PLACEBO'S very existence seems to cause apoplexy in certain critical circles, and the fact that their fourth album "Sleeping With Ghosts" has gone gold and they're currently on a European tour culminating with a sold-out gig at Paris's massive Bercy Arena suggests they will be flies in the ointment for some time yet to come.
And for all this, your reviewer salutes them. Say whatever you like about Brian Molko, but he's an interesting character and with Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt in tow, Placebo are a good unit who've now made certainly two pretty good albums, one OK one and one fairly stinky one. Overall not a bad strike rate.
In case you were wondering which of their four albums I was referring to as the OK one, then it's "Sleeping With Ghosts", which does have some decent set pieces and in "The Bitter End", "This Picture" and new single "Special Needs" a further triumvirate of quite memorable singles.
So, taken on its' own merits, "Sleeping With Ghosts" is alright, but this new "Special Edition" comes with an additional album of 10 cover songs tagged on and really you can only find yourself asking yourself.... why? Yes, I'm well aware that several of these have previously featured on B-sides, in radio sessions and been recorded for tribute albums, but to collect them here so confidently suggests considerable conceit on Placebo's behalf.
The problem is that Placebo have set themselves up for a pratfall by tackling songs by artists so distinctive in their own right that Molko and co's usually totally reverent takes can never hope to even match the sum of the original parts, never mind better them.
A number of the choices find Placebo's influences worn horribly on their collective sleeve. Not surprisingly, the tantalising magic in the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" and T-Rex's "20th Century Boy" evaporates as Placebo go all karaoke on us, while the inevitably camp factor of Boney M's "Daddy Cool" tries to grunge us into submission and just sounds clod-hopping. As for their version of The Smiths' "Bigmouth Strikes Again," well....let's just say it dreadfully exposes Placebo's own shortcomings and falls desperately short.
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It's not all useless, to be fair. Robert Palmer's "Johnny And Mary" is a less than obvious choice for Placebo and its' chugging, insistence works in ther favour and allows Steve and Stefan to step out, as does the lengthy version of Depeche Mode's "I Feel You", while in the case of Big Star's horrifically beautiful "Holocaust", they've created something that's certainly much easier to stomach than Alex Chilton's original, but that's not really the point, is it?
Besides, Brian, I think you've some nerve to think your adenoidal whine can possibly hope to compete with the likes of Kate Bush or Sinead O'Connor, so is there really any point in even contemplating "Running Up That Hill" or "Jackie"? OK, actually the latter - attacked in a "Burger Queen" piano ballad style - is possibly one of the better things here, but only because it's surrounded by mediocrity.
Yeah, I'm the first to admit I'm probably being harsh over what is essentially a fans' only purchase and - in all fairness - the covers CD only comes packaged in conjunction with "Sleeping With Ghosts" itself, so you will also get a reasonably OK Placebo album as well. However, it's also important to point out that if you're gonna buy the album a (gasp!) SECOND time on the strength on the additional CD then caveat emptor, because you're being sold a pup.
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