Garbage

Band name makes a lot of sense, nothing really special about the album in my opinion.

Okay

Meh

zzz, generico

it is indeed 12 y o girly music. cringy lyrics a stroke of luck is a great track tho 3/10

I grew up listening to Garbage on indie rock radio (no pun intended), fantastic singles, lead my to buy Version 2.0, which was clearly a better album than this one. Happy when it Rains and Stupid Girl might top their fame and discography, but this album is really a debut, looking forward to what they'll do in the future kinda experience for me. The sound is impecable of course thanks to the collective experience of their producer bandmates, but the songcraft needed a little more polishing. I would've placed their next album in this list.

sounded how i expected after glancing at their spotify. nice bit of girly pop grunge

Garbage

se sintió subliminal, no diré más

Не знаю. Не мое.

90 s rock. One of the same

Enjoy the production but not engaging enough from a pop standpoint.

the entire album kinda blends together, all the songs sound the same. Still a relic of the 90s and it deserves a place at the table

Wanted to like this but it did very little for me. Some songs were pretty good.

very 90s

Några ganska bra låtar men som helhetsalbum tyvärr ganska svagt.

Riktig MTV2-feeling. Hann bara lyssna en vända men spontant tråkigare än jag trodde och hoppades, även om det finns vissa höjdpunkter.

Som ett visst cp är inne på är det rätt hyfsat till en början och jag fattar grejen. Sen blir det bara sämre. Den överdrivna obrydda coolheten blir tröttsam, musiken enformig och texterna fantasilösa: "I can't use what I can't abuse" eller "I am weak, but I am strong"

Pensé lo iba a disfrutar más porque es un álbum icónico de los 90s pero la verdad se me hizo denso. Demasiado monótono y un estilo que se queda a medio camino entre ser ruidoso y algo aplacado. Es como un grito en silencio el sonido que tiene el álbum. 4/10

lgbt rock. no other words. im rating it low bc its not my sound, i am not homophobic

90s nostalgia from my childhood couldn't make me like this. Early britpop which feels pretty boring now and hasn't aged that well

I mean it wasn't terrible, but this album didn't bring anything interesting to the table either. Bland, generic noise alt rock gets a meh, and it doesn't help that this felt like corporate manufactured music meant to churn out hits. This album hasn't aged well nor is it interesting, leaving it as a mediocre meh. At least it wasn't actual garbage as badly as I want to call it that.

This band was truly ahead of its time, pioneering the sound of AI-generated music nearly 30 years before the prevalence of ChatGPT. Their songs are so bland and generic that I could easily be convinced that they are an algorithmic amalgamation of every popular rock band from the 90's, but kept reminding myself that no AI would willfully conceive of a band name as terrible as "Garbage" for its own creation. For their sonic breakthroughs in the slop rock genre, Garbage exceeds all expectations by offering nothing of even the slightest novelty and truly lives up to the expectations set by their own name!

I'd file this under "Catchy, pleasant, & disposable POP rather than 1001 greatest"...dont take lead singer Shirley to the beach either #beachball ...and yes his is a hill I will die on...but...I'm dead grumpy to see this is on the list when (the similar vintage) Throwing Copper by Live isnt

Listened to on my Apple AirPods Max. Much like my last listened to album, 'Graceland', which saw Paul Simon attempt to fuse his pop folk style with the sounds of South Africa to an effect I found myself not too fond of, I too feel a similar attitude towards Garbage's first album here. On this album, the band takes on the alternative rock of the 90s with a glossy, high production sheen, heavy sample usage for an electronic feel, and rhythms that feel very danceable and, for lack of a better term, poppy. Unfortunately, I did not find myself gelling with the mix of these disparate styles, and in fact I found the album to feel as if it were a effort to put forth the most commercial ready, "play this in your counterculture store that's conveniently located two doors down from the Auntie Anne's in the mall" alternative rock I've yet to hear. This idea takes a while to build though. At first, it's novel in it's combination of alternative rock with this more electronic and dance sound, and the lyrics that accompany these tracks definitely have a darkness to them, both in content and in delivery by lead singer Shirley Manson, who often presents this sultry and moody sound that seems a perfect match for the overall brooding feel of the writing. However, it doesn't take too long for things to start sounding the same, and deeper immersion into the album left something to be desired, as guitar riffs failed to excite and lyrics often conveyed simplistic, on-the-nose ideas that lack a real edge or bite to it. It just becomes plain boring. Much of the album doesn't necessarily sound grating or obnoxious, but I did start getting a headache towards the end with all of these full swirling chords and sampling that added very little to the actual songs other than cheap flair. Honestly, it feels like the opposite of something like Portishead's Dummy, which also presents an interesting fusion, though this time hip hop beats and sampling slowed to a crawl with skinny, frail, and ghostly female vocals. Unlike this album, that one blows me away in it's raw energy, whether from the bold and present samples that dominate a track rather than appear for show, or the vocals, which takes the dark writing of the lyrics and combines it with haunting delivery that feels so devastated and dissociated. Still, there are moments when this album can come together in compelling ways. Of particular note were 'Vow' and closing track 'Milk', which are elevated by the emotive vocal deliveries and the lyrics that stand at opposing ends of the best of Garbage's ideas, with the former being a very straight-on dive into a cruel, toxic person in a relationship that feels aggressive and mean, and the latter being this spacey, interpretive pleading and longing in a relationship that deviously inserts manipulation into those feelings. On the whole, however, I don't find myself to invested into this work. Tracks like those mentioned in the last paragraph highlight the potential of Garbage's style, but unfortunately stick out as outliers rather than parts of a complete realization of that vibe.

i mean peak grunge, incredibly well done but dunno if its a repeat play for me

Britpop?

Really wanted to like this one bc I love a good female rocker. But alas... the 90s.

Muddled vocals and poor audio mixing made this just a bunch of noise.

A bit trashy. Try hard gweny stef or just me

not my thing pero chulo

The Good: We are getting a hint! The Bad: That the hint wasn’t something nice… The Ugly: Realizing that there are people who do like garbage… Let it be said that this is one of the better album covers out there. It is instantly recognizable, from almost a mile away, which I find impressive to say the least. What I find odder is the fact that, had someone asked me the origin of this band, then I would’ve said UK… to find out they are not… ’95… Summer… I am uncertain if this was the summer that I ended up getting second degree sunburn during a quick weekend get-a-way… ’95 was a great time though… However, there was a slight shift in the music scene, where the “indy” music had fully started to push out what was left of Rock and/or Grunge. It also marked the moment when music started to embrace the more pop-sounding music from the likes of Blues Traveler, Hootie and the Blowfish, Better Than Ezra… And the absolute domination of Hip-Hop/modern R&B and other assorted shit like that… For me, Garbage always sounded like the soundtrack for a late ‘90s videogame that you would be playing on your playstation, or maybe x-box… There are, obviously, two songs on this album that anyone who was breathing in the ‘90s will have heard more than ones, which isn’t exactly a good thing… as Garbage was being shoved down people’s throats at a certain point… So why is this album here, and Blues Traveler’s Four isn’t? And are Hootie and the Blowfish represented, or Matchbox 20? Once again Mr Dimery has been able to show us that he is a twat… 2*

Not bad, but not really that into it either. If I could give 2.5 stars, then I would.

A few good songs on this but not the best rock record I’ve had in the list. I did like Queer, Not my Idea and Stupid Girl is my favourite on the album

2.5

4/24 Meh

Hey! The album gave itself its own rating!

Overall, this is pretty paint-by-numbers for the post-grunge MTV era. Everything homogenized. They had some Top 40 hits off this record. But Stupid Girl is the only, really good song. 2/5

Didn't really capture my attention.

A solid sort of rock album. It’s pretty 90s. Which is cool you know I didn’t like it back then now that I’ve listened to the whole thing it’s just not my type of music whatever I don’t care.

I swear, my newsfeed is continually occupied by soundbites from Shirley Manson of Garbage, an outsize presence from a band that had one of two adequate alt-crossover bar-n-grill muzak hits 30 ears ago. Her PR team is peerless. Cool guitar sounds in semi-tuneless tunes. Carefully punctuated stop-starts in case you missed the subtle points.

I didn’t love this one

typical 90s alt rock

I don't get the hype on this one. This album feels very synthetic and dull. Meh.

I think it doesnt have a breaking point in any song but it's good

Highlights: Supervixen, Only Happy When It Rains, Vow Nothing special, it has that typical rough sound combined with edgy lyrics. It tries so hard to get that 90s alternative kool. I liked it musically, but the lyrics made it too edgy for my taste so I can't say that I find this worth listening to again. Was it really essential listening? Not really, I feel like the Sonic Youth records were more trailblazing than this and that they were better too. This was a cheap radio friendly copy (almost threw up on Fix Me Now).

Sounds like a viper hypnotizing someone

I bought this CD at the time. I also traded it in shortly thereafter. My opinion hasn’t changed. It’s a snoozer.

Rock garbage

Has not aged well. Feels so dated and cringe

Memories of pseudo-goths dancing poorly in a dark club. Mid-tier mid-90s.

Yes, garbage

alt-rock spice girls.

Managed to listen to the whole thing without registering it. Really wanted to talk about the rain in one song. That’s all I recall.

La verdad q nada. No me gusto, no le genero nada kcy. Osea nonte digo q una poronga pero tampoco nada que volveria a escuchar. Por ahi es el mood, y tendría que darle otra posibilidad

Garbage

I remember being a little underwhelmed when this was released and that’s still true after listening to it again. It’s fine, but the songs all feel the same to me, 2+ stars I suppose.

On paper I don’t hate this album. But in reality the album's songs sound almost all same. Really needed some change of pace songs I think. The singles are pretty good, but even then both are similar (stupid girl/ only happy when it rains). Overall, nothing really stands out about this album for me.

El disco me ha parecido bastante bueno y con canciones bastante pegadizas, no llega a las 3 estrellas basándome en las puntuaciones que he estado dando, pero me parece un gran trabajo y muy sólido

Très girlsband 90's, fidèle à son époque Kinda sounds like Madonna at times

Не впечатлил

So near me liking it. Female vocalist, garage rock adjacent sound but I was mostly quite bored.

Plenty of radio play for Garbage back in the 90s. The debut album is not garbage...it's pretty standard grunge but with some extra personality having female lead. A couple hit songs and other decent tracks. I can see why this makes the list but it's nothing that is going to get a super high rating from me. Still, Makes sense they toured with Smashing Pumpkins and my rating fits along the same vein as their records. I liked it enough for a 2.35 stars.

Forgettable.

Garbage

God I hate hearing this on the radio

Really expected to like this a lot more considering "Only Happy When It Rains" is a 90's alt rock classic. That being said, pretty much everything on here other than a couple songs here and there was very forgettable. Most of it wasn't "bad", just boring and made me feel nothing. Oh well.

Not a fan

Not horrible, bit I didnt care for it

I sometimes wonder if some of these albums catch me on bad days! The problem I have here is that electronic pop and rock is my genre. It's what I like and I've not seen enough of it in the 1001. I was surprised when this popped up as my next listen - I remembered Stupid Girl and Happy When It Rains. They were OK singles. There are a few more reasonable songs such as Supervixen and A Stroke of Luck, but I'm just listening to the definition of unremarkable here. Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, New Order, they all released better albums that won't make this list, so why am I listening to this? A low 2.

Nice vibe

Eh, it's probably closer to 2.5 stars. It's unique to the 90s, which gives it nostalgia points for me. It has it's moments musically. I like her voice. But it gets very dull at points, and the lyrics make my eyes roll. Not for me.

Not my taste

I expected this to be more memorable, as it's a classical band from my childhood. I guess my sister never listened to them and the songs didn't stick with me?

I find most of this to be boring. There are a couple interesting and fun tracks but most is just trying to hard to be alternative NIN with some grunge and rock dance beats. Not an album I would listen to again.

Not for me

Not garbage, but nothing to write home about. 2.5/5

I like her voice but I wish the instrumentals were a bit bolder. I liked the songs that leaned more into the moody, alt rock style but then there are dance-y pop songs after it which kinda ruins the vibe. I really liked a Stroke of Luck, Not My Idea, and Milk but not really any others

The name speaks for itself, its honestly kinda garbage. Very generic grunge-y pop that just got stale really quick.

women!

There's some promise but it never really delivers

I just don't really enjoy most 90s music it seems.

Cool sounds but feels kind of dated. I feel shallow for thinking it, but there's something very nineties about it and I can't seem to get over that. At times it feels a little bit country rock in a way that I don't appreciate. All that said - some of the beats built on this record sound awesome

Apt naming

Ok

Not my thing when it was released and still isn’t now.

2/5. A listenable album that maintains a consistent mood and sound the whole way through. That's a double edged sword: while the whole of it is cohesive and artistically sound, it can be a little boring hearing the same guitar effects and vocal modifiers song after song. The melodies are generally underwhelming. I think the singer tries to compensate for this through delivery (e.g., whispering, slurring words), but it falls flat. Not a bad album. But not really worth revisiting.

Great album

So much angst. “Sleep” sounds like a song in Dexter. Somehow listened to the delux album and caught 20+ songs. Wish I knew sooner I didn’t have to do that

nunca he oido esta banda y espero no oir mas de ellos

It’s so quiet 💔

Liker det nesten, men ikke helt. Noen fete riff innimellom, og litt fet sound. Men land liksom ikke helt hos meg. 2/5

Tja. Heilt OK, men vart ikkje fan.

There is an easy pun in here that I’m going to avoid making…

- kiva, omaperäinen soundi, vähän jäi kuitenkin valjuksi ja levy ikäänkuin lipui ohi ottamatta otteeseensa

pretty middling 90s stuff. Nothing really stuck out to me outside of the well-known songs. someone else here said it really well. It sounds like the music a fake band in a movie would make.

I didn't really like it. I respect the blend of electronic and grunge but I couldn't enjoy it.

Just not really my cup of tea. Not terrible, but just not something I enjoyed either.

Wasn't really my thing. Liked "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Stupid Girl," but not an album I'll be returning to. Overall Rating: 4.3/10

Felt like it was in a cut scene of Charmed or Buffy throughout this listen.

It's not garbage but it's not great either.

- un mix de punk rock et indie shoegaze, very interesting - a fun listen mais je pense pas que je réecouterais l’album complet - meilleure chanson: a stroke of luck

I liked Queer and Only Happy When in rains, the other weren't for me

not my favourite at all but can understand why it’s on here.

Only Happy When It Rains //

Hey, this band. The vocalist was in the news recently for having a conniption fit at a concert in Australia because one of the audience members was playing around with a beach ball. The Aussies, in our true bantering spirit, busted out dozens of beach balls for their next gig, which caused her to deploy the classic liberal straw man of telling people to concern themselves with greater matters like the plight of the hecking wholesome Palestinian mooslems (as if the human conscious can't be focused on multiple things at once). I don't like to date my reviews with contemporary political bullshit, but I thought that story was funny. I've actually listened to Garbage at one point through Jet Set Radio Live, though I don't remember much about their music - it wasn't my thing. I'm pretty sure they belong to a punky, riot grrrl sound, though I could be mistaken. I was kind of correct in my prediction, though I wasn't expecting this album to have such a subdued sound. This music isn't my thing, though I can't deny that it's interesting. It's unpolished in a very polished way, featuring some interesting effects and attention-grabbing guitar performances. Shirley Manson is a talented vocalist. Her silky smooth, sultry vocals are a good accompaniment to this style of music. "Queer" is pretty cool. The atmosphere of the track is quite unusual. It's heavy and foreboding while also managing to be mixed in a way that makes it sound muffled and sleek. Decent vocals, too. I enjoyed how they complement the guitar hooks. "Not My Idea" has some nice, dreamy guitars. The reverb on "A Stroke of Luck" is also pretty sweet. Book time. Nothing much in there beyond Manson being a good frontwoman, the songs being of high quality and the packaging being unusual - over to Wikipedia I go. Charted well. Many successful singles. Innovative. Solid critic backing. Yeah, I'm favourable to this one. It's pretty unique and ambitious. I cosign this inclusion.

90s alternative pop rock with some atmospheric and fuzziness feels to it. Not sure if I’d listen again, though. A little on the boring side, nothing really makes me want to come back to it. I feel like this album was more a product of its time and didn’t age particularly well.

This did not hit for me but I feel it would be great to hear some of these live.

I don't hate this, but I don't particularly love it either. #TeamBeachBall

Eh barely slipped to a 2 for me. A little boring and samey sounding all the way through

I always thought this band was simply Butch Vig's band. Famous for no other reason. I can say with confidence now that it certainly isn't the music.

I don’t remember this album being so long… I’m only happy when it rains is a nostalgic classic for my personally. I’m stuck on thinking about the choice to name yourselves garbage, was it to rise above the misogyny that teaches women they are sub human, or was it just a way to be quirky in the nineties? Curious how my own thoughts and perspectives have evolved including the questions I ask of the media I consume!

Started hopeful with this one but then trailed off, struggled to finish

In some respects the formula for this was ideal for some part of me: combine loud guitars/dynamics with drum machines (and live playing) + a female voice. One of my personal musician combo ideas is in the same ballpark: New Jack Swing + shoegaze. But if the drums and guitars sound a particular kind of artificial and the lyrics are thrown together, boilerplate alt-rock, well, you get Garbage. I remember this feeling analogous to something like an early talk show with a personality you like (say, early Colbert), but whose writers don’t really have a grip on what differentiates their show yet, or, maybe more helpfully, your trad super group: hey we have all these folks together without their other bandmates and songwriters, surely this will work! Garbage also had a few things going against it with me: the artificial quality of the music wasn’t just limited to a drum sound or whatever, but the entire concept: hot producer wants his own band. Moreover, I had heard a lot of these sounds before because I loved the Vig remix of Depeche Mode’s “In Your Room” not to mention Siamese Dream, all of Curve’s output, etc. I also knew some of Shirley Manson, as a goth-adjacent friend kept up on her (and seemingly ever other female singer in an obsessive way that was kinda weird even at the time, later when he became super anti-feminist, well...), so her presence felt pitched to a certain kind of commercially friendly voice. But hey, I don’t hate all the expensive-sounding stuff from the 90s entirely, so a single like “Only Happy When it Rains” worked, especially for a moody guy like myself. Mostly though, this just struck me as something intended to be “cutting edge” for younger audiences or folks unaccustomed to hearing, I dunno, some crappy RevCo sideproject. Garbage is also a curious sound for this list - mid-90s alt-rock, but Americans (mostly) creating music that takes inspiration from Brits maybe more than their fellow Americans at the time, when this was the height of britpop! Music consumers contain multitudes I suppose.

SORRY

Not my cup of tea

Boring and over-produced.

There’s nothing particularly remarkable about this. Played well enough, but sounds over-produced. Unsure why it is ranked among other albums in this list.

I haven't ever listened to this whole album and I wish I never had to. I really don't like this band.

mmh

Was this a big deal in the mid-90s? I feel like a traitor, being a former Madisonian, but it's really underwhelming. A lot of production: cool sounds, big drums, guitar layers, tricks, but most of the songs either seemed real milquetoast or were straight up annoying. Manson's persona can be charismatic, but even the big hits like Vow, Rains, Queer, I'm content hearing those every few years when they show up on the nostalgia radio station.

Ahh Garbage. You have all the vibes in the world and nothing to say. You were the perfect party music in the mid 90's because of this. They have some hits and sound good. It's like an inch deep though. It also lead to a discussion with a co-worker that everyone knew them but only few people owned this CD. It's alright, nothing that will change your life.

Okay, just generic angsty post grunge music

I love 90s music but this was just okay

Meh, didn't get into Garbage back when, still not a fan. Way too "slick" for Grunge, and not melodically interesting.

It's ok, I don't have a strong opinion. Was not on my radar in 95.

Enkele leuke nummers, maar ook veel garbage.

idk whatever?

I'd never listened to this album before. I like Manson as a singer and the singles are decent but I dislike something about them as a band.

Hørte det, tilføjede et enkelte par saange, har ikke rigtig lyst til at lytte til det igen. Det får 2 for så kan det være jeg ser på en uretfærdig vurdering og genbesøger det.

No es la gran cosa. A estos yankees les gusta a todos lo mismo. Similar a Alanis Morissette algo así.

Just didn't land for me in any direction. I don't even know if I can just spam "Seinfeld effect" for why I don't really find it noteworthy.

Standard, uninteresting rock fare.

You stupid girl

Good recordings of meh songs.

Not for me

Just off the title alone, this seems like it will be interesting. Calling yourself Garbage and creating an album with the same title is certainly a choice. It’s hours after the fact and not a single song was memorable. Just a blah album and artist overall.

Not a fan

Not my favorite era of rock music, coming on the heels of grunge but I can see the quality of the recordings. Butch Vig who produced Nirvana and many others obviously shaped a strong sound & a strong female frontwoman for the band especially at that time. Still this album isn’t really my taste but interesting to listen back.

Too dated.

Har aldrig rigtig hørt Garbage før. Det lød ikke som jeg forventede -- mere cool lyd end forventet, men sangene gjorde ikke så meget for mig.

An attempt to add in dashes of metal box pil to the grunge mix listenable but not earth shattering

I think I hadn't heard this because it wasn't marketed in my direction. It was an alright listen, if it had any nostalgic presence I'm sure I'd be stuck to it right now. There's a couple pretty catchy songs, especially if you repeat the listens. Don't be afraid to try this one twice if you generally enjoy a pop rock vibe. It's very 90s pop rock, empowered fem pop punk vibe with a more alt sound. It's impressive for the moment it represents, but I can live without it. The album art pretty much describes what you're in for, great visual work. 2.4/5

Good rock/punk duo. Good music, unique sound.

meeeh... rokk tónlist sem talaði ekki til mín. skil afhv ég hef ekki heyrt um þá

Some decent classic hits but also some pretty dated filler tracks. I don't think this is at all the classic that some people seem to think. Good in its day and I can only assume nostalgia brings people back to it.

Interesting hadn’t heard it. Good band but songs not that good.

queer, as heaven is wide are cool, the rest is trash

Cкоріше не сподобався, ніж навпаки. Тут обʼєктивно є хити, той самий Stupid Girl чи Only Happy When It Rains - якісні радіо/тв-френдлі пісні. Філерів на альбомі багато, їх мабуть більшість. Не зовсім подобається звук на альбомі цим балансуванням на межі між поп та рок музикою. Не вистачає мені якоїсь виразності. Ті самі загравання з тріп-хопом в деяких треках теж мені якось не зайшли.

Not my jam but solid

Lacks emotions and makes me sleepy.

Never really a fan of Garbage, always thought the name was fitting. Gave it another shot and my opinion has not changed. There is definitely worse out there, but I don't think I can rate this as "good".

Really!? They were a bit meh.

It's fine. Nothing I'd choose to play again, but I recognized a few tracks on here, so that was pretty neat

This album has a nice overall tone. Radio friendly post-grunge blended with interesting electronic elements. If The Smashing Pumpkins, Morcheeba, and The Matrix had a child but it had a haircut that adhered to an office dress code, it would be this album. It feels like it leans a bit heavily on the "sultry and brooding female vocalist" idea. But that might've been a new thing in the '90's. I can see this being used on an advert for hair gel aimed at people who need their ruffled bob cut to keep pace with their energetic lifestyle and Topshop pleather jacket. Or maybe for a particularly radical flavour of Doritos. Inoffensive but didn't incite me to any specific acts of violence.

A few of the singles were hits, but the rest of the album kind of lost momentum for me. It got a bit boring and I ended up not finishing the album.

basura

Really just kind of mediocre. Don't know why this should represent 90s alt over its compatriots.

Some good songs mostly average

Okay but not for me

Kinda generic 90s alternative pop rock.

Starts at stops on track 1 are sweet. Couple good moments but overall the dark cloud sound of the 90's makes me sick. It seems we were very lost as a society in the 90's. Both forcing various technical effects into music and expressing a general sense of discontentment. Probably popular opinion but worst decade for music IMO.

This band is aptly named

Alright, bit emo

This was disappointing. I remember a few of the songs, but they really don’t hold up very well. It’s probably a 2.5, but it was kind of crap. There’s nothing special about this album, and I honestly cannot fathom why it was chosen.

🗑️

Como un st. vincent pero fome

90s alt pop.

Two decent singles can't save this from being an absolute snooze fest. I've no doubt Garbage inspired countless imitators (looking at you beabadoobee, Wolf Alice et al.) but it's pretty bland stuff for me.

This is kinda like stale bread. Like, sure I'll eat it but a well-rounded meal would be way better. There wasn't anything to like or dislike about this album. This is about as average as average 90s music gets. Overall it's just mid, maybe some decent to good songs are in there but none that I can see from my POV. Top 3: ??? Worst: ??? 2.50/5

Solid emo-pop but not for me

Not bad, just sortadepressing

This always sounded to me exactly how you would expect a band based around a producer to sound. Not to discredit Butch Vig's obvious talent, of course, but it's polished to the point there is no soul left - it's gritty and grungy with dirty guitars, but there's very little actual grime, grunge, or dirt. The arrangements quite often strike me as being dictated by what bells and whistles they could add in the studio, rather than what served the material best. I can't deny it spawned a string of successful singles, which are all decent enough, but they have not aged as well as other tracks from this era and / or genre. Garbage is one of those albums which is perfectly good within it's own field, and I'm happy to give it two stars on that basis, but I'm pretty sure it (and the band) was hyped way beyond it's worth back in the day, and I fail to see any lasting impact this has had on the greater music world.

Couple of really good songs on this album, but overall it’s OK

It's amazing how some bands can have music that is such of a specific era yet their music has a timeless quality... like Nirvana's Nevermind, a bunch of Beatles albums, the Postal Service, etc. And then some bands can have music that essentially sounds the same as these timeless albums but they come off as so dated. This album is one of the latter.

Feels a little calculated - in parts grunge, goth, industrial, trip-hop - and ends up being a little -lite in all of these. Even the US Band-British singer seems designed to appeal to both sides of the UK v. US thing that had re-appeared around this time - comparing to the recent Banshees, I don't think Shirley is qualified to apply Siouxsie's eyeliner.

Was expecting to give this a 3 or above as I knew a lot of people who loved this Wehrmacht it came out. For some reason it never grabbed me at the time. Listening to it now, it left me cold.

Okay album, favorite song was A Stroke of Luck.

Didn't like her voice but some good guitar

Kjedelig

Nittitallet

★★½

-This is one of those gaslighter albums; that it’s so bad you genuinely gaslight the fuck out of yourself that you must be missing the magnum opus of it and what makes it great. I literally think maybe I don’t know music at all if critics praised this. -I think this is just one of those albums they don’t hold up 30 years later and isn’t timeless, it’s overwhelming the worse parts of 90s music. Like it’s hold music, muddy to a point that I can’t even make out the words -It’s attention grabbing because it feels like it’s a 16th beat off or just slight out of key the entire time. It’s layered in an absolutely messy way. It’s essentially an IPA

Noise

New Artist. Nothing outstanding. Liked hearing female singer. Stupid girl ok.

2 stars. I still like I’m only happy when it rains and stupid girl, but nothing else is very catchy. Shirley Manson is a cool grunge girl, but I guess my grunge phase is past…

Kahta kappaletta voi ehkä kuunnella toistekin, muuten ei mitään sellaista, mikä olisi oman huomion jaksanut kiinnittää.

There were a couple of cool things going on with this album but not enough to save the overwhelming amount of droning, pop grunge garbage that is the middle of this album.

This was decent. I knew a few of the hits.

Butch Vig Pro Tools All-Stars These songs were very MTV and alternative radio-ready tunes. Garbage had very commercial-sounding production and the just right image for the time. Before pop stars were called "industry plants" we had Garbage. I'm listening to this for the first time since tenth grade. It's good nostalgia trip but it might be another thirty years before I listen again.

nop

There were far better albums in 95 to choose from. Equal parts grunge, new wave, and meh. 2/5 Album 60/1001

It’s fine. Passed by with a murmur. I’ve never been a Garbage fan, their sound just never sticks with me. “Stupid Girl” is a kick, though the rest of it is mostly… 90s pop.

This is garbage

Not my style. Definitely came in on the back end to capitalize on post grunge Portishead wannabes. Had some ok songs but felt over produced.

Not striking enough for a notable mention outside my listening experience. (As per my first album review, I gave it 2-3 listens before I decided...) Okay-ish: *A Stroke of Luck *Dog New Tricks *My Lover's Box *Fix Me Now *Milk I like how confessional the lyrics are but the overall sound is repetitive.

This album went double platinum, but I've never heard of this band

Garbage

Alternative rock made specifically to play in Macy’s. Couple of good songs but for the most part nothing too unique. Frequently had some interesting sections within songs but got let down right after (Fix Me Now’s chorus vs the rest of it…) weak 5/10. My Top Tracks: Vow, Not My Idea

Overall, the album was fine. Definitely a great album for young teens in the 90s, but for a 24 year old man in 2025 it did not resonate with me. Only happy when it rains was probably the better song on the album. 5/10, didn’t love it and didn’t hate it.

The album was very ok. No song on the album was terrible but no song on the album was really good either. The mixing didnt sound good as all the vocals felt like background vocals (maybe my earbuds just suck).

Didn't really hate or love this one. I think the music was fine, the lyrics were fine, it came off very 90s grunge and that felt dated in some ways to me. Something about it didn't connect with my personal taste in music so much. Just a fun fact their drummer produced Nirvana's Nevermind and some Smashing Pumpkins albums. 5.5/10

2.5 - not bad but nothing standout

Really not my genre but at least they named their band appropriately. It isn't the worst I've heard, so it doesn't deserve a 1, but the album really wore on. The dramatic mopiness in the female vocalist's voice was too much. 3.5/10 (1.75/5)

Music was fine, I have heard some samples from a couple of these songs before. Not my vibe really.

Mostly decent tunes, but not much that was very memorable.

Nebiju pat dzirdējusi par šo grupu vai tās dziesmām. Lipīgas melodijas. Kat Stratford nooooteikti klausītos šo. Iekāres pilni vārdi, kas šķiet salīdzinoši virspusēji, bet As Heaven Is Wide ir daudz labi citātu (If God’s my witness, God must be blind). Not My Idea arī laba (it īpaši, kad gribas padusmoties). A Stroke of Luck vistuvāk manai gaumei, bet arī vistālāk no pārējās skaņas, diemžēl. Vow muzikālā kompozīcija ir Wow (un izstaro man neizskaidrojamu nostaļğiju). Pamanīju daudz reliğisko vārdu/metaforu izvēli.

I thought I would like this. I did not. It felt very dated. It felt like it didn't know whether to be rocky or poppy or industrial or sassy, so it failed at them all.

Can definitely see the influence this had on tons of other 90s stuff. Too bad it’s the worst of the 90s stuff that they influenced. The songs are all homogenized. They pick one riff and just roll with it for the whole duration of the song.

2.5/5 some interesting songs but not really my cup of tea, pretty forgettable

Meh , not the most interesting

I don't know what to say about this one.. It's not bad as a listen but I just couldn't remember almost anything afterwards. Maybe it's my fault, because I'm not really concentrated today. But.. Milk is an undisputed banger

Sounds like someone else. 2 for the voice.

It was just very boring

Too 90's for me. Also I think the mix is weird

Didnt grab my attention outside of the two 'hits'

I’m sorry, I’ve just never been a fan of Garbage. Just very not my style, I guess.

I used to listen to this a lot , its quite dated now . there’s 4 really good songs and the rest is filler. 2.5

Not for me

Two.

This one felt like it started strong but then failed to expand on its ideas which led to it feeling pretty samey by halfway through. Queer was my favourite track. I Think I’m Paranoid is their best song, and it’s not here either.

Samey and overly 90s. Didn’t really enjoy this.

Caducat. En el seu temps seria la bomba però ara mateix és un vestigi poc suggerent. I massa llarg per com de similars son totes les cançons entre elles. Hauria de ser "el meu rotllo" i no m'ha dit res.

This album sounds like if Olivia Rodrigo made rock. Just corny lyrics, sounds very 2000s rocky pop, mixed with like grunge or sum shit idk what to call it but every song is literally the same. Not my vibe at all it’s very girly music to get u hyped too. Just boring tbh. A few good songs like Not My Idea, My Lover’s Box and A Stroke Of Luck but other than a whole lotta mid. Lowkey just makes me uncomfortable with the lyrics and mood. I get why u might like this but it’s a 4/10 2/10

I’ve found that most of people who really love this record, were mostly lusting after the lead singer. Overall, this is pretty paint-by-numbers for the post-grunge MTV era. Everything homogenized. They had some Top 40 hits off this record. But Stupid Girl is the only, really good song.

I had a suspicion Garbage would be a greatest hits band but I had higher hopes here. It’s fine, aggressively so, and Shirley Manson being sexy and angsty can’t save an overproduced mess of trip-hop and grunge. Butch Vig assembled a band of producers but there’s just no soul to it.

ok

Perfectly fine if not a little dated. Don’t really love the opening track or “Only Happy When It Rains” but the rest is a bit more cohesive. It does all kinda blend together by the end, though.

Not the biggest fan of this album because while it is catchy enough at times, it still feels like formulaic rockband with bratty front woman. Maybe Garbage perfected this, but it's not something I'd be interested in listen to it again.

Absolutely fine pop rock. I quite liked a couple of the songs, such as As Heaven is Wide, but overall this was just OK and very of its era. Vow is about the most teenaged song I've ever heard. Absolutely some teenager was listening to this and singing along.

i really wanted to like this, and i do somewhat, but there’s so many other 90s bands i prefer: Helium, Kelly Deal 6000, Swirlies being my favorites. this just doesn’t scratch the same itch for me, but i get its merit and i love to see a cool girl singing

it’s not the worst thing ever. i actually thought the opening track was fire and got excited. but as the album progresses, it got pretty dull, to me at least. very typical 90s alternative rock.

bad aged

I tried to get into it but it just wasn't hitting

I'm just not into it. I'm sure it was big when it came out but this music isn't that appealing to me. I like the singer's voice but I think it was all too pop/punk for my taste.

very bland

Uuummmm see album title or band title

Not fond of this album, but I do believe Garbage’s Bond theme for The World Is Not Enough is underrated (and one of the better parts of a bloody awful film).

Honestly thought it was edgy but wasn’t. Couple solid tracks with a distinct sound I wish were expanded on Musical equivalent of that debby Ryan meme for the most part

I’d have loved this when I was 13 and thought I was edgy.

Album neutre. Pas désagréable, mais 1 minute après la fin, tu te rappelles plus de ce que t'as entendu. Oubliable.

Bättre än jag trodde, men inte riktigt min grej. 3/10

Perfectly fine to listen to and i'm perfectly happy to not listen to it again.

2.5. I can see why occasionally they pop up on 90s compilations but otherwise I haven’t thought of them for thirty years.

The production quality of this isn’t lost on me, but the dust of the 90s settled heavily on this. I can see their frosted tips and soul patches through the speakers. The 90s textures nearly overshadow the appealing attitude of the lead singer. But I like how they pull in some electronic elements while honoring the alternative genre they inhabited. “Fix Me Now” was my favorite track on the album. Not something I needed on the daily, but not bad.

The album was good, but imo not too dynamic. Since Butch Vig produced it, I take "Nevermind" as an example: you got the quiet songs, sad songs, loud songs, wild songs and pop songs. I think "Garbage" could have these dynamics too, because the singer definitly has some talent.

Ujdzie ale niczym nie urzekło 2/5. Wszystko takie samo.

Never been a fan of Garbage. I like "Only Happy When It Rains" but the album is dated at best and generic pop rock even in its time at the worst.

Essence of bad rock music from 90

At least the name fits

Eh not something I can really vibe to

Absolutely loved supervixen. The rest didn’t stand out

Album art: 1

It’s cool that these guys are from Madison but it’s meh otherwise

Just like the name of the band and this album. Complete SHE-E-O garbage

for some reason I hated this from the beginning

cool not my favorite but its okay

Glad I got the chance to listen to this album, but it din't knock my socks off. Solid, but just another 90s garage rock band

"The album was met with critical acclaim upon its release, being viewed by some as an innovative recording for its time." I guess. It doesn't strike me as an album I need to hear before I die. It's not bad; it's not great. It doesn't belong on this list, so I'm marking it as average and rounding down.

not bad, close to garbage though

Another 90's trope that was on every radio station, TV show and mediocre DJ playlist. Drove me crazy. I've heard this album in full few times, someone I dated listened to it a lot, but that's about it. Its edgy pop music, with a slight punkish undertones and I understand they made an effort to not include "grunge vocabulary" in their music. I hear and understand the appeal, but do not like the album, for reasons I cannot put to words. I might be biased "having been there", overexposure and what have you.

I didn't like ANYTHING about this record until track 7, when all of a sudden I recognized sthg and started to enjoy it. Still, I wouldn't reach for this album a second time

All too aware of this band having been alive and near various radios in the 90s. They were not a "change the channel" band but never thought too much of them. So until about halfway through my inaugural trip of this album I was preparing my one word review - "garbage!". I thought the first half was a mess - overproduced mid level dreck. But from Vow I was onboard. In the end - I think a lot of people do this vibe much better. But vow, stupid and and milk are all standouts.

I never really got into Garbage. Idk if they just didn't hit my radar or what but this album won't change that. It was just very meh. I'm not sure what to rate it because it's just so unremarkable.

If not for the industrial and shoegaze elements, this would be another bland Trip Hop album. But while this has some good songs, as a whole it doesn't move the needle much for me. Personally, I don't have any deep desire to revisit which is unfortunate because I wanted to like this more.

Starts off interestingly, before getting pretty mundane and monotonous. "Stupid Girl" gives a good break from the self-loathing and angst. The chorus of "Fix Me Now" is also a welcome break from the monotony. Wouldn't listen to this again.

A little too self titled imo… I don’t know I guess if this is nostalgic it can hit the sweet spot but felt all over the place to me. Grungy pop isn’t for me maybe

2- Stars (4/15)

Bang average miserablist pop rock. 2.5 🌟

Dislike

Not really for me at all. That strange blend of alt-rock, dance-rock, industrial, power pop that only the mid 90s could produce. There is a hit on this album that I recognized, but other than that it was mostly just background noise.

Soulless, lifeless and insincere. This is music as a product pretending to be art. A grungy cash-grab 5/10

I don't get the hype.

i thought this might turn out to be a guilty pleasure but it’s just greasy and neurotic

Not sure why but this one didn't resonate with me. Felt like it didn't go hard enough? I know I like some of Garbage's later stuff a bit better. Maybe I need to give it another shot sometime.

Vocals reminded me of Patti smith at times but found the lyrics pretty terrible and music sounded like one of those sample tracks on a keyboard after a while

Very much in my wheelhouse but did absolutely nothing for me

No

Weird!

Nothing of note sadly. 4/10

Gear: DCA ÆON 2 Noire Artwork: 🐷 Mix: 🆗 Musik: 🚯 Wertung: 🚯🚯(🚯)/5

Never liked this band.

Not my idea of a good time.

#57 - no real takeaways from this

I understand why people loved it during its era but ultimately it is disposable sounding for me

I think this is cool, but in the way that someone looks cool before you get to know them.

STANDOUTS: Only Happy When It Rains As Heaven Is Wide OVERALL: 2/5

While I didn't like this music, I thought it was going to be a lot worse. There are a lot of garbage metaphors that need not be written, just knowing they exist is enough for me.

3/10

Snoozefest Honk mimimimimi

Punk album was okay easy listen

At least it lives up to its name

Musically I really enjoyed it and it's very well produced but the lead singers voice ruins it for me. I can't get passed the aged electronic guitar either. Misses the mark.

Girl grunge… as good as it could get, I guess.

Well I like the voice and the instrumentation. Lyrics seem like they would appeal to a 16 year old. It is alright but I probably am not coming back to this.

“Milk” 🤝 “Safe As Milk”

I don’t know. Hard to give lots of stars to garbage.

Eh

Another trip into nostalgia of my cd collection - wasn't that big a fan, but they were very hyped. Opens strong, then a LOT of filler.

I'm like four songs in and I absolutely hate the drums on this album. I'm surprised by how bland and boring and generic this sounds. Did I say I really dislike the drum machine vibe this record gives off? After repeat listens. I like the songs with the darker vibes...the production is actually good in the sense...hearing the different elements going on, but it feels like the energy has been robbed. It sounds narrow. Thanks to the drums, it doesn't sound like a live band. It sounds like something that has been assembled. You know, like in Pro Tools or whatever.