Artist: Garbage
Album: Absolute Garbage
 
 
Probaby a good thing Garbage gave it a few years before delivering a best of as I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got tired of late nineties radio DJ's continual insistance to play out their pop sensibility to its thinest. 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.
 
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.
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 this 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.
It has to be said, if you already own their first 2 releases, Garbage (1995) and Version 2.0 (1998), you will not be adding anything too essential to your record collection, although for die hards, "#1 Crush" and "The World Is Not Enough," some excellent singles, are available on a Garbage album for the first time.
 
Even the most hardened underground scenester may be surprised at how many quality hits they'll recognize on this collection. Whether classified as an extremely accessible grunge band or an extremely demented S&M pop outfit, the band left an indelible mark on mainstream rock in an era when boy bands, latin pop explosions, swing revivals and other cringe-worthy fads were gobbling rock bands up. It's just a shame Garbage had to outlive their usefulness to such an aesthetically displeasing degree.
 
1. Vow
2. Queer
3. Only Happy When It Rains
4. Stupid Girl
5. Milk
6. #1 Crush
7. Push It
8. I Think I'm Paranoid
9. Special
10. When I Grow Up
11. You Look So Fine
12. The World Is Not Enough
13. Cherry Lips
14. Shut Your Mouth
15. Why Do You Love Me
16. Bleed Like Me
17. Tell Me Where It Hurts
18. It's All Over But The Crying

 Review by Robin J.

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