Critical Reception
Upon both the release of Garbage, and of "Only Happy When It Rains" as a single, the song received a positive reception from music journalists. In reviews for the single release Patrick Brennan of Hot Press declared "Only Happy When It Rains" his Single of the Fortnight, writing "it's hugely refreshing to come across a song which celebrates all those sad moments of loneliness that can be so life affirming", while Billboard's Larry Flick described the song as "solid all the way through" praising the overall production. A reviewer for Kerrang! wrote, "A truly inspired single... Garbage combine a slightly sinister acidic approach with an infectious melodic atmosphere and an alternative punch. The result is awesome," and a reviewer for Music Week stated that "Shirley Manson's vocals veer between fuzzy darkness, grinding catchy and crystal brilliance." Alastair Mabbot, writing for The List, described the song as "Spitting Image's notion of alternative rock", In reviews for the debut album, Robert Yates of Q wrote that there was "a nice self-deflating Morrissey touch to ", while Jackie Hinden of Hot Press felt that "Only Happy When It Rains" was "like a Pretenders for the nineties". Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian described the song as "perversely pretty", while Leo Finlay of Music Week compared the song to Mazzy Star, and that it "employs the current hip staus of country music to devastating effect". Spin's Eric Weissard said the song was the only one he hated in Garbage's debut album, but reacted positively to the intro where "backward guitars produce a chiming solo." At the end of 1995, Melody Maker rated "Only Happy When It Rains" the 49th best Song of the Year, writing up: "In a year of sunny Britpop, reservoir supplies of ironic bubblegum pop-noir were dangerously low. This burst of mocking miserablism helped". The track has been described as Garbage's signature song, and in 2000 was ranked as 69th in a list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs Of All Time jointly compiled by Rolling Stone and MTV.
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