Once More with Feeling: Singles 1996-2004 [Bonus Disc] [Limited]

Performer: Placebo
Artist: David Bowie
Engineer: Tony Visconti; Lorraine Francis; Ed Kenehan; Gareth Parton; James H. Brown; Adrian Bushby; Kenny Paterson; Nick Hunt; Paul Corkett; Philip Bagenal; Teo Miller; BIll Lloyd; Barney; Tony Visconti
Producer: Brad Wood; Steve Osborne; Jim Abbiss; Dare Mason; Tony Gonzales; Junior Sanchez; Martin Buttrich; Andy Bolleshon; Paul Corkett; Phil Vinall; Placebo; Timo Maas; Tony Gonzalez; Brad Wood; Steve Osborne; Jim Abbiss
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Placebo: Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal, Steve Hewitt. Personnel: Severe Loren, Severe Loren (vocals); Simon Breed (harmonica); Phelan Kane (programming). Additional personnel: David Bowie. Audio Mixers: Brad Wood; Steve Osborne; Jim Abbiss; Dave Bascombe; Dimitri Tikovoi; Paul Corkett; Phil Vinall; Placebo; Barney ; Jake Davies. Audio Remasterer: Sean Magee. Audio Remixers: Freelance Hellraiser; Tony Gonzales; I Cant Believe It's Not Rock; Jimmy Cauty; Jimmy "Infected By The Scourge Of The Earth" Cauty; Vibrator; Dave Woolgar; Jacques; Jacques Lu Cont; James Lavelle; Junior Sanchez; Martin Buttrich; Andy Bolleshon; Timo Maas; Tony Gonzalez; Richard File. Recording information: Bath, Somerset, England (1996-2004); Dublin, Ireland (1996-2004); London, England (1996-2004); New York, NY (1996-2004); Paris, France (1996-2004). Photographer: Nadav Kander. This well-compiled retrospective covers the first eight years of the London-based rock trio's career. Placebo combines the sexy, androgynous attitude of glam with the grind of grunge, the razor-edge of punk, and a dash of blissful drone-noise a la Sonic Youth. Through its first four studio albums, Placebo blazed a trail with equal parts flash, guitar-muscle, and keen pop smarts, a mix that sent several of the band's singles up the UK charts. For these reasons, Placebo is especially well suited to a hits collection, and ONCE MORE WITH FEELING is, as a result, the group's best overall offering. Early hits ("Nancy Boy" and "Bruise Pristine") define the band's cross-gender themes and slick, churning sound, while the mid-tempo "Pure Morning" sports an expansive feel and an infectiously catchy melody. "Taste in Men" has a goth-industrial edge, "The Bitter End" recalls 1980s New Wave, and glam godfather David Bowie joins the group for a duet on "Without You I'm Nothing" (an association that has helped the band not a little). But while it's easy to play spot-the-influence with Placebo, the trio has enough panache and songcraft to pull it off effectively, a feat attested to on this impressive 19-song disc. After ten years together, eight of those spent on the U.K. charts, Placebo exhume their past on Once More With Feeling: Singles 1996-2004. This 19-song collection includes all of their biggest hits, most notably "Nancy Boy" and "Pure Morning." It's also a look back at Placebo's conscious effort to maintain a campy, glam rock-influenced rock sound. Placebo achieved great success in their native U.K. (and at a college radio level in the U.S.) at the height of both grunge in the mid-'90s, and the teen pop/emo excursions just as the new millennium got underway. As much as frontman Brian Molko's sexuality was called into question, and the band's exterior appearance was a topic of conversation among the U.K. music press, Molko's androgynous appeal was equally intriguing as his gender-bending presence as a singer, so style and substance worked in favor of Placebo's place in music. Was he the pop generation's new David Bowie? No, but he yearned to attract fans much like Bowie did during the 1970s. Molko's pixie-like peculiarity only added to Placebo's star power, so naturally the timing of Once More With Feeling is a nice fit in the Placebo discography. Although its arrangement is out of order, each single released from their 1996 self-titled debut to the fierce neo-glam statement that is 2003's Sleeping With Ghosts sound as great as they ever did. What's nice is how the select tracks from Black Market Music -- "Taste in Men," "Special K," "Slave to Wage" -- age better simply because Placebo has aged well. The direction of Sleeping With Ghosts does the same, holding promise for what's yet to come from Placebo; just check out "The Bitter End." For a fan who's already bought every Placebo single, Once More With Feeling is only necessary for collecting purposes. For those who didn't, this singles collection is a great place to start. [The DVD portion includes a full video discography, an interview with the band, and never before seen live footage.] ~ MacKenzie Wilson

The three founding members of Placebo hailed from Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland, but their sound was British through and through, a mix of angst-ridden Cure-esque post-punk and glammy art rock a la Bowie. Amid the success of their early albums in the 1990s, they made no secret of their roots, crossing paths with Bowie more than once, covering T. Rex, and appearing in the glam-rock homage VELVET GOLDMINE. However, as album followed album in the '00s, like Bowie, the band expanded beyond its original universe, developing its own brand of darkly majestic, thoroughly neurotic pop.

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