Absolute Garbage - Album Promotion

Album Promotion

At the end of 2005's Bleed Like Me tour, Garbage disbanded to go on a "hiatus". A month later, music retailer HMV's UK website listed a Greatest Hits compilation for release the following year. By January 2006, the title changed to Absolute Garbage. On November 10, a press release from Warner Music Group announced a March 19, 2007 UK release date for the album, while NME reported that the album would be preempted by a single on March 5. At the start of 2007, Butch Vig became the first band member to publicly confirm the project: "We've been working on Absolute Garbage for a while". On May 11, the band's website posted artwork for Absolute Garbage and on May 22, confirmed the album's tracklist, physical formats and an initial July 16/17 street date. The date was later moved back a week due to "production issues" concerning the North American DVD.

The launch of the Absolute Garbage promotional campaign began at the end of May 2007, when Geffen Records updated Garbage's MySpace profile streaming audio player to include "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and the remix of "Bad Boyfriend," while the music video for "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was premiered on UK Channel 4's Video Exclusive slot. Radio edits of the 'Guitars Up' and 'Orchestral' versions of "Tell Me Where It Hurts" were distributed to radio at the beginning of June. In the United Kingdom, the song was playlisted by XFM Scotland Upfront, Radio Forth and was C-Listed on BBC Radio 2 for five weeks. The alternative rock remix of "Push It" was playlisted by XFM for three weeks. "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was released by A&E Records on 7" vinyl, DVD and CD single (featuring "Betcha" as the b-side) on July 16, where it debuted at #50 on the UK Singles Chart.

On July 23, Absolute Garbage was released in the United Kingdom, with the North American street date following a day later. The digital download format featured "All The Good In This Life" as an iTunes exclusive bonus track. After appearing in the midweek flashes at #4, Absolute Garbage debuted as the highest new entry at #11 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 13,372 units. In the United States, Absolute Garbage sold 11,000 copies to debut at #68 on the Billboard 200 and at #5 on Top Music Videos. Absolute Garbage also registered at #9 on the Top Internet Albums. The following week it dropped to #156 on the main album chart. In Australia, Absolute Garbage debuted at #23 on the ARIA Charts, before moving up to #18 the following week. The album remained on the charts for eight weeks, bowing at #94 at the end of September.