Garbage – In Concert – 1998 – Past Daily Morning Soundbooth

Garbage in concert to get your morning off to a running start. Recorded by German Radio at the 1998 Loreley Festival on June 20.

According to the history books, this is Garbage 2.0 after relocating to Friday Harbor in Washington State earlier in 1997 to put together what would eventually be their follow-up album known, appropriately as 2.0.

Garbage’s eponymous debut album was critically acclaimed upon its release, selling over four million copies and achieving double platinum certification in the United Kingdom, United States and in Australia. It was accompanied by a string of increasingly successful singles from 1995 to 1996, including “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains”. Follow-up Version 2.0, released in 1998 after a year in production, was equally successful, topping the UK Albums Chart and receiving two Grammy Award nominations. Garbage followed this by performing and co-producing the theme song to the nineteenth James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999).

According to drummer and co-founder Butch Vig, he and Guitarist Duke Erikson drew inspiration for the band’s name from a hostile early comment, when a friend of the band heard recording material, probably for “Vow” and groaned, “This shit sounds like garbage!” However, according to This Is The Noise That Keeps Me Awake, an autobiography of the band, Vig wrote in his 1993 studio journal about the creative process; of working for long periods of time, “without coming up with anything cool… and when you least expect it, it all falls into place.” The name derives from the last line of this entry: “I hope that all this garbage will become something beautiful!”.

Never ceases to amaze how a band’s name falls into place – how accidents become nuggets. In the case of Garbage, it’s been something of a roller-coaster, but after several split-ups, hiatuses, personnel and direction changes, Garbage is still up and running with a new album “No Gods No Master” out now, and a tour this summer starting off with the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid in July. Tickets went on sale in December, but I imagine you can still squeeze out a couple.

In the meantime, back to 1998.

Garbage – In Concert – 1998 – Past Daily Morning Soundbooth

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