The seventh Garbage album No Gods No Masters came out recently, and if you haven't read it already, you can find my review of it here. Since I'm a long time fan, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to cover their whole discography of studio albums and do the tough job of ranking them all.
While there isn't a "bad" Garbage album per se. I would say they range from pretty decent to excellent. If you rank them differently, feel free to drop your list in the comments below!
Also, if you want to add any of these albums to your collection, there will be Amazon links where you can get your copies. Those are affiliate links, so purchases made through these will support both the artist as well Rock Today with a small commission, of course at no additional cost.
Anyway, enough jibber-jabber - LET'S GO (baby go, baby go)!
7. Beautiful Garbage (2001)
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The first time I heard this album I found it a bit disappointing. With the two first albums being so strong, expectations were of course sky-high. The first two LPs were very different to one another, though, and you didn't really know where they would go with this third album.
It became apparent that Garbage was attempting (or was pushed by their label) to get more competitive on pop radio with this album. The compromise they made with the label on this album was sort of a bland sound that was perhaps a bit too slick and cheerful to please old fans. The new, more commercial Garbage sounded kind of neutered, for lack of a better word.
On Beautiful Garbage they also threw a bunch of funky sounds that were popular in the mainstream at the time into the mix, to make them sound hip. Untouchable is a prime example, where all instruments were seemingly replaced with digital effects. The album also takes full advantage of loudness dynamics on tracks like Silence Is Golden and Til the Day I Die, with a lot of loud, choppy guitar blasts and Shirley's vocals sounding like they're scratched on a turntable.
The suggestive lead single Androgyny set the tone for what they for going for with this album, and to me, it sounded like a cheekier version of the Scottish guitar-pop band Texas, pretty much. Kind of like their song Summer Son, should anyone remember it. The androgynous theme then continues on the cutesy cheerleader pop of Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!), which served as the second single internationally, but never saw a North American release.
The album has a few really strong tracks, though, which saves it from a complete flop. One of these being the third (or second, depending on your region) single Breaking Up the Girl, which immediately reminded me of the Garbage I knew and loved. Another gem being the upbeat and pumping Parade, which finally makes the album take off. The mellow and eerie, piano-based Cup of Coffee is also a fine moment, very personal and relatable about a breakup. "You tell me you don't love me, over a cup of coffee," great songwriting that gives me chills even to this day. The final single release Shut Your Mouth also resonated fairly well with the band's earlier fans, but never made much of an impression on me, personally.
Essential tracks:
- Breaking Up the Girl
- Parade
- Cup of Coffee
- Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
- Shut Your Mouth
6. Not Your Kind of People (2012)
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Garbage's first album in seven years, since 2005's Bleed Like Me was a very welcome return amongst the band's dedicated fans, who instantly started comparing NYKOP to the seminal Version 2.0 of 1998. I didn't quite see that strong of a resemblance, though, and if anything I find it more similar to the two albums preceding it; mixing the dynamics and electronics of Beautiful Garbage and the more airy rock sounds of Bleed Like Me.
The album starts off with a modern-sounding synth progression on Automatic Systematic Habit, and it also has some voice modulation to blend with the synth later on. The electronics in this song aren't really my cup of tea, but I like the New Order type bass riff and the heavy guitars once they enter, which sound typically Garbage. And I can see that this might bring Version 2.0 to peoples' minds.
The album's finest moment is probably Big Bright World, which has a long build-up with just a keyboard going into a big, airy melodic U2-esque rock tune as the guitars finally enter. The vibe of the song is like the soundtrack to a morning sunrise, if that metaphor makes any sense to you.
I Hate Love is the perfect Valentine's Day anthem for bitter singles (like myself, at the time of writing).
Otherwise, songs like Battle in Me have the same dynamics they (ab)used to the fullest on Beautiful Garbage, and the chorus doesn't have much to offer other than volume. It has a great melody in the pre-chorus, though. Other singles this album churned out include Control and Blood For Poppies. Neither of them is particularly memorable, however.
While this album is a bit more consistent as a whole, compared to Beautiful Garbage, its singles aren't quite as memorable. Even though NYKOP is by no means a bad album, the songs on it aren't on the level where you'd be disappointed if they were left out on a concert.
Essential tracks:
- Big Bright World
- Automatic Systematic Habit
- Battle in Me
- I Hate Love
- Man on a Wire
5. No Gods No Masters (2021)
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This is probably an unpopular opinion, but to anyone who read my lukewarm review of this album, it probably didn't come to much of a surprise that I would put it fairly low on this list.
While the last album Strange Little Birds was a dark and beautiful album, the band's latest effort No Gods No Masters would be the dark and ugly one. It's quite an uncomfortable and uneasy listen overall. It's a dystopian study of all the socio-political issues that frustrate Shirley and the band in this day and age. The resulting record is a collection of edgy and explicit lyrics accompanied with some unpleasant, dissonant sounding music. It's one of those albums where the lyrics seem to have come first, with musical compositions created around them. The album sounds big and menacing, though, and at times it feels like a lack of infectious melodies and hooks are compensated with a high production value.
Some of the statements they make in these songs could be rather polarising, as well, having a strong leftist bias and female-first kind of approach. If they decide to take a more political approach I would've personally liked to see them discussing it in a more cerebral and enlightening manner, though, rather than resorting to profanities and shock value to get people's attention.
Having said that, I applaud them for not taking the easy route making some laid back 90s revival album or whatever. Instead, they constantly renew their sound and make music with some sort of deeper meaning and a great sense of urgency. NGNM is a somewhat engaging listen, after all.
The album has received some rave reviews from the press, where some outlets call it the greatest thing the band has done in 20+ years. At the same time, checking on allmusic.com, it's the least favoured Garbage album amongst user reviews, and I can see why.
Essential tracks:
- Flipping the Bird
- No Gods No Masters
- Uncomfortably Me
- Wolves
- Godhead
4. Bleed Like Me (2005)
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From the candy-coated pop of Beautiful Garbage, Shirley and the boys did a complete 180, started wearing black and made their darkest, most emo rock-oriented album so far. They still use some digital effects here and there, but for the most part, they rely on guitars on this one. And even they sound less dense, fuzzy and thick than on the earlier records. Instead, they went for a more melodic and airy sound.
Apparently, there was quite intense friction in the band at the time of recording this album, and it got to a point where Shirley and Duke couldn't even be in the same room. This also explains why it would take the band eight years before reforming with 2012's Not Your Kind of People.
The low-key title track off the Bleed Like Me album is quite bleak and deals with the dark subject of self-harm. Shirley used to cut herself as a teen, so the lyrics are very personal. It's not your typical hit single track that would shift a lot of units, but it's an important track for raising awareness about the issue and I get why they chose it as a single. It's nothing I ever feel like listening to for joy, however. I'm guessing the lyrics on this track is what gave the album a PA sticker in some regions, since there aren't any notable explicit lyrics of the more common type (ie. cussing) on the album.
Overall it's quite a solid and consistent album and I listened to it extensively when it came out. While there's still not a lot to complain about with this album, it isn't the most iconic or memorable work within their discography either.
Essential tracks:
- Why Do You Love Me
- Run Baby Run
- Right Between the Eyes
- Metal Heart
Another song worth mentioning is Tell Me Where It Hurts, recorded a couple of years after Bleed Like Me, for the 2007 compilation album Absolute Garbage.
3. Strange Little Birds (2016)
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Strange Little Birds is a dark and beautiful album. The first single Empty is a great return to form that for real is comparable with the greatness of Version 2.0. Other than that song, the album is a lot more mellow, though, and has a lot of dark synths and the guitars are more restrained. They still sound heavy and engaging, but it's not all about dynamics and volume on this album, which is a good thing.
Overall it's a very nice sounding and enjoyable album, despite being more mellow and somewhat lacking in terms of hit singles. The album only had three singles; Empty, Magnetized and Even Though Our Love Is Doomed. It has quite a bit of hidden gems though, including the upbeat We Never Tell, and the more low-key Teaching Little Fingers To Play. A song despite its lyrical subject (of being alone and taking care of business on ones own) manages to be very melancholic, atmospheric and beautiful. Night Drive Loneliness is also more of a mellow number with plenty of atmosphere and a very pretty piano part in it. On the opening track Sometimes, the band explores more industrial sounds but as the song never really takes off, it mostly functions as an intro.
Essential tracks:
- Empty
- Magnetized
- Teaching Little Fingers To Play
- Night Drive Loneliness
2. Garbage (1995)
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Now we have come to what is probably the hardest choice on the entire list. The first Garbage two albums are classics and I could honestly go either way. I ultimately placed their self-titled debut second, since my number one pick has the more diverse and memorable moments out of the two.
When the band describes the sound of their debut, they often talk about it being influenced trip-hop with a lot of samples, mixed with fuzzy guitars and what they were doing was quite unique.
I find that it has a bit of a shoegaze flavour to it, sounding quite similar to Curve's first album Doppelgänger. Shirley was in another band called Angelfish when she got recruited by the three other members, and I think that band's sound probably contributed to how the first Garbage album came to sound as well.
Essential tracks:
- Only Happy When It Rains
- Vow
- Stupid Girl
- Supervixen
- Milk
1. Version 2.0 (1998)
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When you think of Garbage and the first songs that come to mind, most of them are likely found on this album. Whenever the band release a new album in more recent years, it's often compared to Version 2.0. It's their staple, it the album that defined the band's sound to a great extent.
The production is simply top-notch. I just love the sound of it. It has a warm, inviting sound signature and the bass and guitars sound massive and thick without droning anything else out. Like all of their work, everything just comes out very clearly in the mix. And what else can be expected, with three experienced producers in the band? Most notably drummer Butch Vig - the man behind classic records like Nevermind and Siamese Dream now perfecting the Garbage sound as well.
Going from the self-titled debut, Garbage took a new direction on Version 2.0 that was more diverse and blends rock and electronics as much as they feel like it, without fear of losing the fanbase they gathered on the more guitar-driven first effort. The band took a leap of faith onto the '90s euro-dance wave on Version 2.0 and some tracks have more techno influences and heavy dance beats than anything they have made since.
The sound of Version 2.0 is quite unique and it's an album I always like to try out new audio equipment with, mostly to see how the bass and lower midrange performs.
A British band doing something very similar around the same time as this album came out was Republica, also mixing dance music with electric guitars. Totally recommended if you're into this type of music. There is also a Finnish band called LAB with a sound also quite similar to that of Version 2.0. Check out the track Killing Me especially.
Essential tracks:
- Temptation Waits
- Think I'm Paranoid
- When I Grow Up
- Medication
- Special
- Push It
- The Trick Is To Keep Breathing
- You Look So Fine (pretty much the whole album, tbh.)
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