COMPLETE GARBAGE: The Discography Rate (WINNER!)

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WHEN I GROW UP
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.409
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 8 (@Andy French, @bichard, @DJHazey, @nikkysan, @ohnostalgia, @Oleander, @Robsolete, @tylerc904)
LOWEST SCORE: 5 x 1 (@Sprockrooster)


When I Grow Up from Version 2.0 was released as the fourth international single from the album which Shirley says is all about not "feel[ing] I'm going to be this grounded, mature, fully-developed person. But I think that's one of the things about life – you never feel completely sussed, you’ve never really arrived, and you actually know so little. Even though you're sussed and you're smart and you've worked it all out, you haven't even got the remotest inkling of what it's all about. And you can never hope to." The song was included in the film and on the soundtrack to Adam Sandler vehicle Big Daddy. It's never been one of my favourite Garbage singles, though those exuberant ba, ba, ba, ba's backed with the huge sounding galloping drums elevate it above average, so it's probably about the right time for it to leave.

Two videos were shot by Sophie Muller. The first was that perennial favourite, a video made up of live footage of the band, filmed over several nights during the band's Version 2.0 tour. This treatment was also repeated for the video to The Trick Is To Keep Breathing. The second featured shots of the band performing the song on a stage in front of glittering backdrops Version 2.0 and Garbage related imagery cut with scenes of a Shirley and a couple of backing dancers performing choreo while flashing lights went off behind them. The second video was filmed specifically to tie-in with the release of the movie Big Daddy and an edit was made which incorporated scenes from the film.

A boppy remix by Danny Tenaglia was released as was the Kidz Bop-esque Alt Pop Mix on a US release, which changed the infamous Happy hours / Golden showers with the nonsense of Happy lovers / Ache for hours while Unexpected / God, I'm pregnant / Damn the consequences became Unexpected / Unprotected / Fear the consequences




@etienne: Not bad – just a little bit vanilla for Garbage.

@GimmeWork: The golden showers line cracked me up then and because of Trump it still does today! I love a good revenge track!

@sfmartin: Another classic banger. A rollicking adventure from start to finish, so much attitude the literal sonic equivalent of giving someone the finger. What a sing a long joy as well "ba da ba ba..". I love the subtle "sha la la la" in the back ground of the final outros. It's just so perfectly juvenile.

@send photo: Golden showers?

@digitalkaiser: The video for this was very simple, but man this is such a catchy song.

@ohnoitisnathan: Neat.

@Filler: Almost as good as the Pussycat Dolls song

@Ray: "Have you heard New Order’s Regret?" "Yeah?" "Do something like that."

@AshleyKerwin: I docked half a point because this was on an Adam Sandler movie soundtrack.

@Oleander: One of the first Garbage songs I came across and I remain a fan of it to this day. Random lines from it pop into my head from time to time and I can’t help singing them to myself.

@constantino: What an intro. The Pussycat Dolls are shaking.



 
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SUPERVIXEN
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.409
HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 8 (@Andy French, @AshleyKerwin, @blissteria @GimmeWork, @heartmightmelt, @LE0Night, @Ray, @sfmartin)
LOWEST SCORE: 5 x 1 (@ohnostalgia)


Supervixen, although opening the band's debut album, was the last track to come together and while Garbage had an instrumental, they had no title or lyrics to go with it. With the band playing Pasolini's controversial 1975 film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom in the studio, Shirley came up with the tantalisingly delivered opening lines of Come down to my house / Stick a stone in your mouth / You can always pull out / If you like it too much. For a song title the band took inspiration from another 1975 movie, in this case US filmmaker Russ Meyer's bawdy sexploitation flick Supervixens. Shirley said the lyrics "are all about saying "idolise me, I'm going to give you everything you want, but you have to do something in return." It's a bargaining song about a relationhip. I'm not saying "I'm a wee Scottish lass fae Edinburgh and I'm great" -- It's actually about this supervixen, this Russ Meyer-type woman."

The stop start effect used to punctuate the exhilarating wall of guitars throughout was another of Garbage's Happy Accidents. A malfunctioning tape machine, rather than seamlessly looping a guitar part, would just stop and as Butch explained to Sound On Sound magazine in 1997, "we thought, 'That's kinda cool!' So then we decided to do that every time, but because a lot of things played through those pauses we had to do some extensive muting with the automation in the mix in order to get them super-tight. So basically it goes to dead air, and in a way it's just silence, but that also becomes a hook. A lot of people commented that they thought their CD players were broken when they first put it on, which is cool!"

Buried in the mix of Supervixen were lines adlibbed during recording of the song and Shirley fought with the boys on wanting them included. As a compromise they were layered underneath her commanding Bow down to me's at the end of the song. When the song was performed live in the early days, Shirley would often throw these extra lyrics in after the 2nd chorus.

@GimmeWork: The opening drums and heavy guitars make such an opening statement. Don’t they? Especially for the first song on your debut!

@Sprockrooster: Great riff and a brilliant album opener. I imagine it serves it's purpose as a tour opener very well too.

@sfmartin: Probably the best first song of a debut album ever? I don't think you could have got a better introduction to this wonderful band and all the pleasures you are about to indulge in. Innovative samples, mighty and enthralling production (I mean that pause in the instrumental is just everything), quirky lyrics and catchy af choruses that makes you want to let loose. You immediately understand you are listening to musical genius. Such an empowering song, you listen for the first time and you feel like you could take over the world "bow down to me" indeed. So close to being my 11.

@digitalkaiser: First off, if there is a little over-rating in this album is completely warranted for how important this album is in my life, this song just starts that epic journey off. When the music changes at the end….incredible.

@magictreehouse: I know exactly where I was I heard Garbage. I was at home on my own, listening to the album on the big CD player downstairs because everyone was out. I’d been to HMV in Chester earlier in the day and bought this, along with Bjork’s Post and Homogenic in the 3 for £22 offer. This would probably have been around 1998 I’m guessing. However, because Supervixen stops after 3 seconds I thought I’d broken something! This song is such a statement of intent and all of the Garbage pieces are there – the dark lyrics, the production, the whack-you-over-the-head guitars. “A fallen star that you cannot live without indeed”!

@ohnoitisnathan: The stop-start music intro was a good way to start an album. I love the "You can always pull out if you like it too much" lyric.

@Ray: This is a very good song elevated to absolutely brilliant genius status by that – – – little break in the guitar riff/drums. And then the dynamics difference between beginning of the verse and the EXPLOSION that follows.

@AshleyKerwin: From the opening riff, you know you’re gonna be in for a great album. I think they opened with this at my concert. I love how this sets the first era’s theme of obsession. Shirley’s whisper vocals do wonders here.

@Oleander: Solid but I think something else should have been the opener.

@constantino: I love a bit of guitar shredding. This is probably the closest Garbage have veered into My Bloody Valentine’s territory and I’m kinda here for it tibb.



 
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he/him
Supervixen is phenomenal. I remember buying Garbage at Borders (RIP) in middle school off the back of an obsession with Only Happy When It Rains, and being blindsided in the best way by the stop-start rhythm of it and in-your-face punchiness. I'd never heard anything like it before and it unnerved me, but I loved it and wanted more. What a way to kick off your debut.

The first album means so much to me and was definitely a contributing factor in the #alternagay I would become.
 
Supervixen, while amazing, was one of my lower scores on self titled, however i'm glad it was able to make it this far.

Good memories!

ALSO; Tell me where it hurts is just one of those songs, that even by just hearing the title, I instantly get the chorus stuck in my head. It's fantastic!
 
he/him
Getting Supervixen out before it started to trouble the Top 10, was worth losing When I Grow Up because I felt this would be where it'd go anyway.
 
Tell Me Where It Hurts really is the best Texas single since Getaway. Shirley even sounds like she's doing her best Sharleen impression in places! But then, Summer Son would have worked as a Garbage track.

Glad When I Grow Up is finally out. One of the weakest tracks from their heyday.
 
Tell Me Where It Hurts really is the best Texas single since Getaway. Shirley even sounds like she's doing her best Sharleen impression in places! But then, Summer Son would have worked as a Garbage track.

Glad When I Grow Up is finally out. One of the weakest tracks from their heyday.
I never linked them together and though I cannot see Summer Son as a Garbage track, but you are definitely hitting the nail on the head with Tell Me Where It Hurts. It suddenly explains why I stan that track so hard.
 
She/her
Supervixen was top 5 for me.

Watching the When I Grow Up Big Daddy video with Shirley and the back up dancers doing their thing makes me very curious as to what a Garbage lip sync for your life would look like.

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Make it happen Ru!
 
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She/Her
I never linked them together and though I cannot see Summer Son as a Garbage track, but you are definitely hitting the nail on the head with Tell Me Where It Hurts. It suddenly explains why I stan that track so hard.

Same here! I never made the connection between Tell Me Where It Hurts and Halo before, but now it makes so much sense why I love them both.
 
he/him
Looking for these to get the boot before the Top 10:

Queer - 8
Vow - 7
Temptation Waits - 7
#1 Crush - 8
The World Is Not Enough - 6

Then it's all 9s and 10s for me.
 
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THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.439
HIGHEST SCORE: 11 x 1 (@2014) 10 x 8 (@Andy French, @blissteria, @enjoy, @marie_05, @NecessaryVoodoo, @Oleander, @Remorque, @send photo)
LOWEST SCORE: 5.5 x 1 (@Ray)


I didn't realise until running this rate how kind of... reviled? The World Is Not Enough is amongst a certain proportion of Garbage fans. I mean sure... it's not written by the band, instead being penned by Bond composer David Arnold and lyricist Don Black, and sure they only really wanted Shirley to feature on the track as a solo artist but I still think it's incredible with a stunning music video to boot and more than deserves its place in the Top 20 of the rate. So eat it.

David Arnold phoned Shirley and asked her to meet him for a coffee the next time she was in London. They met at a Starbucks near Garbage's hotel and talked about the possibility of working together on the next Bond theme. UK trade paper Music Week had reported that the likes of Robbie Williams, Björk, Sharleen Spiteri and Melanie C had all been considered and turned down, although David Arnold insists that he had only ever asked Shirley, and by extension Garbage. Shirley came away from that meeting with the sneaking suspicion that Arnold only really wanted her on the theme so she firmly insisted that the boys were also involved every step of the way. She explained what happened next to Canadian showbiz website canoe.com, "About a week after that we got asked if we'd be interested in recording the theme. So I don't know whether David had us in mind or whether when he met me in London thought, 'Hmmm, maybe they'd be good for the theme that I'm working on.' I don't know quite how these things work, but the stars were aligned."

After sending a rough completed demo to the band, Shirley requested a small lyric change (a couple of I's to We's) and they then spent time while on the Version 2.0 tour working on the track in mobile studios set up around tour dates, while Arnold toiled away in London. On a free day in their itinerary Garbage flew to London to work on the Bond theme, laying down bass, guitar and drums along with Shirley's vocals in front of an orchestra, before flying back to mainland Europe to continue touring.

Garbage completed The World Is Not Enough in Canada as due to a legal requirement, it couldn't be recorded in a US studio. The process had been long and drawn out and in a post on the garbage.com online journal Steve admitted, "we were just a bit tired of "The World Is Not Enough" by the time we were done mixing it up there, but we think it turned out very Bond-y, which at least makes us very happy." However back home in Smart in Madison, they did work on their own downtempo "chilled out" remix of the song which saw the band delving once again into delicious trip-hop territory, nixing Arnold's grand, overblown string arrangement and embellishing the depth charge bass and twangy guitar line with Portishead-esque scratching and atmospherics.



Speaking of trip-hop, James Lavelle's electronic music project UNKLE were commissioned to remix the track, which appeared on the single release and whereas Garbage's remix went for minimalist, Lavelle took it in the opposite direction, ramping up the melodrama and pairing it with breakbeats.



The stunning looking music video for The World Is Not Enough was shot by German director Philipp Stölzl. The band had been impressed with his work, particularly with the video for Du Hast by Rammstein which according to Shirley, "we were obsessed by". Knowing they would have to film a video, they put the director's name forward. The initial "incredible storyboard" Philipp came up with was dismissed as being too violent and Shirley butted heads with Bond film producer Barbara Broccoli over the decision. A decision Shirley thought, "was really, really peculiar being that it was for the Bond franchise." So Philipp rewrote scenes and killer robot Shirley narrative approved, the band recorded the video in London over two days. Shirley's gorgeous red satin dress was made by Armani and cost £10,000. Despite having to compromise Philippe's original vision, Shirley said earlier this year that "we're still really proud of it and it was really exciting to make".

Pumped to see and hear their work on the big screen, Garbage were pissed off to hear that in the traditional Bond stylised intro sequence of the film, a different mix of the song had been used. One which had pretty much removed everything but simple percussion, Arnold's strings and Shirley's vocals. Duke said "almost every sonic detail was gone" while Butch was incensed, "The theme song comes on, and I was like, 'Fuck!' I wanted to just leave".

@GimmeWork: Robot Shirley from the video is EVERYTHING!

@Sprockrooster: James Bond didn't deserve such a good soundtrack song. Sorry not a fan of the franchise, but most of the songs are spot on and this is no exception. It feels like a more rocked out version from the early Gladys and Shirley bond tracks and I am very much here for it.

@sfmartin: I'm so glad they chose to do this, I think they struck the perfect blend between Garbage and Bond with the strings which is a new flourish we're not usually treated to.

@send photo: I'm probably trash for liking this but whatever. Arguably the best bond theme.

@digitalkaiser: A great bond anthem, probably one of my favorites. I always loved this video, it gives me such nostalgic feelings whenever I watch it. Queen of being an android. Queen of battling herself.

@ohnoitisnathan: Nice strings, but not being a movie buff, I don't really get what all the fuss is about Bond films.

@Filler: I'm glad a Garbage Bond theme exists, but they must have like 30-odd better potential Bond themes in their discography

@Ray: It’s no "Die Another Day", is it? By which I mean I expected more of Garbage doing a Bond theme.

@AshleyKerwin: It’s amazing how they had a Bond song once. It’s great but if you listen to it on its own it’s just like “...and?”. I always thought this was on Version 2.0 when I first got into the band.

@Epic Chocolat: Classy.

@Oleander: One of the best Bond themes and the video is fantastic as well. I can totally see Shirley as a Bond character.

@constantino: That OSCAR-WORTHY video though?? I'm gagging. The song itself is giving me Portishead teas and I am NOT mad about it, not one bit.


 
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QUEER
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.606
HIGHEST SCORE: 11 x 1 (@Aester) 10 x 11 (@Andy French, @AshleyKerwin, @digitalkaiser, @GimmeWork, @heartmightmelt, @marie_05, @nikkysan, @Oleander, @send photo, @sfmartin, @tylerc904)
LOWEST SCORE: 6 x 4 (@AllGagaLike, @LE0Night, @magictreehouse, @Ray)


The iconic Queer was one of the tracks from the debut album that Butch, Steve and Duke had on the way before Shirley had joined them. Duke had sampled a drum loop from Man of Straw by Australian electronic music group Single Gun Theory while Butch had recorded a ridiculous aggressive sounding guide vocal which he had "just screamed all the way through". When Shirley took a turn in the vocal booth she rewrote some of the lyrics and decided to take the track in a very different direction with her delivery, "I sort of felt that it would be much more intriguing if it was sung from a gentle, almost sort of trip-hop perspective. Quieting it all down made it much more sinister and gave it a lot more weight."

Like with Not My Idea, the boys got James Brown drummer Clyde Stubblefield in to Smart to play additional percussion on the track to go along with the drum loop they were already using. They also wanted to use a sample of a clarinet part from a Frank Sinatra song, but on further investigation the cost to use it was going to prohibitively expensive, as would it be to have someone come in and record it, so the idea was dropped.

Butch was inspired to write Queer after reading Brotherly Love by American author Peter Dexter which according to Shirley, "had something to do with a father taking his son to a prostitute. I just loved it." While initially not written with the LGBT+ community in mind with Shirley explaining the meaning of the word queer as, "not, as you might think, to do with being gay, but tolerance. My granny has the expression 'Or's queer, except thee and me, and sometimes even thee's queer', that is that you think you are normal and the rest of the world is freaky, but we're all equally to blame", always feeling like outsiders themselves, the band wholeheartedly embraced it when it was picked up as an anthem of sorts.

French director Stéphane Sednaoui was chosen to direct the music video. Shirley had put his name forward after seeing the video for Björk's Big Time Sensuality. Stéphane put together a storyboard which the band loved with Shirley saying, "Stéphane was really able to sort of just look at the band and listen to the music and figure out what was the perfect visual partner to go with the sound of the band and he did that very effectively." The director's concept came from something he "went through on a personal level. Like a fantastic woman you know...attracting me and then tearing me up and completely being like shredded into pieces and then left on the ground like...unconscious." Stéphane... u ok hun? As it was the director's vision, he also insisted on taking on the role of DP and camera operator, having himself thrown around and abused by Shirley, "it had to be me all the way, be it my movement or my stress or my panic." Towards the end of the video there's a scene where the protagonist is thrown to the ground and straddled by Shirley who then proceeds to shave his head and gag him with gaffa tape. Shirley cheekily said of the experience "it's a very erotic moment for me. 'cause you know, he's super French and y'know he's a hottie! And he's funny and smart and I had to straddle him and it was the end of a long video shoot so I'm sure unpure thoughts crossed my mind at the time". The silver dress Shirley wears in the video was later donated to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Like the rest of Garbage's debut singles, the band chose to release the Queer single in a memorable way. They initally wanted it to come in a jade coloured velvet box, but being prohibitively costly, instead the limited edition Queer 7" was released in a plastic sleeve etched with a frosted G logo. The mould to create the sleeves cost £10,000 and was another loss per copy sold for the record label. It was originally reported in Record Collector magazine that only 5000 copies of the limited edition were pressed, but more realistically the number appears to be closer to 15,000.

Remixes for the song came from Danny Saber, Rabbit in the Moon, Adrian Sherwood and Depeche Mode's Martin Gore. The band liked the sparse, sexy F.T.F.O.I. Mix by Rabbit in the Moon so much, this was often the version they performed on tour dates in support of the debut.





@GimmeWork: This song was the first of what would become many lgbtq anthems from Garbage. Love them so much!

@tylerc904: In my Top 3 Garbage tracks. Absolutely adore this.

@sfmartin: Slinky, sexy and filthy. The song expertly conjures up an image underground orgy of a kinky dark room. Shirley literally spits out the lyrics in the way that only she can. It was going to lose half a point because I find the middle instrumental a bit too jarring but that final crescendo of a chorus is something else and easily replenishes it's perfect score.

@send photo: Slinky. Loves it.

@digitalkaiser: As a 14 year old or however old I was when I was when I first heard this album (some time in my impressionable teens) this was my world.

@magictreehouse: A lot of fans seems to love this one. I’ve never been as big a fan and it’s probably my least favourite single on Garbage.

@ohnoitisnathan: The video was a perfect match for the song.

@Filler: So much love for this, from the very first listen. Such a glorious song, it gives me a rush of adrenaline every time I hear it. Obviously should have been a single.

@Ray: It’s very Stock/Aitken/Waterman in the meaning of having one idea and stretching it into a song. "The girl is queer. Very queer. The queerest of the queer. That’s enough."

@AshleyKerwin: I love the unique mix of rock, downtempo, and trip hop on this. The bridge kind of rocks out on this, doesn’t it? I love the storytelling behind the song.

@constantino: What a touching tribute to Pop Justice’s membership. I think I prefer Shirley when she’s snarling, it’s especially effectively alongside some of the band’s grungier instruments.


 

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