Placebo
Sleeping With Ghosts

THE REVIEW

This is the most famous album by Placebo.

The reason for its great success is perhaps due to an addition of electronics that made the album more accessible for everyone.

The album begins with "Bulletproof Cupid", a totally unnecessary instrumental piece, perhaps the worst track of the whole album. The bass repeats throughout the song and hardly ever changes. The distorted guitar and drums contribute little, perhaps just to make noise in the middle section, which could have easily been left out. "English Summer Rain" is an electronic-toned song that is very bad because it's cheesy, repetitive, and instrumentally says nothing. The good starts with "This Picture", the beginning, characterized by bass and an almost distorted muted voice, is very beautiful and captivating. The chorus is very electronic and fits very well within a constant and very recognizable melody, but still too electronic for my taste. The bass is barely audible and seems unnatural in those few chords it plays, except for the beginning.

The title track "Sleeping with the Ghosts" features a background acoustic guitar and Molko's beautiful voice in the first part up to one minute and twenty seconds; then the sweet part of the drums and electronics starts. The bass solo is the only thing that breaks the monotony for a moment, then the same drag resumes. A great track is "The Bitter End", a much less electronic piece characterized by an excellent bass and a drum at its best. The electric guitar is perfectly placed to speed up everything. The final little piece is a true masterpiece. The rest of the album is not at all original with very electronic tracks that are not in Placebo's style. Less electronic songs, like the rock piece "Plasticine", are saved from disaster, a banal track but always innovative due to Molko's voice that makes it very different from similar songs. "Special Needs" is the worst song I have ever heard. Electronics mixing with Placebo's music is not a good match, and also the piano is totally pointless and useless.

The following three songs are very beautiful. "I'll Be Yours" is very rhythmic with the bass playing an excellent piece throughout the song. The drums are too weak, but they are saved by not missing a beat and maintaining a unique consistency. "Second Sight" is a masterpiece. Molko's voice, very angry, the bass with its very recognizable melody, the drums very quick and effective, the fitting chorus, paint a picture of extreme beauty. At one minute and thirty seconds, the song's most beautiful part begins, where the basic melody breaks down and then recomposes. Beautiful. "Protect Me What I Want" is the only electronic song saved from the electronic disaster because it has a very effective melody. "Centerfolds" is an excellent ballad I had never heard from Placebo with excellent piano and Molko at the top of his form. At three minutes and twenty seconds, the drums, and bass start, and you are moved to tears by the beauty.

In this album, Placebo wanted to experiment with electronics, unlike their third album, a much more rock and acoustic album. In my opinion, they did not succeed in the venture because the best tracks remain the rock ones in Placebo style while the electronic ones are quite repetitive (perhaps because it was their first time with electronics).

"Sleeping With Ghosts" is an album with great tracks but also with truly and truly pointless songs.