Garbage – Bleed Like Me

People seem to be torn on the mastering, but as someone who has only ever listened to the digital version (not CD), this pressing sounds miles better. Records are flat, sound is crisp and balanced. I honestly love the sound. Dead silent, no pops or cracks as well.

Nineteen years after its debut, Bleed Like Me makes its vinyl debut. Despite being sold as a translucent red, it’s actually opaque and vibrant, like the fire engine red hair I sported in university. I know it’s a minor quibble, but I really do prefer a translucent vinyl for vibrant colours like this.

My major quibble is the remastering here.

As each album finds its way to an anniversary pressing of some sort in recent years, a remastering is undertaken. The results have been, to my ears, stellar overall. There is a decided difference, but one I find leans towards a more “live” sounding mix, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Butch, Duke, and Steve sound extra vibrant and crunchy on these mixes, and Shirley’s voice hits a little deeper in the chest.

This BLM mix, however… it’s another story.

For starters, the remaster isn’t in Billy’s apt hands. While Bush is the original engineer on this outing (a contrast to the previous reissues), the remastering for this new edition is helmed by Heba Kadry, someone whose past credits lean more towards The Hidden Cameras and their ilk. Sadly, it shows. The beauty of BLM is its intentional industrial grit. It’s an album born from Shirley’s fury at the music industry’s sexism, her heartache as her marriage collapsed, and her insecurity as the band’s prior outing tanked due to its ill-fated release date (September 2001). The distorted vocals, bass swells, frantic drums and messy guitars were the soundscape of a band in emotional turmoil, a cacophony of personal crisis. I related. This remaster? It strips the heart out of it.

While the differences are, thankfully, more glaring on the digital version, the vinyl also lacks the grit that made BLM special. The best way I can explain it is that Kadry set out to amplify and purify Shirley’s vocals, cleaning them up as if the original mix was “clipped” — only it wasn’t. The result resembles a song with missing stems, where not only the vocals feel overly clear, but layers of guitar exploration seem lost or turned down. Parts of certain songs suddenly feel compressed and sparse, and it’s a shame. “Bad Boyfriend”, the stellar lead off with Dave Grohl standing in on drums, loses its breathy seduction with its smooth sheen, while “Metal Heart” loses the futuristic edge that lent Shirley an almost robotic texture to her voice. It’s clearly possible to maintain the vocal play – see “Sex Is Not The Enemy” – and yet, in that song, a backing vocal stem seems to have gone astray in the chorus due to the compression.

“Bleed Like Me” benefits from the master, if only because the song is so delicate and confessional. Centring Shirley’s vocals and lifting them allows an extra poignancy to the track. Similar can be said for “It’s All Over But The Crying”, which is particularly served by the enhanced bass juxtaposed against Shirley’s crystal clear, sorrowful refrain. But over and over, I find myself missing the subtle nuances of mixing that make Garbage such a unique and gifted band. The band is so much more than Shirley’s voice; it is the collective craft of three producers turned bandmates and their clever combinations of melody and chosen noise that are why they are revered by so many. Watering down these layers is like stripping the fine accessories from a formal outfit: yes, the dress is still pretty, but you know damn well it looks better when Richard Gere hands Julia Roberts the ruby necklace.

I do believe there was a “make it sound live” approach to this remaster as well. The difference is this: Billy Bush actually handles the live mix for this band. He understands the balance, the nuance. Kadry has missed the mark here. The b-sides do fare better overall, perhaps because they are not as engrained in my psyche, or were not initially approached with the same industrial feel.

For someone who favours Shirley over everything, or is unfamiliar with the original recording, the pressing is quiet and the cleaned vocals will likely sound beautiful. For those who understand the original project and its intentions, it’s a bit of a letdown. Here’s hoping for a re-do in five years.

The B-Sides are fantastic! Loved this album when it came out even though many fans didn't. I felt it captured the feel of their live shows. Anyhoo, I am loving this remastered collection, the album songs sound great and the B-sides, as mentioned, are quality in my eyes.

Mixing still is very compressed, guitars are a bit muted, but drums shine. But this new mastering for vinyl makes it MUCH easier on the ears than the muddy and clipped original CD version. Pressing is extremely good: flat, very little surface noise (almost none at all), no pops.

A good quality pressing.

Some people are talking about the colour of the records, they are not translucent - but who cares? Records are to be listened to. This is a good pressing, nice flat discs with no warps and very little in the way of any crackle and surface noise.

The sound quality of the album is down to the mastering and Garbage were never aimed at the audiophile market. This 2024 remaster is a better sounding version of the album than the original 2005 version to my ears. Yes this is the first time it’s been released on vinyl and it was never originally intended for vinyl so naturally the overall level is lower than digital versions, otherwise the format wouldn’t be able to handle it. This LP compares very well with the 2024 CD which is the same master. Both the LP and CD are a richer clearer version of the original album and it is not a disappointment to me at all. It’s Garbage it’s supposed to sound dirty and compressed, I wouldn’t buy apples and expect them to taste like strawberries.

The musical content is excellent, the second disc is a like an album in itself, the B sides are that strong in my opinion.

If you are familiar with Bleed Like Me and want to try it on vinyl I don’t think you can go wrong with this pressing. It’s a quality release.

How do the vinyl master sound ? Because I've been listening to the Qobuz Hi-Res 2024 master while waiting for my vinyl to arrive and I must say I'm a bit disappointed with how they mixed it. It lacks dynamics, the agressive guitars and the punchy bass of the original master (at least compared to the 2015 Qobuz Hi-Res remaster). I love that album (it's my favorite) because of the work they've done with the guitars but on the new one, it all sounds muffled like listening to an Atmos mix as stereo. Praying the vinyl will sound better.

So, is this actually transparent red as d in the description on their UK/EU websites and not opaque?