Sleeping With Ghosts
Placebo\'s albums regularly shot to respectable positions throughout the world, specifically in Europe, yet they did little in the U.S. The band\'s previous album, *Black Market Music*, had seen leader Brian Molko testing his audience for how much they\'d accept in terms of personal revelations and musical adventure. For the follow-up *Sleeping with Ghosts*, Molko smooths over the rough edges and turns in his most subdued and sympathetic work. \"Bulletproof Cupid\" boasts the sort of electric guitars Sonic Youth would admire; throughout the album there\'s a tangible SY influence in the tonalities and a nod to that band in the lyrics. Yet the ghosts of relationships past also dominate the album. Where the British press had weighed on Molko\'s mind for *Black Market Music*—and full-on decadence was dominant previous to that—here the smell of old perfume is haunting. The title track nails a melancholy that\'s hard to shake. \"I\'ll Be Yours\" and \"Protect Me from What I Want\" veer into dangerous self-analysis and desire. \"The Bitter End\" displays the group\'s ability to nail down a perfect rock track when necessary.
Last I checked, our puritanical country had yet to accept naked asses on CD covers: a glimpse of anything more ...
Since the band's 1996 self-titled debut, Placebo has penchant for delivering spiky, stylishly slick pop songs, in particular "Nancy Boy" and "Pure Morning."