2008 Woodie Awards
Garbage/Bleed Like Me
Benny Levy
Issue date: 5/16/05 Section: Arts & Culture
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After four years of silence and several break-ups, Garbage is back with another album of killer pop music. Like its three previous releases, Bleed Like Me represents the next step in Shirley Manson's emotional recovery, leaving us to wonder if it will ever be complete. She is still the same beautiful mega-vixen, with more than enough to say about the world and all of its nasty faults.
For most of the album, her dissatisfaction is well sung and on time. The first single, "Why Do You Love Me" captures the sheer confusion anyone might feel in a relationship with someone that he or she doesn't deserve: "And I am not as pretty as those girls in magazines/I am rotten to my core if they're to be believed." The ease with which she sings these lyrics is chilling.
Garbage has always been notorious for its technological perfection and cutting edge sound. With possibly the most advanced effects out there, Steve Marks' guitar playing sounds so vicious that he could even teach Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor a thing or two. Drummer Butch Vig is also known as one of the most reputable producers in the world, having collaborated with bands such as Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins on their respective masterpieces.
Bleed like Me has its fair share of low points. In "Sex Is Not the Enemy," Manson's desire to push the envelope is obvious and unnecessary. The chorus, in which she yells "A revolution is the solution," sounds bland and overdone. Sex may not be the enemy, but that's nothing new to us here in 21st Century America. In fact, another sexual revolution in this country would actually be quite frightening.
On the other hand, the album's title track is probably some of the band's best work ever. Bleed like Me is the summation of everything Manson has sung about in the past. With references to painful issues such as anorexia and therapy, even the most apathetic person in the world would probably find himself moved by this piece.
Another notable track is "Boys Wanna Fight," in which Manson perfectly defines our jilted generation. "Let's get loaded/Let's get wasted/Let's get stupid!" she sarcastically sings over blazing guitars and industrial beats. Unfortunately, there is nothing funny about these lyrics, as they could not be more accurately descriptive of today's youth.
Like any other piece of Garbage, Bleed Like Me is not for the easily shocked. For the rest of us, it delivers a pleasing hour of melancholic music which most listeners can relate with.
For most of the album, her dissatisfaction is well sung and on time. The first single, "Why Do You Love Me" captures the sheer confusion anyone might feel in a relationship with someone that he or she doesn't deserve: "And I am not as pretty as those girls in magazines/I am rotten to my core if they're to be believed." The ease with which she sings these lyrics is chilling.
Garbage has always been notorious for its technological perfection and cutting edge sound. With possibly the most advanced effects out there, Steve Marks' guitar playing sounds so vicious that he could even teach Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor a thing or two. Drummer Butch Vig is also known as one of the most reputable producers in the world, having collaborated with bands such as Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins on their respective masterpieces.
Bleed like Me has its fair share of low points. In "Sex Is Not the Enemy," Manson's desire to push the envelope is obvious and unnecessary. The chorus, in which she yells "A revolution is the solution," sounds bland and overdone. Sex may not be the enemy, but that's nothing new to us here in 21st Century America. In fact, another sexual revolution in this country would actually be quite frightening.
On the other hand, the album's title track is probably some of the band's best work ever. Bleed like Me is the summation of everything Manson has sung about in the past. With references to painful issues such as anorexia and therapy, even the most apathetic person in the world would probably find himself moved by this piece.
Another notable track is "Boys Wanna Fight," in which Manson perfectly defines our jilted generation. "Let's get loaded/Let's get wasted/Let's get stupid!" she sarcastically sings over blazing guitars and industrial beats. Unfortunately, there is nothing funny about these lyrics, as they could not be more accurately descriptive of today's youth.
Like any other piece of Garbage, Bleed Like Me is not for the easily shocked. For the rest of us, it delivers a pleasing hour of melancholic music which most listeners can relate with.
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