Artist: Placebo
Album Title: Sleeping With Ghosts
Label: Virgin
Bones:
Summary: Music to have a mid-life crisis by...
Reviewed By: Emma L

After the electro-goth 'difficult' third album that was "Black Market Music", a record which most Placebo fans view as the band's weakest, the trio have returned to the rather safer territory that made them famous in the first place. Lacking some of the energy of their eponymous debut, "Sleeping with Ghosts" fits better alongside breakthrough album "Without You I'm Nothing", although unfortunately only as a selection of its casts-offs.

Starting with a guitar-driven instrumental seems a strange choice for a band with such a unique vocalist, but it's one of the most exhilarating tracks on the record. Molko's vocal chords are utilised more fully elsewhere on the album, particularly on tracks like "Sleeping with Ghosts" and "This Picture", which could have been taken directly off "Without You I'm Nothing". "The Bitter End" is perhaps the most exciting song they've recorded since "Every You Every Me", but it's downhill from there. "Something Rotten" is particularly unimpressive, sounding worryingly like something that didn't quite make it onto the last album. Then it's back to the familiar slightly sinister pop that we've come to expect from the band, and a number of songs with few redeeming features between them.

"Without You I'm Nothing" may have been the album that pushed Placebo into the limelight and made Brian Molko the most well-known androgyne since Bowie, but this attempted return to those heady days is sadly lacking. What some are touting as a more mature sound is little more than the sound of a once-exciting band trying to recapture that long-lost spark. Songs like "Centrefolds" do hint at a song-writing maturity, but that's not what most Placebo fans are looking for. They want songs that give you a rush, where you can feel the full passion of Molko's voice and the pulsating sexuality of the band. Only "The Bitter End" comes close.

"Sleeping with Ghosts" is not a bad album, with the potential of being something of a grower. However, the lyrical preoccupation with death and aging goes some way towards explaining the lack of progression within the band. "Black Market Music" may not have been a huge success, but at least it showed a desire to explore new musical avenues. This album is a step back, with the effect of the technical improvements cancelled out by the lacklustre performance. It's the perfect accompaniment to a mid-life crisis; a last-gasp attempt at recapturing youth when dignified maturity ought to be the main objective. My advice: put "The Bitter End" on repeat, and hope that Molko learns to accept the inevitability of aging before writing any more songs.