Amazon.co.uk Review
As its title suggests,
Version 2.0 is no great departure for Garbage from the sound that made their eponymous 1995 debut such a hit. While much was made of the various band members' chequered pasts (drummer Butch Vig produced Nirvana's
Nevermind; singer Shirley Manson was in dreadful Scottish agit-goths Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie), Garbage actually don't sound anything like what these previous projects might have led one to expect. One of the few truly modern rock bands--although for some reason this is often described as being contrived by reactionary critics--Garbage blend traditional rock instrumentation with samples, programming and the close to unlimited possibilities presented by late 1990s recording technology more naturally than many of their "Look at us! We're so contemporary!" peers. While this album fails to match the quality of the debut, it nevertheless has a number of cool moments, including the singles "Special", "When I Grow Up", "I Think I'm Paranoid", and the Beach Boys-quoting "Push It".
--Ronita Dutta
CD Description
Those of you who found yourselves mysteriously drawn to thedark sexuality of Garbage's debut might not get what you expect from their follow-up--at least at first. But a closer listen reveals that VERSION 2.0 is actually much closer to the true Garbage sound. The reason: Where GARBAGE was already more or less completed when Shirley Manson signed up, 2.0 allows her much more freedom to control the group's sound. Thedistorted guitar hooks, loops and industrialised productionthat defined Garbage's sound on their debut are still present, but tempered by Ms. Manson's strong pop sensibilities. If you listen closely, you can even catch hints of Blondie and the Pretenders. (They quote the Pretenders "The Talk Of The Town" in "Special".) And while it isn't exactly the Spice Girls or Hanson, 2.0 is a much more upbeat, happy-sounding album. Instead of appealing to the brooding, listen-alone-in-your-room-with-the-lights-out crowd, 2.0 is aimed straight at the dance floor.
