<div style='font: 11pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light"; text-align: left; '>Three or four years ago, I was afraid to buy any of Garbage's stuff because I thought the name matched the quality. Now, the title of their new album does indeed match the quality. Enter "Beautifulgarbage". Quite frankly, it sucks. I waited three years, with baited breath, for a new Garbage album, that if it didn't surpass the quality of Version 2.0, it would at least match it.
It didn't.
In fact, they have shot themselves in the head and entered Commercialism Hell. They've sold their souls to the Radio Demons. I cringe at almost every song, not because of one unifying reason, but a different one each time. <u>Androgyny</u> sounds like some fucking R&B song with a bit of electronica mixing, except for a decent chorus. <u>Can't Cry These Tears</u> sounds like what type of song it should be with a title like that: some goddamn sappy love song. <u>Cup of Coffee</u> is one of those mellow songs that, unlike (one of my favs) <u>The Trick is to Try to Keep Breathing</u>, lacks the musical and vocal prowess that would put the song on much higher ground. <u>Silence is Golden</u> could end up being a good song, if it wasn't for the terrible live recording, and the lack of mixing which makes the songs feel so polished. <u>Cherry Lips</u> is okay, but listening to Shirley Manson sing like a 15-year-old girl (which lyrics to match) is grating. <u>Drive You Home</u>...well, if I wanted this, I'd buy a Mazzy Star CD. <u>Untouchable</u> sounds like some fucking Backstreet Boys song.
Besides <u>Parade</u> (the only good song on there), the rest are pretty mediocre. Butch Vig has lost his talent and Shirley Manson has lost her "bad girl" image. They've lost their Curve influences, their edges of insanity, their polished and finished products. What went wrong?
<hr>
This is not the only time I've been disappointed by a great band that produces a bad 2001 album. In fact, I've only appreciated a few good ones this year. I also wrote a review of Orbital's The Altogether on the Orbital ML a while back, so I'll reprint it here, too:
I've seen a lot of people praising this album or comparing this to MoN, or a lot of other grossly-incorrect opinions. So, here I am to debunk what you believe, and cram my opinion of the album down your throut until you choke. I shall do this song by song and then compare with the previous albums:
Tootled - What the hell?!? When did ripping off of Tool become a good idea? I don't care if the song is named after Tool, it's still a rip off. And it's a poor song. It's just a collection of sounds that don't work well, some of them sounding like they belong on Quality Seconds. And that Tool sound that I've heard on the radio over and over irks me. Basically, Orbital tried to make a "good" version of Quality Seconds, but Quality Seconds was a joke song. It was a joke saying "We don't produce crap like this." Seven years later, they're producing crap like this.
Oi! - This is alright for most average songs. Not exactly Orbital-quality, but it's alright. It sounds like something else, but I quite place it. Maybe Orbital is trying to be like Orb or Plaid or something. Yeah, that's it. Paul's been listening to too much Plaid, so they made an album to try to mimic it. Sorry, but only Plaid can be Plaid. (Okay, maybe Black Dog, but seriously...)
Tension - I like this song, but again, it sounds like something else. Maybe this is more of Orb-esque stuff? The song lack enough variation, though. (Which in techno, is like saying "I don't like the instrument set right now, so change it please.")
Pay Per View - This was one song that stuck in my mind as a good song when I first played it, so I played it a few more times. I think the thing that caught me was the "chorus" with the singer in the background. It had what most of Altogether didn't have and MoN/In Sides did: a little bit of beauty. Strings and beautiful vocals. However, the melody sounds like your cheesy jazzy/rock bass line shit.
Illuminate - Ummmm...what the fuck is this shit?! If I wanted a fucking Elton John song, I'd buy fucking Elton John!! I think the brothers REALLY need to stop listening to David Grey! Or maybe it's all of you fucking Moby listeners who's corrupted my beloved Orbital brothers! Damn you!! Damn you all!!!
Last Thing - This is a not their type of song, but this is a really good song. Nice instrument set, nice contrast between the singing and the dark riffs, and nice beat. If Altogether was filled with songs like this, I'd be taken aback by the change in styles, but I'd like the album.
Funny Break - This almost sounds like a joke song with the happy riffs, but it's not. Unforunately. The singing is good. (God, that singer is holding up the entire goddamn album!) But, the song suffers from what most of the album suffers: lack of complexity and not enough variety.
Doctor? - Excuse me, but this is filler. We just had a single with this song on it, so this shouldn't count on the album. As a bonus song, maybe, but not officially on the album. This is as bad as the filler songs Apollo 440 put on their new album. (Good album, but still.)
Shadows - This album tries to be like its old style, but it just doesn't make it. Maybe it's because Orbital is trying to make a dance album. Not to say that older Orbital isn't dancable, but it was intelligent. IDM, duh. Orbital is straying from IDM and going into UDM.
Waving Not Drowning - Uhhhh...ummmmm...nevermind.
Meltdown - Ahhhhh...there's Orbital, all the way at the last song. I thought we lost them. It has a PETROL type of darkness/madness to it that I like. The good instrument table is back. And the mixer is back. Somebody is actually doing stuff like flanging. Did they lose Micky Mann or something?
--------------------
Now, MoN is a FAR SUPERIOR album than Altogether in all respects! Way Out is tied with GSH as my favorite Orbital song. (I think my favorite song is still Waterfall Cities by Orzic Tentacles, though.) I love the strings and the singing. Se habla S-T-R-I-N-G-S!! Where are the strings in Altogether? The beautiful strings and french horns and singing, which somehow mixes well with the drums. And drums they are: congo drums mixed with drum machines, as well as other percussion. The complexity. So complex that you can listen to it over and over again and notice something new every time. If Orbital of this calibre combined with a singer like the chick from Hybrid, or the complex guitars riffs of Orzic Tentacles, they would be gods. True gods.
This one song makes MoN infinately better than Altogether. But all of the other songs are very good, too. Style, Nothing Left, I Don't Know You People. Hell, even Spare Parts Express is better than all of Altogether. What about the albums before this?
Like In Sides, my first intro to Orbital. The Girl with the Sun in Her Head, my first Orbital song. A song so brilliant in sound and texture and complexity, I immediately identified Orbital as the best of the best in techno. A new catagory of music. Something that goes beyond the crappy house tunes, and the repetitive trance tunes, and all of the other shit that almost every person that wants to call themselves a DJ produce. This is why I listen to techno. This is truly why I was drawn to it. The bigbeat songs, and dance stuff I listened to before were good, but this was what was on top of the mountain. This was the diamond in the rough! This is the stuff I listen to with my eyes closed, standing back in my room, directly on the sweet spot of my stereo system, and listen with 100% of my focus. A focus so great that it gives me a rush just listening to it. The song of constantly adding layers feels adding to something that is already great, and making it greater, until it slowly fades into the background, slowly...like the sun setting into the background. It's the sun in our heads...
Fucking hell! Where is Orbital now?</div>
It didn't.
In fact, they have shot themselves in the head and entered Commercialism Hell. They've sold their souls to the Radio Demons. I cringe at almost every song, not because of one unifying reason, but a different one each time. <u>Androgyny</u> sounds like some fucking R&B song with a bit of electronica mixing, except for a decent chorus. <u>Can't Cry These Tears</u> sounds like what type of song it should be with a title like that: some goddamn sappy love song. <u>Cup of Coffee</u> is one of those mellow songs that, unlike (one of my favs) <u>The Trick is to Try to Keep Breathing</u>, lacks the musical and vocal prowess that would put the song on much higher ground. <u>Silence is Golden</u> could end up being a good song, if it wasn't for the terrible live recording, and the lack of mixing which makes the songs feel so polished. <u>Cherry Lips</u> is okay, but listening to Shirley Manson sing like a 15-year-old girl (which lyrics to match) is grating. <u>Drive You Home</u>...well, if I wanted this, I'd buy a Mazzy Star CD. <u>Untouchable</u> sounds like some fucking Backstreet Boys song.
Besides <u>Parade</u> (the only good song on there), the rest are pretty mediocre. Butch Vig has lost his talent and Shirley Manson has lost her "bad girl" image. They've lost their Curve influences, their edges of insanity, their polished and finished products. What went wrong?
<hr>
This is not the only time I've been disappointed by a great band that produces a bad 2001 album. In fact, I've only appreciated a few good ones this year. I also wrote a review of Orbital's The Altogether on the Orbital ML a while back, so I'll reprint it here, too:
I've seen a lot of people praising this album or comparing this to MoN, or a lot of other grossly-incorrect opinions. So, here I am to debunk what you believe, and cram my opinion of the album down your throut until you choke. I shall do this song by song and then compare with the previous albums:
Tootled - What the hell?!? When did ripping off of Tool become a good idea? I don't care if the song is named after Tool, it's still a rip off. And it's a poor song. It's just a collection of sounds that don't work well, some of them sounding like they belong on Quality Seconds. And that Tool sound that I've heard on the radio over and over irks me. Basically, Orbital tried to make a "good" version of Quality Seconds, but Quality Seconds was a joke song. It was a joke saying "We don't produce crap like this." Seven years later, they're producing crap like this.
Oi! - This is alright for most average songs. Not exactly Orbital-quality, but it's alright. It sounds like something else, but I quite place it. Maybe Orbital is trying to be like Orb or Plaid or something. Yeah, that's it. Paul's been listening to too much Plaid, so they made an album to try to mimic it. Sorry, but only Plaid can be Plaid. (Okay, maybe Black Dog, but seriously...)
Tension - I like this song, but again, it sounds like something else. Maybe this is more of Orb-esque stuff? The song lack enough variation, though. (Which in techno, is like saying "I don't like the instrument set right now, so change it please.")
Pay Per View - This was one song that stuck in my mind as a good song when I first played it, so I played it a few more times. I think the thing that caught me was the "chorus" with the singer in the background. It had what most of Altogether didn't have and MoN/In Sides did: a little bit of beauty. Strings and beautiful vocals. However, the melody sounds like your cheesy jazzy/rock bass line shit.
Illuminate - Ummmm...what the fuck is this shit?! If I wanted a fucking Elton John song, I'd buy fucking Elton John!! I think the brothers REALLY need to stop listening to David Grey! Or maybe it's all of you fucking Moby listeners who's corrupted my beloved Orbital brothers! Damn you!! Damn you all!!!
Last Thing - This is a not their type of song, but this is a really good song. Nice instrument set, nice contrast between the singing and the dark riffs, and nice beat. If Altogether was filled with songs like this, I'd be taken aback by the change in styles, but I'd like the album.
Funny Break - This almost sounds like a joke song with the happy riffs, but it's not. Unforunately. The singing is good. (God, that singer is holding up the entire goddamn album!) But, the song suffers from what most of the album suffers: lack of complexity and not enough variety.
Doctor? - Excuse me, but this is filler. We just had a single with this song on it, so this shouldn't count on the album. As a bonus song, maybe, but not officially on the album. This is as bad as the filler songs Apollo 440 put on their new album. (Good album, but still.)
Shadows - This album tries to be like its old style, but it just doesn't make it. Maybe it's because Orbital is trying to make a dance album. Not to say that older Orbital isn't dancable, but it was intelligent. IDM, duh. Orbital is straying from IDM and going into UDM.
Waving Not Drowning - Uhhhh...ummmmm...nevermind.
Meltdown - Ahhhhh...there's Orbital, all the way at the last song. I thought we lost them. It has a PETROL type of darkness/madness to it that I like. The good instrument table is back. And the mixer is back. Somebody is actually doing stuff like flanging. Did they lose Micky Mann or something?
--------------------
Now, MoN is a FAR SUPERIOR album than Altogether in all respects! Way Out is tied with GSH as my favorite Orbital song. (I think my favorite song is still Waterfall Cities by Orzic Tentacles, though.) I love the strings and the singing. Se habla S-T-R-I-N-G-S!! Where are the strings in Altogether? The beautiful strings and french horns and singing, which somehow mixes well with the drums. And drums they are: congo drums mixed with drum machines, as well as other percussion. The complexity. So complex that you can listen to it over and over again and notice something new every time. If Orbital of this calibre combined with a singer like the chick from Hybrid, or the complex guitars riffs of Orzic Tentacles, they would be gods. True gods.
This one song makes MoN infinately better than Altogether. But all of the other songs are very good, too. Style, Nothing Left, I Don't Know You People. Hell, even Spare Parts Express is better than all of Altogether. What about the albums before this?
Like In Sides, my first intro to Orbital. The Girl with the Sun in Her Head, my first Orbital song. A song so brilliant in sound and texture and complexity, I immediately identified Orbital as the best of the best in techno. A new catagory of music. Something that goes beyond the crappy house tunes, and the repetitive trance tunes, and all of the other shit that almost every person that wants to call themselves a DJ produce. This is why I listen to techno. This is truly why I was drawn to it. The bigbeat songs, and dance stuff I listened to before were good, but this was what was on top of the mountain. This was the diamond in the rough! This is the stuff I listen to with my eyes closed, standing back in my room, directly on the sweet spot of my stereo system, and listen with 100% of my focus. A focus so great that it gives me a rush just listening to it. The song of constantly adding layers feels adding to something that is already great, and making it greater, until it slowly fades into the background, slowly...like the sun setting into the background. It's the sun in our heads...
Fucking hell! Where is Orbital now?</div>
Rosalina: But you didn't.
Robert: But I DON'T.
Rosalina: You sure that's right?
Robert: I was going to HAVE told you they'd come?
Rosalina: No.
Robert: The subjunctive?
Rosalina: That's not the subjunctive.
Robert: I don't think the syntax has been invented yet.
Rosalina: It would have had to have had been.
Robert: Had to have...had...been? That can't be right.
Robert: But I DON'T.
Rosalina: You sure that's right?
Robert: I was going to HAVE told you they'd come?
Rosalina: No.
Robert: The subjunctive?
Rosalina: That's not the subjunctive.
Robert: I don't think the syntax has been invented yet.
Rosalina: It would have had to have had been.
Robert: Had to have...had...been? That can't be right.
