After two albums stocked with aggressive, in-your-face rockers and sensually mystical ballads, Garbage returns with Beautiful Garbage. However, if you think Beautiful Garbage is going to be an extension of Version 2.0, you are in for a big surprise.The band, based in Madison, Wis., consists of vocalist Shirley Manson, guitarists Steve Marker and Duke Erikson and drummer Butch Vig. All 13 tracks on Beautiful Garbage were written and produced by the band, particularly by Vig, who showed his brilliant producing skills on Nirvana’s Nevermind and the Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream.
Like any female-fronted band, the focus of Garbage is Manson. Trendier than Gwen Stefani and more dynamic than Courtney Love, Manson is the most intriguing frontwoman in music today. Though stunning, Manson is not the glamour queen that Deborah Harry once was. Rather, she is like a misfit prom queen clad in a hot-pink satin dress and calf-high Doc Martens. Her vocal style is like a musical panther–she stealthily creeps up on the listener, then pounces on him.
At first, Beautiful Garbage sounds too typical with the volatile opener, “Shut Your Mouth.” Next up is “Androgyny,” the album’s first single. Again, nothing suspicious here, just laughable electro-rock poking fun at sexual politics, just as “Queer” did on their self-titled debut album.
The album takes a bizarre twist with “Can’t Cry These Tears.” On this track, Garbage turns into the Supremes as Manson does the best Diana Ross impression she can muster with her thick Scottish accent. The song is plagued with clich?-ridden chimes reminiscent of ’60s bubblegum music, but a bridge with jagged, sputtering guitar chords reminds the listener that this is the same Garbage that did “Vow” and “Push It.”
The skewering of girlie pop is delightfully exaggerated on “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!).” The song pulsates with Jamiroquai-tinged ultra-funk grooves, making it ripe for a ’70s roller disco. Garbage does not mimic the clich?s of girlie pop; it makes fun of them.
While the band’s venture into the pop world may leave the listener baffled, other raucous tracks like “Til The Day I Die,” “Untouchable” and “Breaking Up The Girl” live up to the par of what a Garbage song is supposed to sound like. Some of the tunes even come with a message.
In “Silence Is Golden,” Manson plays the role of a victim of sexual abuse, singing striking lyrics like, “Silence is golden; I have been broken.” Manson rages with aggressive rawness complimented by a siege of harsh guitar licks.
The most upbeat track is “Parade,” a soaring anthem of unconformity and spiritual guidance.
Like any Garbage album, Beautiful Garbage has a few tranquil ballads. “Drive You Home” has a slow, drifting melody accentuated by crashing symbols and over-dubbed Enya-like vocal waves. The album finally ends with “So Like A Rose.” With spacey vocals and gentle guitar chords, this song may be more fitting for a Mazzy Star album, but Garbage makes it work nonetheless.
With Beautiful Garbage, the band makes itself more multi-faceted while being true to itself. Garbage reinvents itself the way U2 did with Achtung Baby.
Garbage in, but no garbage out.