Editing Beautiful Garbage (section)

==Composition==
More diverse than their first two studio albums, musically more melodic and lyrically more direct, ''Beautiful Garbage'' featured [[electronica]] fused with contemporary [[Hip hop music|hip hop]], with influences coming from 1980s [[New wave music|new wave]] to 1960s [[girl group]]s. Garbage acknowledged the broad span of sounds and styles, which included [[Prince (musician)|Prince]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]], and [[Phil Spector]].<ref>''Beautiful Garbage'' bio, written by Peter Murphy, published by Mushroom and Interscope, July 2001.</ref> Regarding the melancholic lyrics, Manson stated they happened because after two years touring "we were very isolated and removed from our lives", so when writing the lyrics, "I felt an overwhelming sense that I need to reinvest in my 'relations'".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Spitz |first=Marc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-qexhnZaukC&pg=PA81 |title=Call Her Ms. Manson |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |volume=17 |issue=11 |date=November 2001 |page=81 |issn=0006-2510 |access-date=January 27, 2019 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

{{quote box|quote=It was a really interesting experience for me as a musician. I learned a lot. It was quite a liberating experience in a funny way. I was going through a divorce, and I ripped my hair out, basically shaved it. I felt like I had rid myself of all shackles ... On the other side of it, you're stuffed in a cage and tied down to all your old ideas, all your old opinions, all your old creative output, and that can be a prison sometimes. So for me, ''Beautifulgarbage'' was really liberating. I have a real soft spot for [the record] – I think we all do in the band, actually.|width=28%|source= —[[Shirley Manson]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Reyes |first=Roberto |url=http://vagazine.com/blog/2012/05/14/shirley-manson/3/ |title=...And God Created Shirley Manson by Mason Poole |work=VAGA |date=May 14, 2012 |access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref>}}

Drummer [[Butch Vig]] stated that the album is a "much simpler record than ''[[Version 2.0]]''": "All of the songs sort of came from us playing live downstairs [in Smart Studios] with guitar, bass and drums ... That was the only conscious decision we made – to make the songs simpler. Some of the songs are still layered in spots; compared to the last record, there're about half as many tracks. As far as sounds go, it's basically drums, bass, some heavy guitars and Shirley singing." Erikson agreed that a more organic sound and simplistic approach with respect to production is embodied by the final mix of the album. "A lot of songs took shape in just a few hours as opposed to a few months with the last record....Some of the songs obviously took a long time, or we wouldn't have been in the studio for a full year. But a lot of them happened very quickly. 'Silence Is Golden' we recorded basically in three days and it was done. 'So Like a Rose,' for the most part, was recorded in three hours. I think we spent a lot of time just trying to resist adding stuff to [the new album]. Because that was our tendency on the other two records." On the lyrical content of the songs, Vig remarked that "[Manson's lyrics] aren't specifically responses to the industry, but they could be read that way. Shirley has said that, for example, 'Shut Your Mouth' is about all the bullshit that's out there, but it's also a sort of note to self to keep your mouth shut, because she says she's the biggest, most opinionated loudmouth of anyone around. So they work on multiple levels."<ref name="Isthmus">{{cite web |last=Laskin |first=Tom |url=https://isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/garbage-can-the-madison-bands-new-sound-succeed-in-the-fickle-pop-marketplace/ |title=Garbage: Can the Madison band's new sound succeed in the fickle pop marketplace? |work=[[Isthmus (newspaper)|Isthmus]] |date=April 29, 2012 |access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref>

Garbage decided the best way to start writing the album was to set up their [[Sound recording and reproduction|recording equipment]], guitars, keyboards, drum kit and a [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]] and "[[Jam session|jam]]" as a group.<ref name="SOS"/> Their [[improvisation]] led the inspiration of a few songs such as "[[Shut Your Mouth (song)|Shut Your Mouth]]", where the band played for three hours while Manson spontaneously composed melody and lyrics, while "[[Breaking Up the Girl]]" came from both Erikson and Vig [[strum]]ming acoustic guitars in the studio lounge.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McCallef |first=Ken |title=This Garbage Doesn't Stink! |magazine=[[Pulse! (magazine)|Pulse!]] |date=October 2001}}</ref> The band felt that it was foremost that the new songs worked on an emotional level with Manson's vocals and lyrics.<ref name="SOS"/> The initial sessions ultimately led to around 32 song ideas to develop further.<ref name="Makingmusic"/>