Bleed Like Me

Untitled

Bleed Like Me is the fourth studio album by rock band Garbage, first released on April 11, 2005 internationally and a day later in North America. It entered both the UK and US album charts at number 4 in its first week.

Band tensions

The album came after the near break-up of the band. The working title of the album for much of 2004 was Hands on a Hard Body. Shirley Manson said that the title reflected a period of tension and crisis in October 2003. Bassist Steve Marker said that during this time the band wasn't communicating and couldn't make any music, so they took a break. Butch Vig went to Los Angeles for two months, during which time he believed the band had split up for good. However, he ran into some fans who asked about the new album. This made him think about the tracks that had been recorded and listen to them again; it also reminded him about the fanbase and anticipation about the new album. Vig later met Dave Grohl at a Christmas party. Thinking that his drumming technique would work well on the song "Bad Boyfriend", Vig enlisted Grohl to play drums on the track.

Album production

The band then started talking on the phone and agreed to meet up again, albeit in LA and with producer John King. Grohl met up with them and laid down the drums on "Bad Boyfriend", giving the track a harder and faster feel. The band said that Grohl's performance on the track raised the bar for them and made them strive to improve the quality of the album, especially the tracks "Bad Boyfriend" and "Metal Heart". After agreeing on a new sound, the band was able to work together in the studio and record the album. In late August 2004, Manson announced that the band had come up with the new title because it better fit the band's improved dynamic.

Manson said Bleed Like Me would sound more like Garbage's powerful live performances. She said that the album would comprise more hard rock and be a return to Garbage's roots after the eclectic experiment of beautifulgarbage, an announcement that resonated with most fans. Vig has emphasized that there would be less electronic layering and a more hard rock feel to the album. Besides Grohl, Matt Walker also contributed drums to the majority of the record. Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction played bass for the album's tour. The Bleed Like Me world tour was very successful, with the band playing to sold out crowds almost every night. Due to the band's recent announcement to "take a break", the tour, originally planned to extend into 2006, was cut short in Fall 2005. The final show taking place in Perth, Australia on October 1st, where the band played to a sold-out, ecstatic crowd.

Reception

Thanks to the unexpectedly huge success of "Why Do You Love Me", the album had a very strong opening week globally, debuting in the top five in many countries - including the UK, Australia, and the US, where its #4 debut made MTV headlines as the band's first top ten album ever in the States. Within a month of its release, global album sales already reached near a million. However, momentum was lost quickly for Bleed Like Me. The lack of a successful second single anywhere hindered the album's chart run, although a remix of the title track did well in the US on the Hot Dance/Club Airplay charts. "Bleed Like Me" also performed well on the Modern Rock charts considering it was a slow, melancholy song released in the summer by a female led band). To date, the album has sold approximately 1.7 million albums worldwide, slightly less than beautifulgarbage, which sold 2.3 million. However, a rumored third single for the US and UK may improve sales.

The album received generally positive reviews, with Billboard Magazine commenting that tracks like "Run Baby Run" and "Right Between the Eyes" would likely be successful future singles. However, many reviews note that the album does not sound progressive, as it essentially represents a more stripped-down version of Garbage's 90s sound.

MTV recently suggested that "Run Baby Run" or "It's All Over But the Crying" would be released as the third single in the US. [1] According to Kerrang! radio, "Run Baby Run" is still set to be released in the UK as a third single, despite previous reports that it had been cancelled indefinitely. The Garbage Discography has suggested a 20 March 2006 release date.

The band has also confirmed recently that a Greatest Hits album, a B-Sides album, a live DVD from the Bleed Like Me tour, and a video compilation DVD are set to be released by Summer 2006, if all goes right with the band's record label-related legal issues.

Track listing

All songs by Garbage

1. "Bad Boyfriend" – 3:46
2. "Run Baby Run" – 3:58
3. "Right Between The Eyes" – 3:55
4. "Why Do You Love Me" – 3:54
5. "Bleed Like Me" – 4:01
6. "Metal Heart" – 3:59
7. "Sex Is Not The Enemy" – 3:06
8. "It's All Over But The Crying" – 4:39
9. "Boys Wanna Fight"' – 4:16
10. "Why Don't You Come Over" – 3:25
11. "Happy Home" – 6:00

Singles

"Why Do You Love Me"

The first single from the album was "Why Do You Love Me". It was released on 4 April 2005. The single was described by Marker as a "very melodic ... Phil Spector girl-group sped-up-fast kind of song". Manson said the lyrics - about relationships and loyalty - deal with her past.

The single officially premiered in the United Kingdom on the BBC Radio 1 Jo Whiley show on Friday, 18 February. The song was playlisted by XFM and Radio 1's C-List. It was made XFM's single of the week, latering topping their airplay charts for several weeks, and debuted at #7 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Garbage's second-highest charting single in the UK (after "Stupid Girl", which reached #4). Between mid-March and early April, "Why Do You Love Me" was officially the most played rock song in all of the UK.

In the United States, the song was released for airplay on Tuesday, 15 February. It was the most added song on alternative rock radio for the week of 15 to 22 February. The song reached #8 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and #94 on the Hot 100. The song is the band's most successful in the US since 1999's "Special".

The video for the single was filmed on January 31, 2005; fans of the band were selected to feature in the video. Sophie Muller directed the clip.

Follow-up singles

"Sex Is Not the Enemy" was the second single in the UK, released on 13 June 2005. The song reached #24 but only spent two weeks on the chart, becoming one of the band's least successful singles. The video features a stunt Garbage played at their April 21st, 2005 show at Washington DC's 9:30 Club. Shirley "exposed" her breasts (actually a flesh-coloured bra) near the conclusion of the song and was abruptly dragged off the stage by policemen (actually impostors hired by Garbage) shouting, "Show's over!"

"Bleed Like Me" was released on Tuesday, 3 May to US radio. It reached #27 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and its remix reached an impressive #6 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The video was filmed in LA on April 12, with Mueller again directing.

"Run Baby Run" was released in Europe on 20 June. It was due be released in the UK on 24 October 2005, but the release was cancelled.

"Bad Boyfriend" and "Run Baby Run" have received some airplay from US alternative rock stations since the album's release.

Personnel

• Garbage - Performer, Producer
  • Shirley Manson - Vocals, Electric Guitar
  • Steve Marker - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Synthesizers, Laptop, Programming, Noises, Bass Overdubs
  • Duke Erikson - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Synthesizers, Programming, Atmospherics, Mellotron, Piano
  • Butch Vig - Electric Guitars, Drums, Efx, Programming, Bass, Mixing
• Justin Meldal-Johnson - Bass
• Matt Walker - Drums
• Dave Grohl - Drums ("Bad Boyfriend")
• John King - Producer ("Bad Boyfriend")
• Billy Bush - Engineer
• Emily Lazar - Mastering
• Beau Sorenson - Assistant Engineer
• Jay Arnold - Assistant Engineer
• Pete Martinez - Assistant Engineer
• Danny Kalb - Assistant Engineer
• Mark Branch - Assistant Engineer
• Mike Laza - Assistant Engineer
• Ryan Macmillan - Drum Technician
• Chris Heuer - Drum Technician
• Big Active Ltd. - Art Direction
• Mat Maitland - Design, Montage
• Frank W Ockenfels 3 - Photography

Chart positions

Title	Release date	UK	US	US Modern Rock	US Dance
Bleed Like Me (album)	11 April 2005	4	4	-
"Why Do You Love Me"	4 April 2005	7	94	8
"Bleed Like Me" (single)	3 May 2005	-	-	27	6
"Sex Is Not the Enemy"	13 June 2005	24	-	-
"Run Baby Run"	12 July 2005	-	-	-

External links

• Bleed Like Me at MusicBrainz