Garbage - Absolute Garbage

Gotta have this Album!

I love all of their songs, all so original unlike today's artist. Absolutely Recommend "Absolute Garbage." June 11, 2008

Not Garbage, No Not Garbage At All

Isn't it ironic the band titled their greatest hits collection "Absolute Garbage"? Quite funny because I LOVE this band and this album is far from garbage. Singer Shirley Manson and members have been an influential band since the early '90's, mixing alternative/pop/rock with an electronic sound into perfectly polished hits. Not to mention she is one of the hottest chicks in rock!

Every Garbage album has had it's fair share of great hits, with mediocre ones thrown between, so this collection is a must have for any respectable indie/alternative rock fan who doesn't already own their prior albums. It has most of the bands' best songs, but does leave a few out. It starts out with their first single "Vow" and ends with a previously unreleased track "Tell Me Where It Hurts", then seques right into a dynamic remix of "It's All Over But the Crying".

Absolute Garbage definitely shows how the band has evolved over the years. Drummer/Producer Butch Vig has been a member since the beginning and you can hear the chemistry between him and Shirley Manson in each song. The band is rumored to be working on a new Garbage album and I can't wait. I've always admired everything Shirley Manson has done.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane April 9, 2008

Garbage's Best Stuff All On One Disc

I have been a huge Garbage fan since the beginning (and when Shirley was in Angelfish)and have followed their work up to present. Absolute Garbage (not too crazy about the title)tracks the band from their first hit singles (and the best)to the somewhat commercially rocky '00s material. Their timing was dead on in 1995 when their debut hit stores and Shirley and the boys got heavy airplay on radio and MTV. Their music was a strange brew of glossy alt-electro rock often sampling other artists who seemed to be their inspirations. "Stupid Girl" updates The Clash's "Train in Vain" and later on their second record, "Special" relies on Chryssie Hynde. "Vow" is an exquisite stinger as "Only Happy When it Rains" sounds like a sunny pop song except that it's not. "Milk", the last track the debut began a trend with Garbage; each album they have released have always closed with a bittersweet ballad that is usually dark, sexy, and pleading. The best example is "Milk" with it's desperate "I'm waiting for you" hook. Gorgeous, and so different from other music of that time. In Between the debut and Version 2.0, was the Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack which featured Garbage's ode to obsession "#1 Crush". Version 2.0 set well with critics and fans alike and became a year end favorite on many magazine lists. Lead single "Push It" twisted Salt N' Pepa into a multi-layered techno-rock gem. Check for the Beach Boys influence when Shirley purrs "Don't Worry Baby" like it was the 60's all over again. This will come up again on the third record. "I Think I'm Paranoid" ressurects "Bend Me, Shake Me" and makes for another Garbage classic. "When I Grow Up" was a great single and a track from the Big Daddy soundtrack during that time. It was a lighter cut, and made way for Garbage's slightly looser, poppier sound. Of course, there are no words for the awesome ballad that is "You Look so Fine". It contains one of my favorite lines from a song: "You Look so fine, I want to break your heart and give you mine". I mean, what's not to love? "The World is Not Enough" was from the James Bond Soundtrack and wisely included among the best cuts. The third record Beautiful Garbage received mixed reviews, mostly for Garbage's transition into a lighter sound that mixed their signature styles with 60's girl group harmonies. At times the tracks seem a bit forced and not so cohesive. Even still, Beautiful contained some great songs. "Cherry Lips(Go Baby Go)is among them. On a collection like this, it seems to stand out just a bit but really it is the best example of how flexible Garbage's sound can be. It's a track that is hard to categorize or pin down, and maybe that was the point. It's mostly sparkle and pop, but at the same time casts a wicked new wave spell behind Shirley's nearly unrecognizable high and perky voice. Also from that album is "Shut Your Mouth", one of the tracks that sounds more like Garbage's mid-late '90s offerings. A few people complain about the omitted "Androgyny", "Breaking up the Girl", and "Sex is the Not the Enemy". People will always disagree with best of collections. I for one am glad that "Androgyny" was left off. That track has to be the weakest of all and would throw off a nice collection like this. Obviously I am not the only one. As for the others left off, I like them but not the strongest material. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the selection of the singles and wouldn't change a thing. The fourth record, Bleed Like Me, was a bit more on track with critics and the buying public. I was so glad that "Why Do You Love Me" got the airplay it deserved. It's an excellent single about insecurity and empowerment and a nice comeback hit for Garbage. The title track is a good old fashioned blistering Garbage track, although not quite as classic as say, "Queer" or "Stupid Girl". A nice remix of "It's All Over But the Crying", Bleed Like Me's album closing torch song, and the new track "Tell Me Where It Hurts" which sounds like part of the Beautiful Garbage era, is also included. It's a good song but not the strongest of statements on the future of Garbage. All in all, it's nice to have whether you're a fan or a casual listener since most of the good stuff is on here. Most are under the impression Garbage is a singles band and that's not true at all. The debut and Version 2.0 are essential listening and two of the best records of the 1990s. Includes nice booklet with great photos, lyrics to all songs and a nice little history of the band. Buy it now! January 15, 2008

Garbage's poignant pantheon of their greatest works is a must-own

Garbage is my favorite band. Shirley Manson is one of only two celebrities I really want to meet before I die. I can't express how highly I revere this group.

Absolute Garbage (2007) is a fitting "greatest hits" collection. It does NOT include every single the band ever released, only the most popular ones. And although we can all gripe about its omissions, the fact remains that what we're left with is a fine, comprehensive-enough album that presents an exciting retrospective of Garbage at their rise, peak, and fall (in surprisingly chronological fashion).

The first 5 songs are from their eponymous debut (1995) and of them, "Queer" and "Only Happy When It Rains" are the truly great cuts. "Vow" and "Milk" are good while "Stupid Girl" remains average and the weakest pick from their first CD (although it was a huge hit).

Tracks 7 - 11 hail from Version 2.0 (1998) and I would call all of them terrific, except "When I Grow Up", which is good but not great. "Push It", in particular, is almost the best song Garbage ever produced (my personal favorite would have to be "So Like A Rose" from Beautifulgarbage).

"Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" and "Shut Your Mouth", both from the third album Beautifulgarbage (2001), are two of the best selections from that release, which was filled with dizzying highs and terrifying lows.

Although "Why Do You Love Me" was the first (and best) single from Bleed Like Me (2005), that album's title track was one of the worst songs Garbage has ever made (though admittedly "Bleed Like Me" is a love it/hate it affair). The remix of "It's All Over But The Crying", a middling ballad that almost became a single, is a little more downbeat and snappier but mostly it's not much of a deviation from the original.

Fortunately there are three other tracks (all of them great) scattered throughout that deserve special attention:

#1 Crush is so brilliantly twisted that you can either issue a restraining order or take it as a darkly comedic retelling of Romeo + Juliet (the soundtrack this came from). Underneath a canopy of pulsating drums, Shirley drones on with creepy pledges like, "I will lie for you/beg and steal for you/I will crawl on hands and knees until you see/you're just like me". "#1 Crush" is the kind of obsessively lovelorn stalker who rummages through your trash and keeps a blow-up doll with the same color hair as yours in their closet.

"When we first got together, we all said that we wanted to make a James Bond Theme, because that's how we come up with our songs." - Garbage, The World Is Not Enough Ultimate Edition DVD

The World Is Not Enough represents Garbage at their swankiest, naturally evolving from the brisk, posh sonance of Version 2.0 to a Bond theme that melds `90s techno fiendishness with `60s orchestral flourish. It's a riveting achievement, showcasing melodramatic radiance ("There's no point in living if you can't feel alive") and insatiable craving ("If we can't have it all then nobody will"). Shirley's expansive delivery is pitch-perfect and she's arguably never sounded stronger. Too bad it was attached to the worst Bond movie.

If Tell Me Where It Hurts is Garbage's fond goodbye, then I couldn't think of anything more appropriate. Shirley finally finds the right man ("To hell with everybody else/all I care about is you/and that's the truth/they don't like me yeah I can tell/but you do") and we applaud her wholeheartedly. Steve, Duke and Butch paint the sumptuous music with shades of nostalgia in a sincere salute to their fans. "Tell Me Where It Hurts" catches our gorgeous firecracker reflecting ("I've been loved but I didn't know how to feel it/and I've been adored but I don't know if I ever believed it") and its exquisite lyrics culminate with a grateful payoff that was worth the wait ("I've been loved my whole life but I didn't know how to take it/until you").

This is a magnificent offering that can be enjoyed by hardcore fans and newcomers alike. If you've barely (or never) heard of Garbage or, like me, have bought BOTH versions of Absolute Garbage just to complete your collection, there's no reason not to check out this disc. In a word, it's amazing.

(P.S. Check out my reviews of Garbage's other four albums for a song-by-song dissection.) October 19, 2007

It's what you're looking for...

Finally this band releases a greatest hits album!!! Like many other bands, most of the CD's put out by Garbage have two, maybe even three good songs, and the rest of the songs are crap! Now that all of Garbage's hits are on a single CD, you don't have to blow all your dough buying all of the CD's just to have all the hits.

All of the bands top songs are on the first half of the CD, and the more obscure songs by the band are on the last half. All I got to say is, gimme about 30 or 40 minutes with Shirley Manson, and she'd be wanting to marry a brother!!! Damn she's fine! October 14, 2007

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