I have tickets to see Garbage at Cardiff Castle this summer, which has prompted me to give a serious listen to another CD I got for Christmas, the album they released last year.
All being well, the castle gig will be my fourth time seeing Garbage after their debut album tour in 1996, and tours celebrating 20 years of their debut album in 2015, and 20 years of their second album in 2017. I blogged about the 2015 gig when I was clearly underwhelmed, judging by my gig review. I didn't blog about the 2017 gig, which was in the cavernous concourse beneath one of the stands in Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol.
More recently I "rediscovered" them when I got their 2-disc Anthology and then went on a buying spree of special edition re-releases. After I posted about the Anthology I even bought the 2-disc version of their first 'best of' that I had decided not to buy way back in 2007 (and blogged about not buying it!) It was cheap on eBay, so why not?
Let All That We Imagine Be The Light was a gift from my sister-in-law, Abby. It's got a striking cover, with a glowing octopus. The lettering is on a plastic sleeve that slips off the digipak, leaving just the octopus in all its cephalapod glory.
There are some recent pictures of the band inside the album sleeve. Shirley's got a blonde look now.
It's kind of fitting that Abby bought me this album because she was there when I first heard the band. I remember hearing my first Garbage song playing on a car radio. It was a sunny day and Abby was driving us somewhere around Newport Road in Cardiff. The band were brand new and were being profiled on a radio station and the track they played was Stupid Girl. I was instantly struck by their sound, went out and bought Only Happy When it Rains on a cassette single and that was the start of my fandom.
30 years later, listening to this album made less of an impact. There aren't many of the gut-punching power riffs that drove their debut album forward, and barely any of the catchy melodies that featured on their second or third album. The songs all run into each other and are a bit samey, both in tempo and style.
Looking ahead to the summer, I'm sure some of these songs will be on the setlist in the castle. I'd guess they'll play the opening track, There's No Future in Optimism, the liveliest track, Chinese Fire Horse (Shirley's astronomical sign and a sweary angry warning not to disrespect her), the slightly bouncy Love to Give, and the closing track, The Day That I Met God. (That final track feels like such a Shirley song I would be amazed if they didn't play it.)
I also wouldn't mind hearing them play the biting R U Happy Now. It seems increasingly relevant singing about the liars in power given how out of control the American president, and by extension, America, seems right now. However, there are four tracks in a row starting at track 3 that feel like filler tracks and that section of the album drags.
Overall, despite repeated listens, I don't feel many of the tracks have stuck in my head. I'll find out in the summer whether the new tracks will have enough live oomph to hold their own against the classic songs.
Details
Year of release: 2025
Tracks: 10
Favourite track: Love to Give
Track to skip: Have We Met (The Void) - the fourth track and the most filler of the filler tracks.
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