Garbage

Garbage was signed to Mushroom Records in Britain which distributed Garbage in every territory except the U.S. Almo Sounds director of A&R Bob Bortnick told Billboard, "They were the best-sounding demos I ever heard. I was really knocked out, but I didn't say anything. I had only been at Almo for a few weeks, and there were tons of[other labels] throwing money at them. I got a call from [Garbage's manager] asking why I didn't say anything, and she said that the band liked the idea of working with a new company. The band was also very aware of the A&M legacy and are huge [Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass] fans. When the time came to meet Jerry Moss, the group sent a garbage truck to pick him up from the airport.

Garbage's publishing agreement was with Rondor Music International, parent company to Almo Sounds when Garbage signed. The group retained the music publishing agreement after Almo Sounds was deactivated by Universal Music Group.

Garbage's self-titled debut album for Almo Sounds took a year to record. It was released on August 15, 1995. By March of the following year it had sold over 238,000 copies. The single "Vow" peaked at No. 26 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks; "Queer" at No 12 on the same chart and "Only Happy When It Rains" at No. 18 on that chart.

In 1999, the album Version 2.0 was nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy. Billboard reported the album "received critical acclaim for its brand of electronic beats mixed with a hard rock sound."