Album Review: Garbage – ‘Absolute Garbage’

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 29, 2007, 14:16 GMT

Taking inspiration from little known British band Curve, the formula behind Garbage was simple enough: Industrial strength beats, grungy guitars and ice queen vocals. But in Scottish fireball Shirley Manson the three middle-aged studio whizzes from Wisconsin not only found a muse but a front woman whose infinite charisma and wicked sense of humor--as evidenced by the title of this greatest hits set--gave even No Doubt a solid run in ...more

I supposed they should’ve thought about their name more because it would be easy for any reviewer to say that Garbage is, well, garbage.  That would be far from the truth since the band is really quite good. 

The band was formed in 1994 and consists of Shirley Manson (vocals), Duke Erikson (guitar, keyboards), Steve Marker (bass, guitar), and Butch Vig (drums).  The band went on hiatus in 2005 and rumors of their imminent breakup started swirling. 

‘Absolute Garbage’ is not only a career spanning best of album, but it also features a new song, “Tell Me Where it Hurts,” by the group so they appear to still be together (another album is rumored for 2008). 

Not only does this album collect their hits (such as “Stupid Girl” and even the James Bond theme “The World is Not Enough”) but also has a second bonus disc.  This disc has remixed by U.N.K.L.E. (“The World is Not Enough”), Todd Terry (“Stupid Girl”), and even themselves (“It’s All Over but the Crying” on disc 1 and “Bad Boyfriend” on disc 2). 

It would be too easy to dismiss the band by their name, but they’re really a great band.  Fans will be tided over by this release (and a set of DVD videos released separately) until they can get back into the studio. 

‘Absolute Garbage’ is now available at Amazon. Visit the music database for more information.