FEATURE:
Temptation Waits?
Why I Hope There Is a Version 2.0 at Twenty-Five Reissue from Garbage
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ONE of my favourite albums of the '90s…
IN THIS PHOTO: Garbage circa 1998/PHOTO CREDIT: Maryanne Bilham Photography/Redferns
turns twenty-five on 11th May. Released two days after my fifteenth birthday, I was mesmerised by Garbage’s Version 2.0. Led by the legendary and iconic Shirley Manson, the band’s second album followed Garbage of 1995. Whilst many favour the debut, I think that Version 2.0 is a stronger effort. Maybe because I came to it having loved singles like Push It. Maybe it is a premature thing, but I hope something happens for the twenty-fifth anniversary. Such a classic album that reached number one in the U.K. and if often see as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s, Garbage wanted to expand on the ideas and sounds they put into their 1995 debut. I will end with a few thoughts, but I wanted to combine some features and reviews to give you an idea of how people perceive and have reacted to the spectacular Version 2.0. This is what BrooklynVegan said about it on its twentieth anniversary in 2018:
“This all comes across on Version 2.0, which, again, starts out with three out-of-this-world songs and stays on that level. Those three songs show off Garbage's various styles -- "Temptation Waits" has the trip-hop influence, "I Think I'm Paranoid" is probably the best grunge/industrial song they've ever written, and "When I Grow Up" is about as good as their pop side gets -- yet they all flow together perfectly. After that overwhelming one-two-three punch, Garbage calm things down by successfully trying their hand at a ballad ("Medication"), and from there we get deeper dives into experimental electronics ("Hammering In My Head"), laid-back '90s-style psychedelia ("The Trick Is To Keep Breathing"), a sex-fueled late-night jam ("Sleep Together"), and a "Don't Worry Baby" interpolation that rivals the original ("Push It"). The album really never lets up -- Version 2.0 was Garbage firing on all cylinders, it was the album where everything fell into place.
Version 2.0 had just enough of the early '90s left over (as you probably know, drummer Butch Vig had a role in a pretty major grunge album), and just enough foresight to see where rock was headed. It came out about a month before The Smashing Pumpkins went in an electronic direction on Adore, and a few months before Radiohead's Thom Yorke began his deep dive into electronic music with his appearance on Unkle's "Rabbit in Your Headlights." It's not that electro-rock didn't exist before 1998 (elements of it are on the first Garbage album too), but 1998 was a pivotal year for this kind of thing, and Garbage were a big part of that turning point.
The new expanded reissue comes with ten b-sides/rarities from the Version 2.0 era, and though most of them have been pretty easy to come by over the years, it's nice having them all in one place. With the Version 2.0 era being such a creative peak in Garbage's career, even the b-sides are on the level of the songs that did make the initial cut for the album. If I could go back in time to when Garbage were sequencing Version 2.0 and talk to the band, I'd suggest fitting the dark, orchestral "Afterglow" on the record. It's the last track on the 20th anniversary edition, and it's a gorgeous closer that doesn't sound like much else on Version 2.0. There's also a handful of great, classic-sounding songs that are closer to the general vibe of Version 2.0 (like "13 x Forever" and "Lick the Pavement"), and a few cool gems in there too. They included their psychedelic cover of The Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" ('60s-style vocal echo included) and a cover of Big Star's "Thirteen" that they basically made sound like a '90s Garbage song, plus an acoustic version of "Medication" that's even more heartbreaking than the original”.
I think that Version 2.0 is the most confident album to that point. In terms of the songwriting, there is more ambition and depth I feel. It still sounds such a wonderful and fresh album today. You can play the songs to someone who does not know about Garbage and they would bond with it. The Line of Best Fit had their say about Version 2.0 in 2018. I do hope there is a slew of new features and examinations ahead of the twenty-fifth anniversary. The incredible band performances and the hugely strong and peerless vocals of Shirley Manson makes the album impossible to ignore or better. I still have so much affection and respect for this incredible album:
“The first was at an audition for the role of Garbage’s lead singer while Manson was still in Anglefish. The audition didn’t go well, though Manson got another chance after Anglefish’s disbandment when she got back in contact with the rest of the band in 1994. Their first release, the self-titled record from 1995, went on to become a critical and commercial success. Lauded for its embracing of the new digital opportunities of the day, it went on to become a classic from the ‘90s, and continues to resonate with modern audiences. Just as important as its success in the public domain, however, was something that it gifted internally; namely, Shirley Manson her confidence.
Version 2.0, released in 1998, was the sonic embodiment of that new-found belief. In interviews from the time Manson discusses how she had become increasingly self-assured following the success of the first record. No longer fronting a super-band of rock producers, a position which to be fair she refuted despite the fact it was seemingly constantly suggested of her, she had grown to be a much greater musician and lead singer than that early audition suggested.
Manson quickly made a name for herself as an iconic provocateur in rock, a position aided no end by the lyrical content of Version 2.0. From the opener "Temptation Waits’’ ("I'll tell you somethin', I am a demon/Some say my biggest weakness’’) to the raunchy "Sleep Together’’ (‘’If we sleep together/Will I like you better/If we come together/Prove it now or never’’), Manson is anything but discrete. She stares the camera in the face and discloses her desires and intentions, never daring to look away and challenging her listeners to do the same. It’s a brazen approach that doesn’t always work ("Happy hours, golden showers/On a cruise to freak you out’’ on "When I Grow Up’’ is one to forget), though when it does it adds real-life intrigue to the digital influences, resulting in what is often considered to be the quintessential Garbage sound
This new confidence in Manson’s lyrics and approach however is balanced against, even at times emphasised by, an ongoing vulnerability and volatility. An acoustic rendition of "Medication’’, one of the b-sides included here on the reissue, is the clearest example of the softer side to Manson, though elsewhere on tracks such as "I Think I’m Paranoid’’ and ‘’The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’’ her instability is obvious. Again, however, she takes on these topics direct, never scared of facing her demons and in the process developing her songwriting further.
The additional b-sides are mixed between those heavily influenced by the digital influences of the time and those that are more stripped back, such as the aforementioned "Medication’’ and the Velvet Underground-esque "Can’t Seem To Make You Mine’’. The record proper however very much embraces the new sounds available to the band. At times comparable with another album from the same year that adorned tales of love in dark electronica, Smashing Pumpkins’ Adore, Version 2.0 is a step forward from their debut into the increasingly digital world.
The trio of drummer and co-producer Butch Vig, Duke Eriksen on guitar and keyboards and guitarist Steve Mark also worked to successfully produce a futuristic and eccentric backing for Manson. The excellent "Hammering In My Head" is a prime example, the most perfect expression here of Garbage’s ability to marry the best of pop and rock with a nod towards the next phase of popular music.
The intention behind Version 2.0 has been described by Vig as to "take everything we learned from our debut album and filter it through the new digital technology we were grappling with’’. The development of their sound perhaps is what is most clearly alluded to by the record’s title. The development of Manson as well, however, and the new sense of confidence she approaches Version 2.0 with is undoubtedly another. An updated version that, for all of her faults, resulted in a master provocateur and an icon for many who continues to resonate, twenty years down the line”.
Before wrapping up with a few thoughts, I want to get to AllMusic’s review of Version 2.0. This is an album that has brought different reactions and interpretations from critics. I like what AllMusic had to say about a release that had a certain level of expectation on its shoulders in 1998. I think that Garbage released a tremendous sophomore album:
“Unveiling the new model of a machine that made its debut three years prior, alternative rock outfit Garbage polished the raw grind of their hazy first album with the sparkling digital sheen of 1998 sophomore effort Version 2.0. Emerging from the eerie trip-hop and bleak grunge of the critically acclaimed, multi-platinum Garbage, the quartet expanded their vision, going into overdrive with a futuristic sound that blended their inspirations both classic (the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Pretenders) and contemporary (Björk, Portishead, and the Prodigy). While Garbage retained the sleaze and effortless cool of their debut -- hinted on early tracks "As Heaven Is Wide" and "A Stroke of Luck" -- they infused Version 2.0 with deeper electronic layering, improved hooks, and an intimate lyrical focus courtesy of iconic vocalist Shirley Manson, who seized her place as the face and voice of the band with authority and confidence. On the propulsive "When I Grow Up" and the bittersweet "Special," Garbage took cues from '60s girl groups with "sha-la-la"s and stacked vocal harmonies, grounding them with a delivery inspired by Chrissie Hynde. Elsewhere, the hard techno edges of Curve and Björk cut through the frustrated "Dumb" and the lusty "Sleep Together," while Depeche Mode's Wild West years received tribute on the stomping "Wicked Ways." Beyond the blistering hit singles "I Think I'm Paranoid" and "Push It," Version 2.0 is also home to Garbage's most tender and heartbreaking moments, from the pensive "Medication" to the trip-hop-indebted "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" and "You Look So Fine." Balanced and taut, Version 2.0 is a greatest-hits collection packaged as a regular album, not only a peak in Garbage's catalog, but one of the definitive releases of the late '90s”.
I have not seen anything online that says we will get a twenty-fifth anniversary release of Version 2.0. There was one for the twentieth…but I feel another huge anniversary deserves something. Maybe some podcasts or a documentary. One of the defining albums of a wonderful decade, it put Garbage on the world stage and made their stand out from their peers. There will be a generation who might not know about the album. I hope that the band do an anniversary tour or there is something in the way of demos or something from that time. On 11th May, fans of the band will show their love for an album that gave us epic songs such as Temptation Waits and When I Grow Up. I love all of the band, but I have reserves of love and appreciation for Shirley Manson. Her vocals and words define the songs and makes the album such a nuanced, arresting and fascinating thing to listen to. I can’t believe it is coming up for twenty-five years. In one of music’s greatest years, 1998 was treated to a second studio album from Garbage. The splendid Version 2.0 is never going to lose its edge, genius and popularity. We get songs from it played on the radio to this day, and I have not heard another album like it since. I wonder if we will get a new release or something put together that celebrates twenty-five years of Version 2.0. I adored it back in 1998, and it still hits me the same way all of these years later. When I was fifteen and first heard the album, I did not know that the world would be celebrating and cherishing it…
WHEN I grew up.