"You should see my scars."
:::REVIEW
:::Garbage Bleed Like Me
1. Bad Boyfriend
"I wanna hear you call out my name, I wanna see you go up in flames, put you on ice so I can show all my friends, c'mon baby, be my bad boyfriend."
Well... It's cheesey. As you can see by the lyrics, really cheesey. But I'm not going to lie to you, when I first heard it, despite the cheese, I absolutely loved it. It's got Shirley doing what she does best, being sassy and spouting out rather hollow but bitchy lyrics that don't pretend to be anything but hollow and bitchy. I don't think it lives up to previous Garbage opening tracks such as "Supervixen", "Temptation Waits" and "Shut Your Mouth" (yes, even "Shut Your Mouth", despite how crappy the rest of the album is), but it's still good. I wouldn't say it's fantastic, but this first song seemed, at the time, to be promising.
2. Run, Baby, Run
"You know what you believe to be right, so you're not gonna crack, no you're never gonna crack."
"Run, Baby, Run", not to be confused with "Cherry Lips (Go, Baby, Go!)". So, by this point, I'd say I'm moderately impressed with the music, although horridly unimpressed by the lyrics. This song appealed to me the first time I heard it, despite it's cheesey "don't give up" message that's been done a million times. "Run, Baby, Run" has a very "Parade"-esque feel to it, with it's "Life sucks but don't slit your wrists or let your cat sleep on your face" message. Overall, I was impressed with this song, and was convinced that the best lay ahead on the CD.
3. Right Between the Eyes
"Why do you have to give them what they want? The love to watch you as you fall apart."
So, I had been moderately impressed so far... And then "Right Between the Eyes" came on. Yeah, it sucks. There's not much that I can say about this song except... it really sucks. It's extreme filler, and the subject matter focusses on "Being different" and "Don't listen to what the man says" and overdone crap like that. Jesus. Shirley: You're not John Lennon. Or Bob Dylan. Or even fucking Zach de la Rocha. You were doing much better when singing about putting your bad boyfriend on ice to show all your friends.
4. Why Do You Love Me?
"I am rotten to my core if they're to be believed."
I finally get it! I finally see where the appeal of "Why Do You Love Me?" lies! It's because it follows "Right Between the Eyes" on the album, so when you hear it you're all like "This song's kinda shitty, but man, it's way better than that 'Right Between the Eyes' shit". REVELATION!
5. Bleed Like Me
"You should see my scars and try to comprehend what you'll never comprehend."
I would say that this is the first song on Bleed Like Me that I was actually really impressed with. It has a very similar lyrical vibe to it as "Run, Baby, Run", but the song overall has a very Velvet Underground feel to it. After the horror that was "Right Between the Eyes", I felt Bleed Like Me was about to turn around.
6. Metal Heart
"Now that we know for sure they're telling lies when they say no one gets hurt and therefore nobody dies, you know it's hard to believe anything that you hear, they say the world is round."
Let me start off my "Metal Heart" review with a story. Rob heard Bleed Like Me way before I did and lent me his CD so I could get a taste of it. For a while there while I had his CD, I recieved several messages on MSN saying "METAL HEART" and "MHe" (which is of course, the J-Lo equivalent of "Metal Heart"). And then I went to a party at his house, where he was sufficiently drunk and had this conversation:
Rob: (said in extremely loud and drunk voice) "HAVE YOU LISTENED TO METAL HEART YET?!"
Me: "Well..."
Rob: "HAVE YOU LISTENED TO METAL HEART?!"
Me: "Yeah, but only once so far, I couldn't - "
Rob: "WELL Y'SEE METAL HEART IS ONE OF THOSE SONGS THAT WHEN YOU LISTEN TO ONCE YOU LOVE AND... (trails off into incoherent drunk talk ending with something about touching someone's face)."
Well, long story short, Rob loves "Metal Heart".
And I will say this:
"Metal Heart" is fantastic. Although I won't go so far as to say it's the best Garbage song, it's definately the best song on Bleed Like Me. It has a very "Hammering in My Head" vibe to it. Garbage doing what they do best, making rock music you can dance to/dance music you can rock to.
7. Sex is Not the Enemy
"I won't feel guilty no matter what they're telling me, I won't feel dirty and buy into their misery. I won't be shamed cause I believe that love is free, it fuels the heart and sex is not the enemy."
No, Shirley, sex isn't the enemy, but y'know what is? Female musicians who redo and redo the whole "female sexual revolution" thing. Please take "Sex is Not the Enemy" and mail to to Madonna, circa 1987. Thanks.
8. It's All Over but the Crying
"Do you really think I'm made of stone? Baby, c'mon. That we only love the things we own? Baby, you're wrong."
"It's All Over but the Crying" seems to detail the dissolution of Shirley's marriage. Maybe that's pressumptious of me, but I think so. This song is a stereotypical dark, emotional Garbage ballad ala "Over a Cup of Coffee" and "The Trick is to Keep Breathing"... Except "Over a Cup of Coffee" and "The Trick is to Keep Breathing" are far superior. I think I would like this song a lot more if the title was different. And the line "It's all over but the crying" wasn't in it. CHEESE! How many times have I used the words "cheesey" or "cheese" in this review? Hmmm. I think that says something about the album right there!
9. Boys Wanna Fight
"And in a world where good's not good enough, let's get loaded and kick up a fuss."
*sigh*... I don't know where to begin. If the lyrics were different, this could be an excellent song. "Boys Wanna Fight" is apparently political. It's Shirley going on about the whole "If women ruled the world, there'd be no war... blah, blah, blah." Yeah, because women aren't illogical, irrational, bitchy or catty AT ALL. I mean, I love my fellow woman, but really people, do you really think we would do any better than men if we ruled the world?
Female Palestinian Leader: "Um, Israel? Hi, girlfriend. I think you're overusing our water sources again. And the green line is, y'know, kinda starting to infringe on our territory."
Female Israeli Leader: "Well dear, y'know, maybe when the UN recognizes you as a country and you stop suicide bombing us, we'll talk, kay? I've got a manicure I've got to get to."
Female Palestinian Leader: "Well hun, maybe the next time a bunch of displaced Jews need a home after all their friends have been gassed and burned, the Brits can put you in the Antarctic instead of in our holy land, mmkay?"
Female Israeli Leader: "OH NO YOU DIDN'T!" *takes off earings*
Female Palestinian Leader: "BRING IT, BITCH!"
And then the whole situation degrades into a chick fight complete with bitch slaps, hair pulling and each girl calling eachother fat. And as we all know, calling eachother fat is when the nukes are brought out.
Now, of couse, when I, a female, rule the world, things won't be like that, but that's because I'll rule the world like some type of Bond villian, which means if anyone calls me fat or says they don't like my shoes, they'll just be liquified instantly.
But moving on.
10. Why Don't You Come Over?
"You were baking buscuits while I went bent the law, sacrificing something as you counted all my flaws. Why don't you come over and walk in my shoes?"
Mmmmmeeeeehhhhhhhh..... Catchier than "Right Between the Eyes", but just as fillerish. I give it credit for the sass, but it's still meh. By this point I realized that after "Metal Heart", Bleed Like Me just goes downhill.
11. Happy Home
In my happy home, I barely breathe. I Never once in my wayward life was heading to run out."
After, the blah that transpired after "Metal Heart", "Happy Home" is a relief, a good song to end the album with. Not as good as "Milk" or "You Look so Fine" (but then again, nothing can be as good as "You Look so Fine"), but definately in the same vein. Very dark and emotional, and a good finish.
Overall? *sigh*... Overall, I found Bleed Like Me to be rather boring in comparison to other Garbage albums, even BeautifulGarbage, to a certain extent. Even the songs that I liked seemed to fall short of my expectations. With the exception of "Metal Heart", all the better songs are nowhere near the calibre of previous Garbage gems. Maybe I need to listen to it more, but so far, unimpressed. It's a sad day indeed.
:::Garbage Bleed Like Me
1. Bad Boyfriend
"I wanna hear you call out my name, I wanna see you go up in flames, put you on ice so I can show all my friends, c'mon baby, be my bad boyfriend."
Well... It's cheesey. As you can see by the lyrics, really cheesey. But I'm not going to lie to you, when I first heard it, despite the cheese, I absolutely loved it. It's got Shirley doing what she does best, being sassy and spouting out rather hollow but bitchy lyrics that don't pretend to be anything but hollow and bitchy. I don't think it lives up to previous Garbage opening tracks such as "Supervixen", "Temptation Waits" and "Shut Your Mouth" (yes, even "Shut Your Mouth", despite how crappy the rest of the album is), but it's still good. I wouldn't say it's fantastic, but this first song seemed, at the time, to be promising.
2. Run, Baby, Run
"You know what you believe to be right, so you're not gonna crack, no you're never gonna crack."
"Run, Baby, Run", not to be confused with "Cherry Lips (Go, Baby, Go!)". So, by this point, I'd say I'm moderately impressed with the music, although horridly unimpressed by the lyrics. This song appealed to me the first time I heard it, despite it's cheesey "don't give up" message that's been done a million times. "Run, Baby, Run" has a very "Parade"-esque feel to it, with it's "Life sucks but don't slit your wrists or let your cat sleep on your face" message. Overall, I was impressed with this song, and was convinced that the best lay ahead on the CD.
3. Right Between the Eyes
"Why do you have to give them what they want? The love to watch you as you fall apart."
So, I had been moderately impressed so far... And then "Right Between the Eyes" came on. Yeah, it sucks. There's not much that I can say about this song except... it really sucks. It's extreme filler, and the subject matter focusses on "Being different" and "Don't listen to what the man says" and overdone crap like that. Jesus. Shirley: You're not John Lennon. Or Bob Dylan. Or even fucking Zach de la Rocha. You were doing much better when singing about putting your bad boyfriend on ice to show all your friends.
4. Why Do You Love Me?
"I am rotten to my core if they're to be believed."
I finally get it! I finally see where the appeal of "Why Do You Love Me?" lies! It's because it follows "Right Between the Eyes" on the album, so when you hear it you're all like "This song's kinda shitty, but man, it's way better than that 'Right Between the Eyes' shit". REVELATION!
5. Bleed Like Me
"You should see my scars and try to comprehend what you'll never comprehend."
I would say that this is the first song on Bleed Like Me that I was actually really impressed with. It has a very similar lyrical vibe to it as "Run, Baby, Run", but the song overall has a very Velvet Underground feel to it. After the horror that was "Right Between the Eyes", I felt Bleed Like Me was about to turn around.
6. Metal Heart
"Now that we know for sure they're telling lies when they say no one gets hurt and therefore nobody dies, you know it's hard to believe anything that you hear, they say the world is round."
Let me start off my "Metal Heart" review with a story. Rob heard Bleed Like Me way before I did and lent me his CD so I could get a taste of it. For a while there while I had his CD, I recieved several messages on MSN saying "METAL HEART" and "MHe" (which is of course, the J-Lo equivalent of "Metal Heart"). And then I went to a party at his house, where he was sufficiently drunk and had this conversation:
Rob: (said in extremely loud and drunk voice) "HAVE YOU LISTENED TO METAL HEART YET?!"
Me: "Well..."
Rob: "HAVE YOU LISTENED TO METAL HEART?!"
Me: "Yeah, but only once so far, I couldn't - "
Rob: "WELL Y'SEE METAL HEART IS ONE OF THOSE SONGS THAT WHEN YOU LISTEN TO ONCE YOU LOVE AND... (trails off into incoherent drunk talk ending with something about touching someone's face)."
Well, long story short, Rob loves "Metal Heart".
And I will say this:
"Metal Heart" is fantastic. Although I won't go so far as to say it's the best Garbage song, it's definately the best song on Bleed Like Me. It has a very "Hammering in My Head" vibe to it. Garbage doing what they do best, making rock music you can dance to/dance music you can rock to.
7. Sex is Not the Enemy
"I won't feel guilty no matter what they're telling me, I won't feel dirty and buy into their misery. I won't be shamed cause I believe that love is free, it fuels the heart and sex is not the enemy."
No, Shirley, sex isn't the enemy, but y'know what is? Female musicians who redo and redo the whole "female sexual revolution" thing. Please take "Sex is Not the Enemy" and mail to to Madonna, circa 1987. Thanks.
8. It's All Over but the Crying
"Do you really think I'm made of stone? Baby, c'mon. That we only love the things we own? Baby, you're wrong."
"It's All Over but the Crying" seems to detail the dissolution of Shirley's marriage. Maybe that's pressumptious of me, but I think so. This song is a stereotypical dark, emotional Garbage ballad ala "Over a Cup of Coffee" and "The Trick is to Keep Breathing"... Except "Over a Cup of Coffee" and "The Trick is to Keep Breathing" are far superior. I think I would like this song a lot more if the title was different. And the line "It's all over but the crying" wasn't in it. CHEESE! How many times have I used the words "cheesey" or "cheese" in this review? Hmmm. I think that says something about the album right there!
9. Boys Wanna Fight
"And in a world where good's not good enough, let's get loaded and kick up a fuss."
*sigh*... I don't know where to begin. If the lyrics were different, this could be an excellent song. "Boys Wanna Fight" is apparently political. It's Shirley going on about the whole "If women ruled the world, there'd be no war... blah, blah, blah." Yeah, because women aren't illogical, irrational, bitchy or catty AT ALL. I mean, I love my fellow woman, but really people, do you really think we would do any better than men if we ruled the world?
Female Palestinian Leader: "Um, Israel? Hi, girlfriend. I think you're overusing our water sources again. And the green line is, y'know, kinda starting to infringe on our territory."
Female Israeli Leader: "Well dear, y'know, maybe when the UN recognizes you as a country and you stop suicide bombing us, we'll talk, kay? I've got a manicure I've got to get to."
Female Palestinian Leader: "Well hun, maybe the next time a bunch of displaced Jews need a home after all their friends have been gassed and burned, the Brits can put you in the Antarctic instead of in our holy land, mmkay?"
Female Israeli Leader: "OH NO YOU DIDN'T!" *takes off earings*
Female Palestinian Leader: "BRING IT, BITCH!"
And then the whole situation degrades into a chick fight complete with bitch slaps, hair pulling and each girl calling eachother fat. And as we all know, calling eachother fat is when the nukes are brought out.
Now, of couse, when I, a female, rule the world, things won't be like that, but that's because I'll rule the world like some type of Bond villian, which means if anyone calls me fat or says they don't like my shoes, they'll just be liquified instantly.
But moving on.
10. Why Don't You Come Over?
"You were baking buscuits while I went bent the law, sacrificing something as you counted all my flaws. Why don't you come over and walk in my shoes?"
Mmmmmeeeeehhhhhhhh..... Catchier than "Right Between the Eyes", but just as fillerish. I give it credit for the sass, but it's still meh. By this point I realized that after "Metal Heart", Bleed Like Me just goes downhill.
11. Happy Home
In my happy home, I barely breathe. I Never once in my wayward life was heading to run out."
After, the blah that transpired after "Metal Heart", "Happy Home" is a relief, a good song to end the album with. Not as good as "Milk" or "You Look so Fine" (but then again, nothing can be as good as "You Look so Fine"), but definately in the same vein. Very dark and emotional, and a good finish.
Overall? *sigh*... Overall, I found Bleed Like Me to be rather boring in comparison to other Garbage albums, even BeautifulGarbage, to a certain extent. Even the songs that I liked seemed to fall short of my expectations. With the exception of "Metal Heart", all the better songs are nowhere near the calibre of previous Garbage gems. Maybe I need to listen to it more, but so far, unimpressed. It's a sad day indeed.
posted by vivahate at 9:03 PM
1 Comments:
We are of one mind.
http://www.livejournal.com/~dangerlad/16362.html?nc=5
I'll ask you this once, and whatever your answer is, I'll believe you: DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT COPY MY ANSWERS?
SNAP! Just kidding. I went a little easier on them because I'm still hoping to mother Shirley's babies.
I don't remember that MHe conversation exactly, but there are great chunks of that night that have gone unaccounted for.
Thank you for filling in one of my gaps.
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