Garbage (band)

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Garbage
Garbage performs in Copenhagen during their 2005 tour
Garbage performs in Copenhagen during their 2005 tour
Background information
Origin Flag of United States Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Genre(s) Rock
Alternative rock
Electronica
Years active 1994–present
Label(s) Universal Music Group/Almo Sounds
Warner Music
Website http://www.garbage.com
Members
Duke Erikson
Shirley Manson
Steve Marker
Butch Vig

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 the hit "Stupid Girl". Their debut album, Garbage, was an unexpected smash, selling over 4 million copies and reaching double platinum status in the UK, USA and Australia. Garbage spent two years working on their follow-up album Version 2.0 which topped the charts in the UK and hit #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 movie The World Is Not Enough. That year, they also contributed the song "When I Grow Up" to 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 their 2005 world tour, and announced an indefinite hiatus, but emphasized it was not a break-up. Garbage recently announced it was reuniting and is working on a greatest hits album with several new songs.

Contents

[edit] 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. 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 their catchy, pop alternative rock music. Garbage utilizes 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.

Known publicly as an experimental group, Garbage used their powerful videos to distort the dimensions of their songs.

[edit] Career

Garbage released a string of increasingly successful singles from 1995 to 1996, culminating in the hit "Stupid Girl". They released their 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.

Garbage spent two years working on their 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. Their second album Version 2.0 topped the charts in the UK and hit #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.

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.[citation needed] The greatest hits album, Absolute Garbage, to be released in 2007.[4]

Making Records for over decade, Garbage have to date sold in excess of 14 million albums worldwide (more than 4.7 million in the United states and 500,000 in Australia alone).

[edit] 2005-Present hiatus period

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.[5]

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.[6] 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.”[7] On October 29, 2006, The Sunday Mail[8] 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 various appearances playing tribute to both Blondie and The Pretenders, and appeared in the promo video for She Wants Revenge's single "These Things" and in Wendy Schneider's self-abuse documentary "CUT: Teens and Self Injury"

The boys from Garbage have also been reported to be keeping busy outside of active Garbage duty. Butch Vig has produced records for Jimmy Eat World and Against Me!, as well as written the music for two films that are currently in pre-production. If all goes as planned Vig will finish the post-production early in 2007.[9][10] 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.[11]

Butch Vig has since revealed that Garbage are set to re-enter the studio to record "a couple new songs" for a greatest hits album in late February. Tentatively titled Absolute Garbage, the compilation was scheduled to be released on March 19, 2007 however this has not come to pass..[12]

[edit] Discography

See also: Garbage discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album Title Record Label U.K. U.S. Australia Canada U.S. Sales Canada Sales World Wide Sales
1995 Garbage Mushroom / Almo Sounds #6 #20 #4 - 2.3 Million 200,000 4 Million
1998 Version 2.0 Mushroom / Almo Sounds #1 #13 #5 #2 1.7 Million 100,000 4 Million
2001 beautifulgarbage Mushroom / Interscope #6 #13 #1 #6 400,000+ 50,000+ 2.3 Million
2005 Bleed Like Me Warner Bros. Records / Geffen #4 #4 #4 #9 300,000+ 50,000+ 1.7 Million
2007 Absolute Garbage TBC / TBC TBR TBR TBR TBR TBR TBR TBR

Highest chart positions for Bleed Like Me listed here: http://www.garbagediscobox.com/news/?p=411

[edit] Singles

Year Song UK singles U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock AUS singles Album
1995 "Vow" 138 97 26 32 Garbage
1995 "Subhuman" 50 - - -
1995 "Only Happy When It Rains" 29 55 16 80 Garbage
1995 "Queer" 13 - 12 55 Garbage
1996 "Stupid Girl" 4 24 2(1) 47 Garbage
1996 "Milk" (featuring Tricky) 10 - - 44 Garbage
1996 "#1 Crush" - 29 1(4) - William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet Soundtrack
1998 "Push It" 9 52 5 31 Version 2.0
1998 "I Think I'm Paranoid" 9 - 6 57 Version 2.0
1998 "Special" 15 52 11 54 Version 2.0
1999 "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" - - - - Version 2.0
1999 "When I Grow Up" 9 - 23 22 Version 2.0
1999 "You Look So Fine" 19 - - - Version 2.0
1999 "The World Is Not Enough" 11 - - - The World Is Not Enough Soundtrack
2001 "Androgyny" 24 - - 21 beautifulgarbage
2002 "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" 22 - - 7 beautifulgarbage
2002 "Breaking Up the Girl" 27 - - 19 beautifulgarbage
2002 "Shut Your Mouth" 20 - - 74 beautifulgarbage
2005 "Why Do You Love Me" 7 94 8 19 Bleed Like Me
2005 "Bleed Like Me" - - 27 - Bleed Like Me
2005 "Sex Is Not the Enemy" 24 - - - Bleed Like Me
2006 "Run Baby Run" - - - 47 Bleed Like Me

[edit] B-sides and rare tracks

See: Garbage B-side Chronology

[edit] Live show covers and ad-libs

Garbage frequently feature cover songs as part of their live sets, and have 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 - some examples are listed here -

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.

[edit] Tours

Garbage have completed four full length tours - one for each album release - and each album took 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 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.

[edit] Major awards & certifications

  • 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)
  • Nominated: Best International Band (1996)
  • Nominated: Best International Newcomer (1996)
  • 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"
  • 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"
  • Nominated: Best Song From a Movie (1997) for "#1 Crush"
  • Won: Best Pop Song (2000) for "Special"
  • Won: Best Pop Song (1997) for "Stupid Girl"
  • Multi-platinum certification (2,000,000 units) awarded to 'Garbage'
  • Platinum certification (1,000,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
  • 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'
  • 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'
  • IFPI Platinum Europe Award (1,000,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
  • Multi-platinum certification (140,000 units) awarded to 'Garbage'
  • Platinum certification (70,000 units) awarded to 'Version 2.0'
  • Multi-platinum certification (140,000 units) awarded to 'beautifulgarbage'
  • Gold certification (35,000 units) awarded to 'Bleed Like Me'
  • Gold certification (35,000 units) awarded to "Cherry Lips"

[edit] Trivia

Early auditions saw former Pigface vocalists, Lesley Rankine and Meg Lee Chin try out. Rankine, who had already been a vocalist in Pigface as well as Silverfish, instead started her own project named Ruby. Chin, who had been in the band Crunch, essentially replaced Rankine in Pigface, after her departure.

[edit] See also

[edit] 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. ^ Release date for Absolute Garbage on "HMV.co.uk" [4]. 2006. Accessed 13 November 2006.
  5. ^ "Garbagediscobox.com - David Arnold on his work with Shirley" [5]. 9.3.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  6. ^ "Billboard “Garbage's Shirley Manson Flying Solo” [6]. 14.3.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  7. ^ "Sunday Times “Not So Stupid Girl” " [7]. 2.7.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  8. ^ "Sunday Mail “SHIRLEY'S ALL STARS: Singer Signs A-List Pals For Solo CD” " [8]. October 29, 2006.
  9. ^ "Butch Vig Productions [9]. 31.7.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  10. ^ "The Other Side” [10]. 15.5.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  11. ^ "Shirley Manson’s blog” [11]. 17.1.2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  12. ^ "Butch Vig Says Garbage Hiatus Is Over" [12]. January 19, 2007. Accessed February 6, 2007.
  13. ^ "BMI.com" [13]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  14. ^ "RIAA.com" [14]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  15. ^ "CRIA.ca" [15]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  16. ^ "BPI.com" [16]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  17. ^ "IFPI.org" [17]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.
  18. ^ "ARIA.com" [18]. 2006. Accessed Sept 5th, 2006.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Garbage
Butch Vig | Shirley Manson | Duke Erikson | Steve Marker
Discography
Albums and extended plays: Garbage | Version 2.0 | beautifulgarbage | Bleed Like Me | Absolute Garbage
Singles: "Vow" | "Subhuman" | "Only Happy When It Rains" | "Queer" | "Stupid Girl" | "Milk" | "#1 Crush" | "Push It" | "I Think I'm Paranoid" | "Special" | "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" | "When I Grow Up" | "You Look So Fine" | "The World Is Not Enough" | "Androgyny" | "Cherry Lips" | "Breaking Up the Girl" | "Shut Your Mouth" | "Why Do You Love Me" | "Bleed Like Me" | "Sex Is Not the Enemy" | "Run Baby Run"
Videography
Videos and DVDs: Garbage Video | Live at Eagles Ballroom 2002
Related articles
Alternative rock | Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie | Angelfish | The World Is Not Enough | Mushroom Records | Almo Sounds | Geffen Records
Preceded by
Sheryl Crow
Tomorrow Never Dies (song), 1997
James Bond title artist
The World Is Not Enough (song), 1999
Succeeded by
Madonna
Die Another Day (song), 2002
 v  d  e 
James Bond title themes
Official films
John Barry Orchestra "The James Bond Theme" • Matt Monro "From Russia with Love" • Shirley Bassey "Goldfinger" • Tom Jones "Thunderball" • Nancy Sinatra "You Only Live Twice" • John Barry orchestra "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" • Shirley Bassey "Diamonds Are Forever" • Paul McCartney & Wings " Live and Let Die" • Lulu "The Man with the Golden Gun" • Carly Simon "Nobody Does It Better" • Shirley Bassey "Moonraker" • Sheena Easton "For Your Eyes Only" • Rita Coolidge "All Time High" • Duran Duran "A View to a Kill" • a-ha "The Living Daylights" • Gladys Knight "Licence To Kill" • Tina Turner " GoldenEye" • Sheryl Crow "Tomorrow Never Dies" • Garbage "The World Is Not Enough" • Madonna "Die Another Day" • Chris Cornell "You Know My Name"
Unofficial films
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass "Casino Royale" | Lani Hall "Never Say Never Again"