Garbage
Beautifulgarbage

THE REVIEW

"Go Baby Go Go!
We're right behind you
Go baby Go Go!
Yeah we're looking at yo."

Fortunately, not everything was like this dreadful single from Beautifulgarbage (2001), an album that marks the return of the Garbage after 3 years of silence.

Riding on the excellent reception of their electrifying self-titled debut and the subsequent Version 2.0, Shirley & co. are making another attempt, this time with a product that will divide critics and fans like never before. This product sees a drastic change in artistic intentions and beyond: electronic influences become more pronounced , which only occasionally accompanied the previous works, (could it be a coincidence that at this time, the charts are dominated by "Exciter" by Depeche Mode, the self-titled by Gorillaz, and "Blowback" by Tricky?). The melodies become more lively and radio-friendly, the sounds softer, the videos less studied compared to the past. The Pop Rock component of unforgettable episodes like "Vow" and "I Think I'm Paranoid" disappears almost entirely (only to reappear, more present than ever, on the next "Bleed Like Me"), which contributed so much to the project of the guru Butch Vig, who, from the venerable mind behind hits like "Nevermind", "Siamese Dream", as well as producer for Garbage, Sonic Youth, and other large projects, is currently found wallowing in recording studios with Green Day and Jimmy Eat World. If we then look at Shirley who divides her time between appearances on Terminator and B-series TV shows, the worrying decline of the band that began with the half flop (in terms of sales) of "Bleed Like Me", is quite visible!

Change on the horizon? Clearly, even the look is affected, with the now 35-year-old Manson in an unprecedented and glossy version, blonde, a bit retro, a bit floozy, which seems to completely mimic the grandma Minogue of Fever, who, in the meantime, is causing a sales sensation with her second artistic youth (debatable as it may be, beauty remains beauty). Butch, Steve, and Duke, on the other hand, abandon the vaguely grungy-alternative pose of their beginnings, making way for a more sober and serious image, specifically the classic solemn black, à la U2 and Radiohead, which so attract the middle-aged female audience. The same goes, graphically speaking, for the sophisticated cover, housing a red rose that almost clashes with the already contrasting title (beautiful garbage), [also curious is the limited edition that opens like a rose]. The booklet is not very rich, with lyrics and the customary thanks.

From the premises, it might seem like a mediocre work, too calculated by the "sly" Vig, to have a strong commercial impact, (not that the sound of "Nevermind" aimed for anything else), and the sinister-cryptic-nihilistic review already present in the database is just one of many criticisms arrived on the web and print media, for an album that did very well even in Italy; criticisms that almost always point to this excessive (undeniable, to be fair) commercial factor. However, I will try to analyze and break down better an album that, while not reaching the charm of the magnificent 95's, still has a lot to offer.

"Shut Your Mouth" kicks off the proceedings more than decently, the arrangement, especially the beat, is much more refined than usual, (Vig will abandon the drumsticks to focus more on keyboards/drumbeats/production), the combination of electric guitars, scratches, and dark synths is quite intriguing. Indulgent and chic "Androgyny", which, although mainly having its strength in the lyrics (the title is a whole program), does not lack excellent production ideas. Out of place is the "Christmas" (?!) "Can't Cry These Tears", hard to digest due to its overly saccharine melody and those irritating bells, where even veiled 60s references appear. Shirley's excellent interpretation on the interesting "Til The Day I Die" where among a multitude of scratches, synthesized choirs, and backing vocals, the incisive artificial beats of Vig (a guarantee) still stand out.

The atmosphere becomes melancholic, a piano introduces us to the splendid "Cup Of Coffee", a ballad with intense and mature lyrics (a rarity, since songwriting is the Achilles heel of Garbage), just as intense is the unusually downcast and pained vocal of Manson in "version 2.0" (hard not to find similarities with the Trip Hop full of strings and low frequencies of You Look So Fine). "Silence Is Golden" presents solutions already explored in the past but still effective, like the Seattle-influenced (Butch's experience is always useful) alternation of "calm" ballad-style verses and powerful choruses with sharp riffs that lead to scream-worthy choruses. The dancey "Cherry Lips", however, as already mentioned at the outset, doesn’t have in the power mentioned above its peculiarity: in fact, it is a useless overly sweet song, which to this day represents the lowest point of the reviewed's career; slightly better in live performance!

Then I systematically remember the skip button, and the energetic "Parade" ("Oh let's bomb the factory / That makes all the wannabes / Let's burst all the bubbles / That brainwash the masses" certainly deserves a mention), and "Breaking Up Girl" with their delightful refrains lift the album's fortunes, certainly among the most pleasant episodes of this, once again enriched by the convincing performance of the Scottish frontwoman. There's also room for two more ballads, (and here the redhead always knows how to shine), in this case, the sensual "Drive You Home", and the engaging "Nobody Loves You", (with very inspired accompaniments) only confirm this thesis. 100% electronic instead is "Untouchable" which picks up the stylistic features pursued on Androgyny, where the brief bridges of dreamlike structure (by now a trademark) are not missing, seemingly out of place but truly incredibly blended with the rest! The lounge disguised as pop of the closer track "So Like A Rose" doesn’t leave a mark; much more was expected, considering that precisely on the final track, our guys always gave their best, regularly daring with high-quality pieces, with a sound always distant from what was already heard in the rest of the album, consider Milk on Garbage, You Look So Fine on Version 2.0, and Happy Home on Bleed Like Me.

Interesting also is the multimedia content offered by the four: by inserting the CD into a computer, besides being able to listen to the tracks in a player designed in the style of the artwork, an interface with some sound fragments, loops, samples, and a cappella vocals used in the album will also be available, allowing various slots to be assigned, to deconstruct and revolutionize the album’s songs, just like a small sampler! 

Bonus content or not, it’s certainly not an unmissable album, and for anyone curious about getting to know the band, the usual recommendation of the first two works is practically obvious, yet it remains something fresh and well-done, and as usual, in a Garbage CD, many genres and influences follow one another, always maintaining, however, a non-negligible homogeneity, never tiring the listener. This is precisely a fundamental factor for those who appreciate this band, which may delight all those listeners with eclectic and open tastes, often looking for this peculiarity in what they listen to. Sure, eclecticism is a big word for this work... as creative as Vig & co’s operation is (the amount of work in production is notable), weak points remain, like those 2-3 overly banal tracks, the poppish ones, the questionable context, etc. (we're still talking about singles in high rotation, and it couldn't be otherwise), which certainly contributed to going in with preconceived notions about this, let's be honest, more than decent album.

Going back to 2001, staying within the commercial realm, very interesting releases were coming out: think of Parachutes by Coldplay, Origin Of Symmetry by Muse, Gorillaz, which did extremely well on a global scale, but by maintaining a significant underlying quality, helping to overshadow any minimal prejudice about commerciality, authenticity (and various mental fixations) of the work in question. A quality that Beautifulgarbage does not lack, whatever they say!

To be re-evaluated.