Four years after the release of their last album "Beautiful Garbage", Garbage is back and this time, they are out for blood. Their new album, "Bleed Like Me," entered the billboard charts three weeks ago at number four and has received praise from critics such as People magazine and Rolling Stone.
"Our record has done better than we thought [just] out of the box," said Garbage drummer, Butch Vig.
"Bleed Like Me" gives the listener a better feel of how the band sounds live and offers more raw, stripped down guitar riffs and less electronic effects than their last album.
The fourth effort from the band trails closer to the sound of their first two albums, and has a guest appearance from Foo Fighters front man, Dave Grohl.
Last year, after bumping into Vig, who was the virtuoso producer behind Nirvana's Nevermind album, Grohl dropped by the recording studio. He ended up laying down his heavy, signature style on the drum tracks for the feisty song, "Bad Boyfriend."
The recording of the current album was no easy process. Over the two years spent working on it, the band hit many personal and mental walls. During this time, Vig temporarily left the band, causing rumors to circulate that he had quit or that the band was done.
"We are so sick of it," says Vig about the media obsession with the band's near breakup. "Literally every interview we've done, it's been 'did you break up?' We're really tired of talking about that."
It seems as if any inter-band problems have been resolved, and any signs of possible band tension are invisible to the outside eye. On stage the band is smiling, energetic and appear to be having a great time playing music.
With the crowd turn-outs the band has been having, they certainly have something to smile about. Many venues have been selling out for the exciting stage show which includes a black backdrop with multi-colored changing lights, 5 stage monitors with various images, and a leggy redheaded Shirley Manson dancing around the stage in a short, sexy dress.
During their concert last month in Washington D.C., concert goers saw what they thought was Shirley Manson lifting up her shirt and baring her chest. Shortly afterward, fans saw what they thought was the singer being arrested on stage by local police.
"It was staged," admits Vig. "It was planned out and everything was for the video for Sex Is Not The Enemy." Manson did not actually expose her breasts, but had a flesh colored top on underneath.
At this time the video will not be released in the U.S., but will be released in the United Kingdom in the near future.
The first single off of the album is the fast-paced "Why Do You Love Me," the video already is on rotation on VH1 and Fuse.
The second single is the album's title track, "Bleed Like Me," a more controversial song that touches darker topics such as anorexia, transgender, and self-mutilation.
"It's very dark," said Vig about the video that has already been shot for the second single. "It's like an Alfred Hitchcock movie."
The premise behind it is that Shirley Manson is a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, and the other members of the band are doctors. The twist that's revealed in the final scene is that Manson is actually a patient in a psychiatric unit that she believes she works in.
Members from Garbage will be guest DJ's on CD101 radio station this afternoon around 2PM. Listeners can tune in to 101.1 FM or log online and listen live at www.cd101.com
Garbage will also appear on the Late Show with David Letterman, on Thursday, May 12.
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