Placebo's newie, "Sleeping With Ghosts"

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ILM-polarising masters of twat-rock have new album - and it's rubbish! Well, not rubbish, but a big letdown, anyway. There's no pop in this picture! Where is the pop, Mr Molko? I even liked the songs off Black Market Music that people seemed to think were embarassing cack, so what is wrong with this one that I can't put my finger on?

― edward o (edwardo), Friday, 21 February 2003 02:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

But Placebo were all about pop! If there's no pop, what's left?

― Sean (Sean), Friday, 21 February 2003 04:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

finally this is a typical placebo-album. black market music wasn`t.

― Katja (blue), Friday, 21 February 2003 05:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

if it's like the first two albums (especially "Brick Shithouse") then count me jazzed.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 21 February 2003 07:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

i like a few of the singles. a whole album of twat-rock is a bit hard to take. placebo without the pop sounds about as unappetising as music can get. i think ned likes them...

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 21 February 2003 10:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Spencer, if you're after another Brick Shithouse, look elsewhere. Nothing even remotely like it here - the closest thing is "The Bitter End", the single. Really, "Special Needs" is the only really good song on there - think "Ask For Answers" but a bit faster. Maybe it's a grower.

― edward o (edwardo), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

'special needs' is the killer, edward is right
but 'this picture' and the title tune are good.

not a patch on 'without you...' though,
but then what is ?

― piscesboy, Friday, 21 February 2003 13:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

i think ned likes them...

Putting it rather mildly. Still love those albums (and it occurs to me my instant 'yay rah' reaction to them mirrors Ronan's for the Strokes).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 February 2003 17:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Nothing that hits the Special K spot? Well that's a dreadful shame... that song is damn near perfect. But I do like the slow stuff so I'll be getting me a copy. Mmm, looking forward to it.

― Zora (Zora), Friday, 21 February 2003 23:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

placebo is a rock band.
with BMM they tried to attract fans of pop music
the new album is brilliant, it reminds me of WYIN
the second sight is my favourite

― rx-tech, Monday, 24 February 2003 11:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

I thought BMM was their least poppy album (as in it was pretty much the same as the others, only with less good tunes). i have yet to hear anything from the newie.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Monday, 24 February 2003 11:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

I must be the only person who thinks Black Market Music was their best one!

― Sean (Sean), Monday, 24 February 2003 15:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

...and I'm still waiting to find out why! But kilian I'm surprised you think it's the same as the others. I think it's much more varied, in both the musical style and the subject matter.

― Zora (Zora), Monday, 24 February 2003 17:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

marginally more varied than the others perhaps (to be fair I don't own a copy, although I have heard it in it's entirety in other people's houses). i stick by it being the least poppy. those singles, um "special k" and "taste in men" i think it was, didn't have particularly catchy tunes (which i think are placebo's trump card).

i find molko's voice a bit grating over the course of an album, too.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Monday, 24 February 2003 18:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

Kilian, this is the first post you've ever made that I disagree with, so this is a momentous occasion. "Special K" I thought was their poppiest single evah. I think BMM is a fairly poppy album, but just not as much as the first two. "Taste In Men" sort of cast an ominous non-pop shadow over the whole thing, but "Commercial For Levi", "Days Before You Came" and "Black-Eyed" are more than enough to counter that. Plus, I love the dark atmospherics of the slower songs anyway, it just helps to have some fun ones in between, which the last two albums have had a good mix of.

This one just happens to have absolutely NO pop to speak of, and not much to break it up, so listening to the whole thing is a bit of a chore. Not even pop of the fuzzed-up, shit-kicking "Brick Shithouse" variety, or bizarre, transgendered, drug-fucked torch song pop ala "My Sweet Prince" or pure hook heaven like "Nancy Boy". I can only imagine myself listening to half of this new one - I don't think I'll ever like "Something Rotten" or "Plasticine" as they are crap.

― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 01:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

where can i find the covers of sleeping with ghosts;

― rx-tech, Tuesday, 25 February 2003 10:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

the covers ? you mean the artwork ?
amazon uk if so.

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 25 February 2003 16:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

True their albums aren't great but Slave to the Wage describes my life right now and for that I love them.

― Calum Robert, Sunday, 2 March 2003 18:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

I can't find them in amazon!
I want the front and the back of the cd.
That's what I mean when I say covers
Have you another address?
I tried with google but I didn't find them

― rx-tech, Tuesday, 4 March 2003 08:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

Without You I'm Nothing is definitely the best Placebo album ever

― zilverberg.tk (zilverberg.tk), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 21:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

two weeks pass...

I like the tempo, guitar tones and snare fills on "The Bitter End". Not especially melodic, but the chord changes are my kind of thing I guess.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 20 March 2003 05:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

two more very good tracks on this:

"Bulletproof Cupid" - an instrumental
"This Picture" - very melodic and similar to the singles from 'Without You...'

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 31 March 2003 04:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm listening to it now. Pretty good so far. btw, my fave Placebo song ever is "Special K".

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Did it get released here today? Hm...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

is bulletproof cupid any relation to the kickass GVSB song of hte same name?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

I ony got into Placebo after hearing "Slave to the Wage" hundreds of times while living in London and loving it. It wasn't until I got home to the US that I realized that the beginning was from, like the one Pavement song I hadn't heard before. I thought that was pretty nice considering my love of Pavement and now Placebo. I doubt it got released here yet.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

It was released in the U.S. today.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 05:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

The front cover is very evocative.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 4 April 2003 18:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

two months pass...

*revive*

My other half reckons the intro to 'This Picture' is ripped from a Pixies bassline. Can't see it myself. Can anyone identify (he can't name the song but insists it's so - and was right about 'Special K' owing something to Blondie's 'Dreaming' so I'm intrigued.

― Zora (Zora), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:36 (twenty years ago) link

Follow-up to this album being a big letdown, no pop, etc., I think it pretty much sounds like all the others more or less. Despite slightly different production styles on each album, I think Molko has like three different kind of songs he writes, and this album just continues that pattern. I guess it doesn't have the big highlights that Black Market Music had for me, but I don't think it's any more or less consistant than the others.

― Sean (Sean), Monday, 9 June 2003 22:38 (twenty years ago) link

Sean's right you know. What's interesting to me is that BMM received a lot of hate at the time but save for his standard lyrical misfires I think it's their best record, and definitely the one I still listen to the most.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 9 June 2003 22:57 (twenty years ago) link

Still need to get this -- almost got it last week used but other factors intervened.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 01:33 (twenty years ago) link

Argh! Turn my back for one minute and all of a sudden everyone is loving this record sick.

And I still don't get it! "Something Rotten" is one of the crappest things I've ever heard. "Plasticine" is rub, and "Protect Me From What I Want" sounds like it could have been really good, but it doesn't work. Still think there's not enough pop.

Buy it Ned and prove me right! Or something. It's probably worth it for "Special Needs", "This Picture" and "Second Sight", anyway.

― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 02:00 (twenty years ago) link

there's a cool electropoppy remix of 'English Summer Rain' that got me bopping last week

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 08:12 (twenty years ago) link

*is* there ?!!
a cool electropoppy remix ?!!
where's that then ?
is it a b. side ?

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 10 June 2003 10:44 (twenty years ago) link

not sure, it MIGHT be by Freelance Hellraiser as it was he who played it out last week if i recall correctly. the man is churning out good mixes for corporate whores too - see the 'Thug Pop' remix of Xtina's 'Fighter'

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 11:10 (twenty years ago) link

he's already a bit of legend in my book
the freelance hellraiser. it wouldn't surprise me if
it was by him. must find that.
him at glastonbury 2002
in the rizla was the best dj-ing i ever did see.

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 10 June 2003 11:16 (twenty years ago) link

yes yes and yes, altho actually its not by him - trying to find out who's done it still

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 11:24 (twenty years ago) link

"this picture" is a pleasant surprise. placebo are still a good singles band, and this is their best one in quite a while. it's very typical placebo fare, but they still know their way around a tune. i hope it's a hit, but i doubt it.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 13 June 2003 22:04 (twenty years ago) link

Nobody answered my bloody question :(
I thought you lot knew everything, the scales have fallen from mah eyes.

Personally I think Bulletproof Cupid, This Picture and Bitter End are worth the entry fee, but none is as poppily gorgeous as Special K or as viciously poignant as.. ooh, anything on Without You I'm Nothing. Special Needs has it's moments but the 'chair with four wheels' line makes me laugh every time and I'm not sure that's the intention. Something Rotten is vile (now usually I can find something to like about vile but not this time), Plasticine is bobbins and the one about being your anchor and your bathwater, or whatever it is, sounds like something the Mission would have thrown away. Dire.

I need to make a Good Bits of Placebo mix CD - I love em but when they get it wrong they don't do it in half measures.

― Zora (Zora), Monday, 23 June 2003 20:03 (twenty years ago) link

five months pass...

Revive a bit because I'm seeing them tonight on the tour for this album and very much looking forward to it. Listening to all the albums again has reminded how Placebo are a band that so perfectly push my buttons, bless their hearts.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 16:57 (twenty years ago) link

Even the past two albums?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 17:09 (twenty years ago) link

god, i don't usually feel moved to contribute to ilm but placebo are just plain obviously transparently categorically the WORST BAND IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. i thought this had been cleared up, you know?
mewling rich kidz from luxembourg boast abt their drug habits -- nein danke.

― enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 17:12 (twenty years ago) link

Even the past two albums?

I'm listening to Black Market Music right now and I'm happy as a clam!

i thought this had been cleared up, you know?

You are denied.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 17:13 (twenty years ago) link

leaves me cold anyhoo.

― enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 17:15 (twenty years ago) link

Placebo's merely been alright for me so far, but I might buy this album just cuz it comes with a bonus disc of them covering shit like "Johnny & Mary" and "Bigmouth Strikes Again"!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 20:13 (twenty years ago) link

Ned will you be wearing makeup tonight?

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 20:22 (twenty years ago) link

I really should. Oh for a feather boa.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 20:59 (twenty years ago) link

I've only heard "Running Up That Hill" from the Placebo covers disc, but it's quite nice.

I'm neither a fan nor a detractor of the band. They're around, sometimes I'll listen to them, and we can co-exist peacefully.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 22:16 (twenty years ago) link

Placebo are one of those bands i should be well and truly over by now but by jove i still love their records. they've always retained what pulled me in initially.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 22:39 (twenty years ago) link

Show was great, they played all the new album, damn fine stuff, and they encored with "Where Is My Mind?" and did very well at that. Still a great band.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 27 November 2003 08:21 (twenty years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Glad you enjoyed it Ned. Thought they were a bit chilly at Leeds, Stephan seems to be the only that enjoys playing live. Tight as hell but not very engaging. Bulletproof Cupid kicked arse utterly mind you.

― Zora (Zora), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:48 (twenty years ago) link

two weeks pass...

...alright, i take it all back. i'm doing a fucking 180. eeee.

reading Ned's reviews linked above in fact gave me a bit of a turn, as i thought i must surely be turning into him. !! :O

hee.

― janni (janni), Monday, 12 January 2004 21:04 (twenty years ago) link

One of us.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 03:10 (twenty years ago) link

I was going to be at that show but got hung over from a Thanksgiving piss up and spent the whole of the 27th in bed throwing up. Did they play Nancy Boy?

― C-Man (C-Man), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 03:23 (twenty years ago) link

Not one of us.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 03:25 (twenty years ago) link

You want to know a secret? Molko uses spray on hair for the live performances.

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 05:58 (twenty years ago) link

that's not that big a secret though

― the surface noise (electricsound), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 05:59 (twenty years ago) link

he should just wig it and be done with it

― the surface noise (electricsound), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 06:00 (twenty years ago) link

Heh, I thought he had just switched to a Clooney-style cut out of practical reasons.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 06:01 (twenty years ago) link

Ned = someone who's parent wanted to torture him with a shit backwoods name for life. Pass the beers Ned!

― C-Man (C-Man), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 17:11 (twenty years ago) link

i'm still not entirely sure there shouldn't be a rhyme involving an irish setter in "Pure Morning," however. XD

― janni (janni), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 17:18 (twenty years ago) link

I don't get it. Is it worth explaining?

― rainman (rainman), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 19:28 (twenty years ago) link

look at the lyrics to it. a rhyme about an irish setter might at least have made it somewhat amusing, rather than simply painful. lyrically, anyway. XD

― janni (janni), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 22:43 (twenty years ago) link

It's funny how I earlier in this thread I claimed I was only buying the album for the bonus disc. I like the actual album way more.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 15 January 2004 00:44 (twenty years ago) link

thirteen years pass...

Listening to this tonight and beginning to feel it might be their last good album - 'Bulletproof Cupid', 'The Bitter End', 'Plasticine', 'Special Needs', 'Second Sight', 'Protect Me From What I Want' ... Superb.

― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Friday, 15 December 2017 19:57 (six years ago) link

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