Search - Garbage :: Absolute Garbage

Almost nails it

Daniel Maltzman | Arlington, MA, USA | 07/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Encompassing elements of electronica and hard-rock over dance-beats, with lush melodies and killer hooks, Garbage has proved to be one of the best bands to come down the pike in the last ten years. Garbage's new compilation "Absolute Garbage" (2007) includes some of the bands best work, along with a terrific new song "Tell Me Where it Hurts."



Nearly eighty minutes (the length allowed for a CD) "Absolute Garbage" is very generous, offering some of the band's best work. But even with eighteen tracks, this best-of misses the mark a bit.



The track list is fairly predictable. As the band's first two albums far out-sold the next two, this compilation is skewed in the direction of "Garbage" (1995) and "Version 2.0" (1998) and a little skimpy on selections from the underrated and appreciated "beautifulgarbage" (2001) and "Bleed Like Me" (2005). Therefore, some of the band's later-day singles like "Breaking up the Girl," "Androgyny" and "Sex is not the Enemy" are left by the way-side.



If you are a casual Garbage fan, this compilation is ideal, as it includes all the well-known hits from the band's commercial peak, so as a "greatest hits" the CD works. However, in terms of covering the band's entire career, this compilation leaves a little something to be desired. While "beautifulgarbage" and "Bleed Like Me" didn't have the sales of the first two, they were easily as good, and more of their singles should have been included here. Perhaps a two-CD anthology, with all the hits as well as essential album cuts would have been preferable.



Still, if you aren't really a Garbage fanatic and just want the hits, this CD should be what you're looking for. That said; if you like what you hear and have the money, all four Garbage albums are definitely worth owning. While Garbage might be a `singles band," each of their four studio albums stands-up on its own right, each with its own flavor, and the non-singles on those albums are excellent.



The new song, the melancholy "Tell Me Where it Hurts" sounds "grand," and wouldn't have sounded at all out of place on the Phil Specter-esque, "beautifulgarbage." It's disappointing, however, that the other new Garbage song "Betcha" is not included on this CD and you have to buy the "Tell Me Where it Hurts" single to get it. Hopefully someday Garbage will release a compilation album of all their b-sides and it will be available there.



Two other hits, "#1 Crush" from the "Romeo and Juliet" soundtrack (1996) and "The World is not enough" from the James Bond film of the same name (1999) are thrown in for good measure.



The bonus CD of dance remixes is cool if you are into that sort of thing, and for just a few dollars more than the non-special edition; this double CD is a good value.

"

Some of the best rock music of the last decade.

M J Heilbron Jr. | Long Beach, CA United States | 07/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Absolute Garbage" is Garbage's greatest hits disc. This special edition adds a CD of remixes.



The first disc is a spectacular, single-disc summary of this extraordinary band. Nobody sounds like Garbage. You know a Garbage song the instant you hear it.



First, there's the amazing Miss Manson. She joins a very small club of female rock singers that rise effortlessly above their peers...we're talking Chrissie Hynde...and then that's pretty much it. She's that good.



The rest of the band are no less tremendous. MAN can they make a lot of glorious noise! So many of these songs have irresistible hooks, earth-shaking sonics, walls of guitars and synths...drums that come from, oh, I dunno, magma? They come from nowhere...from somewhere below...and then explode with a fierce inevitability. Check out the fireworks on "Rains" or "Push It" or even "When I Grow Up."



Layer on that these anthemic choruses and terrific melodies, and you have some of the best rock music of the last decade.



The disc does a good job summarizing their four albums, and as any true fan, I have my quibbles over song selection. But they are just that: quibbles. Of a fan. Of a particularly fussy fan.



The remixes are superfluous. Worse that that, they're just bad. Now don't get me wrong: I love remixes. They can make a good song more interesting, longer for added enjoyment, or they can present an overly familiar song in a fresh manner so you can like it all over again.



Yeah, well, none of that sort of stuff happens here.



For me, the second disc could have been a live disc, or more songs, like "Supervixen" or "Androgyny". Or the DVD of the videos. Which I also bought.



But as it stands, that one disc is pretty darn awesome. You cannot lose with songs like "Only Happy When It Rains" (how wonderful would it have been to have, say, the Hynde/Manson duet version from VH1 here?), "Stupid Girl", "Special", "Cherry Lips", "Bleed Like Me"...



I really hope they're not broken up for good. In this era of disposable pop, there simply isn't enough of this good stuff to go around."

4.8 out of 5 - Oh So Close!

ROBERT W. SAINTJOHN | San Francisco, CA | 07/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just had to knock a few nanopoints off for not including other singles and hit tracks such as Androgyny, Run Baby Run, Sex Is Not The Enemy, and ESPECIALLY Breaking Up The Girl. But just a few nanopoints. Fact is, this is one of those "Not A Bad Track On It" CDs, and the quality of the tracks, the fine packaging and great liner notes, and the brilliant "Garbage Mixes" bonus disc are what makes this CD worth OWNING, rather than borrowing, ripping or stealing. Thanks, Garbage! I'll miss you, and hold out hope that we see you again for "Still More Garbage"! EDIT: I've been listening to the Mix CD all day today.... FANTASTIC!! Don't be cheap, drop the extra $2 for this "Special Edition" version, you will not regret it. More than worth it JUST for "Milk" remixed by Massive Attack. So hot."