They released their first live album, an exhaustive double-disc set, just two albums into their career, then, two albums later, they issued Films About Ghosts: The Best of..., their first compilation. Part of the reason they're issuing a compilation after just four studio albums may be that they've arrived at the end of the recording contract with Geffen and this ties up loose ends, but it's also been ten years since the band broke through with their debut August and Everything After and their first hit, "Mr. Jones," so it's a good time to take stock and recap their first decade. Films About Ghosts does offer an accurate summary of those ten years.