''Not Your Kind of People'' is the fifth studio album by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Garbage. It was released on May 11, 2012, through the band's own
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
, Stunvolume. The album marks the return of the band after a seven-year hiatus that started with previous album ''
Bleed Like Me''. Guitarist
Duke Erikson
Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson (born January 15, 1951) is an American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer and record producer, best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Garbage has sold more than 17 ...
said at the launch of the record that "working with Garbage again was very instinctual. Like getting on a bicycle...with three other people."
[ The band emphasized that they did not want to reinvent themselves, but embrace their sonic identity, reflecting their classic sound whilst updating it for 2012. Although Shirley Manson's morose dispositions have a presence on the record, many of the songs share a more optimistic outlook on life, influenced by some of Manson's personal experiences during their hiatus.
Recorded mostly at various recording studios in California, ''Not Your Kind of People'' was produced by Garbage, and was engineered and mixed by ]Billy Bush
William Hall Bush (born October 13, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He is a member of the Bush family, a nephew of President George H. W. Bush and cousin of President George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush.
After appearin ...
. The album contains bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
parts recorded by Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent.
Meldal-Johns ...
while Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
actress Irina Björklund
Irina Felicia Björklund (born 7 February 1973) is a Finnish actress and singer.
Early life and education
Björklund was born in Danderyd, Stockholm County, Sweden before moving to Finland with her family. Björklund also lived in France during h ...
performs the musical saw on one track. Both daughters of band-members Steve Marker and Butch Vig
Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...
laid down vocals on the album's title track
A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title.
Title track may a ...
. Photos for the album package were shot by Autumn de Wilde
Autumn de Wilde (born October 21, 1970) is an American photographer and film director best known for her portraiture and commercial work photography of musicians, as well as her music video works. In 2020 she directed her first feature film, '' E ...
at the Paramour Mansion
The Canfield-Moreno Estate is a historic residence and estate located in the Moreno Highlands neighborhood of Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. It was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1988. Originally known as Crestmou ...
in Silver Lake, Los Angeles
Silver Lake is a residential and commercial Neighbourhood, neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Originally home to a small community called Ivanhoe in honor of Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott. In ...
.
''Not Your Kind of People'' was preceded by the release of "Blood for Poppies
"Blood for Poppies" is the 2012 lead single from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album '' Not Your Kind of People'', released to radio worldwide and as the band's Record Store Day single in the United States.
Garbage picked "Blood f ...
" as the lead single internationally, while in the United Kingdom, " Battle in Me" was marketed as the album's lead single. The album also spawned three more singles, "Automatic Systematic Habit
"Automatic Systematic Habit" is the third and final European radio airplay (fifth overall) single released from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album, '' Not Your Kind of People''. Copies were sent to radio stations across Europe in N ...
", "Big Bright World
"Big Bright World" is the second worldwide single released from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album, '' Not Your Kind of People''. The single was issued as a digital download in Australia and New Zealand in June 2012, and was sent ...
", and "Control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
". ''Not Your Kind of People'' received a generally positive reception from critics. It debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200, at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, peaked at number three on ''Billboards Independent Albums chart and topped the Alternative Albums chart.
Background
Garbage decided to take a hiatus in 2005, following the troubled production of their fourth studio album '' Bleed Like Me'' and cutting short the album's promotional tour. Aside from a reunion in 2007 to compose new tracks for the compilation '' Absolute Garbage'', the band members found themselves involved in various projects, with Butch Vig
Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...
producing Green Day, Foo Fighters, and Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
,[ while singer Shirley Manson recorded an unreleased solo album and made her professional acting debut as a series regular on '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles''.
In 2009, Vig and Manson met at the funeral of Pablo Castelaz, the six-year-old son of ]Dangerbird Records
Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...
founder Jeff Castelaz
Jeff Castelaz founded Cast Management and co-founded The Pablove Foundation. He also Co-Founded and was CEO of Los Angeles-based Dangerbird Records, and was the president of Elektra Records.
Career beginnings
Castelaz began working in music ...
, and had a conversation where, according to Vig, "we felt like we had some unfinished business, and we realized how precious life is and how important music has been in our lives." Manson suggested calling guitarists Duke Erikson
Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson (born January 15, 1951) is an American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer and record producer, best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Garbage has sold more than 17 ...
and Steve Marker to get together and write some songs. One week later, the group informally convened in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, where they laughed, drank, and reminisced of the old days, leaving behind the tensions among them and general weariness that was partly responsible for their 2005 breakup; they set up their equipment and "started fucking around."[ "We were all pleased to notice on the first day there just didn't seem to be any personal tensions," Vig recalled. "Enough time had passed that any sort of weirdness or tension that had risen between us all had dissipated. So it was easy. There was no one telling us what to do. We weren't signed to a label. We were between managers. So we made this on our own terms."][ In that session, the group wrote the song " Battle In Me".]
In mid-2010, the entire group were in Los Angeles for a birthday, where Manson suggested they book a studio and spend time writing. Along with Garbage's long time engineer and Manson's husband Billy Bush
William Hall Bush (born October 13, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He is a member of the Bush family, a nephew of President George H. W. Bush and cousin of President George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush.
After appearin ...
, the band, as Bush described, "hung out for a couple weeks, drank some wine and played a bunch of music”. Three or four song ideas came together during this time. "But we didn't go right into making-a-record mode", Erikson recalled. "It took a bit of time for us to realize that we were going to make an album." Erikson described reconvening as a piecemeal process, saying that it informally began with the first phone conversations among them since their hiatus, as they discussed playing together again. After convening, and composing and performing song ideas together through multiple sessions, they then decided to move forward with the band and embark on a full-length album.[ The project took off in February 2011, when Manson called Vig proposing to reunite the band and try making a new record.] Manson convoked the group out of an eagerness "to make loud music again". "I'm a loud person", she proclaimed; "I love noise and aggression. I crave contact. I needed to make that connection again. I think we all did. To get something back up when there was absolutely no momentum took a Herculean effort on everybody's part. It's like pulling yourself out of mud. Even to stand back up and say 'we're going to take another swing at this' was a scary feeling, and I'm proud of us for trying. It's much easier to stay at home.”
The band members stated that following the troublesome final years signed to Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
, being an independent act again helped improve their mood and approach, with Vig remarking, "There were no expectations; no one even knew we were recording. So it was all under the radar and pretty casual and we all felt inspired after having that amount of time off ... when we started writing songs, they came fast and furious. We probably wrote 24, 25 songs over the course of a couple of months. Marker commented that "the business stuff ends up taking over some of that fun. We got really bogged down in people's expectations of what we were supposed to be doing, being on bigger record labels and stuff. With all that behind us, it was suddenly exciting again and it felt a lot like it did when we first formed, which was really just sort of a fun idea that we had." Manson added, "People at record companies live in fear of being wrong. Music cannot thrive in that environment. It is an unruly art form. You can't keep treating it like sausage meat. You have to let it morph and move and breathe."
Manson stated that eliminating the corporate pressure and indifference, as well as the band having a relaxed approach to the making of the record was pivotal for a healthy regroup, writing and recording process.[ "We didn't put any pressure on ourselves to finish an album... We just took our time and got together in two-week blocks of time – any longer than that I'm sure we would have started getting on each others' nerves. So we did two weeks and then we'd take some time off and then when everybody felt ready we'd get back in he studioagain. As a result, I think everybody really enjoyed our time together and really plugged in", she remarked.] Never much enjoying being in a studio, Manson relished the record-making process this time around.[
]
Recording
Unlike the previous albums, which were done at Vig's Smart Studios
Smart Studios was a recording studio located in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands. The studio produced bands such as Killdozer, The Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Tad, and Nirvana. After in ...
in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, ''Not Your Kind of People'' was mostly recorded in Los Angeles, where both Vig and Manson live. Smart was only used for some of Erikson's parts, as he was the only bandmember still in Wisconsin.[ The working process was also different; while the previous records had the band gathering for an entire year at Smart Studios, the band would instead work two weeks per month in Los Angeles, with Erikson and Marker flying in from Wisconsin and Colorado, respectively, then spend another two weeks in their home studios while e-mailing ideas back and forth to develop songs. Manson would also visit Vig's GrungeIsDead studio to experiment with vocals. Then they would get back together in the studio, which according to Marker "would be fun again because we hadn't seen these people for a couple of weeks."
The first recordings were done in two weeks of jam sessions at The Pass in ]Studio City
Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...
. The band then moved to Bush's studio Red Razor Sounds at Atwater Village
Atwater Village is a neighborhood in the 13th district of Los Angeles, California. Much of Atwater Village lies in the fertile Los Angeles River flood plain. Located in the northeast region of the city, Atwater borders Griffith Park and Silver L ...
, where the engineer did a rough mix of the tracks. Vig declared that the album's mood emerged from the combination of the "trashy and lo-tech" studio which he compared to a small clubhouse with the band's ProTools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-product ...
and samplers. The band had a looser approach to recording and mixing compared to the "nano-editing" of '' Version 2.0''.[
The band worked on estimatedly "25 or 26 songs" during the album sessions; While a few were still "bits and pieces", Vig stated they might finish them as further bonus tracks, ]B-sides
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
, or as part of an EP at a later point. Erikson said that the bonus tracks of the deluxe edition are songs that were not ready in time to join the regular track list. He also said that while most songs were new compositions, some were old ideas, such as the "10 years old or something" track "Show Me".[ Throughout the recording sessions for the album, the band mentioned several song titles via Facebook and Twitter; these included: "Alone", "Animal", "Choose Your Weapon", "Time Will Destroy Everything" and "T.R.O.U.B.L.E.". Manson confirmed on Twitter that "Animal" became "The One", a song from the deluxe version, while "Time Will Destroy Everything" was released as the b-side to the band's 2014 ]Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
single, " Girls Talk".
Composition and style
According to Vig, ''Not Your Kind of People'' evokes ambient vibes of Garbage's first two albums, '' Garbage'' and '' Version 2.0'': "There's lots of elements of things we've always loved: noisy guitars, big electronic beats, atmospheric film moments", adding that the band "wanted to make a record sound like something that we want to hear when we're driving the car." While the record was reminiscent "vibe-wise" of the band's early work, the production aimed for a rawer sound, instead of cleaning up the sound through computers, to "capture a performance" and "sound kind of trashy and for the songs to blow out a little bit." Vig said, "we tried to leave a lot of the performance raw on this album. A lot of the songs, we sort of throw paint at the wall and some of it sticks and some of it drips off." He explained that the group avoided reinventing themselves: "We wanted to just embrace exactly who we are and what we like to do and just sort of update it sonically for 2012. For better or worse, when we approach a song, it's going to end up sounding like Garbage. I think we have a strong sonic identity, and I think that's an asset these days." Manson similarly noted that what mattered most was the record sounding authentic to who they are as a band. Manson considered that while the record recalled the band's classic sound "it fits in with radio programming right now"; She said that they are interested in also reaching a new generation and, regarding their distinct sound, "We don't sound like anyone else on the radio. Much to our surprise there hasn't been another band like ours since we came off the road."[
Like the band's earlier releases, the album features a variety of guitar configurations as well as electronic synths. Erikson said that initially they gather with the standard guitar-bass-drum and keyboard gear, and as they pass around different ideas and implement them the songs take form in any which way a session takes them. "Once we started on the album proper, it became a Garbage record, which is any number of approaches to writing a recording. There were no rules, certainly", he explained.][ A song like "Automatic Systematic Habit" features more ]electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
than guitars, and "Big Bright World", a guitar-heavy song, involves configurations that make some of the guitars sound like synths.[ Guitar parts are normally divvied between guitarists Marker and Erikson. Erikson said it comes down to "Whoever comes up with what at any given time. There's no job description as far as lead guitar/rhythm guitar. It's just whoever has an idea as a articular moment. It's usually about 50/50".][ Erikson and Marker used a variety of guitars and pedals, old, new, and defective.][
Vig recalled that the title "Not Your Kind of People" came to him when he was stuck in a traffic jam in Los Angeles; he texted Manson the idea for a title and she loved it. Manson wrote all the lyrics that night, and the next day the four of them gathered with acoustic guitars and wrote the music to the song in about half an hour. Manson explained that the album title ''Not Your Kind of People'' was "a call to arms in a way to anyone who feels like we do about the world", saying that "it can be great to be outsider." She felt that this applied to them as the band "never fit into a music scene" and that "in my life I've never been an insider."] Manson also described the title as "a two-fingered salute to people who reject or criticize us", stating the band was "only really interested in people who share our outlook" as she considered that their fans were "the people who connect with what you're saying and how you say it."
Most of the lyrics were written by Manson as she included and filtered some of her bandmates' ideas on songwriting. "It was a very do-it-yourself, homemade thing when it comes down to it", Erikson explained; "We all pitch in. Shirley had just as many comments on the guitar parts or the sound of the guitars as anybody else, and likewise, if we don't like a lyric, we say it right away."[ Many songs have a more optimistic view in life, inspired by Manson overcoming a desire to quit music after the death of her mother and realizing how important her work is to her.][ Darker themes still appear as Manson described herself as "enthusiastic and passionate, but I do see death marching toward me."][ "Blood for Poppies" came "from a lot of things", Manson said; "It's really an analogy for a story I read about Afghanistan and the opium wars over there ... it's from a few stories, one about a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan and the other about the opium wars. I use that as a backdrop for a story about maintaining sanity in an out-of-control place."][ " t's aboutremaining sane, when faced with insanity", she added. "I Hate Love" criticized "the commercialized idea of love and what pain that puts us through" along with "knowing that there will be no more torture in your life than really, truly loving somebody who doesn't love you back."][
"Big Bright World" contains a lyrical sample from the poem "]Do not go gentle into that good night
"Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), and is one of his best-known works. Though first published in the journal ''Botteghe Oscure'' in 1951, the poem was written in ...
" by Dylan Thomas. Both daughters of Steve Marker and Butch Vig laid down vocals on the album's title track. Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
actress Irina Björklund
Irina Felicia Björklund (born 7 February 1973) is a Finnish actress and singer.
Early life and education
Björklund was born in Danderyd, Stockholm County, Sweden before moving to Finland with her family. Björklund also lived in France during h ...
performs the musical saw on "Sugar". "Beloved Freak" includes a sample of Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), known professionally as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona.
In the 1970s Nomi immersed himself in the East Village ...
, as the group felt the artist fit Manson's lyrics about "people being an outsider, feeling like a freak, and not fitting in and trying to come to terms with that it's okay to feel like you're an outsider."
KROQ-FM and MTV Buzzworthy
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
described the sound of the album as electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrum ...
; ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' noted "the band has maintained their signature dark, driving, trip-hoppy sound", while Jason Heller of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' wrote that "the group's shoegaze influences are more in vogue now than they were 15 years ago."
Release and promotion
A post on Garbage's Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page on January 23, 2012 announced that the band launched their own record label, Stunvolume, to self-release their new studio album, distributed in the United States by Fontana. Overseas distribution deals were made with Cooperative Music
IASCooperative, formerly Cooperative Music, often referred to as Co-Op, is a group of indie labels based in the UK but that have offices around the world, owned by IAS
Through their partner labels IASCooperative work with artists such as iama ...
, Liberator Music, Sony Music Japan and Universal Canada. On March 7, 2012, Garbage confirmed the album track listing via YouTube. Four further tracks recorded for the deluxe edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
were confirmed later in a press release
A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
issued through the band's own label.[ In the United Kingdom, 250 copies of the deluxe edition were signed by Garbage and issued as part of the ]Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
campaign. The album had a worldwide release date of May 14, 2012. At the launch of the record, guitarist Duke Erikson said that "working with Garbage again was very instinctual. Like getting on a bicycle... with three other people"; Erikson added, "We haven't felt this good about a Garbage record since the last one."[ Los Angeles-based studio SMOG Design handled the album's artwork and creative campaign, featuring band photographs by ]Autumn de Wilde
Autumn de Wilde (born October 21, 1970) is an American photographer and film director best known for her portraiture and commercial work photography of musicians, as well as her music video works. In 2020 she directed her first feature film, '' E ...
. According to Duke Erikson, for the cover "there was some art that we wanted to do but we didn't want to spend what the artist wanted us to", so instead of "a very colorful and complex cover" they opted to go the other way and be simplistic, with only a lowercase "g".
Singles
"Blood for Poppies
"Blood for Poppies" is the 2012 lead single from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album '' Not Your Kind of People'', released to radio worldwide and as the band's Record Store Day single in the United States.
Garbage picked "Blood f ...
" was confirmed as the lead single to launch the album.[ The song was made available for free digital download from the group's website after it leaked online early. A digital single was confirmed for release in Australia; while a ]limited edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
7" single
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
, backed with
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
an exclusive remix by Butch Vig
Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...
, was distributed to independent record stores across North America to mark Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
on April 21, 2012. " Battle In Me" was confirmed as the lead-single exclusively for the United Kingdom.[ A limited edition 7" vinyl was issued on April 21 to mark Record Store Day, while a proper commercial release followed on May 7, 2012.] To promote the album, "Automatic Systematic Habit
"Automatic Systematic Habit" is the third and final European radio airplay (fifth overall) single released from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album, '' Not Your Kind of People''. Copies were sent to radio stations across Europe in N ...
" was released as a free download through iTunes in the US on May 8, 2012. "Big Bright World
"Big Bright World" is the second worldwide single released from alternative rock band Garbage's fifth studio album, '' Not Your Kind of People''. The single was issued as a digital download in Australia and New Zealand in June 2012, and was sent ...
" was released as the album's second single in Australia on June 1, 2012. On July 8, Manson announced that "Control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
" was the band's next US single.
Songs in other media
In the same year of release, "Blood for Poppies" appeared in an episode of ''True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The ser ...
'' titled "Whatever I Am, You Made Me", while "Control" was used in the 2012 video game ''The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...
'' and featured in the launch trailer of the game. The song also appeared in the season 4 episode of ''The Vampire Diaries
''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, ...
'' "Bring It On". The title track, "Not Your Kind of People", was re-recorded in simlish
Simlish is a fictional language featured in EA's ''Sim'' series of games. It debuted in ''SimCopter'' (1996), and has been especially prominent in ''The Sims'' franchise, as well as in its spinoff ''MySims'' series. Simlish can also be hear ...
and featured on the newly added "Dark Wave" radio station in '' The Sims 3: Supernatural'' expansion pack. "Sugar" appeared in an episode of ''The Following
''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
The first season follows former FBI agent Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Bacon) ...
'', and "Not Your Kind of People", was also later featured in its entirety in the trailer and soundtrack for '' Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain''.
World tour
In late 2011, Garbage announced their return to touring upon the release of ''Not Your Kind of People'', marking the band's first live performances since 2007, and their first tour since 2005. "Thinking about going back on the road is both thrilling and terrifying in equal measure," Manson stated, "...but we've always enjoyed a little pain mixed in with our pleasure." Manson considered that self-reflection helped change the way the group approached touring, and, as a result, "we're playing the best shows of our career." Eric Avery
Eric Adam Avery (born April 25, 1965) is an American musician. He is best known as the founding bass guitarist and co-songwriter of the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded two studio albums. He is also currently the ...
, who performed with the band during their ''Bleed Like Me'' tour, rejoined them as the tour bassist. The band played concerts throughout North and South America, Europe, Oceania and Asia.
Critical reception
''Not Your Kind of People'' received generally positive reviews from critics.At AnyDecentMusic?, which collects critical reviews from more than 50 media sources, the album scored 6.0 points out of 10, based on 33 reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received a weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 63 based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
In his review for ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Dave Simpson gave the album four out of five stars, stating that it "returns to the blueprint of their first two, best albums" while lessening the electronics and augmenting the crunchy guitars, with a contemporary production. He praised the title track, deeming it a "surprise" and a "beautiful, otherworldly cross between a John Barry Bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
theme and a David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
outsider anthem." Cameron Adams of ''The Courier-Mail
''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northe ...
'' wrote that "musically, they still find that sweet spot between Motown and Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, via the Pretenders
Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete ...
and Prodigy
Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to:
* Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer
** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess
Arts, entertainment, and ...
", and considered it "refreshing" that the band is "still pushing pop music to its darkest limits."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
s Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that unlike their previous two albums, "there is no grappling with new sounds and styles, only an embrace of the thick aural onslaught of " Stupid Girl" and " Vow". He complimented Manson's "keenly aware lyrics" and said that their hooks are efficiently delivered while "no flab in either the composition or production" is evident. He summarized the album "as a simultaneous testament and revival of their strengths", but "what once was futuristic now sounds nostalgic."[ Tim Grierson wrote in '' The About Group'' that out of the many '90s bands that reunited in the last few years, "none have done it with as much gusto as Garbage" as they "return with their sexy, edgy vibe intact" and Manson "sounds as ferocious and bruised as ever."
The '' Bangkok Post'' noted that the band "stick firmly to their '90s alt rock guns." Their "fuzzy-guitar/catchy-hook formula continues to dominate the album" and amidst the fuzz and electronics, "the title-track, Sugar and Beloved Freak do offer moments of (relatively) quiet bliss" — songs that "refreshingly showcase the essence of Manson's voice". It is proposed however that, apart from older, devoted 90's fans, the album probably won't connect with contemporary audiences. In his review for '']Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', Adam Kivel likewise stated that the album is most likely to resonate with fans of 90's alternative fusion, characterizing it as "an anomaly" in the current musical climate and not likely to gain significant radio-play. Lindsay Zoladz of Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
summarized the album as "a statement from a band that's stuck, combatively, to its guns. The times have changed but Garbage haven't, and now, for better and for worse, they've at last become alternative to everything."[
'']NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' writer Rick Martin, despite hearing "flashes of their previous class" proving "they haven't completely lost their confrontational electro-rock streak", considered too much of it "pedestrian, anodyne and utterly unremarkable", and wondered "why they ever ditched the near-perfect mid-'90s FM rock of "Stupid Girl"." ''BBC Music
BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...
'' writer Tom Hocknell felt that the band's relocation to L.A. made "no discernible difference to the band's sound" but that "despite occasional lapses into overproduced mess, the surprise here is their enthusiasm." Similarly, Jamie Carson of '' Clash'' disapproved of the production, calling it "pompousness" and "annoying", and Mark Davison of ''No Ripcord'' remarked that "for all the interesting noises that the band have come up production really doesn't do them any favours, cramming them into a fairly narrow space and stripping them almost entirely of any sense of atmosphere", concluding that the album is nonetheless "enjoyable, and will probably go down better than their last two releases."
''Not Your Kind of People'' was listed at number 44 on ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''s list of the top 50 albums of 2012.
Commercial performance
In the United States, ''Not Your Kind of People'' was released exclusively through iTunes during its first week, and debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 19,000 digital copies sold in its first week. In its second week, the album rose to number 13 with sales of over 22,000 copies. As of June 2016, the album has sold 98,000 copies in the US. In the United Kingdom, it became the band's fifth top-10 studio album when it entered the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
at number 10 with first-week sales of 8,310 copies. The album also debuted at number 33 on the Japanese Oricon chart, selling 1,983 copies.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the deluxe edition of ''Not Your Kind of People''.
Garbage
* Shirley Manson – vocals, synth, stylophone
* Duke Erikson
Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson (born January 15, 1951) is an American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer and record producer, best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Garbage has sold more than 17 ...
– guitars, synth, piano
* Steve Marker – guitars, synth, noise
* Butch Vig
Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...
– drums, loops, effects
Additional musicians
* Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent.
Meldal-Johns ...
– bass
* Eric Avery
Eric Adam Avery (born April 25, 1965) is an American musician. He is best known as the founding bass guitarist and co-songwriter of the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded two studio albums. He is also currently the ...
– bass
* Ruby Winslow Marker – backing vocals
* Bo Violet Vig – backing vocals
* Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter.
Biography
Life and career
Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...
– drums
* Mike Fasano – drum tech
* Irina Björklund
Irina Felicia Björklund (born 7 February 1973) is a Finnish actress and singer.
Early life and education
Björklund was born in Danderyd, Stockholm County, Sweden before moving to Finland with her family. Björklund also lived in France during h ...
– musical saw
* Stevie Blacke – strings
* Matt Walker – drums
Technical
* Garbage – production
* Billy Bush
William Hall Bush (born October 13, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He is a member of the Bush family, a nephew of President George H. W. Bush and cousin of President George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush.
After appearin ...
– engineering, mixing, additional production
* Butch Vig – mixing
* Emily Lazar
Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...
– mastering
* Joe LaPorta
Joseph J. LaPorta (born ) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-laporta-mn000199340/credits/date-asc/
Career
Born and raised in New York, LaPorta graduated from New York Unive ...
– mastering
Artwork
* Ryan Corey – artwork, illustration, bone assembly
* Jeri Heiden – artwork, additional detail pics
* Autumn de Wilde
Autumn de Wilde (born October 21, 1970) is an American photographer and film director best known for her portraiture and commercial work photography of musicians, as well as her music video works. In 2020 she directed her first feature film, '' E ...
– photography
Charts
Release history
Notes
References
External links
Official Garbage website
{{Authority control
2012 albums
Albums produced by Butch Vig
Garbage (band) albums
Self-released albums
Albums produced by Billy Bush (record producer)