Review Tuesday: Not Your Average Album

Paving the way for great bands like Evanescence, Garbage was one of the most influential female led rock bands of the 90s and 2000s. Their first two albums and arguably their best, launched Garbage into critical and mainstream success. With lead vocals from Scottish singer Shirley Manson and gritty digital rock production from fellow Wisconsin native bandmates Duke Erikson (bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Steve Marker (guitar, keyboards) and Butch Vig (drums, percussion, and producer for Nirvana's Nevermind, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, and Green Day) made them one of the world's most successful groups. However a niche for perfection and label trouble contributed to their watered down sound on later albums and break-up. After a 7 year hiatus, the band has reunited and hopes to recapture the sound and success of their first two albums with their recent effort Not Your Kind of People.

Staying consistant with almost otherworldy guitar effects and riffs while mixing electro rock with grunge and Manson's iconic voice, Not your kind of people is a solid effort. Although Garbage still find themselves falling into that rock-pop category with almost machine-like persfection that industry has pushed them into before with their opening trrack "Automatic Systematic Habitat", the album soon changes to a more psycholdelic and electro-rock vibe with tracks "Big Bright World" and "Felt". The lead single "Blood for Poppies" takes the listener on a tale of a soldier in Afghanistan over a sick guitar riff and Eastern vibe. The rest of the album follows more of the rock vibe with lead singer Manson's dreamy yet eerie voice narrating a somewhat hallucinagenic musical trip. 

With Not Your Kind of People, Garbage returns to the more gritty and rock inspored sound that found them success with previous albums but dont stray too far into experimentation of current electro-rock or alternative rock pop. It took me awhile to get to this review for various reasons but one reason is that this album took some time to grow on me. It is mainly a album for the orginial hardcore fans with some songs that may appeal to a new generation but above all is a confirmation that Garbage has not let the hiatus change them for worse.

"Blood for poppies"

"Automatic Systematic Habitat"

"Felt"