"Subhuman" | ||||
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Single by Garbage | ||||
from the album Garbage (Japanese Edition) | ||||
B-side | ||||
Released | August 7, 1995 | |||
Recorded | 1994–1995 | |||
Studio | Sarm (Madison, Wisconsin) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:37 | |||
Label | Mushroom | |||
Songwriter(s) | Garbage | |||
Producer(s) | Garbage | |||
Garbage singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
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"Subhuman" is a 1995 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage, and was originally released as an international B-side on "Vow", Garbage's debut single. That song had earlier been pressed as a limited edition 7-inch vinyl in the United Kingdom for the purposes of launching the band; when it came to re-releasing "Vow", Mushroom Records felt that "Subhuman" was strong enough to be issued as an A-side to follow up "Vow". [2] A last-minute decision was made to switch the songs. [3] "Vow" was relegated to bonus track on the CD single. [4]
"Subhuman" was released as the band's second single exclusively in the United Kingdom, and it gave Garbage their first chart appearance, peaking at #50 on the UK Singles Chart. [5] The single was promoted by a press junket organised by the record label on a boat sailing down London's River Thames, [6] and attracted media attention for the distinctive rubber packaging of the vinyl format. [7]
"Subhuman" was also used by the label as an opportunity to massively raise general awareness of Garbage and as an advertising campaign to brand the "G" logo by promoting the single release with plain white flyers, stickers, carrier bags, T-shirts and subway posters emblazoned with the band's "G" logo. [8] "Subhuman" was never intended to be an album cut, and was not included on the standard editions of the band's debut album, Garbage which was released later that year. [4] The single was excluded from the 2007 greatest hits album Absolute Garbage and from the 2012 greatest hits album The Absolute Collection . It was however remastered and included in the CD and streaming editions of the 2022 greatest hits album Anthology .
"Subhuman" was written and recorded over the course of 1994 during sessions between band members Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig in either Marker's basement recording studio or at their own Smart Studios in Wisconsin university town Madison. [9] The band has kept the story behind the song ambiguous, although Erikson has said that the lyric "burn down all your idols", the first line of the song "pretty much sums it up". [10] The opening noise emerged from Vig accidentally wiring the mixing console to the air conditioner. [11]
Midway through the recording sessions for the band's debut album, the band's manager, Shannon O'Shea, secured the group an inclusion on Volume, a compilation album and magazine title. [12] However, the deadline given for accepting a track was only three days. The only song the band had completed in any shape or form was "Vow". [13] After Volume was released in December 1994, "Vow" began to receive radio airplay from Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq, John Peel and Johnnie Walker, and record stores in the United Kingdom began to receive requests for a single that didn't yet exist. [14] Garbage were still putting the finishing touches to their debut set, as well as extra tracks such as "Subhuman", which was still three months away from release. [14] In the United Kingdom, the terms of the licensing deal regarding the inclusion of "Vow" on Volume meant that the track could only be released on a limited basis. [15] "Vow" was issued in a 1,000 copy limited edition 7-inch vinyl format packaged in an aluminium sleeve, which was designed by O'Shea along with the aluminium sleeve for "Vow". The single sold out in one day. [7] Mushroom later licensed the single out to BMG who fully issued "Vow" in Europe, and to White Records, who released "Vow" in Australia and New Zealand in a limited edition format packaged in an embossed rubber wallet. [7] "Subhuman" was released as the "Vow" b-side on both labels. [7]
Mushroom's plan for releasing "Vow" in the limited metal sleeve had been to create an early buzz about the band and "Vow" by word-of-mouth, rather than by retail impact. For the follow-up, the label were concerned with maintaining the interest of the record buyers, as well as attracting interest from record chains. [2] Mushroom manufactured advance discs to promote a re-release of "Vow" in the United Kingdom, but later decided to alter the single, so that the international b-side, "Subhuman", would be the title track. [2] The label felt that "Subhuman" was a "strong single to release in its own right". [2] "Subhuman" was to be a limited release as well, but manufactured in greater quantities to enable a greater retail impact than the first. [2] Mushroom re-serviced the single to the media as a cassette featuring "Subhuman", "#1 Crush" (an album out-take) and "Vow". [16]
Garbage requested that their initial singles were to be packaged with a "high-tech, design-led approach", which led to the manufacture of the aluminium sleeve for "Vow". To follow it up, Mushroom's product manager originally wanted to create the sleeve for "Subhuman" from neoprene. Instead, he sourced a black plasticised rubber from a company in Germany to create the sleeve. Although it wasn't requested, the company manufactured the rubber wallets with lining and a flap to enclose the discs within. "Subhuman" was a bigger investment than the first single; the metal sleeve for "Vow" had cost 90p per unit to manufacture, "Subhuman" cost £2.00 per unit. Knowing that the dealer price was fixed at £1.36, Mushroom lost 64p on each. The company manufactured 3,000 copies of the sleeve in 7-inch size, and a further 2,000 copies in CD-size (these were used as promos, and exported to Australia for their limited edition "Vow" CD single). [17]
Marketing trends over the 1990s had shown an increasing dominance of using branding to sell product, so Mushroom's marketing campaign for the launch of the band focused on branding the "G" logo onto the minds of music buyers. The logo would adorn the album cover and each upcoming single, as well as all upcoming promotional matter and point of sale displays. [7] Upfront of the release date, Mushroom ran two teaser campaigns in the British music press. 10,000 A2 posters of simply the G logo were affixed to prime sites around the United Kingdom; another 10,000 were set up two weeks later which also included the band's name, the name of the single and the release information. [8] Similar branded carrier bags and posters were distributed to independent retailers, flyers and stickers distributed to nightclubs, as well as branded t-shirts to key people. [8] No music video was filmed for "Subhuman", instead, Mushroom serviced the video for "Vow" to music channels. [8]
To support the release of "Subhuman" and launch the album, Mushroom organised the band's first fanzine press conference on July 25, on board a cruise sailing up and down the River Thames. The event hosted an exclusive album playback and a question and answer session to introduce the band, and gained music paper publicity for the release of the album. [6] The boat set-off from Embankment Pier early, without the band on board, and had to return to pick them up (it was later pointed out and reported that the conference had taken place on the sister-ship to the Marchioness, which had sunk with loss of life a few years earlier). [18]
On August 7, 1995, "Subhuman" was issued on the rubber-sleeved 7-inch vinyl, [19] and stickered CD single, [20] both limited to 3,000 copies each. [7] Some copies of the vinyl also came with a G-logo carrier bag. [7] Both formats sold out in the first week. [21] "Subhuman" debuted at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart. [22] In case of demand, Mushroom also manufactured an extra 2,000 copies of the 7-inch in a simple black card sleeve. [17] These made it into shops the following week, at the end of which "Subhuman" fell to number 77. [5]
Both "Subhuman" and "#1 Crush" were never intended to be included on the band's debut album, which was released in the United Kingdom in October 1995. Both tracks were however included as bonus tracks on the Japanese edition of Garbage. [23] In November, "Subhuman" was included on Rare Track Collection, a five track sampler given away free by Virgin Megastores in France with purchases of the album. [24] Towards the end of the following year, "Subhuman" b-side "#1 Crush" was remixed by Nellee Hooper for inclusion on the soundtrack album to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet . As the album opener, "#1 Crush" received massive airplay at alternative radio. [25] At the start of 1997, "#1 Crush" hit #1 on the Modern Rock chart [26] and stayed there for four weeks. [27] Later the same year, limited two-disc edition of Garbage featuring "Subhuman" and three other b-sides was issued in Korea [28] and Singapore. [29] In 1998, "Subhuman" was included on Independent Access, a CD sampler given away by Newbury Comics stores in the United States with purchases of Garbage's second album Version 2.0 . [30]
In 2015, Garbage announced the 20th Anniversary Edition of their debut album with a free download of an extended version of "Subhuman" with all pre-orders. "Subhuman" was included on the deluxe edition of the reissue. "I just don’t feel that everyone felt ["Subhuman"] was strong enough to put on the record", Shirley Manson stated in 2015. "In retrospect it’s a bit silly, because it’s fantastic. You make strange choices and you have to live by them".
In 2022, "Subhuman" was remastered by Heba Kadry and included in the band's third greatest hits album Anthology .
"Subhuman" received a mostly positive response from music critics. Before the release of the single, Volume described the song as having a "dark sensibility and bouts of Trent Reznor-esque depression". [12] Both Kerrang! and Melody Maker rated "Subhuman" as their "Single of the Week"; the former publication wrote, ""Subhuman" crunches along on a thrilling, all consuming electro-rhythm-from-hell. Totally distinctive and utterly brilliant" [31] while the latter lengthily enthused, "There are reminders of Curve, in the scowling, abrasive guitars, trussed down with a rubbery, mordantly funky rhythm programme. This is severely internal music, right inside your head, pulsing like a migraine, with Manson crowing like a dominatrix as she presides over some impending psychological breakdown". [32] Hot Press described "Subhuman" as "hypnotic drum loops combined with a guitar overload... an industrial noise-feat", adding that it was "a great single". [33] Vox were equally positive, writing "trashing a bloated, ego-fuelled but nameless icon, "Subhuman" is one of [Garbage's] darkest songs to date." [34] NME were severely critical of "Subhuman", stating that the single was a disappointing follow up to "Vow": "Garbage go and ruin it all by being hopelessly techno-gothic. The end result is a song plagued by its own earnestness... it more or less self-destructs." [35]
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Garbage |
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Chart (1995) | Peak position |
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Scotland (Official Charts Company) [37] | 45 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [5] | 50 |
UK Rock & Metal (OCC) [38] | 2 |
Garbage is a Scottish and American rock band formed in 1993 in Madison, Wisconsin. The band's line-up consisting of Scottish singer Shirley Manson (vocals) and American musicians Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and Butch Vig has remained unchanged since its inception. All four members are involved in the songwriting and production process. Garbage has sold over 17 million albums worldwide.
Garbage is the debut studio album by American rock band Garbage. It was released on August 15, 1995, by Almo Sounds. The album was met with critical acclaim upon its release, being viewed by some as an innovative recording for its time. It reached number 20 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart, while charting inside the top 20 and receiving multi-platinum certifications in several territories. The album's success was helped by the band promoting it on a year-long tour, including playing on the European festival circuit and supporting the Smashing Pumpkins throughout 1996, as well as by a run of increasingly successful singles culminating with "Stupid Girl", which received Grammy Award nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1997.
Beautiful Garbage is the third studio album by American rock band Garbage. It was released on October 1, 2001, by Mushroom Records worldwide, with the North American release by Interscope Records the following day. Marking a departure from the sound the band had established on their first two releases, the album was written and recorded over the course of a year, when lead singer Shirley Manson chronicled their efforts weekly online, becoming one of the first high-profile musicians to keep an Internet blog. The album expanded on the band's musical variety, with stronger melodies, more direct lyrics, and sounds mixing rock with electronica, new wave, hip hop, and girl groups.
"Stupid Girl" is a song by American rock band Garbage from their self-titled debut studio album (1995). The song was written and produced by band members Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig. "Stupid Girl" features lyrics about a young woman's ambivalence and is a musical arrangement centered on a repetitive bassline and a drum sample from the Clash's 1980 song "Train in Vain".
"Shut Your Mouth" is a 2001 alternative rock song by Garbage, written and recorded for their third studio album Beautiful Garbage. "Shut Your Mouth" was the album opener; it was also released as its fourth and final single.
"Vow" is a song by alternative rock band Garbage. It was released as their debut single in early 1995 by Discordant, a label set up by Mushroom Records to launch the group, and Almo Sounds in North America.
"Only Happy When It Rains" is an alternative rock song written and produced by American alternative rock band Garbage for their self-titled debut studio album (1995). It was recorded at the band's own studio, Smart Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin, and is known for its tongue-in-cheek lyrics parodying the typically angst-filled themes of mid-'90s alternative rock.
"When I Grow Up" is a 1998 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage. The song was released as the fourth international single to be taken from the band's multi-platinum second album Version 2.0 over the course of the following year.
"You Look So Fine" is a single released in 1999, and was the final single taken from Garbage's second album Version 2.0, where it was also the closing track. "You Look So Fine" closed either the main set or encore at every headlining show Garbage performed on the two-year-long Version 2.0 world tour.
"Push It" is a song by American rock band Garbage from their second studio album, Version 2.0 (1998). It was released on April 20, 1998, as the album's lead single. Lead singer Shirley Manson elaborated on the song's dreamy verse structure versus the confrontational chorus: "[It's about] the schizophrenia that exists when you try to reconcile your desires and demons with the need to fit in. It's a song of reassurance". The track contains a musical quotation of the Beach Boys' 1964 song "Don't Worry Baby".
"Why Do You Love Me" is a song by alternative rock band Garbage, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Bleed Like Me (2005).
"Cherry Lips", also known as "Cherry Lips " is a song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock group Garbage for their third studio album, Beautiful Garbage. It was released in early 2002 by Mushroom Records as second single from the album, with the exception of North America, where Interscope issued "Breaking Up the Girl" instead. In the years since release, "Cherry Lips" has become an enduring track for the band, an alternative rock LGBTQ anthem, and after almost two decades continues to resonate, being used as the home run song of the Milwaukee Brewers and in advertisement campaigns for Microsoft's Surface Go laptop tablets.
"Breaking Up the Girl" is a 2001 alternative rock song written, recorded and produced by the band Garbage for their third studio album Beautiful Garbage. In North America, it was serviced to alternative radio as the second single from the album.
"#1 Crush" is a song by the American rock band Garbage, released internationally as a b-side to their debut single "Vow" (1995), and in the United Kingdom on the b-side to second single "Subhuman" (1995).
"Queer" is a song by American rock band Garbage from their self-titled debut studio album (1995). The song started as a demo during sessions between band members Butch Vig, Duke Erikson, and Steve Marker, and finished after singer Shirley Manson joined the band. Manson rewrote the sexualized lyrics to be more ambiguous, and rearranged the song into a subdued trip hop and rock crossover composition.
"Milk" is a song written and produced by American alternative rock band Garbage from their self-titled debut studio album (1995). The song was released internationally the following year as the album's fifth and final single. Garbage collaborated with trip hop musician Tricky on a new version of "Milk" for single release. Much media comment was made regarding a rumoured fall-out over the sessions, when it became known that Garbage produced a further mix of "Milk" that only incorporated Tricky's vocals from that session.
"Supervixen" is an alternative rock song written and performed by alternative rock band Garbage and is the opening track on their self-titled debut studio album (1995). The song was titled after Russ Meyer's 1975 sexploitation film Supervixens but was influenced by Pier Paolo Pasolini's period horror art film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which had been playing on a monitor above the soundboard at Smart Studios when the band were working on it.
"Battle in Me" is a song from rock band Garbage's fifth studio album Not Your Kind of People. It was released as the lead single to promote the album in United Kingdom. "Battle in Me" preceded the band's underplayed headliner concert in London, and served as the band's Record Store Day 2012 release in Europe.
"Girls Talk" is a stand-alone single released by alternative rock band Garbage for Record Store Day 2014, backed with the b-side "Time Will Destroy Everything". Both tracks would be remastered and included on Garbage's seventh studio album No Gods No Masters in 2021.
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