Absolute Garbage

Untitled

Absolute Garbage is the title for the greatest hits album from Garbage. The album was released in the summer of 2007 after earlier listed release dates were cancelled while the band was on hiatus following promotional duties for their fourth album Bleed Like Me.

On May 11, 2007 an official post at the band's website announced that Absolute Garbage would be released soon. This posting was the first official confirmation of the project following 18 months of rumour and conjecture.

On May 22, Absolute Garbage was confirmed by Garbage to arrive worldwide in July 2007 on CD and DVD formats, and would contain one new song "Tell Me Where It Hurts", with a single release preceding the album. Among the 15 Garbage music videos on DVD for the first time is almost an hour of footage backstage and behind-the-scenes, live performances and interviews, spanning the band's entire career. A limited edition version of the retrospective will also include a second disc of remixes.

On the same day, All Music Guide listed "It's All Over But The Crying" as the album's second single with a September 10 release date. This has not been officially confirmed.

Album history

Garbage disbanded for a temporary hiatus following their October 1, 2005 show in Perth, Australia, also the last commitment on the Bleed Like Me tour fulfilled; later European dates had been cancelled prior. A month later on November 17, music retailer HMV's UK website listed an album compilation under the title of Best Of for release on May 1, 2006. A day later the title was changed to Greatest Hits and by December 8, the album's release date had been brought forward to April 3, 2006 and was rumoured to be a double disc release.

A new release date for the previously cancelled UK release of Bleed Like Me track "Run Baby Run" of March 20 was rumoured by January, which would bring it in line as a potential lead off single for the album. On January 13 HMV yet again changed their listing for the album: a second title change to Absolute Garbage and was again shunted on release timetables back to May 29, then to August before being put back to November.

On November 10, a press release from Warner Music Group announced a March 19, 2007 UK release date and tracklist for the album. NME reported that the album would be preempted by a release of a single on March 5. The title of the single was not confirmed - conflicting reports stated it was a brand new song; some said the single would be "It's All Over But The Crying", a Bleed Like Me track which had been considered as the third US single from that album.

Although the tracklist that appeared on this press release did not include all of the band's singles, it did include all of the band's UK top 10 hits ("Stupid Girl", "Milk", "Push It", "I Think I'm Paranoid", "When I Grow Up" and "Why Do You Love Me") as well as their soundtrack contributions: four-week Modern Rock chart topper "#1 Crush" (from William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet) and James Bond movie title theme "The World Is Not Enough".

The following day, the company behind Garbage's official website confirmed via a Garbage fan online mailing list that Absolute Garbage would be released on CD, Enhanced CD, remix CD and a companion DVD containing all of the band's promotional videos would also be issued. It was also stated that the exact track list, the inclusion of a new song, and the combinations of discs had yet to be decided.

On January 18, 2007, drummer Butch Vig confirmed the band were going to work on new tracks for the project. He told MTV: "We're recording a couple new songs at the end of February. I think everyone's excited about getting back in a room and playing some music together. We've been working on [Absolute Garbage] for a while. There was originally talk about doing a B-side and remix CD as well. It would be cool to see that come out in a proper package for our hard-core fans."

Garbage themselves ended their hiatus on January 31, at a benefit show organised by Vig in Glendale, California. The show, which featured Garbage, Bonnie Raitt, Freedy Johnston and Sheryl Crow was for musician Wally Ingram who had been suffering from throat cancer. In an interview prior to the event, Vig told Billboard "Despite the layoff, the group has been sharing song ideas via the Internet. We need to sit down in a room and play them and get them complete". Vig also confirmed he had been working with singer Shirley Manson on songs for her debut solo album, due for release in late 2007 alongside Absolute Garbage.

During the sessions to write new songs for the compilation, Garbage worked on four songs - "Tell Me Where It Hurts", "Betcha", "All The Good In This Life" and "Girls Talk Shit". Garbage spent a few days from April 29 in Los Angeles shooting a promotional video for "Tell Me Where It Hurts". The album was held off again past March 19 and a further June 4th release date; and on May 22 was Absolute Garbage confirmed via their official website for a July 16/17 release. The website also confirmed the finalised track listing for the album, which includes the band's notable hits but omits "Subhuman", "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing", "Androgyny", "Breaking Up The Girl", "Sex Is Not The Enemy" and "Run Baby Run".

On May 31 Garbage's MySpace profile was updated to include "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and "Bad Boyfriend (Garbage remix)" on streaming audio. A HQ image of the album sleeve was also posted. Universal Music Group posted an alternate cover for the album online on June 7. This is the sleeve for the limited edition album with the bonus remix disc. On June 20, Amazon posted the cover for the DVD release.

On June 11, the album's international release date was changed to July 23 while the North American DVD release was moved to July 24 due to production issues. "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was also moved back in the schedules by one week to July 16. On June 21, the North American album release was moved back so there would be one simultaneous worldwide release of the album.

From June 18, promotional copies of the album were issued which included a 12 page booklet with a biography written by journalist Peter S. Murphy and photographs of the band dating back to 1995.

Track listing

All songs by Garbage, except where noted.

1. "Vow" – 4:32
2. "Queer" – 4:37
3. "Only Happy When It Rains" – 3:47
4. "Stupid Girl" (Garbage, Strummer, Jones) – 4:18
5. "Milk" – 3:50
6. "#1 Crush" - (Nellee Hooper Remix) - 4:45
7. "Push It" – 4:03
8. "I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:39
9. "Special" – 3:47
10. "When I Grow Up" – 3:24
11. "You Look So Fine" – 5:22
12. "The World Is Not Enough" (Don Black / David Arnold) - 3:58
13. "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" - 3:13
14. "Shut Your Mouth" - 3:27
15. "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:53
16. "Bleed Like Me" - 4:01
17. "Tell Me Where It Hurts" - 4:10
18. "It's All Over But The Crying (Remix)" - 3:49

Special Edition Bonus Disc

1. "The World Is Not Enough (UNKLE remix)" - 5:01
2. "When I Grow Up (Danny Tenaglia remix)" - 5:23 (Incorrectly labeled as the non-existent 'Jagz Kooner' remix)
3. "Special (Brothers In Rhythm remix)" - 5:15
4. "Breaking Up The Girl (Timo Maas remix)" - 5:19
5. "Milk (Massive Attack remix)" - 4:31
6. "Cherry Lips (Roger Sanchez remix)" - 5:01
7. "Androgyny (Felix da Housecat remix)" - 5:29
8. "Queer (Rabbit in the Moon remix)" - 5:04
9. "I Think I'm Paranoid (Crystal Method remix)" - 4:25
10. "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry remix)" - 3:47
11. "You Look So Fine (Fun Lovin' Criminals remix)" - 3:38
12. "Push It (Boom Boom Satellites remix)" - 5:22
13. "Bad Boyfriend (Garbage remix aka Sting Like A Bee Remix)" - 5:04

Track listing downloadable version

All songs by Garbage, except where noted.

1. "Vow" – 4:32
2. "Queer" – 4:37
3. "Only Happy When It Rains" – 3:47
4. "Stupid Girl" (Garbage, Strummer, Jones) – 4:18
5. "Milk" – 3:50
6. "#1 Crush" - (Nellee Hooper Remix) - 4:45
7. "Push It" – 4:03
8. "I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:39
9. "Special" – 3:47
10. "When I Grow Up" – 3:24
11. "You Look So Fine" – 5:22
12. "The World Is Not Enough" (Don Black / David Arnold) - 3:58
13. "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" - 3:13
14. "Shut Your Mouth" - 3:27
15. "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:53
16. "Bleed Like Me" - 4:01
17. "Tell Me Where It Hurts" - 4:10
18. "It's All Over But The Crying (Remix)" - 3:49
19. "All The Good In This Life" - 4:20

Certifications, peaks and sales

Country	Peak position	Certification (if any)	Sales/shipments
Argentina
Australia	23
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada	43
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland	22
Italy	79
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland	77
United Kingdom	11		13,500
United States	68		11,000

DVD Track listing

File:Absolutegarbagedvd.jpg

Absolute Garbage DVD cover

1. "Vow"
2. "Queer"
3. "Only Happy When It Rains"
4. "Stupid Girl"
5. "Milk"
6. "Push It"
7. "I Think I'm Paranoid"
8. "Special"
9. "When I Grow Up (Live Version)"
10. "You Look So Fine"
11. "The World Is Not Enough"
12. "Cherry Lips"
13. "Shut Your Mouth"
14. "Why Do You Love Me"
15. "Bleed Like Me"
16. "Thanks For Your Uhh Support" (bonus footage)

**The promotional video for "Tell Me Where It Hurts" is not included on the North American DVD release.

External links

• Garbage official website