"(One) musician, upon seeing the innumerable loops and samples strewn about the studio, inadvertently inspired the band's name when he said, ‘This looks like garbage.' Replied Vig, ‘Exactly. And we're going to turn this garbage into a song.'"
--Garbage Bio, 1995

Four albums and seven Grammy® nominations later, Garbage has its first "best of" collection--the CD and DVD collections, Absolute Garbage (Almo Sounds/Geffen/UMe), released July 24, 2007. Along with the new track "Tell Me Where It Hurts," Absolute Garbage features 17 songs of extreme and intense emotion, from "Stupid Girl," "Queer" and "1 Crush" to "Special," "Bleed Like Me" and "Why Do You Love Me."

Among the 15 Garbage music videos on DVD for the first time--including "Vow," "Only Happy When It Rains," "Stupid Girl" and "Milk" directed by Samuel Bayer (Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Hole's "Doll Parts," The Cranberries' "Zombie") and "Queer" by Stephane Sednaoui (Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away")--are two previously unreleased in the U.S.: "You Look So Fine" and "Shut Your Mouth." Also included is almost an hour of never-before-seen footage backstage and behind-the-scenes, live performances and interviews, spanning the band's entire career.

A special limited edition 2-CD set adds to the original CD a bonus disc of remixes by some of the world's most renowned DJs, including U.N.K.L.E., Massive Attack, Todd Terry, Crystal Method, Fun Lovin' Criminals, and Felix Da Housecat.

In 1994, drummer Butch Vig, guitarist/bassist Duke Erikson and guitarist Steve Marker, who had played in bands together for years, decided to create "a record for pop geeks," said Vig, "who dance with the lights out and sing and play in front of a mirror by themselves." Vig had already earned prominence by producing albums for Nirvana (Nevermind), The Smashing Pumpkins (Gish, Siamese Dream), Sonic Youth, Urge Overkill and Soul Asylum. But they needed a voice. Enter Shirley Manson of Edinburgh, Scotland, whom Vig said "sometimes sounds scary, sometimes dreamy, sometimes weary, sometimes sexy, sometimes psychotic. What more could you ask for?"

The next year, the Madison, Wisconsin-based band debuted with a self-titled album that reached double platinum. The follow-up, Version 2.0, went platinum and was nominated for Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. In 2001 they released beautifulgarbage and the band almost split up before returning in 2005 with Bleed Like Me, which peaked at a career-high 4.

With the band recently emerging from a hiatus for a live performance and the recording of "Tell Me Where It Hurts," Absolute Garbage offers the best of a band that, to quote a lyric from "Queer," has been "the strangest of the strange, the coolest of the cool."