After the suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994, the Grunge scene began to die a slow and painful death in the USA. There was a big void to fill in the wake of his death musically, particularly in the Pop/Rock scene. In some ways, the Britpop invasion did that, but in other areas, there was still a lot of uncertainty about what sort of music the future would hold. Garbage was a band designed to fill some of the issues behind the death of Grunge and initially, nobody took them seriously. Hence the name of this band which was actually a selfishly ironic statement and acknowledgement from a friend that, “their music sounded like garbage”. Still, this album was released to critical acclaim and is seen as an important and somewhat influential release from this era, and featured contributions from Nirvana’s breakthrough Nevermind producer Butch Vig. Let’s warp back to 1995 and take a listen to this debut album from Garbage, and hopefully, it will live up to its promise of musical quality.

Supervixen begins with a strange stop/start groove and sounds very different to anything else in the Rock music scene out there. Soon enough, singer Shirley Manson sings about explicit sexual deeds and other interesting ongoing. The chorus is very, very cool. It is one of the better and overlooked listens from this era. Rock and Hard Rock fans will definitely appreciate this music. The guitars are cranked up nice and high here, and the whole thing sounds discordant, powerful and enjoyable. There is a weird guitar solo present in the second half that sounds almost like slide guitar, in a way. Nonetheless, this is a great beginning to this album, and this proves that both men and women can Rock well in this genre of Rock. A glorious Noise Rock staple, and worth your ears all the way. A great start to this album. “Bow down to me,” is repeated at the end here, nice work.

Queer sounds rather unusual from the start, with some Fender guitars and some guitar harmonics that sound like a harmonica, and some smooth vocal harmonies. It’s an interesting song about attracting men who dig chicks, although whether or not this is about homosexuality is rather up for grabs. It’s a wacky song throughout, which sounds like a rather warped Pop/Rock tune from the 1990s. It’s a strange listen that makes sense if you are male, and some ladies may like some of the sexual imagery present as well. It has some amazing sounds throughout, and this song is very dynamic, catchy and has some old-fashioned Jazz sounds as a repeated interlude here. Which is very odd. Towards the middle, the song changes completely and sounds very discordant and chaotic. Still, this is an impressive listening experience and although this kind of music sounds very dated today, it still packs a punch. Very catchy, this one can induce headbanging throughout. Nonetheless, this is an excellent song to listen to. Its sexual imagery, breakbeat styled drum parts, guitars and smooth singing will take you by surprise. A great song to listen to, this is much more about bisexuals than anything else. A great piece of music, it fades out well at the end. Excellent.

Only Happy When It Rains begins with some electronic sounds, and quickly launches into an instant 1990s radio classic. It sounds really cool, dirty and amazing and is an ode to melancholy, years before Coldplay exploited that sort of feeling. “Pour your misery down on me” is repeated here, and the music is very fantastic. It sounds somewhat like Guns N Roses here, although not deliberately. There are backward guitars in between the chorus and verses, along with other neat production touches that sound great. A really cool and awesomely decently melodic tune that still sounds catchy, imaginative and consistent to this day, the repeated vocals throughout are really fantastic. A very good piece, one can imagine that Alternative radio stations would have loved this music back in the day. This is proof that women can make explicit and interesting Rock music as well as men can, and this is a really electrifying and tuneful song, although it is devoted to miserabilism. Great, however.

As Heaven Is Wide begins with some bell like chimes, launching into a Breakbeat styled drum loop and some rather ordinary bass guitar sounds. Still, this is fairly forgivable as the rest of the tune holds up well. It is another personal tale of music and sound that sounds really pretty and amazing throughout, with a dark and menacing feel to it. This is obviously a lesser track on this album, but it still is fairly listenable throughout. Still, a lack of consistency is present, which is not on, especially at this point early on in Garbage’s career. The lyrics are devilish, but that is the exact intent here. Obviously following a slight influence of people like Marilyn Manson, Shirley Manson evokes some really deep and sinful emotion from the listener. Unfortunately, this is not as good as it could be. A really ordinary sounding piece that could have easily been bettered, the length of this tune is also a letdown. A disappointment, but nonetheless, this is okay. It ends with some warped guitar chords and another fade-out. There are some warped sounds at the end here.

Not My Idea is a much better tune, with some repeated guitar riffs, and some interesting sounds throughout. It launches into an interesting sounding guitar led ballad that sounds really amazing. Shirley Manson sings almost like New Order in the verses, before launching into a song railing against authority and other things that don’t impress her. This sounds lively and supercharged song that affirms the spirit of women out there who want a better deal out of life. Nonetheless, this is a cool, interesting and catchy song that shows that Garbage had a decent sense of musicality about them. An interesting listen, it is about relationship issues present. Undeniably, there is frequently a gender imbalance in most societies to this very day, and Garbage tackles the matter well here. A good song nonetheless, it works well and fades out gently at the end.

A Stroke Of Luck begins with some weird electronic sounds before launching into an almost Reggae beat with electric guitars and other sounds galore. To be fair, this album is rather hit-and-miss, and this is one of the songs that fits in the latter. Not very impressive overall, it just seems like a real drag. In any case, this is an okay tune, with some references to God and the devil throughout. This isn’t the most inspired or consistent tune overall, and it comes down as fairly average listening. A good song if you feel emotional, but aside from that, nothing really inspired or worth remembering here. This is a shame as Garbage’s musical mission otherwise makes sense. It just sounds too bland and emotionally flat to really be appreciated here. Also, this is a bit long length wise and should be a lot shorter in terms of song length. An okay song, but nothing really worth hitting the repeat button for. Which is disappointing. The whooshing sounds re-emerge towards the end before this concludes by fading out.

Vow begins with some stereo panned guitar chords, before Shirley Manson says, “I can’t use what I can’t abuse” and this is about relationship issues, not drugs, surprisingly. Unfortunately, the negativity here and the fact that this isn’t the best album out there means that this song is not really that good, as a result. It’s okay musically, but Garbage does come across as mainly garbage, which is an irony. This music could be bettered, and even Nirvana themselves made negativity look and sound cool in their own music. Garbage do not, in comparison, sadly. Fairly ordinary listening, the lyrics are beyond brutal and sound nasty. In the second half are some Spanish acoustic guitars and bongos, just for the sake of it. This continues on for some time with this section, before resuming into the rather awful main song section at hand. Sadly, this is not great. The negativity, song length and awful sounds do not make this an outright winner, sadly. It ends with the Spanish acoustic guitars and other sounds persisting through to the fade out. It’s okay, but not great.

Stupid Girl begins with some beats sampled from The Clash’s Train In Vain (Stand By Me), which isn’t a point of originality, along with some spacey guitar sounds. It launches into a much better song than what has come before it, and Shirley Manson sings wonderfully here. A really enjoyable listening experience regardless, this is one of the standouts of this album. It is a piece of Punk-like bile and anger aimed at another woman who isn’t a real person. Regardless, this is an interesting tune that sounds fairly good, but again, isn’t the most memorable song from this era. The chorus is fairly good, however, and it is a good tune about seeing through someone. Of course, there are plenty of people out there who are liars and fakes, and this song is good for what it is. Some awful guitar sounds are present here in the bridge, and Shirley Manson does a good vocal delivery here, illuminating an otherwise average song. It also seems like a rather lengthy listen, yet again. If quality control was more of a thing on this album, the songs would be more treasure than trash. A very lethargic sounding tune, but good anyway.

Dog New Tricks begins with some weird sonic sounds, before launching into another fairly average song. Again, this is a bit difficult to get through, and it does not sound refreshing or redeeming musically. The chorus is fairly good and memorable, but the rest of the song isn’t. A good listen, but in no way is this great. Some lyrics are present about those who leave one alone in life, before launching into some paranoid loathing in the chorus. The solo section present here isn’t the greatest, and these songs are really fairly average. By this point, most serious listeners will not wish to proceed with hearing the rest of this album. It just is fairly lacking overall, and the songs are quite forgettable in general. Not a great listen, the outro in particular is quite awful.

My Lover’s Box begins with some electronic sounds, before quickly launching into a good song with slide guitar. This is surprisingly good compared to some of the songs prior to it, it shows that Garbage perhaps needed more time and effort on their songs before releasing this album. Regardless, this is a fairly romantic tune that sounds great as sung by Shirley Manson. No other singer can evocate the singing and lyricism of such songs and song styles better than she can in terms of the female side of things in music such as this. The slide guitar throughout is a bit weird, but otherwise, this is a very good listening experience that is one of the better cuts of this album. A fairly enjoyable and uplifting song that is well-constructed and interesting to listen to. Towards the end is some rather semi-Psychedelic mixing on the multitracked guitars and drums here, with repeated vocals from Shirley Manson. Good, even if this album isn’t that great. It concludes with a rather spacey outro.

Fix Me Now begins with flanger sounds and electronic drumbeats, with Shirley Manson murmuring over the top of it all. This isn’t a million miles away from some of the more experimental work from Nine Inch Nails. It quickly launches into quite a good 1990s styled tune with some good guitar riffing. Good for Alternative music of the time, this is proof that, although this album is quite average, it is bookended with some surprisingly decent songs. This is one of those decent songs, and the singing in the chorus is indeed, very nice to hear. The lyrics present are more so about relationships here, and this rather catchy tune is an excellent example of radio ready Alternative Rock of the mid-1990s. There is a twisted guitar solo with repeated harmony based vocals, before returning back into the verses. An interesting, professional sounding and well produced tune, this is worth it towards the end of the album. Great and enjoyable music, this is a step up in terms of quality here. Some whispered vocals are at the end here, and the band finishes, with some strange sounds at the end. Quite good.

Milk is the last tune on this album, and sounds somewhat Psychedelic at the start, before launching into a smooth ballad that sounds completely different to everything else on this album. A really slow, sensual and different listen. The chorus has Mellotron sounds galore and this is definitely unusual for an Alternative Rock band to do. Regardless, an interesting tune, “I’m waiting, I’m waiting, for you” is repeated here, and the whole thing is a good experimental ballad. In any case, this makes a break from the main section of songs on this album, and Shirley Manson sings really beautifully in this song, in particular. A worthwhile and interesting listening experience, this concludes the album on a gentle note. Not bad.

Overall, this album is very hit-and-miss. In some areas, these songs show definite promise. In other areas, the music just isn’t there. This points to the fact that Garbage was very much a product of their time, not necessarily to be there for a longer term period. Therefore, this album is okay, but not fantastic musically. Should you listen to this album? Only really if you enjoy female and unusual Alternative Rock music. Otherwise, the answer is no.

A bit of a drag to get through.

5/10