Posted July 16, 200718 yr Q Magazine http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/boylikearose/absolutegarbagereview.jpg http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6901/agq50tg3.jpg Sunday Mail http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/boylikearose/tellmewheresundaymail.jpg Mojo Magazine http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/boylikearose/absolutegarbagemojo002.jpg DigitalSpy By Alex Fletcher Garbage have been plying their trade around arenas and festivals since 1995 when debut album Garbage went multi-platinum, winning them support slots with the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins and U2. Ten years on, with greatest hits compilation Absolute Garbage to promote, they have released yet another slice of dark yet sumptuously melodic indie-rock. Their first release since announcing an indefinite hiatus in the middle of a world tour in 2005, 'Tell Me Where It Hurts' is a return to the moody, bittersweet love songs that first brought them to the public's attention. Underpinned by Shirley Manson's husky vocals and Butch Vig's unique drum work, the track soars with Arcade Fire-style violins before a creepy electronic breakdown interjects towards the end. The band take a traditional message of unrequited love and mix it with their inimitable bitter sweet lyrics, with Manson imploring: "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." A classic return to form that will hopefully reignite the fire in the band's bellies, bringing with it an album of fresh material. 4 STARS http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a64365/g...e-it-hurts.html Scotsman THIS no-surprise collection of her time with the Garbage men sets the stage for Shirley Manson's debut solo offering later in the year, a reminder of the uncompromising yet controlled power of her band. More slavishly lauded for the band's early work, storming songs such as 'Bad Boyfriend' and 'Cherry Lips' prove the equal and more of the company they keep here, guitars thundering with a force most metal bands can only dream of one day attaining. How this summer's festivals have screamed out for a band with this amount of musical muscle and vulnerability to unleash the soundburst of 'Only Happy When It Rains' which, with due respect to Fran Healey, is the only song to express the requisite aggressive defiance for such exasperatingly soggy occasions. Shirley should take pride from empowering a new generation of teenage girls who felt just as disenfranchised and alien as she did, 'Bleed Like Me' proving disgust is all the more potent when articulated with a degree of decorum. In the past decade angst-ridden female rockers have been 10-a-penny, but Manson stands head and shoulders above the rest. This Garbage collection ends with 'It's All Over Bar The Crying', and you cannot help but wish that is so. The one new offering, 'Tell Me Where It Hurts', is not out of place here, but neither does it better anything already said. http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1101012007
July 17, 200718 yr Absolute Garbage Garbage Geffen Records http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm?f_id=3186 http://www.aversion.com/bands/garbage/images/rev3186.gif If the first few waves of the alt-rock era featured idiosyncratic (They Might Be Giants) and blatantly non-commercial (Nirvana) acts stumbling into the spotlight, its final waves saw the style fall out of the hands of angry underground rockers and quirky musicians and into the clutches of professional, career-minded industry types. Of alt-rock's final wave, none was quite as successful as Garbage at playing the game: The band members, who were all seasoned studio hands, was better musicians, better in the studio and better connected than any normal folks could hope to be; with producer/drummer Butch Vig minding the shop, Garbage used its connections for all their worth, becoming the nearly undisputed king $h!t of the airwaves, soundtrack placement and MTV rotation. Every revolution eats its own, and when the act's self-titled debut struck Platinum in 1996, it was a sure sign that the balance of power shifted from the underground and back into hands of The Man. It was inevitable it'd happen once "Smells Like Teen Spirit" rattled the national conscious, and, really, it couldn't have happened to a better band than Garbage. Even more than a decade after its best songs were put to tape it's clear the act fused alt-rock conventions (big guitars and a knack for putting pop traditions on their ear) with pop stand-bys (sleek production and an ear to the Zeitgeist to capitalize on trends) better than near every band of its heyday. With a little distance between Garbage's stranglehold on America, it's a little easier to appreciate the band for what it was: An enterprising and cunning pop act. It's even a little fun to sink back into the familiar strains. Singer Shirley Manson takes a pre-ProTools electro-lurker and caps it with a delivery so sultry it should bear an R-rating in "#1 Crush." "Queer" and "Only Happy When it Rains" are still pure pop flash, with Manson's vocals and the band's sleek output readymade to melt ears at half a listen. Other radio staples ("Push It," "Stupid Girl," "Only Happy When it Rains") just reinforce it. Tracks from the band's later years aren't quite as compelling. "Bleed Like Me" is the only time the aged act found a glimmer of the magic of its charmed first couple releases, and it's a faint glimmer at that. "Tell Me Where it Hurts" and "Why Do You Love Me" seem to made the collection's final cut out of a hope to democratically represent all of Garbage's records equally instead of by merit. A bonus disc of remixes is tacked on, almost as an afterthought. With Garbage handing the reins to a who's who of underground producers -- Felix da Housecat, UNKLE, Timo Mass -- it's a chance to see Garbage get the dance-floor makeovers it never needed. Garbage was tailor-made to turn alt-rock conventions into world-conquering pop, and it succeeded in a big way. It also managed to make some of the most lasting pop tunes of its era -- no small feat considering its less-than-noble purpose in life. - Nick Loughery
July 17, 200718 yr I am weak, but I am strong. I can use my tears to bring you home. http://www.bloggernews.net/18682 http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/61RTriJZLvL._AA240_.jpg Crooned softly by Shirley Manson in the hit Milk, and backed up by the trip-pop sound of the band, these lyrics take on a greater meaning than could possibly be felt by just reading them. Encapsulating the image Manson portrays in music videos, songs, and on tour, these lyrics seem to define her persona. With her beautifully damaged voice revealing tormented pain and intense, hard-fought inner-strength, all of Garbage’s lyrics slowly entrance the listener into a sense of strange calm-before-the storm sensibility, all the while dangerously enticing the ears with a subtle vampiress-like affectation. After four albums and seven Grammy nominations, Garbage is finally releasing its first “best of” collection. This cd collection of their 18 greatest hits, Absolute Garbage, ties in nicely with the release of the DVD of the same title. The DVD includes 15 Garbage music videos and an hour of backstage, live, and interview footage. Playing through this 18-song collection is like revisiting old friends. Only these songs really aren’t that old. But with the popularity of the band peaking in the late 90’s with Garbage and Version 2.0 followed by the unfortunate post-9/11 (October 2, 2001) release of Beatifulgarbage and the disappointing sales of Bleed Like Me in 2005, Absolute Garbage almost feels like a reunion with a group that’s been MIA for longer than they actually have. With huge hits like Special, I Think I’m Paranoid, When I Grow Up, Stupid Girl, and the Bond theme The World is Not Enough this best of cd has condensed a four-album collection into the bare minimum for quality maximization. The dreamy sound loops and punctuated drum rhythms make the entire cd feel like one long, flowing song, with brief breaks in between each act. Like most best-of collections, any fan has heard this all before, except, obviously for the new addition album tantilizer Tell Me Where It Hurts (recorded in January of this year). Having all the hits on one album, though, does have its privileges, and until Garbage releases an entirely new album, Absolute Garbage is the next best thing.
July 17, 200718 yr http://www.megastar.co.uk/typo3temp/GB/b99896049a.jpg ABSOLUTE GARBAGE Shirley Manson and the boys unleash their ‘best of’ and remind us why everyone sat up and took notice back in 1995. All the corkers from their four albums are present and correct, Stupid Girl, Only Happy When It Rains and Queer, and probably a fair few you won’t have heard first time around – for good reason. Let’s face it, by the time Beautiful Garbage was released in 2001, most of their kooky edge had been sanded down. For this release, Garbage are going the whole hog and throwing in a bonus disc of remixes featuring the likes of Timo Maas, UNKLE and Massive Attack. On top of that, a DVD is also set for release, featuring backstage footage, interviews, live gigs and 15 of their videos. So all in all, it’s a trashy treat. They say: ‘Garbage's songs have always been referential, quoting stray lyrics and setting off every listener's name-that-tune reflex.’ Rollingstone.com We say: Thanks to Manson’s weighty vocals, Garbage will never wind up in the bargain bins. Best Tracks: Stupid Girl, Queer, Vow http://www.megastar.co.uk/music/news-singl...e88afff156.html
July 23, 200717 yr Author Another positive review: LED by the iconic figure of Shirley Manson and completed by Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig, Garbage are one of those bands you never realised you liked so much. Having sold 12 million albums since releasing their eponymous debut in 1995, the band have continued to belt out the hits amid illness, surgery, creative disagreements, major life changes and – depending on who you asked at different times – either a break-up or a much-needed sabbatical. At the height of their success, they were responsible for extremely chart-friendly hits such as Stipid Girl, Milk and, of course, Only Happy When It Rains – not to mention James Bond theme The World Is Not Enough. They even defied expectation by putting out a successful new album in 2005 with Bleed Like Me before announcing an indefinite hiatus mid-world tour that same year. Well, now they’re back with a greatest hits album, a new song and it’s anyone’s guess how long they’ll stay together. But for now Absolute Garbage offers an irresistible opportunity to delve back through the hits and remember how good they were in their prime. Songs like the effortlessly laidback Milk and Queer remain as thrilling now as they did upon release, while in Only Happy When It Rains they have an anthem in waiting for the summer of 2007 (should they decide to give it a re-release to splash in). Other firm favourites include #1 Crush, from the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack, I Think I’m Paranoid with its delicious “bend me, break me, anyway you need me” chorus, the impossibly upbeat rock out that is When I Grow Up, the smooth You Look So Fine and, most recently, Bleed Like Me, the title track from their last album. Less memorable are the likes of that Bond theme and new single Tell Me Where It Hurts but as previously stated, you’ll probably be amazed at just how many tracks you remember and like. Absolute Garbage is therefore very much an album to dig out from the trash and play over and over again! Watch Garbage videos Editor’s note: A special edition of the album is available containing a bonus disc of remixes from the likes of Unkle, Massive Attack and Roger Sanchez. And a Garbage DVD is also due for release, featuring 15 videos, an hour of never-before-seen footage backstage and behind the scenes, live performances and interviews spanning the band’s entire career. Download picks: Vow, Queer, Only Happy When It Rains, Milk, #1 Crush, I Think I’m Paranoid, When I Grow Up, You Look So Fine, Bleed Like Me Track listing: Vow Queer Only Happy When It Rains Stupid Girl Milk #1 Crush Push It I Think I’m Paranoid Special When I Grow Up You Look So Fine The World Is Not Enough Cherry Lips Shut Your Mouth Why Do You Love Me Bleed Like Me Tell Me Where It Hurts It’s All Over But The Crying http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Music-Review/...bsolute-garbage
July 24, 200717 yr Author AllMusic 3.5/5 Looking back, there is no band that sums up all the myriad '90s trends better than Garbage. They were led by alt-rock superproducer Butch Vig, the man responsible for the production on Nirvana's Nevermind, but he also helmed classics of the era for Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, and L7. They were a rock band that indulged in noise and rode a hard backbeat but they were about fluid textures -- a move they learned from shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine and Curve -- so they could ease into trip-hop when rockers started flirting with electronica. They were fronted by Shirley Manson, giving them an entryway not only to the countless Women in Rock pieces, but her Scottish heritage also gave Garbage a tenuous U.K. connection in the days of Brit-pop. They brushed against so many touchstones that they couldn't help but seem a little bit prefabricated, but their music was done with sharp, crassless calculation of a bunch of old studio pros and a singer who had been kicking around since the mid-'80s, when she was in British indie also-rans Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. Garbage knew how to make records that sounded good and sounded like the times, so when they had their big break they knew how to stay on the charts. And they did, riding the post-grunge wave into the 2000s with albums that charted progressively higher, but not longer, than each previous record, while each new single showed up on many different charts without staying around on the radio as long as those first few hits from their eponymous 1995 debut. In other words, like lots of post-grunge alt-rock bands. they wound up being a one-album wonder with a couple of almost-hits to their credit after the first blockbuster, as the 2007 compilation Absolute Garbage makes clear. Spanning an overly generous 18 tracks -- supplemented on the Deluxe Edition in true '90s fashion with a 13-track bonus remix disc -- Absolute Garbage runs through all the U.S. radio hits and a good selection of international singles, skipping such latter-day singles as "Androgyny," "Breaking Up the Girl," "Run Baby Run," and "Sex Is Not the Enemy." By the time the compilation draws to its close nitpicking over such omissions seems pointless, since it already seems that the comp has lingered far longer than necessary on the last stage of Garbage's career, erasing the memories of sexy, hooky singles "Vow," "Queer," "Only Happy When It Rains," and "Stupid Girl," all arriving on the debut and all still sounding sleek and alluring. Which, of course, is kind of the story of their career: they made a big impact at first, but then their studio professionalism overtook their pop instincts. They were still often gripping at a sheer sonic level -- Shirley Manson was a compelling, dynamic performer and Vig and his cohorts surely could construct a fantastic-sounding record -- the only thing lacking after the debut were the pop songs. This was evident with each successive proper album, but this flaw is put into too sharp of a relief on Absolute Garbage.
July 25, 200717 yr Author Another one: BBC Difficult to remember now just how oddly perfect Garbage seemed when they burst from left field on the Britpop scene of 1995. While Britpop was overwhelmingly male and retro, Garbage were brazenly modernist and in Shirley Manson boasted an impassioned and very female icon. Debut “Vow” was a buzz-saw riffed statement of intent, but it was “Queer” – with its loops and fluid rhythm – that proved just how sonically interesting and fully-formed they were. That Garbage had in fact borrowed much of their sound (dense, swampy electronic production, topped off with sugar and spite vocals) from the extraordinary but commercially unsuccessful duo Curve didn’t greatly matter. Their self-titled debut was a terrific collection of angry/seductive future-rock songs, mostly skewering male arrogance, while in the slinkily addictive “Stupid Girl” it boasted an international hit. Second album, the wryly titled Version 2.0, lacked the element of surprise but demonstrated tighter songwriting. Both “Push It” and “I Think I’m Paranoid” showcased gleaming riffs and a bustlingly modern pace, as well as Manson at her most forceful and domineering. Fans of the band’s poppier side were catered for by the fierce but melodically lush “Special”. Sadly, Garbage ignored the curse of Bond and – like Duran Duran and Aha before them – their trajectory dipped after contributing the lacklustre, atonal “The World Is Not Enough” to the film of that name. Third album “beautifulgarbage” saw them attempting to escape a sound that was becoming a straitjacket, but the addictive, ultra-poppy “Cherry Lips” aside, it was unfocused and occasionally lifeless. Wisely, drab second single “Breaking Up The Girl” isn’t included here. And while 2005 comeback single “Why Don’t You Love Me?” had some of the old pace and bile, it was a blatant retread of their earlier sound. Garbage were no longer pioneers. The band are now rumoured to have split, though the epic, string-soaked new track “Tell Me Where It Hurts” suggests there might still be blood in the stone should Manson’s solo career stiff. If not, Absolute Garbage is a fine legacy, the sound of a briefly brilliant and always interesting band which sounds like no other greatest hits you own. Jaime Gill Edited July 25, 200717 yr by Alin
July 25, 200717 yr Author Slant Magazine 4 stars of 5 The death of Kurt Cobain signaled a sea change in pop music in the mid-1990s. Butch Vig, the superstar producer behind seminal releases by alt-rock acts like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth, joined forces with fellow producers Duke Erikson and Steve Marker and a relatively unknown Scottish vocalist named Shirley Manson to form a group that married the hard-edged sound of American grunge with classic pop hooks, sampled drum loops, and the overall ethic of the then-blossoming trip-hop movement in Europe. Listening to it now, it all sounds quite dated—but in the best possible, gem-in-a-trash-heap kind of way. One would hardly use the word Important to define Garbage, but the band was a quintessential product of post-grunge pop, and their first hits compilation, Absolute Garbage, serves as an anthropological study of the musical relics of a bygone era. The singles from their self-titled debut, "Queer," "Only Happy When It Rains," and "Stupid Girl," found the band at their commercial peak, temporarily infusing pop radio with what can best be described as grimy, fetishistic, sex-club music and sing-song lyrics like "You can touch me if you want," "Pour your misery down on me," and "Don't believe in anyone that you can't tame." Inspired by such disparate influences as Kraftwerk and The Manchurian Candidate, Garbage's follow-up, Version 2.0, was the polished and refurbished sports car to Garbage's grungy pick-up. Frankensteinian lead single, "Push It," was spliced together from 100 different drum loops and a Salt-N-Pepa sample; the group's propulsive basslines and aggressive, rollicking rhythms place that track, along with "Special," among their best and most inventive. Their music had become staples at both pop and modern rock radio as well as in dance clubs—a rare feat to say the least. By 2001's Beautiful Garbage, the sickly-sweet retro-pop and dark, sinister undercurrents of which journalist Peter S. Murphy aptly likens to a David Lynch film in his liner notes for Absolute Garbage, the band's popularity had waned to the point where none of the record's singles even made a dent on the U.S. charts, so the omission of "Androgyny" and "Breaking Up The Girl" here is only lamentable in that they're the stronger of that particular album's four singles. (The two missing singles plus 2005's "Bad Boyfriend" are accounted for on the second disc of the limited edition version of the album in the form of remixes by Felix Da Housecat, Timo Mass, and Garbage themselves, respectively.) "Shut Your Mouth" features the kind of archetypical Garbage sound the group had otherwise started to abandon, while "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)," displayed a deceptively coquettish side of Manson, whom Murphy perfectly describes as a "red-haired, kohl-eyed slink with lethal heels who could've stumbled out of some sci-fi noir novel." By this point, Manson's vocals had matured in range and timbre since the group's debut, and though their most recent album, Bleed Like Me, steered away from the pop aesthetic of its predecessor, there are reports Garbage's next trip into the studio will find the band focusing on slower, moodier material like standouts "Milk," "You Look So Fine," and "Bleed Like Me." More than ever before, Manson's voice recalls Chrissie Hynde on Absolute Garbage's sole new track, the lush and lilting "Tell Me Where It Hurts." The song is an undeniable sign that, despite their extended hiatuses and internal turmoil, Garbage is very much alive with ideas and ambition. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1160 Edited July 25, 200717 yr by Alin
July 27, 200717 yr Author Daily Record http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y296/boylikearose/AGDailyRecord-1.jpg
August 2, 200717 yr Author Heat Magazine 5 stars of 5 http://a632.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/107/l_c478252f3a4a269b1aa932c7c4f3bd87.jpg
August 4, 200717 yr Author Sign on San Diego Rating: 3 1/2 of 5 Is Garbage done? After 12 years, four albums and many hundreds of live shows, the ace producers-turned-rock band may be ready for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If so, the three-disc, multimedia package called “Absolute Garbage” is a wonderful parting gift to the band's loyal fans. Much more than recycled Garbage, this collection is comprised of 14 choice cuts from the group's four CDs (“Garbage,” “Version 2.0,” “beautifulgarbage” and “Bleed Like Me”), plus two tunes from the “Romeo + Juliet” soundtrack, Garbage's Bond-film ballad (“The World Is Not Enough”) and a remix of “Bleed's” “It's All Over but the Crying.” A second, all-remix disc features 13 studio reinventions by production wizards including Massive Attack, Crystal Method and Felix Da Housecat. The companion DVD showcases 15 of Garbage's most memorable music videos, and there's an added treat: a 65-minute-long “documentary” that's more like a home movie – overlong, but tons of fun for Garbageheads. If this is the last hurrah for Garbage (Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson, drummer Butch Vig, guitarist Duke Erikson, bassist Steve Marker), theirs will be a complex epitaph to write. Born out of several skilled but obscure bands (notably, Vig, Erikson and Marker's Spooner in Madison, Wisc., and Manson's far-flung Angelfish in the U.K.), Garbage began as a sheer experiment for the studio-savvy Midwesterners. When they went looking for a smokin' singer, they hit the jackpot with the charismatic Manson, whom Marker spotted in an Angelfish video on MTV. In spite of Manson's gift for theatricality as well as for music, and Vig's alt-rock credentials (he'd produced albums by Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and Nirvana, no less), the critical and commercial success of the first, eponymous Garbage record, in 1995, came as a surprise to its creators. (We learn this, and more, in the DVD interviews.) The tracks “Vow,” “Queer” and the iconic “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains” from that debut album kick off this anthology. Huge in England and big in America, Garbage nonetheless wasn't regarded as Pumpkins/Chili Peppers royalty, nor did it enjoy the pop stature of The Pretenders or the punk stature of Green Day. But critics respected Vig, Erikson and Marker's technical mastery, and fans adored Manson, whose eye-catching hairstyles, onstage outfits and wide, mascara-painted eyes made her one of rock's most recognizable frontpersons. For my money, “Version 2.0” (1998) is Garbage's quintessential album. “Absolute” resurrects the club-beat rocker “Push It,” the fanciful “I Think I'm Paranoid,” and two of the band's poppiest tracks, “When I Grow Up,” and the Pretenders-like “Special.” “beautifulgarbage” (2001) had the bad luck to be released the week of 9/11, and elicits, in hindsight, the most ambivalence from band members. Still, it did produce the sneering “Shut Your Mouth,” and “Cherry Lips,” which Jack White reveals, on the DVD, is his favorite Garbage song. Should “Bleed Like Me” end up being Garbage's final studio album – it was released in 2005 – it wouldn't be a bad farewell. Recorded amid and after the turmoil of Vig's bout with hepatitis, Manson's serious vocal-chord ailments and acknowledged intergroup tension and ennui, “Bleed” is vintage Garbage. Its punk-speed “Why Do You Love Me” and epic, Velvet Undergroundish title track are two of four contributions to “Absolute Garbage.” While the home movie drags with all its behind-the-scenes, handheld-camera clowning and subjects us to the horrifying spectre of Kurt Loder, we do learn that San Antonio Spur Tim Duncan is Manson's idol, that Garbage played its first gig in Minneapolis, and that Vig sweats away 10 pounds or more every time the band tours – which is a lot. Or, was a lot. Is Garbage done? Hope not. If it is, then thanks for this encore. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/feature...w02garbage.html
August 4, 200717 yr Probably most important is Metacritic as that's an average score based on loads of reviews :P And they say: 67/100 - Generally favourable reviews (based on 10 reviews) Best: Popmatters (90/100) Worst: The Guardian (40/100)
August 6, 200717 yr Author PopMatters Rating: 9/10 Garbage, Bagged Absolute Garbage is the sound of a band completely destroying themselves ... ... and it sounds awesome. For those late to the party, Garbage were the mid-’90s poster children for alt-rock angst, all electro-rock fury with a keen pop sensibility. Consisting of three producers (Steve Marker, Duke Erikson, and Nevermind-helmer Butch Vig) and bombshell vocalist Shirley Manson, the group custom-built a sound that was high on melodrama but short on indulgence. Their self-titled debut simply wouldn’t stop spawning rock radio staples, and their high-concept video clips (which only got more elaborate with time) were soon filling MTV’s lingering post-Nirvana void. Though they turned into a tight touring band, the group soon got exhausted by their road treks, a fatigue that bled into the studio, leading Vig to become a studio perfectionist, each album becoming more calculated than the last. However, Garbage—over the course of four full-lengths—has yet to release an end-to-end masterpiece. With this, their long-awaited best-of, they come pretty damn close. Unlike most greatest hits comps these days, Absolute Garbage is chronologically sequenced, starting with their first single ("Vow") and ending with the dreaded “new recording exclusive to his release!” Yet, the sequencing is what makes this disc such a divine pleasure: we get to hear a band grow from grinning upstarts to tension-battered road warriors. This process is reflected entirely in the music, giving Absolute Garbage a tension that their previous releases flirted with but never fully revealed. Twelve years after it’s initial release, “Vow” retains its punch. Starting with channel-swapping guitar whiffs, Manson launches into a relationship-destroying tirade that is cuffed to a killer pop chorus, all while Vig pretends that he’s the grunge-era answer to Phil Spector. This feeds right into a string of contemporary classics: “Queer”, “Only Happy When It Rains”, and “Stupid Girl”. In listening to these songs all over again, it’s no wonder that the group’s eponymous debut blew up in the way that it did. This opening stretch is topped off by “Milk” (a great single that never actually charted, even though it painted Manson as a glam-pop balladeer who could easily rewrite Madonna’s “Justify My Love” for a black eyeliner generation) and “#1 Crush” (which itself hailed from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, which [oddly] turned out to be the watermark for every major alt-rock act of the ‘90s). Yet, already, the group was facing massive pressure. How does one follow up a massively multi-platinum debut that spawned no more than five hit singles? The group locked themselves in the studio and worked non-stop, layering every song with dozens upon dozens of elements, instruments, and vocal tracks. It is in this process that Garbage lost a lot of what made the first album so appealing: the sheer effortless nature of the tracks. Even though “Stupid Girl” totally copped its drums from the Clash’s “Train in Vain”, the group never smirked and said “guess what we sampled!” Each meticulous song felt very off-the-cuff, which was a monumental feat in its own right. Version 2.0, however, had not a moment of spontaneity. Every single note was in place for a specific reason, and the group wasted not a second of their time. While the album should have been produced within an inch of its life, Marker, Erikson & Vig all knew how to keep things to the point. As a matter of fact, “Push It” remains the group’s single greatest pop achievement to date, even though it has enough synths to kill a horse (or at least Rick Wakeman). The group went as far as to “interpolate” the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry Baby” right into pre-chorus, once again applying the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” model to their own style of traffic-jam distortion. This is followed by their second greatest pop achievement, “I Think I’m Paranoid”. It’s a rare Garbage track that places up its Guitars Only velvet rope, and it manages to be one of their most pulverizing. Yet, here is where Manson’s lyrical paradigm begins to shift, moving from the middle-finger mantras of their debut to a sense of self-doubt and sabotaged optimism. “You look so fine / I want to break your heart / and give you mine” she coos on mid-tempo “You Look So Fine”, before declaring herself the alpha-female and saying “I won’t share it like the other girls / that you used to know”. Manson switches yet again by taking the submissive role on “When I Grow Up”—a snotty adolescent guitar-bash that wrote the book that Avril Lavigne so lovingly photocopied a few years later. Though Version 2.0 was a slow-selling album at first, the parade of singles made it another platinum hit, culminating in (of all things) an Album of the Year nomination at the 1998 Grammy Awards. Yes, an Album of the Year nomination part-way bestowed on Shirley Manson, the girl who—as prominently displayed in the video for “I Think I’m Paranoid”—can fit her entire fist in her mouth. Unfortunately, the fun and games would soon come to a screeching halt. During a European tour, Manson discovered a lump on her breast, leading to doctor visits and group anxiety. It was found out to be a benign tumor, and was soon removed. This gave her a new, happier outlook on life—an aspect that found its way into recording their third effort, Beautiful Garbage. Replacing the grit with keyboards and angst for coffee shops, Garbage transformed themselves into an electro-pop outfit, which, in retrospect, was a huge mistake. Manson played the bubbling girly-girl role well, but couldn’t match Gwen Stefani’s all-too-blond approach to the same subject matter. Manson works better when she’s dealing with high drama, something that made itself known when the group followed the template of another Shirley (in this case, Bassey) on their top-notch Bond theme, “The World is Not Enough”. When compared to the Beautiful Garbage lead single “Androgyny”, the argument is almost laughably one-sided. Yet, this being a smart greatest-hits compilation, “Androgyny” is completely dropped from the play list. It’s a smart move, especially considering that beneath the colorful exterior of the bouncy “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)”, there lied a sinister undertone (which is something that was brought out on that album’s following tour). A happy Garbage, however, is a poor Garbage. Their third album tanked, the band all blamed each other, and when recording time came, they could barely hold together as a four-piece. So when three of your four members are producers, what do you do to resolve this conflict? Bring in John King of the Dust Brothers (Beck, the Beastie Boys, the Fight Club soundtrack). The group threw out all the bubbly optimism for muddy guitars, like a pissed-off cousin to their debut. This move was no-doubt intentional, as Beautiful Garbage alienated a good portion of their audience. However, King’s dry cut’n’paste sounds didn’t work for a group that worked best as overproduced guitar-rock gluttons. It did wonders on the title track of their fourth album, “Bleed Like Me”. Though the ballad certainly bordered a bit too much on the emo side, it still was one of their best songs in about five years. Bleed Like Me was a success (even if it didn’t match the commercial heights of their debut), and even the “new recording exclusive to this release!”—the majestic, sweeping “Tell Me Where It Hurts”—manages to accomplish the rare compilation feat of not being completely worthless. The whole set is closed out by a down-tempo remix of the Bleed track “It’s All Over But the Crying”, not sounding lost in the void between Version 2.0 and “The World is Not Enough”. It’s not a firecracker of a closer, but it doesn’t need to be—the journey here was epic enough. Phew. One could sit and nick-pick Absolute Garbage all day long, sighing over the fact that a lot of fan-favorites are left by the wayside (like “Medication” and “Right Between the Eyes"), but such a fine-toothed comb criticism belies the point: here we have a greatest-hits compilation that not only rounds up every single the group ever released, but also manages to leave the worst one out ("Androgyny"). It has a Bond theme, a great new song, and—most importantly—you get the voyeuristic pleasure of hearing a group tear itself apart as time goes on. Is Garbage the single-greatest thing to ever happen to pop music? Of course not. More importantly, the group never claimed to be: they just made high-energy rock music with an electronic edge. They have no regrets about their career, and after listening to this album straight through, neither will you. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews...solute-garbage/ Edited August 6, 200717 yr by Alin
August 21, 200717 yr www.ultimate-guitar.com Release Date: Jul 17, 2007 Label: Geffen Genres: Dance-Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Dance Number Of Tracks: 18 The electronica-rock outfit has released a retrospective that proves the band has been no slouch in the hit singles department. Sound: 9 Lyrics: 9 Impression: 9 Overall rating: 9 Users rating: 10 overall: 9 Featured review by: UG Team, on august 20, 2007 Sound: From the seductive growl of Shirley Manson to the electronic-driven beats of Butch Vig, Garbage has always been one of those bands that has exuded, for lack of a better word, coolness. It’s exactly that cool vibe that made them a buzz band in the late '90s and an enduring name post-2000. Now after over a decade together, the band has gathered 18 songs together on a best-of compilation called Absolute Garbage. While the 1st half is filled with the more memorable hits like “Only Happy When It Rains,” the material as a whole is a fantastic glimpse at Garbage’s career. While some may have been unsure why Butch Vig decided to take a break from just producing and return to the scene as a drummer, it’s probably not wise to doubt the man behind such classics as Nevermind and Siamese Dream. When he entered on the scene in Garbage, it was a huge leap in a different direction. Sure, the production value was a little over-the-top and synthesized for fans of the grunge era, but what Vig created was an impressive lineup that didn’t sound like much else out there. With the release of Absolute Garbage, the CD perfectly reflects the intrigue behind Garbage and proves to naysayers that the band has had one hell of a career. All the hits are on the CD -- from “Stupid Girl” and “I Think I’m Paranoid” to “Vow” and “#1 Crush.” It’s songs like “#1 Crush” that stand out, primarily because of Manson’s stalker-like delivery and fascinating trip-hop beats. For die-hard Garbage fans that have every CD in the band’s catalog, the compilation might be useless because it does only have one new song. The track “Tell Me Where It Hurts” is the only completely original offering, and it seems like the band has softened it's edge a bit with it. That’s a bit of a disappointment in itself if you like the darker side of Garbage, but it’s very possible that the band still has something wicked awaiting us in the future. There was a period around 2001 that the band didn’t quite connect with US audiences, and those songs are represented as well on the compilation. Despite it failing to find a place on the US charts, “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)” is one of the most distinctive tracks on Absolute Garbage. Manson sounds entirely different, almost taking on a Gwen Stefani vocal style during the song. It’s definitely a step away from the usual Garbage sound and if it does anything, it proves the band can explore new styles. // 9 Lyrics: Shirley Manson has an unbelievable way of selling her lyrics. As intriguing as the music behind it all, the lyrics just pop to the front when Manson delivers them in her own unique way. The words never get too complicated, but they are emotion-driven, which can connect with audiences more usually than a literary masterpiece. Whether it’s “#1 Crush,” borders on being a love letter from a stalker, or “Queer,” which basically screws with a boy’s mind, Garbage’s lyrics have a dangerously alluring quality. // 9 Impression: Just as interesting as the music on Absolute Garbage is the biography/retrospective written by Peter S. Murphy. He has some truly original observations -- from his description of the album Version 2.0 sounding like “a flesh and blood rock band wearing a metal exo-skeleton” to calling Manson a “red-haired, kohl-eyed slink with lethal heels.” Aside from just observations, he provides an in-depth biography of Garbage and it's music. If you’ve been a fan of Garbage’s singles, then Absolute Garbage will not leave you feeling short-changed. There are enough songs, both new and old, on the compilation that may just tempt singles-only fans to go out and purchase some of the band’s earlier records. And while the new single just doesn’t have the dark, brooding, classic Garbage feel, it’s hard not to respect a band that has the guts to try something different. // 9
September 25, 200717 yr :huh: THANK'S FOR THE REVIEWS I DIDRENT KNOW ABSOLUTE GARBAGE WAS OUT NOW I HAVE TO GO GET MY. SORRY FOR NOT BEING HERE
September 25, 200717 yr :huh: THANK'S FOR THE REVIEWS I DIDRENT KNOW ABSOLUTE GARBAGE WAS OUT NOW I HAVE TO GO GET MY. SORRY FOR NOT BEING HERE I'm sure that's quite alright :blink:
October 16, 200717 yr Author Music OMH Rating: **** After what feels like a long period of inactivity it seems the immediate future for Garbage is resolved. This best of marks their first release for two years, yet by reawakening interest in the band it looks like promoting singer Shirley Manson’s solo career at the same time, with a first album reportedly in the offing, rather than announcing a return to collaborative efforts. It's a deserved retrospective, and serves a reminder of how, in the mid 1990s, the band had album buyers eating out of the palms of their hands. The surly, sultry vocals of their frontwoman went hand in hand with the strong guitar tracks created by Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson, and their versatility and penchant for a groove is confirmed in a second CD of remixes from the likes of Timo Maas, Massive Attack and the Fun Lovin' Criminals. The first tracks hit hardest - the snake-like groove of Queer, the sulky Only Happy When It Rains and the inspired comedown track that is Milk. All grade A pop moments these, backed up with a strong supporting cast of the power pop trio Push It, Special and When I Grow Up. The momentum inevitably begins to flag after these heavyweights, though the catchy Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go) indicates a shift in lyrical content. Having been "riding high upon a deep depression" in Only Happy When It Rains, Manson can now exhort "go baby go go, yeah we're right behind you". No matter what the double meaning might be, the musical sentiments tell a different story, and they may provide an indication of why the band felt they had run their course for now. The obligatory new material is present, persuading the fans to loosen their purse strings. Tell Me Where It Hurts is perhaps not vintage Garbage but is far from incidental. And in case you'd forgotten, Garbage also penned and executed a Bond theme. The World Is Not Enough was a pretty good example too, Manson's attitude ideal for the job. In all honesty the best way to get to know Garbage is through their albums, which demonstrate their strength in depth. In particular the self-titled debut and Version 2.0 withstand a heavy hammering on any stereo. As does the greatest hits - for an initial adrenalin rush it does a great job, but can induce dangerous levels of misty-eyed '90s nostalgia. Keep the Garbage frequency clear though - Shirley Manson and co may not be finished yet. - Ben Hogwood source Edited October 16, 200717 yr by Alin
