Garbage - Bleed Like Me... Anyone have it yet?

[Welly Wu]

I got it today at BestBuy for $9.99 and I am digging it so far on the first listen. I don't have too much experience with Garbage, but I am definitely going to check out their backlist out of curiosity. It's hyper fast with strong production and a sense of "turn the volume way up" edge to it. I'm diggin' it.

 

[xlEnt]

bad reviews coming from pitchfork

ill pass

 

[markl]

Bad reviews from pitchfork are practically a badge of honor... I'll buy it anyway...

 

[Pars]

Just picked this up myself at BB and must say that I also like it after a quick spin thru it. Yeah, songs are somewhat simplistic, but I like the treatment they give them. I liked the original Garbage and V2.0 more than BeautifulGarbage also.

 

[markl]

OK (he said, chewing on fresh-roasted crow), this album is surprisingly quite good. On first listen, it's at least as good as Beautiful Garbage, which is to say, pretty good indeed. Very relieved and surprised, I feared the worst...

 

[NiceCans]

After the reviews I have seen I was reluctant and hesitant, but after a listen I am not disappointed. Perhaps because I tried to 'listen without prejudice' and hear it for it's own merits rather than as a comparison to their other works, so in the long run the reviews helped me not to fall into that trap (which may have been a negative influence)

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl Bad reviews from pitchfork are practically a badge of honor... I'll buy it anyway...

That is a very good sign that the albums actually rocks instead of pandering to the indie elite.

But Mark.........why do you keep mentioning "beautiful garbage", that was in the past........2005 Garbage has new heavier sound.

 

[SunByrne]

Funny to see the split on opinions about their previous album BeautifulGarbage. First time I heard it, I thought it was weird, but still good. Just different. Apparently a lot of Garbage fans were put off by it. Now, I'll admit I still think Version 2.0 is their best disc, but that doesn't make BeautifulGarbage bad. I like BG better than their first disc.

Anyway, I've been through Bleed Like Me probably a dozen times now and it's decent, but nothing to write home about. As mentioned, some of the tracks are really simplistic (lots of choruses which simply repeat the same phrase over and over); overall it's certainly not as complex an album as BeautifulGarbage. While simple, though, some of the tracks are pretty catchy. It is definitely more of a rock album than BeautifulGarbage and probably more than even their first two.

Taken as a straight rock album, it's good but not a huge standout. I really like Shirley's voice, which is worth a lot. Now that Curve is no more (sniff) and Kate Bush is long retired, Garbage is the flagbearer for female lead singers for me. I like her edgy and loud, so I don't care much for most of the mellower tracks of theirs. However, I do sort of like the title track. I think the top track, though, is "Why Do You Love Me"--Shirley seems to be channeling Debbie Harry on that one. Yes, that's praise. Other standouts for me are "Bad Boyfriend" and "Why Won't You Come Over" (despite being one of the repetitive-chorus tunes). There are losers on this disc as well, which I won't single out by name.

So it's an OK disc. There are certainly some good tracks, but it has it's share of weaker ones as well.

 

[gloco]

I finally got off my ass and picked up this cd and its pretty good so far. More straightforward and simple than V2.0. Seems that the band is using synths and sampling far less on this album (as of track 3). Maybe i'll go back to BG and give it a shot again.

edit: is it me or is Bleed like me a really loud album? I have my HEV70 set to 8 o' clock on the dial.

 

[dhwilkin]

Got this album the other day. Haven't listened all the way through, but so far it's alright. Seems to be very raw, straightforward, hard rock. Not an instant classic like the first two albums, but it may grow on me.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 If it's in the vein of S/T & Version 2.0, I'm in. If it's in the vein of Beatiful Garabge, I'm out. If it's something all together new, I'll give it a shot.

By that criteria, you should give it a shot.

It's not got the stylistic experiments of beautifulGarbage, it's harder and less electro (yet still electro) than the first two albums. It's not quite as hooky as the first two albums, but still quite enjoyable. I have found myself coming back to it repeatedly. I think they deliberately indie-fied it somewhat, it's got a grittiness to it that the first two don't have, and...well, it still has that produced "sheen", but it's not overproduced like so much of the ear-candy metal that I listen to (E.G. H.I.M.).