Sleeping with Ghosts
Sleeping with Ghosts is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Placebo, released in 2003 through Astralwerks and Hut Records. It achieved chart success in the UK, Australia, and Europe.
Background
Singer-lyricist Brian Molko, who is known to be a fan of Sonic Youth,[11] was notably influenced by the album Sister while writing the lyrics for Sleeping with Ghosts; at least two of the songs – "Sleeping with Ghosts" and "Plasticine" – feature references to Sister lyrics.
During their concert in Sofia on 12 September 2003, the band dedicated the song "Centrefolds" to Johnny Cash who had died the same day, with Molko citing Cash as a key influence on the band.
Album meaning
The album has several songs based on a theme of relationships, such as relationships that end badly ("The Bitter End"), power struggles in relationships ("Special Needs"), or the idea that some are meant to be eternal soulmates (the title track). Brian Molko told Kerrang! magazine, "I'm looking back to what's happened in my past emotional decade, trying to understand it. Trying to exorcise the ghosts and the demons of relationships past. It's the old cliché of it being therapeutic but it does work for me in that way."
Another interview has Molko explaining:
The album title's about carrying the ghosts of your relationships with you, to the point where sometimes a smell or a situation or an item of clothing they bought brings a person back. For me it's about the relationship that you have with your memories. They inhabit your dreams sometimes. There can be a lot in the future that's gonna remind you of the ghost of relationships past. So I see the album as a collection of short stories about a handful of relationships. Most of them mine. In a way writing the songs helps me to get a lot of the nasty feelings off my chest and put them in a box, and therefore have a bit more of an objective discourse with those emotions because you've done something positive with them, you've rid yourself of them.
Track listing
| 14. |
"Evalia" |
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| 15. |
"Drink You Pretty" |
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Special edition bonus disc (Covers)
Release history
The album was been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.
The special edition version of this album was released on 22 September 2003 worldwide, featuring a diverse selection of cover versions that the band had recorded in previous years. This was re-released as a download-only album in 2007 under the name Covers.
Chart success and positions
Sleeping with Ghosts reached the top 20 in the UK, top 40 in Australia, and sold well throughout Europe. The first single, "The Bitter End", reached number one in Portugal, went top ten in Greece and made the top twenty in the UK and Italy in early 2003. The second single, "This Picture", went top ten in Portugal and top 40 in the UK and Spain in June 2003. "Special Needs" made the UK top 40 in September 2003. In 2004, "English Summer Rain" made the top 40 charts in the UK and Spain while "Protège-Moi" made the French charts. In the US, "Sleeping with Ghosts" reached top twenty on the Heatseeker charts in 2003.
- #1 – France [710,600 copies sold (3x Platinum)]
- #1 – Belgium
- #2 – Germany
- #3 – Switzerland
- #4 – Portugal
- #6 – Austria
- #6 – Italy
- #10 – Poland
- #11 – UK
- #11 – Australia
- #14 – Sweden
- #14 – Finland
- #28 – Denmark
- #18 – US (Top Heatseekers)
Credits
- Brian Molko – vocals, guitar, keyboards, saxophone on "Something Rotten", drums on "English Summer Rain"
- Steve Hewitt – drums, percussion
- Stefan Olsdal – bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals
- Jim Abbiss – producer, mixing
- Barny – engineer, mixing
- Simon Breed – harmonica on "Protect Me From What I Want"
- Bill Lloyd – keyboards, engineer
- Sean Magee – mastering
- Jean Baptiste Mondino – art direction, photography
- Danny Porter – assistant engineer
- Tom Stanley – assistant engineer
- Andy Davies – assistant engineer
- Fergus Peterkin – assistant engineer
References
- ^ MacKenzie Wilson. "Sleeping with Ghosts - Placebo". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/sleeping-with-ghosts-r631419. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ Noel Murray (15 April 2003). "Sleeping With Ghosts / Us (2003)". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/sleeping-with-ghosts,12032/. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ Blender (May 2003): 123.
- ^ Filter (5): 123.
- ^ Mojo (April 2003): 110.
- ^ Michael Idov (20 April 2003). "Placebo: Sleeping with Ghosts". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6326-sleeping-with-ghosts/. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ David Antrobus (14 May 2003). "Placebo: Sleeping With Ghosts". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/placebo-sleeping. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ Q (April 2003): 111.
- ^ Rolling Stone.
- ^ Uncut (May 2003): 90.
- ^ "The Boy Can't Help It". Guitarist Magazine (August 1997). Archived from the original on 8 May 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070508233148/www.placeboworld.co.uk/archive/guitaris.htm. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
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