Placebo, Classic or Dud?

I give the first album lots of credit though, for managing to sound like Rush and Smashing Pumpkins and still not be utterly revolting.

Wouldn't it be funny if the singer looked like Frank Black?

Ned, darling--How could I *possibly* disown the head of the T. Rex and Sparks discussion lists?!? Look, we've had our disagreements in the past (a certain same sex-loving, Gap ad-appearing Canuck singer/songwriter with a much prettier voice than BRIAN FUCKING MOLKO comes to mind), and we'll get through this, too, I swear...;-)

I've only ever heard "Pure Morning" but I don't care if the rest of their work does more for me than Joy Division, Glenn Branca, and Lalgudi Jayraman put together. For that blight on the 90s radio landscape, a resounding DUD.

Since when did I have anything to say about Terence and Philip?

we are bad bad people

(disclaimer: i don't really wish anybody would suffer needlessly and then die, it's just amusing to conceive of such things after a few pints of London Pride -- anyone is free to imagine me suffering great deal should it amuse them. and it does I'm told)

Could work...

Sorry 'bout that. Yeah it took a while to sink in but I now realise my erroneous vitriol was slightly garbled. I mean really, how silly do I look, getting all excited like that and getting Brian Malkovich's name wrong!

I'm most dreadfully embarrassed...

Perhaps I should keep it simple: Placebo and Brian Molotov are for shit.

But couple of years ago I was queuing to get into a felafel restaurant in Paris for a Sunday lunchtime snack when I realised the guy standing in front, patiently waiting in line, was Molko. The As du Felafel is a tiny place, everyone crammed into tight spaces. Had a table for 2 had freed up before a table for 4 we'd have ended up sharing a table with Molko and (I assume) his girlfriend. As it was they ended up sharing with a very ordinary looking middle-aged couple in their late fifties. In no time at all they were speaking away animatedly, the couple telling him that their son also played a band, apparently on the local pub circuit in East Anglia. I thought Molko handled himself beautifully, utterly friendly, showed a genuine interest in what the couple had to say, and at no time tried to imply that his band was successful on a different level from their son's. (Although the fact that his companion was about 3 inches taller than him and looked like a supermodel might have offered a clue).

i'd heard something-or-other of theirs years ago and hadn't cared for it. something about the way Molko came off in interviews annoyed me at the time, too, so i kinda didn't care. kinda blew them off and thought no more of it.

then, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine and i exchanged mix CDs. we hadn't previously been friends, but these CDs are actually what did it. on her CD was a bunch of Placebo, amongst other things (including the utterly gorgeous Trembling Blue Stars "Little Gunshots" and Perfect Pop Moment "Don't Falter" by Mint Royale featuring Lauren Laverne). and while goddamnifhisvoicewasn'tawfullynasalandannoying, i couldn't help being carried away by the utter bombastic Crush!Angst!Giddiness of "Special K." some of the other songs of theirs were alright, but that's what made them stick in my mind.

what made me actually go buy some, however, was another friend's inclusion of "English Summer Rain" on a mix CD she put together not long ago (well, obviously). i ended up looping that over and over for quite some time. that bass slide. exquisitely tasty. mmmm.

so eventually, i ended up with the special edition of Sleeping With Ghosts, mostly cos i wanted to hear "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (which is a huge disappointment, BTW. :P). there's plenty to irritate on the disc itself, and plenty to appreciate in that sort of big, dumb angsty way. the thing with them is that it all sounds so good, even when the lyrics aren't particularly so. yes, bits are derivative, but they do it so well and take such obvious pleasure in it, and are (more to the point) v. good at transmuting that pleasure into something audible.

anyrate, surprise favourites on the disc ended up being their covers of "Running Up That Hill" and "The Ballad of Melody Nelson." they're really, really flipping good.
so, i do want more. am not a rabid fan and probably never will be, and i don't know that i'd call it a complete conversion, although i've changed my mind. now the interviews mostly amuse. then again, most things do these days, because i find it v. hard to take almost anything seriously. XD
(as to the cover of "I Feel You," it actually hurts me quite a lot. that's the one thing i skip over on that disc with regularity after having sat through it once. *shudders* urrrrgh.)

The person whose fandom of them surprises me the least right now is Anthony, in that I think there's a very good case he might be able to make linking Placebo, Interpol and the Killers, though I don't want to be said to be reading his mind. ;-)

Extremely, having seen them twice. The Wiltern show in late 2003 was monstrously good, and based on the clip on the Once More With Feeling DVD I need to get that Soulmates Never Die DVD -- that's a fuck of a HUGE crowd they're performing in front of!

Hehe, Sundar. :-) But it's good to see that tastes can change, in either direction! Sometimes I am guilty of never changing them, which isn't cool of me if I've not given something new a chance. But other times they mutate as they do. Have you heard the single from last year, "Twenty Years"? *Not* what I expected from a greatest hits collection at all!

Thank ya, Lovebug. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. I was tickled and pleased to see Chuck E. likes 'em, it actually doesn't surprise me per se but I wouldn't have thought to consider him a fan until he said so.

I just had to toss SWG from my collection cuz Bonecrusher pushed it out of the 20 Albums From 2003 That I'm Keeping In Their Entirety but here's the 10 tracks I couldn't do without from the 22-track double CD:

English Summer Rain
This Picture
Sleeping With Ghosts
The Bitter End
Special Needs
Second Sight
Protect Me From What I Want
Running Up That Hill
Johnny & Mary
20th Century Boy

I wholeheartedly recommend this tracklisting to any curious person out there with soulseek.

I can see this, partially because Placebo are so (intentionally) produced as to be incredibly precise when they want to be. "The Bitter End" sounds like a song assembled for maximum impact -- reminds me in a way of what Tim Finney once noted for Garbage at its most mechanistic. But live the band, how you say, brings it as a band, pretty strongly.

Yeah, that's a sharp summary. I'd also suggest their covers of "Daddy Cool" and "Jackie" (the latter is a very good example of how they can rework a song's arrangement, which I think they did spectacularly for "Running Up That Hill")

My favorite tracks:

Brick Shithouse
You Don't Care About Us
Every You, Every Me
Without You, I'm Nothing
Pure Morning
Come Home
Nancy Boy
The Bitter End
Bulletproof Cupid

Wow! That's a comparison and a half -- I'd never've thought of it but you are quite OTM.

Molko in particular is a thorough and admittedly college rock geek as filtered via Europe in the late eighties/early nineties. The Pixies worship in particular makes PERFECT sense.

Placebo >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Interpol

My good friend. :-)

This is the song in the essay that I talk about which introduced me to the band, since the debut was the first thing I heard. It was such a frenetic rushed mess, like the drums were trying to outrace the rest of the band and then the rest of the band followed at higher speed -- but again, somehow still *very* precise.

I just looked over the hits comp tracklisting and it overlaps with the picks here enough I'll probably get it. I think we may have the debut at the radio station so I'll still get to hear "Come Home."

(Wait, do you live in/near NYC? I could bring ya one this weekend.)

My favorite Placebo track is "Slacker Bitch" (or maybe "Slackerbitch"), a b-side I've never found on CD.

I've got "Slackerbitch"! A lot of the B-sides deserve some praise, and I'm currently pondering what would go on a CDR of just them. I really need to get the singles I'm missing...

No, that's fair -- I've always heard similar said about My Beloved Pumpkins because of Mr. Corgan, and for some it's just a step too far. Generally speaking vocalists who don't work for me can be saved or at least sublimated if the music is strong enough; in this case Molko *works* for me throughout, he suits his arrangements with ease.

Public image: well, high-fashion gay goths, sorta.

"Bionic" (maybe more as a demonstration of their 'take the noise, make it poppy' formula but a great demonstration nonetheless)

"Lady of the Flowers" (the first of their many desperate poisonous ballads, and still one of their best in that vein; the images may be straight out of Desperate Teenage Fuckups 101 but that's the reason why it works, I'd say)

"HK Farewell" (aka the untitled bonus on the debut -- *really* lovely instrumental and easily one of their best songs)

"Brick Shithouse" (as noted above -- ARGH NOISE FUCK YOU ARGH)

"Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth)" (this is one of those songs that speaks both to the credit of Olsdal and Molko as instrumentalists -- the bass growl is just MONSTROUS, while the way Molko fools around with Sonic Youth noises as epic pop flourishes is quite striking; he's coming up with some crazy shit on the instrumental breaks!)

"My Sweet Prince" (echo, it's all about the echo on this song -- well, not just that but it's the subtle touch that makes this a shiveringly chilling, powerful song, it's like it's from a ghost -- also, the drumbeats)

"Summer's Gone" (their dreamy psych/4AD/Cocteau/gaze song in a way, everytime I hear it I hear it somewhat differently, but that's always what I think of -- it's an end of summer song but it's still a summer song, a sunset that contrasts "Pure Morning" if you like)

"Evil Dildo" (untitled track at the end of Without You -- probably the height of their Sonic Youth sprawl [har har] fascination, jettisoning pop structure entirely beyond a vague verse/chorus breakdown -- a neat trick for an instrumental -- crossed with "XYU" by the Pumpkins)

"Days Before You Came" (if it was just because of the Abba rip in the title, that would be fun enough, but this is a good almost-single in how perfectly it can kick up a hell of a racket and remain hummable)

"Haemoglobin" (Absolom in the lyrics, sorta; SY touches again in the music, distanced reverb on the vocals, LOTS of violence throughout -- check the way that the drums burst through at points like gunshots...like an abstract cascade of blood)

"Peeping Tom" (their best album-ender -- not counting the unlisted tracks at least -- and making up for all the ballads on Black Market Music essentially being rewrites of all the previous ones, pleasant but just okay; in contrast this is surprisingly heartbreaking and affecting, thanks to the radio-signal guitar parts, the faster pace offset by the slow, swinging cascade of the verse and the beautifully sad catch in Molko's voice throughout, especially on the chorus -- this could be their most underrated song, period)

"Bulletproof Cupid" (meanwhile, this makes for a heck of a way to start of an album with an instrumental rampage -- it's almost a way for Placebo to show by means of a formal exercise that by this point they had an entrenched sound of their own via a technically superior capture of monster feedback, rhythm shifts and electronic growls, and that it wasn't specifically tied down by Molko's voice)

"Sleeping With Ghosts" (a stretch, perhaps, but I see this song as their one song equivalent to Green Day's American Idiot, reading the current mood of things through their own particular lens -- holding-on-to-each-other romance in the shadow of war and death -- and I think shows that there's more going on with Molko's words these days than many fans or foes would credit him for; just as importantly, though, this is them in ballad mode trying to screw around with the form a bit, thus the nail-on-chalkboard guitar part raining down from on high (combined with all the other guitar parts too -- this is a surprisingly busy song when you get down to it, and there are all sorts of quick millisecond bits zooming throughout the mix...and then there's the dub bass and the skittering d'n'b-tinged percussion behind the main beats and...jeez, this whole thing gets even crazier as the song goes on! and then there's the extended coda I forgot about! this is a flat out spectacular song! that's what I love about this band, they keep being better than I remember them!)

"Something Rotten" (uh...I'll say more about this later, but considering I just heard this yesterday and it slipped by me and I'm hearing it now and it's seriously fucking with my head, I think there's more going on here than I realized)

"Second Sight" (in frenetic quick rock-out mode, but in a compressed and trebly sense that turns it into a sheer celebration, it's like a swagger but one where it's a pure control in what the band can do and they ride it so wonderfully well -- it's, well, it's almost like a Jay-Z album cut that's still brilliant, like they can do something in their way seemingly in their sleep and have it just connect down the way -- and frankly I love the use of the Herman's Hermits/Ramones "third verse/same as the first" gambit)

Whew. Um, so yeah, these are all great.

Together, we will bond together and fight the evil...with matching windbreakers.

Still, we can agree to (at times) disagree. Especially in our stylish matching windbreakers.

HI DAN!

ATTN ENGLISH BANDS: NO NEED FOR 'MATURE' DIRECTION UNTIL AT LEAST THE THIRD ALBUM OK? Le fucking sigh.

Pure ... Boring ... Pure ... Boring.

I love the production on Without You I'm Nothing so much, it's one of the best sounding nineties rock albums I can think of. Little things like when the hi-hats suddenly go double-time for a moment on "Pure Morning" (the more you listen to that track, the more you realise that the entire a vocal is a total red herring, about as important to the song as a whole as a drum click track).

Spencer, Ned etc. all OTM about "Brick Shithouse".

EXTREMELY well put.

There's going to be a massive post in a new thread here in a few days about Placebo from me, stay tuned...

but steadily got more bored and sick of them until it culminated in me and my friends being incredibly drunk seeing them at Reading 2003 and screaming at them "PLAY MOVE YOUR FUCKING FEET" (by junior senior).

And yes, Mr. Osborne did the production for that one.

- why do I still not "get" The God Machine? Objectively they seem really good. If that makes sense.
- why did I buy the "wrong" Pale Saints album?
- why did I buy the "wrong" Chapterhouse album?
- do you like any Marilyn Manson apart from Mechanical Animals (which I rilly like too)?
- why don't you rate Hex as much as you should (and have we discussed this in the past?)?
- where did my copy of Leaves Me Blind get to?
- Ned do you know/like Frente's second album?

* Might have been a had to be there moment in retrospect -- but I broke out Songs From the Second Storey recently for the first time in a long while and the sense of epic wallop and melancholia remained, though I think the trick is to realize the Cure roots more thoroughly in the quieter moments ("It's All Over" makes a new perfect sense after the recent Cure reissues)

* Well, Comforts was released in the UK only, might have had something to do with it

* Blood Music isn't wrong, just flawed. "Picnic," however, is some kinda genius.

* I just sold back all my Marilyn Manson aside from Mechanical Animals! Because I just hadn't listened to any of it in years! Ripped it all to AAC beforehand of course.

* Hex is wonderful, let us not split hairs. ;-) Interestingly, Spencer and I were talking about BP the other day and he said that he found Hex to be a letdown on release -- he had loved the earliest EPs with a passion but by the time Hex came out he was much more into early jungle imports, trance, etc. (this is 1994, remember) and that the album just seemed too minimal, lacking a sense of scope (I argued that there's depth to it in a different sense)

* I have no idea! But you should find that thing immediately!

* Don't think I heard it. Did they mutate into something mysteriously great?

As noted on the New Kingdom thread I started, not including Paradise Don't Come Cheap on 136 is a huge mistake on my part. If you haven't heard it, Tim, you really should at least once.

I am not moving house soon and having to pay bond and I don't have a tax bill or a credit card debt oh no.

Re Hex - that seems so odd that Spencer would think that, the very thing that I always feel with "The Loom" is how vast it sounds, a whole world opening up before yr ears.

"* I just sold back all my Marilyn Manson aside from Mechanical Animals! Because I just hadn't listened to any of it in years! Ripped it all to AAC beforehand of course."

I think Fred was advocating for Holy Wood when it came out. Stephen Thomas Erlewine on AMG likes the most recent two albums the best I think but then he doesn't rate MA so much so maybe I shouldn't be guided by him.

I do love Mechanical Animals though, what a great opening one-two punch it has.

"Ned, the second Frente album is astonishingly great. "

I'm glad you love it Edward. i think it is perfect in every way.

By all means get it. Use the thread and its links as well as my AMG review as a general guide for what it's like -- the rest will follow.

Also all of the Boo Radleys advocacy at the moment is making me itch to pick up Giant Steps or something.

As well you should. But find Wake Up too. ;-) (Actually, just find them all.)

I do love Mechanical Animals though, what a great opening one-two punch it has.

Yus. He learned from Ziggy well...

-- Hari A$hur$t

I feel the same way, and it makes me very sad. I listened to Sleeping with Ghosts and didn't dislike it but I didn't feel like it was a new direction or an improvement of any kind. I'm not a hater, so am I missing something Ned?

They blew me away live with "Without You I'm Nothing" (still my favorite song) but by the time I saw them touring for Black Market Music I was getting pretty bored with the formula, or maybe they just sucked at that show.

Is it rockist to think bands should be going in a 'new direction' by the time the fifth album comes out?

Sleeping is actually the 'experimental' formula now fully incorporated -- it is of all their albums the most focused, no song sprawls, it's all very structured, but what isn't immediately apparent upon listening to it is just how much is going on in all the arrangements, and there's often a *lot* going on. The electronic elements that were overly hyped on Black Market now often become part and parcel of the song, very closely intertwined in the arrangements, while there's always some new thing cropping up song for song as it goes. Taking Tim's comment about how Brian M.'s vocals are a bit of a red herring, there's everything on that album from fractured drum-and-bass/glitch to even *more* poppy Krautrock than "Slave to the Wage" provided to some truly gorgeous reclaiming of Cocteau Twins-style wash.

Combined with the little remarked upon strangeness-in-a-good-way of the two new songs on the greatest hits -- "I Do" is Brian taking the seemingly-simple lyrical gambit approach again and giving it a twist ending, while "Twenty Years" -- the actual new single -- was a very odd choice for such a piece, a non-fist-pumping-rock-out single that sticks in the memory as a weird singalong -- and I think that while it would be wrong to say they're suddenly mutating into something else all together, they *have* made a very conscious artistic choice and approach that is quietly paying off (and they're pulling bigger crowds than ever before in multiple areas -- check the huge French arena crowd they play to in Soulmates Never Die, note as well they can now headline a two night Wembley Arena stand and just completed an arena or maybe even stadium tour in South America). I have this sneaking hunch that you're seeing them in a Black Celebration phase that just might lead into a Music for the Masses one. Violator, not yet...but I wouldn't entirely be surprised.

Also, "Special Needs" - a great single, yes (in fact, my favourite single of theirs since "You Don't Care About Us" at the time, fits EXACTLY into the "Ask For Answers"/"Passive Aggressive" mould, so I think any criticisms of BMM as being a tad rote should apply as well. "I'll Be Yours", as far as attempts to recreate the sort of sinister creep of some of their angular-cocktail-crystalline-torch moments is just a bit... insubstantial? "Protect Me From What I Want" works better in French, strangely. And "Centrefolds" is not half as good a closer as "Peeping Tom".

I'll go back and relisten to SWG a LOT if you go back and re-evaluate BMM. Deal? Everyone wins...

See, here's what I mean by sprawl, though -- consider the extended unlisted tracks on the first two albums, or the final listed one on the first. Both those are much more reflective of a jam-and-see-what-happens mentality, improvisations -- not *entirely* without structure, but far more immediately inspired from the Sonic Youth side of the band's descent, by their own admission. "Something Rotten" does not sprawl in that sense, it is *very* aggressively and intentionally structured. So we might be using different defintions here.

I'm not impressed with the "electronic elements," either, for three reasons. It's not really new ("Pure Morning" "My Sweet Prince" etc.), others have done the transition more strikingly ("Eye" The Postal Service, Radiohead etc etc), and it doesn't change the fact that some of the songs are boring (all the songs edward o. mentioned).

All that said, I love your idea of them having a bright future a la Depeche Mode since the conventional wisdom would be that they are spent (singles comp out before a break-up and all...) If they release a single anyhwere near as good as "Enjoy the Silence" it's definitely possible, of course. Certainly I've converted a number of people who aren't even normally into "glam" or its ilk just by throwing on their first album ("Come Home" the perfect introduction??)

They're recording their fifth album now and the perfect example of a three-piece band defeating the 'well they released their greatest hits so that's that' blues in recent years already exists. Salut, Green Day! Anything is possible.

And sorry to put you on the defensive, Ned, I enjoy the long jams, too. It just saddened me to lose touch over the last two albums as they were one of my favorite bands. I will listen to Sleeing with Ghosts again; your optimism is infectious!

NB. On the "Brian's vocals as red herring" thingy, I kinda meant that strictly in relation to "Pure Morning" (though it may apply to other more recent tracks too). Otherwise in terms of the overall feel of the song his vocals on the first two albums are U&K - in fact "Pure Morning" is the only time that they seem devoted to conveying a non-impression, an absence, a placeholder-feel.

Aside from the singles, though, you get "Days Before You Came", which is basically an exact mid-point between "Brick Shithouse" and "Special K", and leads wonderfully into the latter on the album, the fantastic "Passive Aggressive" (my favourite Placebo song, builds on the "Ask For Answers" template - but with just an extra layer of bruising on top, and Brian's vocals on the "every time I see you falling" is just so... beautifully damaged), the shuddering, squashed and claustrophobic "Haemoglobin" (very juddery and disturbed, the aural equivalent of being cramped and uncomfortable) and yes, their very best-ever closing track, "Peeping Tom". That's the A-grade stuff. The hidden track is very good too.

The B-grade stuff isn't anywhere near as bad as people say. I actually think you'll really like "Spite & Malice" despite the fact that everyone else hates it - that's the one with Justin Warfeld's "rap" - but if you ignore the lyrics it's good fun in a kind of meaningless meaningful way. "Commercial For Levi" is short and probably hated by everyone ever because of the tinkling bell noises, but it's extraordinarily hooky and, gasp, quite cute. "Narcoleptic" I had almost forgotten about but it has a really fantastic ending, not too far from "My Sweet Prince", really. "Black Eyed" is perhaps a bit clumsy, as if they were wondering whether "Allergic" would have been better if they'd put on a soaring, anthemic chorus. It wouldn't have, but in no way is it bad.

The one mis-step I will concede is that "Blue American" is, well, very stupid indeed, pretentious in a bad way, but even then it's delivered with a bit of a knowing smirk so it's not completely without merit.

Plus, my favourite trivia fact is that the backing vocals on a few of the tracks are done by Caroline Finch of indie no-hopers Linoleum non-fame and I know that I'm the only person on here who considers that a plus but anyway.

I refuse to concede ground on this one - Ned, you are mentalist for preferring SWG.

I can barely remember the singles for BMM except "Tase In Men" which I quite liked - there was one with lots of drones in the clip which I was a bit meh about but I only heard it once or twice.

I will hold these hearings open for any late submissions but that was a persuasive testimony edward.

Yo Edward by the same token you should get Heather Nova album that I recommend upthread, I think you would like it!

Look, I can do you a copy of BMM if you want a risk-free go...

Yeah Glow Stars is pre-"Walk This World", and it's quite different, lots of dream-pop, shoegazer and even dub influences. At times it reminds me of A. R. Kane or the softer parts of The Underground Lovers' Dream It Down, or the spacier non-dance parts of early Saint Etienne.

The Elizabeth St JB has Laika's Sound of Satellites in the sale bins for $10, do you have that?

(This is the worst thread hijacking ever. Hooray.)

this explains more than adequately how i feel about placebo, so i shan't bore the thread with a retread of same. it's the best thing they'll ever do, and a very good thing.

How about you send a good Anneli Drecker song and I'll send a good Glow Stars song?

"20th Century Boy" is a bit played, mind. ANd he does sound a bit.. disinterested.

I guess I never really liked "I Feel You" that much... but I don't know that Molko could have pulled off something like "In Your Room" (DM after 1990 - the ballads are always better, right).

"(DM after 1990 - the ballads are always better, right)"

Does "It's No Good" count as a ballad?

On the Kate Bush tip, it would be nice to see them do "Mother Stands For Comfort" I think.

Like on "Come Home" where he sings "...and now the happenin' scene is dead, I wished that I could be there..." (pause, then, sighing) "too..."

Or on "Hang On To Your I.Q.": "Have another/for breakfast/burning smoke around/and in my solar plexus."

(I'm quoting from memory so these might be slightly wrong)

at this moment in time i side with Ned. now that the world has moved on to all things non-glam (though Living Things are reviving the glam - from the one mp3 i have heard) i suspect that this could become a serious playlister of an album

.. guess i should get the Black Market album, is that the one which has Justin Warfield guesting and even more of their electronic twists and turns ?

Thank you,
please don't hit me on the face,
laters.

Still not heard Sleeping With Ghosts, Tim? Really, give it a whirl.

http://www.placeboworld.co.uk/news/index.html :

1.10.07

PLACEBO PART COMPANY WITH DRUMMER STEVE HEWITT

Placebo have parted company with drummer of 11 years, Steve Hewitt, due to personal and musical differences.

Brian Molko commented "Being in a band is very much like being in a marriage, and in couples - in this case a triple - people can grow apart over the years. To say that you don't love your partner anymore is inaccurate, considering all that you've been through and achieved together. There simply comes a point when you realize that you want different things from your relationship and that you can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak."

The split is amicable and a sad time for both parties. Steve Hewitt replaced Robert Schultzberg behind the drum kit in 1996 whilst the band were promoting Placebo’s eponymous debut album and went on to record the following 4 studio albums ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, ‘Black Market Music’, ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ and most recently ‘Meds’.

Placebo have just returned from the USA where they were part of the high profile ‘Projekt Revolution Tour’ alongside Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. The band are now taking a well earned break.

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal will begin work on Placebo’s 6th studio album next Spring and are in no rush to find an immediate replacement for Steve.

"Tase In Men"

amusing tim f typo

placebo were what all the girls liked at school who thought rock was trendy now but were a bit scared of metal. i went out with a girl who liked to put on their first album while we fooled around, put me off a bit.

The duddest of them all. There is no-one dudder.

Only mildly entertaining thing about them is that "Nancy Boy" has a chord progression so bleedin' obvious that even someone tone-deaf can count their way through it.

you are all just homophobic meatheads who don't understand molko's totally original and controversial music.

classic. shame about steve.

Yeah, agreed. Fantastic drummer, seemed crucial to me for the band to work. Guess we'll see.

no sonic youth in placebo, god

Eh?

oh, i was just lazily referring to/deriding a comment upthread that suggested that sonic youth was musically similar to placebo. :)

It's far more to accurate to say that Placebo have had a major SY jones over the years but it's there. I'm sure SY themselves think nothing of it.

i hear the pumpkins, particularly in that first self-titled record. quite a nice record that one. i guess my view on the placebo-sonic youth thing is based on a pretty one-dimensional standpoint - lately i haven't been able to think about sy without thinking about the melodic guitar interplay and feedback. though, there is doubtless more to the band's music than that, and that's probably where a placebo comparison could slot neatly in

New single, free download @ http://www.placeboworld.co.uk (or: send them your email address and then get nothing, if you're like me)

maybe it's for the best

Ha, I had the same experience.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

Got the mail! Glorious 128 kb/sec. Didn't think anyone still used that, but anyway. I don't hate it. :-)

Yeah, the mail went to my spam folder.

I finally heard the "Running Up That Hill" cover and it's pretty much OTM

Quite right.

I kind of hate them but I'll admit 'Nancy Boy' was one of my favorite songs when I was younger.

Also nothing special about it but I think 'special needs' sounds very rock stadium to my ears. They've got maybe better songs but its the one that I think sounds the most expansive. Sort of makes me want to be a rockstar and play it.

I want to make that 'songs that make you want to stadium rock' thread now but I don't know how to properly enunciate it.

Hmm, they're back:

--

PLACEBO

B3 EP Out Digitally October 16 On Universal Music;

Limited Edition Physical CD Due October 30

Launch #B3KISS Competition

Allowing Fans A Chance To Create & Share Their Own B3 EP Artwork

www.b3kiss.com

New Album Planned for Release in 2013

http://www.b3ep.com

http://www.placeboworld.co.uk

After fifteen years, six studio albums, 12 million units sold worldwide, breakdowns, clean ups and the dizzying swell of global success, Placebo is back with a new five-song EP B3 due digitally in the U.S. October 16 on Universal/UMe, and as a Limited Edition physical CD on October 30. The highly charged title track exemplifies their dark and melodic trademark sound and features singer Brian Molko’s instantly recognizable vocals. Stream an edited version of “B3” now via the Placebo Soundcloud page: http://soundcloud.com/placeboworld/placebo-b3-edit

A new studio album by Placebo—Molko (guitar/vocals), Stefan Olsdal (bass) and Steve Forrest (drums)—is due to follow the EP in 2013. While not a reflection of the direction of the new album, the band felt strongly that their fans should get to hear new music in the interim. For more information on the EP, visit http://www.b3ep.com.

Placebo has also launched the #B3KISS Competition, asking fans to create their own version of the B3 EP artwork. To enter, fans need to HashTag their photo #B3KISS on Instagram or Twitter, or upload it here: www.b3kiss.com. The band will choose their favorite version and the winner will receive a framed test print of the B3EP artwork, signed by Placebo. The competition closes October 31, 2012.

B3 Track Listing

01. B3

02. I Know You Want To Stop

03. The Extra

04. I.K.W.Y.L.

05. Time Is Money

Actually, having given it an ear -- not bad! Like it more than Battle for the Sun already, that seemed a bit of a timekiller.

Also, having looked at "Time is Money" and inevitably thought, "How very Swans," the opening lyric is straight up "Time is money...bastard..." Not a cover, unsurprisingly.

A band I used to quite enjoy, in later years really want to fucking hate. Like many others do. They're an easy target. However, "Every you, every me" is one hell of a ride.

And new album soon:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3760/9069367648_d95d0336f2_z.jpg

Loud Like Love Track Listing

01 - Loud Like Love

02 - Scene Of The Crime

03 - Too Many Friends

04 - Hold On To Me

05 - Rob The Bank

06 - A Million Little Pieces

07 - Exit Wounds

08 - Purify

09 - Begin The End

10 - Bosco

It always surprises me when I find out Placebo are still going... since Sleeping With Ghosts they've been pretty much invisible here, 'The Bitter End' being the last track of theirs I remember getting ANY exposure!

oh god

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKLONjkiL1c

It'll come back to me one day / like a needle in the hay

errr, that's not how it works Brian

It pretty much went from 0 to WTF over the course of the first four lines, and I'm already more than well aware at how bad Brian Molko's lyrics can be. I'm getting a bit of a giggle at the thought of the Brian Molko of 'Nancy Boy' and 'Pure Morning' fame embracing his inner Victor Meldrew and ranting about modern technology.

New video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi_AJxsdOKo

that was forgettable. it's Placebo by the numbers and they aren't pulling it off on one listen.

And, uh, here's an actual VIDEO video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5cZvbOisk4

Narrated by Bret Easton Ellis! GREAT.

mmm pink vinyl best of

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1393/3949/products/boxset_01_1024x1024.jpg

http://www.placeboworld.co.uk/#aplaceforustodream

not so sure about the sleeve mind

I still like the first two albums!

A second best-of, hm. Well it includes tracks from Meds at least where the other didn't by default.

Listening to Without You I'm Nothing for the first time in ages.

Forgot what a great album this is.

References to weed, coke and boobs = absolute gold to my 8th grade friends

First new Placebo music in five years just came out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KudGpbfWYrI

There is a promise of more new music on the way as well...

Huh. Will have to give a listen later.

I can't help but liking this album again - the last one I liked was Sleeping With Ghosts but then I kinda lost interest for a while