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Jun 11, 2021No Gods No Masters is a highlight in their discography and one of their best works to date, a potent and outspoken dose of genre-blending artistry that confidently returns Garbage to their position as a band perpetually ahead of the curve.
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Jul 8, 2021After 30 years in the game, No Gods No Masters demonstrates Garbage still have plenty to say. And they do so with style, swagger, and verve.
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Jun 10, 2021No Gods No Masters is one of the coolest, most vital releases of 2021, let alone one by a band some 30 years and seven albums into their career. Listen and learn.
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Jun 10, 2021It’s no mean feat that ‘No Gods No Masters’ is not only Garbage’s best album in 20 years – at least – but one that could only have been made now.
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Jun 8, 2021Listening to ‘No Gods No Masters’ feels like listening to Garbage again for the very first time, which is a terrifically thrilling prospect.
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Jun 8, 2021Though darker than most Garbage releases, No Gods No Masters is no less catchy than the albums that produced numerous hits in the 90s.
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Jun 8, 2021It’s a fine outing from an outfit that continues to make compelling music.
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MojoJun 7, 2021They've added anger to their traditional wall of ferocious sleekness built on sizzling guitars and unyielding electronica. [Jul 2021, p.80]
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Jun 14, 2021Faster and friskier than expected, No Gods, No Masters is their strongest album since Version 2.0.
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Jun 24, 2021Considering the vast number of ideas they put forth here, they're still finding new ways to engage with their signature formula after all these years—easily one of their most robust since 2008's Version 2.0.
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Jun 15, 2021Garbage’s seventh record No Gods No Masters is their most direct and overtly critical to date, making for a visceral, re-energising listen.
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Jun 10, 2021Yet as overt and outwardly targeted the likes of ‘The Men Who Rule The World’ and ‘Godhead’ are (“would you deceive me if I had a dick?” Shirley asks on the latter), the album finds space for the introversion that has previously allowed Garbage to cross over.
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Jun 10, 2021Strange Little Birds from 2016 was a belting return to form for Garbage, and although No Gods No Masters has its moments, it’s not quite at the same level. Mainly written pre-lockdown, it strangely fits the current world probably better than it would have done if released earlier, though.
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Jun 9, 2021As a whole, No Gods No Monsters reads as an album about deep societal frustrations. Yet it manages to feel light and airy in moments, like the humorously titled, Pet Shop Boys-adjacent “Flipping the Bird.” The emotional texture of each track is what makes it rise above a collection of empty, sloganistic statements.
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Jun 8, 2021For all of the group’s abundant signature moves on No Gods No Masters, the record never feels like a nostalgia bid. That’s because after 26 years, Garbage know who they are and are comfortable with themselves.
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UncutJun 7, 2021It’s a big, bolshy set, slightly dated by its industrial-rock dynamics, but there’s no denying the Depeche Mode-ish “Godhead” or (especially) the giallo-ish critique that is “A Woman Destroyed”. [Jul 2021, p.27]
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Classic Rock MagazineJun 7, 2021Once the album stops yelling and stamping for attention, the strong suits of this outfit come through, and dark, sinister atmospheres trademarked by Depeche Mode and The Banshees are allowed to thrive. [Jul 2021, p.81]
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Jun 7, 2021No Gods No Masters suffers from a few too many ideas and stylistic excursions, but in a business where stasis means certain death, its eclectic approach is a testament to Garbage’s refusal to simply mine the same sonic ground over and over for an easy profit.
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Jul 2, 2021Anger suits Garbage’s most recognisable mode, often on forceful display here: dense, layered noise, all buzzsaw guitars, harsh electronics and industrial clatter. Yet there’s sonic variety.
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Jun 11, 2021The album doles out small doses of riot grrrl nostalgia but for the most part, on No Gods No Masters, Garbage stretch beyond the gilded cage of their Nineties icon status to reach for something new – often, but not always, to effective ends.
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Jun 8, 2021The heightened level of fury and overall frustration about the state of society is admirable. Some might say there is not enough of it in today’s music. But that needs to be balanced with songs which beckon you back for another listen, an aspect of the confrontational No Gods No Monsters that too often falls short.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 23 out of 27
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Mixed: 2 out of 27
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Negative: 2 out of 27
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Jun 13, 2021This is their best work since 1998. Absolutely brillant album, with lots of hooks, melodies and great lyrics.
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Jun 13, 2021
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Jun 11, 2021This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.