Product description
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PLACEBO ing With Ghosts (2003 UK 12-track CD album including
the singles The Bitter End Special Needs and English Summer Rain
picture sleeve booklet CDFLOOR17)
.co.uk
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The basic tenets of the rock & roll manifesto--sex and drugs,
dangerously excessive lashings of both--have always figured
prominently in Placebo's glitterered-up, androgynous rock oeuvre.
ing with Ghosts is a little more coy (but just as sordid),
dealing more with the torturous psychoanalysis of love and
longstanding relationships than with the instantly-gratifying
exchange of bodily fluids.
Not that there isn't any room for fetishism and coital
undernourishment. "This Picture", for example, apparently dwells
on the doomy side of sado-masochism and comes over as just the
sort of t-glam pop stomp Suede (
/exec/obidos/artist-search/Suede/%24%7B0%7D ) once excelled
at--that is until Brett Anderson knocked the funny stuff on the
head and started gazing at rainbows. If press reports are to be
believed these days--and the jury's out--Placebo are just as
likely to turn their noses up at plates of narcotics as to plunge
their nostrils in with glee. Not that they've cheered up. "The
Bitter End" ("since we're feeling so anaesthetised") is one big
bruising rock-out waving the of philosophical alism;
rather like men rushing head-long into a brick wall at high
speed, Placebo can't wait to get to their final date with destiny
quick enough. At times it's hard to tell whether Brian Molko is
repulsed or perversely gratified by his chosen subject matter,
although he's definitely bored with the weather (the cheerless
"English Summer Rain" is a subdued, sighing pop tune, driven by
rhythmic jolts of electronica) and the waltztime,
Doors-influenced "Protect Me from What I Want" finds him praying
to be delivered from his own personal temptations (or demons).
ing with Ghosts, however, is every bit as much an album for
slam-dancing nights out at Goth-favouring haunts as it is for the
psychiatrists' couch. --Kevin Maidment
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BBC Review
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ing with Ghosts is Placebo's fourth album. If their previous
album, 2000s Black Market Music, was disappointing, then this
album must be described as pitiful.
Admittedly, "The Bitter End", the recent single, is a good pop
tune. It has just the right a of dark, gothic atmosphere to
please their fans and enough radio friendly guitars to please the
new generation of indie kids.
But, their continuing attempts to be glamorous and 'different'
just don't cut it in 2003, especially considering they're seven
years into their career. At least the Manic Street Preachers have
realised this; "We don't feel the need to dress up like tarts
anymore" they wisely noted recently.
However, an album should ultimately be judged on the sum of its
parts. And in this case the 12 songs here don't a to a hill
of beans.The tunes wander lessly and the album fails to get
out of first gear. Gone is the passion and excitement that was so
evident in past singles such as "Nancy Boy" and "Pure Morning".
Track 2, "English Summer Rain", deals with Molko's fascination in
our, err, varied climate. The song is about as exciting as a
grey, rainy day in Slough.
More dour songs follow with "Protect Me From What I Want" and
"Centrefolds". Here Molko's lyrics discuss subjects such as death
and broken relationships. They provide enough material to fill at
least one psychiatrist's . The lyrics vary from the
bizarre to the meaningless; Molko deals with serious issues, but
doesn't provide any in or answers.
Just because Placebo wrote a couple of good tunes a few years ago
doesn't mean that this album is any more worthy of re
than the equally poor records hundreds of unsigned bands churn
out every week. There is plenty of good music out there far more
worthy of your time and money. See the links below for just a few
options. --Dan Tallis
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