'Garbage' is a
Scottish/
American rock group formed in
Madison,
Wisconsin, in 1994. The band members are
Duke Erikson,
Shirley Manson,
Steve Marker and
Butch Vig.
Garbage released a string of increasingly successful singles in 1995–1996, culminating in the hit "
Stupid Girl". The debut album, ''
Garbage'', was an unexpected smash, selling over 5 million copies and reaching double platinum status in the
UK,
USA and
Australia. Garbage spent two years working on a follow-up album, ''
Version 2.0'', which topped the charts in the UK and peaked at #13 in the US. The album was nominated for two
Grammy Awards,
Album of the Year and
Best Rock Album, and sold over 5 million copies. In 1999, the band performed the theme song to the
James Bond movie ''
The World Is Not Enough''. That year, they also contributed the song "
When I Grow Up" for the
Adam Sandler movie ''
Big Daddy''.
The band struggled to sustain their initial success, and the band's 2001 third album ''
beautifulgarbage'' failed to match the commercial success achieved by its predecessors. The band struggled to remain together and almost split in 2003, before returning with ''
Bleed Like Me'' in 2005, peaking at a career-high #4 in the United States.
The band cut short a 2005 world tour, and announced an indefinite hiatus, but emphasized the stoppage was not a break-up. Garbage reunited in early 2007 to record new tracks for the greatest hits album, ''
Absolute Garbage'', that was released in July 2007.
Overview
Vig, the
producer of such influential albums as
Nirvana's ''
Nevermind'' and the
Smashing Pumpkins' ''
Siamese Dream'', decided he wanted to play in a band again. He asked fellow producers Marker and Erikson, with whom he had played in Spooner and Firetown, to join him. After Steve Marker saw Manson on
MTV (in the music video "Suffocate Me" with her band
Angelfish), they invited her to audition for (and after two auditions, asked her to join) the band. Early auditions saw former
Pigface vocalists,
Lesley Rankine and Meg Lee Chin try out.
According to Vig, Garbage was named before Manson joined the band, after
Pauli Ryan walked in while Vig was working on a remix for
Nine Inch Nails and said it sounded like garbage.
[1] A longstanding rumor attributes the statement to
Trent Reznor.
[2]
Garbage's angry, emotional lyrics contrasted with the band's catchy,
pop alternative rock music. Garbage utilized
samples,
electronic loops, grungy
guitars, and various other effects to produce haunting and melodic tracks, made distinctive by
Scottish singer Shirley Manson's sultry vocals. The fact that Garbage is composed of three music producers is made obvious by the high production quality, with many layers and a
"wall of sound" production aesthetic.
Career
Garbage released a string of increasingly successful singles from 1995 to 1996, culminating in the hit "Stupid Girl". They released the debut album, ''Garbage'', later that year, on the
Mushroom Records label, signed by Gary Ashley. It went top 20 in the United States and top 10 in the United Kingdom. During this time, the band toured as the opening act for
The Smashing Pumpkins' ''
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'' tour.
Garbage spent two years working on a follow-up album, during which time Manson became well-known by the technologically savvy by being one of the first artists to maintain a
blog. "
Push It" was released and became a
summer hit in 1998, reaching #9 in the UK and #52 in the U.S. The second album, ''Version 2.0'', topped the charts in the UK and reached #13 in the US. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. In 1999, they performed the theme song to the James Bond film ''The World Is Not Enough'' and contributed "
When I Grow Up" to the
Adam Sandler movie ''
Big Daddy''.
After again retreating into the studio for several years, Garbage released ''beautifulgarbage'' in 2001. While it represented the band's most eclectic and mature sound to date, it contained no standout commercial singles. Hence, no songs charted in the US, and the four singles released in the UK only reached the top 30. Still, the album managed to reach #6 in the UK and #13 in the US, though it quickly slid down the charts. Garbage followed the album with a successful tour of the US and
Europe.
In 2005, Garbage signed to
Warner Bros. Records outside North America, and to
Geffen Records in North America - all the ironic given that Geffen started as an independent label distributed by WBR before being sold to MCA in 1990.
Garbage's newest album, ''Bleed Like Me'', was released on
April 11,
2005. It hit the charts in many countries, including a #4 peak in the United States and a radio rock hit single, "
Why Do You Love Me". It originally had the working title "Hands on a Hard Body", but Manson announced the band had come up with a new title, ''Bleed Like Me'', that better fits the band's improved dynamic following a period of tension and crisis in October 2003. Manson has also said ''Bleed Like Me'' is more
hard rock and a return to Garbage's roots after the eclectic experiment of ''beautifulgarbage'', an announcement that resonated with most fans.
In late 2005, rumors swirled that the band would break up, and Manson was reported to have said on stage that this was the last time they would "do this" together. In September 2005, the band's official Web site refuted the rumors of a breakup but confirmed an indefinite hiatus.
[3]
In May 2006, the band also confirmed that a Greatest Hits album, a B-Sides album, a live
DVD from the
Bleed Like Me tour, and a video compilation DVD are set to be released if all goes right with their label-related legal issues. The greatest hits album,
Absolute Garbage willl be released in one
[4] and two-disc "Special Edition"
[5] (with the second disc comprised of remixes of their songs by other artists) formats on July 24th in North America and July 23 outside of it. The
Absolute Garbage music video collection containing 15 music videos (but not a complete overview of their videos, missing "Androgyny", "Breaking Up the Girl", "Run Baby, Run", "Sex Is Not The Enemy", "Sleep", "The Trick is to Keep Breathing", and the new single released on the
Absolute Garbage, "Tell Me Where It Hurts") as well as almost an hour of never-before-seen footage backstage and behind-the-scenes, live performances and interviews spanning the band's entire career will be released on the same dates.
Having been making records for over a decade, Garbage has to date sold in excess of 14 million albums worldwide, including more than 4.7 million in the United states and 500,000 in Australia alone.
Hiatus
Fans had speculated on whether or not Manson would record a
solo album following Garbage's hiatus announcement. By the beginning of the year it had been confirmed that Manson was indeed writing new tracks. In March James Bond
composer David Arnold's official website stated that the singer had been booked in for sessions. It was later confirmed that the pair had written and recorded a song together.
[4]
By mid-March 2006 Manson had finally confirmed she was indeed recording a solo record in a
Billboard magazine interview, stating that she has no timetable for completing the project, and above all wants to have fun and enjoy herself at that point in time.
[5] In an interview with the
Sunday Times in July 2006 she revealed she'd enlisted
Blue Nile singer
Paul Buchanan to co-write with. "I thought he’d be very moody and introverted, but he’s not like that at all. He’s quite outgoing and charming. Neither of us has ever written with anybody else before. It’s going to be strange. We’ll see how it goes — it could be a complete unmitigated disaster.”
[6] On October 29, 2006,
The Sunday Mail[7] reported that in addition to Paul Buchanan and David Arnold, Shirley Manson is working with
Billy Corgan (
The Smashing Pumpkins) &
Jack White (
The White Stripes,
The Raconteurs) on her new solo album. They also report that her debut solo album will be issued in 2007.
Manson has also been involved in tribute appearances to both
Blondie and
The Pretenders, and appeared in the promotional video for
She Wants Revenge's single "These Things" and in
Wendy Schneider's self-abuse documentary ''"CUT: Teens and Self Injury"''
The men from Garbage have been reported to be remaining active outside of Garbage. Butch Vig has produced records for
Jimmy Eat World and
Against Me!, and has written the music for two films that are currently in pre-production with the completion of post-production due early in 2007.
[8][9] According to a blog posted in Jan 2006 by Manson, Duke Erikson has been busy putting the finishing touches to an
American folk music anthology, whilst Steve Marker has also been involved with a
film score.
[10]
Garbage played a show on
January 31,
2007 at the Alex Theatre in
Glendale, CA as part of a benefit for friend
Wally 'Llama' Ingram. The band played "
Queer", "
Cup of Coffee" and "
Bleed Like Me" semi-acoustic along with a string quartet, and when they were finished they fans screamed for more, but they only returned at the end of the night when everyone who played that night sang a Bob Marley song together.
Sheryl Crow,
Bonnie Raitt, several members of
The Pixies,
Jackson Browne, and many, many others also played (including Butch and Duke in a different band).
Butch Vig has revealed that Garbage is set to re-enter the studio to record "a couple new songs" for a greatest hits album in late February 2007. The compilation album is titled ''Absolute Garbage''. It originally was scheduled to be released in March 2007, but was eventually released on July 23, 2007.
On May 19, 2007, a video for "
Tell Me Where It Hurts" began airing on Teleport Music in the U.K. Directed by Sophie Muller, the video is for the first new track from ''
Absolute Garbage''. The single was released on July 9, two weeks before the album was. In addition to the regular edition of ''
Absolute Garbage'', special edition containing a bonus disc with remixes from Unkle, Massive Attack, Felix Da Housecat and others and a DVD holding 15 videos next to interviews, backstage footage and live performances were released as well.
[11]
In a recent interview with Billboard.com, Butch Vig has stated that Garbage is considering mid-2008 to begin making a fifth album, saying, "We're thinking about it...I think we're more interested in making something that's much more primal and stripped down. ''
Absolute Garbage'' is the postscript to chapter one. Whatever we do next will definitely be chapter two."
[12]
Discography
Albums
Highest chart positions for Bleed Like Me listed here: http://www.garbagediscobox.com/news/?p=411
Singles
B-sides and rare tracks
'''See:'
Garbage B-side Chronology''
Live show covers and ad-libs
Garbage frequently features cover songs as part of their live sets, and has become quite known for doing faithful and honest renditions of past tunes.
On their first tour in 1996 it was just as common for them to cover
Vic Chesnutt's "Supernatural" as it was for them to do "Kick My Ass" which they'd covered for his tribute album.
For 1998's Version 2.0 tour, the band were including
The Beatles' "
Day Tripper". In 1999, the band even played traditional Scottish poem "John Anderson" by
Robert Burns, and The Beatles' "
Don't Let Me Down" as part of a special Edinburgh show to celebrate the opening of the
Scottish Parliament in July 1999.
By the time of the ''
beautifulgarbage'', the band were actively asking the audience for their requests, and this led them to attempt Manson's previous band
Angelfish's "Suffocate Me" and
ABBA's "
Dancing Queen", as well as throwing in a cover of "
Can't Get You out of My Head" by
Kylie Minogue at a few shows. By the end of the tour cycle, the band also joined with
No Doubt and
The Distillers in performing
Blondie's "
Call Me" as a closer for their joint-headline arena tour.
The band played
U2's "
Pride (In the Name of Love)" for
Bono at a special
MusiCares award night in 2003, and also played "I Fall to Pieces" by
Patsy Cline for the first time in Nashville, Tennessee at the
Ryman Auditorium on May 6, 2005 as a tribute to playing the ''
Grand Ole Opry''. They later played this cover again in Columbus, Ohio. Manson has also recently been quoting "
Singin' in the Rain" at a number of recent performances of "
Only Happy When It Rains".
In Garbage's tour of 2005 in Australia, Duke Erikson performed
Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For The Man" at the Brisbane show.
Manson has been known to
ad-lib onstage during certain performances of certain songs including:
★ "Not My Idea" - ad-libs from
Talking Heads "
Once in a Lifetime",
Bob Marley's "
No Woman, No Cry" and
New Order's "
Temptation".
★ "
Vow" - ad-libs from
Patti Smith's "Revenge",
Marianne Faithfull's "Why D'Ya Do It?",
The Beatles' "
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?",
My Chemical Romance's "
Helena",
Carly Simon's "
You're So Vain",
Cole Porter's "
Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love",
Bright Eyes' "
Lover I Don't Have to Love" and
Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Mystery Girl" and "
Maps".
★ "
Special" - ad-lib from
The Pretenders "Kid" and "Talk of the Town".
★ "Trip My Wire" - ad-libs from
Junior Parker's "
Mystery Train" and
Little Richard's "
Good Golly, Miss Molly".
★ "
Stupid Girl" - ad-libs from
Spice Girls "
Wannabe'' and
Deee-Lite's "
Groove Is in the Heart".
★ "
Parade" - ad-libs from
Missy Elliot's "Get Ur Freak On".
Songs "A Stroke of Luck", "
Queer" and "
You Look So Fine" also regularly featured ad-libs but so far, no-one has worked out what they were.
Tours
Garbage has completed four full length tours - one for each album release - with each album requiring between 15 to 20 months to complete. During these tours, they headlined their own shows (from clubs to arenas), supported acts such as the
Smashing Pumpkins,
No Doubt,
Alanis Morissette,
U2 and the
Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as playing on the line-ups of some of the world's largest and most famous festivals such as the
Big Day Out,
Glastonbury Festival and the
Roskilde Festival.
Their tours were:
★ "Garbage" November 1995 - December 1996
★ "Version 2.0" May 1998 - November 1999
★ "
Beautifulgarbage" October 2001 - November 2002
★ "
Bleed Like Me" March 2005 - October 2005
Garbage toured to promote their fourth album ''
Bleed Like Me'', starting in March 2005. However, in late August 2005 all previously announced tour dates in Europe were cancelled, and the tour ended in Australia in September 2005. The official news stated that "the band feel they have somewhat overextended themselves." The fulfilment of the remaining dates in the U.S. and Australia probably reflects high financial penalties for cancelling closer dates.
Major awards & certifications
★
Grammy Awards:
:
★ Nominated: Best Rock Song (2000) for "Special"
:
★ Nominated: Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group (2000) for "Special"
:
★ Nominated: Album Of The Year (1999) for 'Version 2.0'
:
★ Nominated: Best Rock Album (1999) for 'Version 2.0'
:
★ Nominated: Best Rock Song (1997) for "Stupid Girl"
:
★ Nominated: Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group (1997) for "Stupid Girl"
:
★ Nominated: Best New Artist (1997)
★
BRIT Awards:
:
★ Nominated: Best International Band (1996)
:
★ Nominated: Best International Newcomer (1996)
★
MTV Europe Music Awards:
:
★ 'Won: Breakthrough Artist (1996)'
:
★ Nominated: Best Group (1998)
:
★ Nominated: Best Rock Act (1998)
:
★ Nominated: Best Video (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Group (1996)
:
★ Nominated: Best Video (1996) for "Stupid Girl"
★
MTV Video Music Awards:
:
★ 'Won: Best Special Effects (1999) for "Special"'
:
★ Nominated: Best Art Direction (1999) for "Special"
:
★ Nominated: Best Group Video (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Alternative Video (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Breakthrough Video (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Art Direction (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Editing (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Cinematography (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Direction (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best Special Effects (1998) for "Push It"
:
★ Nominated: Best New Artist Video (1996) for "Stupid Girl"
:
★ Nominated: Best Breakthrough Video (1996) for "Queer"
★
MTV Movie Awards:
:
★ Nominated: Best Song From a Movie (1997) for "#1 Crush"
★
BMI Awards:
[13]
:
★ 'Won: Best Pop Song (2000) for "Special"'
:
★ 'Won: Best Pop Song (1997) for "Stupid Girl"'
★
Recording Industry Association of America certification
[14]
:
★ Multi-platinum certification (2,000,000 units) awarded to 'Garbage'
:
★ Platinum certification (1,000,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
★
Canadian Recording Industry Association certification
[15]
:
★ Multi-platinum certification (200,000 units) awarded to 'Garbage'
:
★ Platinum certification (100,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
:
★ Gold certification (50,000 units) awarded to 'beautifulgarbage'
★
British Phonographic Industry certification
[16]
:
★ Multi-platinum certification (600,000 units) awarded to 'Garbage'
:
★ Multi-platinum certification (600,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
:
★ Gold certification (100,000 units) awarded to 'beautifulgarbage'
★
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry certification
[17]
:
★ IFPI Platinum Europe Award (1,000,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
★
Australian Recording Industry Association certification
[18]
:
★ Multi-platinum certification (140,000 units) awarded to 'Garbage'
:
★ Platinum certification (70,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
:
★ Multi-platinum certification (210,000 units) awarded to 'beautifulgarbage'
:
★ Gold certification (35,000 units) awarded to 'Bleed Like Me'
:
★ Gold certification (35,000 units) awarded to "Cherry Lips"
See also
★
1990s music groups
★
2000s music groups
★
List of alternative music artists
References
★ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "
Garbage". ''
All Music Guide''. Retrieved June 13, 2005.
1. "Butch Vig Biography" [1].
2. "nine inch nails discography" [2].
3. "Garbage.com News" [3]. 25.9.2005. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
4. "Garbagediscobox.com - David Arnold on his work with Shirley" [6]. 9.3.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
5. "Billboard “Garbage's Shirley Manson Flying Solo” [7]. 14.3.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
6. "Sunday Times “Not So Stupid Girl” " [8]. 2.7.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
7. "Sunday Mail “SHIRLEY'S ALL STARS:
Singer Signs A-List Pals For Solo CD” " [9]. October 29, 2006.
8. "Butch Vig Productions [10]. 31.7.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
9. "The Other Side” [11]. 15.5.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
10. "Shirley Manson’s blog” [12]. 17.1.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
11. Garbage single, compilation and DVD for July
12. [13]
13. "BMI.com" [14]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
14. "RIAA.com" [15]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
15. "CRIA.ca" [16]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
16. "BPI.com" [17]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
17. "IFPI.org" [18]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
18. "ARIA.com" [19]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
External links
★
Label Website
★
Garbage.com official website
★
Garbage Disco Box official fansite
★
Garbage Discography extensive information on all releases
★
Queen Helen fan club
★
★
★
Garbage at
ASCAP
★
Fan's garbage comunidad
★
Foro "paradisegarbage"
★
Absoulte Garbage Review
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