Absolute Garbage

by

Garbage

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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.

While the band is still on hiatus, a greatest hits compilation had it coming. A band that went from nothing to something with a huge hit on "Garbage" and later on with "Version 2.0" prove that a good band sticks for long.

It is certain that with a title like "Absolute Garbage" expectations are high, but this greatest hits falls short. Giving us seventeen out of the twenty-three commercially released singles I would not say this "Garbage" show its essence. Missing four excellent singles (Androgyny, Breaking Up the Girl, Sex Is Not The Enemy), no fan will get the best out of this collection.

The collection lacks the most experimental "Garbage" albums yet - "beautifulgarbage" and "Bleed Like Me" - but on the good side it brings the two Non-LP singles back to life "#1 Crush" and "The World is not Enough".

The Remix Disc works depending on what you looking for. This won't be your typical Remix CD where the singles would work for a dance club instead I believe the remixes lack the power to make the singles better.

This "Garbage" will go for a long way, but if there's something more your looking for I would suggest get each CD, since they really show what Garbage ultimately is.