NEW RELEASES: No Gods No Masters - Garbage

 I was a little late to the Garbage party and realizing what an ill-fitted band name they have. Although, Garbage seems to comprise a perfect blend of human angst and self-deprecation that does fit exceptionally well. I heard their song "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" on alternative radio, and suddenly I have 3 physical Garbage cds. Now we get a fresh new album from them, and while they're making music in the modern era, they have not lost their 90s edge. If you are searching, there is also an RSD day exclusive vinyl which may be around in one of the stores locally! For this review, I'll be covering the Deluxe edition of No Gods No Masters.

Lead singer Shirley Manson made this album inherently political to many when she made her comments suggesting the album was a critique of the rise of capitalistic short-sightedness and harm to minorities across the globe. Interesting enough, none of it came off directly political in a sense of telling you what to think, but more an emotional cry of "Make it stop!" 

The album starts with lead single "The Men Who Rule the World", which has a new punk sound and a lyricism that makes it seem she is crying for God to drown the world and restart it again. Destroy the violator! 

The album moves to a song called "The Creeps", which has a bit more of a pop-driven beat than the first song. I actually love how they did this one. You can actually feel the anxiety and agonizing in the instrumentation. The way she sings seems more like a struggling stream of consciousness, the way mental health issues can really just abruptly stab your good day. 

"Uncomfortable" leads into the sort of depression the state of the world has driven us to between the anxiety and the anger at everything. It is more of a ballad than I am used to from Garbage, but really feels like a great move from tracks 1 and 2.

This album really moves like a sort of storyline of the suffering as she said, when we move to "Wolves", where one of the lines she mentions picking up the pieces of her broken heart. This song appears to refer to her pushing someone away and admitting that she was a bit cruel, unkind. Pleading she never said she didn't need them. Referring back to the themes of suffering through mental health seen from songs 2 and 3, this can cause you to drive a wedge between you and people who truly care about you. Another fair progression.

The next song "Waiting for God to Show Up" is the most politically driven of the songs as it references just about every negative headline you have heard in the news the last few years. Lockdowns in schools, black people being shot in the back, asking God to come fix the world at this point. Sometimes, desperate frustration makes us look up and wonder where He is, and wondering what exactly His plan really is. 

If you wondered if Manson still had some uncouth grit left in her, look no further than "Godhead". Which I find a humorous title when hearing the song. I am sure many of you have heard the suggestion that some guys think with the "wrong head", Godhead makes a lot of sense here. In this sense, it drives that the rich men with money always seem to win. 

"Anonymous XXX" seems to show disdain for men seeking the one-night stand, and the way they don't bring any closeness to the women involved. They claim to be looking for love and feed lies but they do not want them so close and never actually commit to the relationship with them. 

It seems fitting to drive into "A Woman Destroyed", which goes from the heartbreak of the beginning to straight up anger and revenge for what happened. From "Anonymous XXX" we got the perspective of the man while this song seems to be from the perspective of the woman who was used. 

The next song "Flipping the Bird" discusses the hurt again in feeling too far gone but fighting against this broken piece and 'flipping the bird' to the buried emotions inside and trying to find themselves again. 

"No Gods No Masters" is an idealistic sort of song, as she mentioned hoping for a world without the greed which destroyed it so to begin with. No masters or gods to obey. However, she shows the bit of realism that, it is likely we'd make the same mistakes again. It makes me think a bit of the French Revolution in a way, where they overturned the greedy empire only to murder innocents and become persecutors themselves. The struggle for power sadly tends to flip this way. 

The standard album closes with "This City Will Kill You". It starts off seemingly discussing a young culture of love and clubs, before switching to a chorus mentioning how great everything looks and closing with the "drugs are working". It seems an amazing closer to a great standard album.

To be clear, the deluxe songs will be reviewed but do not effect the review of the album itself. This is because deluxe tracks are always sort of "Scraps" from the release placed on the tail end for enjoyment but rarely add to the story itself. Sometimes, they weigh down the initial release. So my final tally will not rate these songs but be more for you to decide which edition to purchase.

"No Horses" references police brutality issues but also the social media age where people are brainwashed a bit with the feeling of love and entitlement given from these pages. It is a poignant song itself, but does not go as much with the standard story of the album.

"Starman" is actually a David Bowie cover, but for note of reference - I don't like David Bowie. I respect his legacy, but his music never appealed to me. 

"Girls Talk" is a duet with Brody Dalle, and it is vocally good and if you wanted something a little heavier, this song definitely hits a tune. However, I've never been a bit scream type and I feel Dalle's part at the end is done well but is not my cup of tea.

"Because the Night" is a cover of an old Patti Smith song, and to be honest I am partial to Patti Smith so I don't think I appreciated it as much due to that. 

"On Fire" catches me more as it seems lyrically it comes from a similar session of "Uncomfortably Me". I appreciate this song as it suggests being unapologetic, despite ridicule. 

"The Chemicals" is done with Brian Aubert, from Silversun Pickups. You can hear some of the moodier indie vibes of Silversun Pickups here, but it actually blends quite well with Shirley's voice. I do think the song is about escapism with drugs but somehow it seems like it could have been on the standard of the album.

"Destroying Angels" is a duet with Garbage, John Doe, and Exene from the band X. The song is so haunting, and gave me chills. I am actually sad this was reduced to a deluxe song at this rate, it is beautiful. But I can see why it was, it does not musically fit with the other songs of the album. 

The deluxe closes with "Time Will Destroy Everything" which is accurate to say. It is a lot more electronic than the standard album and it didn't grab me much.

LYRICISM: 10/10 - I'm not even going to play around here. Shirley Manson wrote this album beautifully and poignantly. 

MUSIC: 10/10 I did not really think anything was out of place.

Overall: 10/10 - Garbage gets my first official ten of the year. I did not hear a single skip on this standard edition and I absolutely recommend you go get a copy and cleanse your inner angst with this album. If you have a problem with the way she phrased some men on this album, I recommend you look in the mirror and figure out why you have an issues with problematic men of power being called out for emotional and physical abuses. This is by far the best Garbage album I ever listened to. They really blew me away with this one.