When Garbage put out their 2005 album, Bleed Like Me, they thought it might be their very last record. Nearly 20 years later, the “#1 Crush” outfit is still together making new music and now revisiting the album that nearly ended them.
An expanded, deluxe reissue of Bleed Like Me will be released Friday, April 5. Frontwoman Shirley Manson tells ABC Audio that the reissue reflects “the fact that we have survived this long, that we’ve managed to have a career in music this long, that we were able to pick ourselves up after the disappointment of Bleed Like Me.”
That disappointment included “in-band fighting” and getting dropped by their record label. Garbage went on hiatus later in 2005.
“We really thought this was the end of the line for us,” Manson says. “As it turns out, it wasn’t.”
Garbage reunited in 2010 and has since released three more albums. Bleed Like Me, now years removed from the hard feelings it brought, has become just another album in Garbage’s discography, and its songs continue to show up on their set lists.
“It just shows you, you really know nothing,” Manson says. “I think part of the secret of having a long career in music is to really not care too much about what people think and just concentrate on making music that excites you and your bandmates, and hopefully it will connect with somebody somewhere.”
She adds, “Before you know it, you look back and you’re, like, ‘Wow! Here we are, we’re putting out another record. This is really wonderful, really special."”
Garbage has been working on a new album, the follow-up to 2021’s No Gods No Masters. Meanwhile, Manson is featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Revolutionary Women in Music: Left of Center exhibit.
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