MILB: Placebo

I remember when I first saw the movie, "Cruel Intentions."  Great opening scene with Ryan Phillipe driving along to this great song I'd never heard before.  When I got the DVD, it had the video on it.  It was a song called "Every You, Every Me" by a band called Placebo.  I'd never heard of them, but the video had parts of the movie inter cut with them singing the song at a concert.  The place was packed, and it looked as if they were famous.  How had I missed these guys?

Well, Placebo had never really made an impact in the US.  They're two Belgian guys who actually went to school together at the American school in Luxembourg, but met again in London and formed a band.  The said the name Placebo came from when bands were naming themselves after drugs (like The Crystal Method) and thought it would be funny to name themselves Placebo.  It took hold.

I gotta say, I really like Placebo.  Androgynous and with a definite unique sound that made you know that it was Placebo when you heard the song.  I've actually seen them twice in concert.  The first time they were one of the acts on the second day of the Reading Festival in 2003.  Fantastic set, and my friend, Chuck, even became a fan of them.  "Special K" was a great song, as was "Nancy Boy".  I bought their then new album, "Sleeping With Ghosts" which had the song, "Special Needs" on it, which is really good.  Somehow they got lumped into the BritPop group, but they were never really part of it.  They had a different sound, a bit darker.  With lots of references to their drug use, they reminded me of a more goth, peppy version of Alice In Chains.  "Without You I'm Nothing" is a great duet with David Bowie, and "Protege Moi" is a dark kind of song.  "English Summer Rain" is actually a little tongue in cheek, as in the line, "English Summer Rain seems to last for ages."

The European version of "Sleeping with Ghosts" has an extra DVD with B-sides.  One of them is a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill".  Dark and eerie, it adds a whole new level to the song that wasn't there in Kate's version.  The official video was made using clips of their fans singing the song, which makes it even more haunting.  Highly recommend you find it on YouTube.

Anyways, Placebo never really took off too much in the states.  Don't know why, but maybe it was the look, or their songs just didn't fit in with much going on the radio at the time.  If you haven't heard them, check them out.  Try their first three albums.  You might like it.