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It's not that Garbage is doing anything particularly new. At times, singer Shirley Manson borrows Chrissie Hynde's phrasing, Patti Smith's rock beat poetry, and Brian Wilson's chorus from "Don't Worry Baby." But producer Butch Vig provides a modern sheen to
Version 2.0 that makes it sound fresh and distinctly modern. Purists may blanch--the album is a hybrid of rock guitars, dance rhythms, and pop choruses--but songs such as "I Think I'm Paranoid" (a rip of Elastica) and "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" (Depeche Mode, without the chill) sound great no matter what they're called.
--Keith Moerer
Review
Beneath this CD's slick, danceable surface lurks a menacing, unpredictable animal ready to pounce--as well as a reason for pop music fans of all stripes to rejoice. Here's a band unafraid of mixing the latest sonic bleeps and blasts with references, both lyrical and otherwise, to classic guitar rock. On its 1995 debut, the result was occasionally like listening to Top-40 radio while vacuuming the living room. But not here, thanks to consistently strong songwriting and a sophisticated, multilayered sound that prevents any one whizbang musical element from stealing the show. --
PeopleYou'll find extra effervescence in Garbage's new songs.... Everywhere they can, the foursome push the improbable, mixing the ghostly sound of a theremin with serrated guitars or working up a series of screeches and bleats into a sturdy pop bridge. But it's [Shirley] Manson's persona that makes these songs more than just clever exercises in avant-pop. --
Entertainment Weekly
