fine, Cup Of Coffee, It's All Over..., Sugar and Night Drive Loneliness make for a great run of classic down-tempo tracks from each album. They really excel at that type of song.
Blood For Poppies, When I Grow Up and #1 Crush really should be on borrowed time now.
Blood For Poppies, When I Grow Up and #1 Crush really should be on borrowed time now.
3 songs will leave tomorrow, including another voter's 11 and another album getting completely punched out of the rate!
Poor Bleed Like Me
Poor your throat if you keep saying shite like this.Poor Bleed Like Me
Anyway, what a great top 20. Talent!
Poor your throat if you keep saying shite like this.
NOT when I'm probably the album's highest scorer, hussie
But will you be the highest scorer for the remaining song?NOT when I'm probably the album's highest scorer, hussie
You're the 2nd highest scorer for the album BTW. Someone else went HAM with their Bleed Like Me stannage.NOT when I'm probably the album's highest scorer, hussie
You're the 2nd highest scorer for the album BTW. Someone else went HAM with their Bleed Like Me stannage.
Please tell us, I hope it was me. (It probobly wasn't)
Why do you love me? is an iconic song and I'm still listening to it often, it deserves top 20.
he/him
Amazing pick for your 11 @Sprockrooster. It deserved to go much further!
Awww man my #11 is out. Surprised it got into the top 50 never mind just shy of the top 20. No-one really champions "Parade" much, even at the time it was fairly overlooked. The lyrics are fairly relevant now, and the synth-guitar sound was about 5 years too early. I fell in love with it back in 2001 and it's still my fave, even though #1 Crush and Night Drive Loneliness came close to getting my 11.
I absolutely LOVE this live performance of it, especially with the gear change and Get Ur Freak On outro.
I absolutely LOVE this live performance of it, especially with the gear change and Get Ur Freak On outro.
I gave it 10, but it wasn't on the singles list, so not sure if @NecessaryVoodoo included my score.
BLOOD FOR POPPIES
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.288
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 6 (@bichard, @DJHazey, @LE0Night, @ohnoitisnathan, @Robsolete, @tylerc904)
LOWEST SCORE: 2 x 1 (@etienne)
Blood For Poppies was released as the bombastic lead single from Not Your Kind Of People. Parts of which came from the sessions for Shirley's scrapped solo album. When working on the song as part of a reformed Garbage, according to Butch, "initially, it started out almost as a dub. It was a very simple groove and bassline". Shirley was inspired to write the lyrics after watching Restrepo, a documentary about the Afghanistan war, and reading an article in the Los Angeles Times about the opium trade. But she was quick to note that, "it’s not literal in any sense whatsoever but it’s a song about disorientation and delusion and the human struggle to stay sane in the face of insanity." Shirley also said the song, "is a metaphor for being in a band, feeling isolated and lonely". The line I miss my dog, and I miss my freedom came from Shirley being away from home thinking about her dog Vila. Aww. According to Duke the band had trouble figuring out how to make the bridge of the song work until, "one day Shirley mentioned something about helicopters so we put some sounds of helicopters in there and just based the music around that. We actually cut the sound of the propeller to the beat and the feel of that. Took a while."
A black and white music video for the song which took inspiration from, and featured, homages to surrealist and experimental artists such as Magritte, Maya Deren, Luis Buñuel's Le Chien Andalou and George Méliès' Le Voyage dans la Lune was directed by fashion photographer Matt Irwin who sadly died last year. Garbage paid homage to him in a short and sweet post on Facebook using a photo from the video shoot.
The track was first offered by the band as a free download on their website, saying in a press release that, "we've always had the most amazingly loyal fans, and we wanted to show them just how much they mean to us by setting it free to them first". It was later released to other digital platforms and also as the band's 2012 R***** S**** D** single, backed by the banging rave up Heads Down Here We Come Remix made by Butch especially for the release.
@etienne: After the hiatus I was not overly impressed with this. The expectations had been too high
@GimmeWork: Good song but I remember wishing Automatic Systematic Habit had been the lead single instead because I thought it was such a superior song.
@tylerc904: This is another Garbage classic, one of the few I instantly loved from the album.
@Sprockrooster: Absolutely adore the title and I am kind of a sucker for that and I just throwed another point for it.
@sfmartin: I wasn't sure what to make of this when I first heard it, but it's a real grower and that ear worm of a chorus burrows in your head. The production is a bit messy however and distracts on this song and a lot of the album.
@digitalkaiser: This is classic Garbage in every sense of the word, and that damn catchy chorus.
@magictreehouse: This was such a great “We’re back!” track, complete with a black and white, Chien Andalou-style video which adds, “And we’re still dark as fuck!”. Man it was so good to have them back.
@ohnoitisnathan: Now this is more like it. Classic Garbage. Was a contender for my 11.
@Filler: Sad this never charted. Can't wait for the next Remembrance Day silence so I can run through the streets blaring it at disgusted passers-by. I mean, nobody else in the Commonwealth making any competing noise? SOMEONE needs to get that promo slot
@Ray: I actually really like this album, but "Blood For Poppies" is one of my least favourite tracks and a single choice I don’t quite understand. I mean, it’s kind of good I guess? But why pick this when "Automatic Systematic Habit" exists?
@AshleyKerwin: I forgot if this or Automatic Systematic Habit was the iTunes Single of the Week, but my friend listened to it because he remembered I liked Garbage and he didn’t like this song. I just learned it’s about the opium trade.
@A&E: Shut Your Mouth 2.0. A brilliant single to my ears.
@Epic Chocolat: I enjoyed the beat.
@constantino: C’mon gritty, memorable guitar riff! This took a few listens but it’s kinda wonderful.
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WHY DO YOU LOVE ME
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.288
HIGHEST SCORE: 11 x 1 (@Robsolete) 10 x 10 (@Andy French, @digitalkaiser, @enjoy, @Filler, @GimmeWork, @LE0Night, @Remorque, @sfmartin, @Sprockrooster, @tylerc904)
LOWEST SCORE: 3 x 1 (@Ray)
So... Bleed Like Me is the second Garbage album to be completely kicked out of the rate and its highest track is this, the lead single from the album, Why Do You Love Me. A song that propelled Garbage back into the public eye and charts both here in the UK and across the pond. The record label were keen for it to be the lead single, as were the band, with Shirley saying, "we chose this because it has a lot of mood shifts and embodies the whole record."
With Duke describing it sounding like, "a girl group song sort of sped-up. Girl group on speed sort of thing" Steve said it was, "an example of when our songs don't totally come together until they're almost finished." Lyrically Shirley said "it's about the fundamental insecurity in all human beings that they are unlovable."
Personally, even though you all know I'm not a fan of Bleed Like Me, it was so heartening just seeing Garbage back again in magazines and on TV with Shirley popping up to present an award at the BRITs and seeing the band getting performing slots on UK shows.
The film noir-esque music video for the song was directed by Sophie Muller who, being Shirley's friend, knew all about the inter-band tensions so channelled those into the narrative. At the behest of the band, rather than using hired extras, the footage towards the end of the video of the 'audience' rocking out to Garbage performing the song were 100 fans who won a competition.
11 scorer @Robsolete didn't provide commentary but I'm sure he'll be by to call you all bastards shortly!
@GimmeWork: What a come back! This song was such a happy time as a Garbage stan because people were excited about them again! I was overjoyed. Loved the black and white parts of the video too!
@tylerc904: I remember Fuse doing a special on this album at the time and being like “oh yeah, whatever happened to Garbage”. The entire beautifulgarbage era passed me by and the last I had heard them was Special/When I Grow Up. Loved this then and love it now. Such a straight up rock anthem!
@Sprockrooster: I remember hearing this and being instantly snatched. Listening to this now brings so much beautiful nostalgic memories. This was the song that brought me back to loving them after losing them a bit because of album 3. So many catchy parts and with that infectious riff I am definitely hooked for life.
@sfmartin: This was such was blast after the relatively delicate and polished Beautiful Garbage. Like a smack in the mouth to remind you that Garbage still know how to rock. I love the suffocating wall of sound on the chorus and the small gap in the instrumental reminiscent of Supervixen. It all drops out for the minimal middle 8 and then piles back in for a thrilling climax.
@digitalkaiser: The wonderful hard and frantic energy of this is incredible. I know it’s not a fan favorite, but it always cuts me in such a way. Her hair in the video is absolutely ICONIC.
@magictreehouse: The chorus to this is a little repetitive but I was super thrilled when this went into the top 10. My housemates at the time had no qualms in telling me how awful this song was. I no longer speak to any of them.
@ohnoitisnathan: I don't like the intro guitar riff, which is later repeated. But the rest is better.
@Filler: FEROCIOUS
@Ray: I seriously don’t love you at all while this is playing.
@A&E: I’d be more here for rock Garbage if the riffs were as killer as this one.
@constantino: C’mon Blondie! You betta do it! No but seriously, I often ask the very same question, Shirls.
ANDROGYNY
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.394
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 7 (@A&E, @Andy French, @bichard, @Epic Chocolat, @marie_05, @Ray, @Remorque)
LOWEST SCORE: 3 x 1 (@LE0Night)
From one lead single to another, to another. Androgyny was the first bite of the cherry that was beautifulgarbage. During the recording of the album Shirley in particular had become infatuated with Missy Elliott and, musically at least, Androgyny was Garbage's warped take on the sleek and crisp hip-hop productions cooked-up by Missy and Timbaland. The guitar arpeggio heard in the intro is another case of the band transplanting ideas from other songs. Butch had been trying to fit a classical guitar part into Untouchable but just couldn't get it to work, so while the band were tracking Androgyny, which at the time was had "this incredibly sparse drum-machine pattern", Butch decided to try it here instead. Steve said that, "although his performance sounded a little crude" (was that a read?) "it had a marvelous character that would be lost if Duke or I tried to perfect it." So they tarted it up a bit in Pro Tools and left it in.
In an entry on her online studio diary Shirley described Androgyny as "like a weird cross breed of a song............picture Garbage meeting up with The artist formerly known as Prince and Noel Coward in a Florida whorehouse whilst TLC plays on the jukebox and you just might be able to imagine what the song sounds like." The whorehouse was later moved from Florida to New Orleans when asked to describe the track to Kerrang! magazine, with Shirley adding that it's "a frisky, tongue-in-cheek, playful, fucking type of song."
The track received its world premiere radio play on Steve Lamacq's BBC Radio 1 show on Thursday 9th August 2001 with the single release following on September 24th. To a lot of the band's fanbase and also music critics Androgyny was a SHOCK, and it (unfairly) received mixed reviews from both parties. Even after a considerable promotional push in the UK with radio interviews, teaser adverts and TV performances on the likes of CD:UK and Popworld, Androgyny stalled just outside the Top 20. Also despite radio support, the cancelling of promotional activities, a country in mourning after the atrocities of September 11th and (according to Garbage) changing trends in popular music meant the song failed to chart in the US.
Several remixes were released for Androgyny, including a high profile (and no doubt expensive) one from The Neptunes which I think is also quite infamous for some reason that I'm sure someone more versed in their Garbage herstory than I will expand on. Others came from another production duo The Architechs and from Felix Da Housecat whose Thee Glitz mix would go on to appear on the influential, and honestly... still SO amazing, 2 Many DJ's As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt 2 album.
Arguably the least awful of the music videos produced for singles from beautifulgarbage, the Androgyny video was directed by Don Cameron. Shirley said of the video and Don, "he came up with a pretty incredible storyboard that we were all intrigued by. He made a very fashion forward video for us at the time. We were a little intimidated by it because when all the extras turned up they were really good looking and incredibly well dressed." In another episode of Garbage's Happy Accidents, Shirley had shaved her own hair off a couple of weeks prior, not knowing at the time that it would fit perfectly with the theme of the three-day shoot.
After the beautifulgarbage tour the band seemed to distance themselves from Androgyny, not performing it live or including it on the Absolute Garbage compilation. Though the Felix Da Housecat remix did appear on the Garbage Mixes CD that came with the limited edition. It does seem in recent years though that they are starting to warm to it again, as it was included on the 2013 Australia and New Zealand "best of", The Absolute Collection released on their own label, and they have started performing it live again on select dates of the Strange Little Birds tour.
@etienne: I liked this song upon release but I’m a bit uncertain where it sits with me now. I saw them perform it at the Astoria and it was great but then they never seemed to perform it again and distanced themselves from it. Admittedly I don’t ever seek it out these days.
@GimmeWork: 15 years later and this song is still relevant socially and people still have issues with androgyny. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve come a long way but still a long way left to go.
@sfmartin: Why didn't they lead with Cherry Lips??! Not that this isn't a banger. Love the loud queer spirit that shines through in the lyrics. I think I remember spending hours on this interactive PC/internet game that you got with the album or single, where you had all the samples from this song and you could chop / change / mix to your hearts content. That was fun.
@digitalkaiser: I love the early 2000’s R&B vibe to this, a bandwagon even garbage had to jump on. Even still, this song is groundbreaking and wonderful and it’s a really well produced song. THAT middle 8.
@magictreehouse: I’ve always liked this song and I was a bit sad when it wasn’t included on the Greatest Hits. It set the sound up for the subsequent album up quite nicely and I remember seeing them perform it on CD:UK before it came out! Those really were the days.
@ohnoitisnathan: Verses - 9. Chorus - 4.
@Filler: The REAL victim of 9/11
@Ray: It made me buy the special edition of the album on the day of release. It made everybody else not buy the album at all.
@AshleyKerwin: This song title is dated in 2017, but I can at least overlook that because I was so surprised and taken aback when I listened to this for the first time. It sounded so early 2000’s pop-R&B a la Destiny’s Child, then the chorus becomes full out rock and then the bridge becomes a perfect falsetto. Even if this was “too pop”, it was still Garbage at their core of genre bending. I feel bad that this song, especially such a progressive one, was the first single that started to tank. I can’t believe so many people hate it. I vaguely remember the video for this was the TVTropes page quote for Fetish Fuel.
@constantino: Queen of gender.
D
