Garbage, 'Bleed Like Me'

Chances are that Garbage’s fourth album ‘Bleed Like Me’, will also be their final release. Though the dreaded Best Of is mooted for 2006 (and only dreaded in the sense that a compilation is more often than not released when an act have decided to call it quits), we should probably be grateful that this record even saw the light of day.

‘Bleed Like Me’’s original title was ‘Hands On A Hard Body’ – talk about making abundantly clear that the group weren’t getting on. Butch Vig actually believed that the band had split and took off to Los Angles. While there, some fans convinced him to carry on which at least made him listen to the original sessions for the record. Soon after, he bumped into Dave Grohl at a Christmas party who agreed to put in a cameo drumming spot on the track ‘Bad Boyfriend’. And so if the record doesn’t sound as slick as previous works from the Garbage canon, well, that’s hardly a surprise. Ironically, the tension translates onto the record with a real vigor. ‘Why Do You Love Me’ finds Shirley Manson at her angsty best (“I’ve held back a wealth of shit/I think I’m gonna choke”) whereas ‘Run Baby Run’ and ‘Right Between The Eyes’ are among the finest Garbage tracks.

And so out of adversity, Garbage have risen to deliver, against the odds, true quality and get it off their chests once and for all. Manson talks about her “scars” and even seems to challenge her band mates within three minutes of the record starting by declaring that, “if you can’t love me honey, go on, just pretend”. Whether they’re play-acting or not, you’ll be thrilled throughout. And if their last ever single proves to be ‘It’s All Over But The Crying’ you can’t say you weren’t warned.