Sleeping with Ghosts

Last updated

Sleeping with Ghosts
Sleeping with ghosts.jpg
Studio album by
Placebo
Released24 March 2003
RecordedLate 2002 – early 2003
Studio The Town House and Sarm West in London, England
Genre Alternative rock
Length46:32
Label
Producer Jim Abbiss
Placebo chronology
Black Market Music
(2000)		Sleeping with Ghosts
(2003)		 Covers
(2003)
Singles from Sleeping with Ghosts
  1. "The Bitter End"
    Released: 10 March 2003
  2. "This Picture"
    Released: 16 June 2003
  3. "Special Needs"
    Released: 15 September 2003
  4. "English Summer Rain"
    Released: 24 February 2004

Sleeping with Ghosts is the fourth studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo. It was recorded from late 2002 to early 2003 and released on 1 April 2003 by record labels Virgin and Hut.

Contents

Sleeping with Ghosts reached number 11 in the UK Albums Chart, and received a generally favourable reaction from music critics.

Content

Frontman Brian Molko, who is known to be a fan of the band Sonic Youth, [1] references lyrics from their album Sister on "Plasticine" ("Beauty lies inside the eye of another youthful dream" directly references "Beauty lies in the eyes of another's dream" from Sonic Youth's "Beauty Lies in the Eye").

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." [2]

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. [3]

Release

Sleeping with Ghosts was released on 1 April 2003. The CD came with the Copy Control protection system in some regions. It reached number 11 in the UK Albums Chart. [4]

A Special Edition version of the 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 . This is their last album released under Hut.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 64/100 [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The A.V. Club favourable [7]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Filter 85% [9]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Pitchfork 6.4/10 [11]
PopMatters mixed [12]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Uncut 4/10 [14]

Sleeping with Ghosts received "Generally favorable reviews" from critics, and holds an approval rating of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic. [5]

Michael Idov of Pitchfork wrote "No peaks, no gorges, just a steady oscillation between adequate and inspired. Sleeping with Ghosts is a remarkably level collection of guitar pop, simultaneously less glammy and less pungent than Placebo's earlier stuff." [11] Mojo wrote "There's some terrific and accessible stuff here [...] but the result is still an album that retreads old Placebo themes." [10] Q magazine called it "spikily brilliant". [13]

Track listing

All tracks written and performed by Placebo

No.TitleLength
1."Bulletproof Cupid"2:22
2."English Summer Rain"4:01
3."This Picture"3:34
4."Sleeping with Ghosts"4:38
5."The Bitter End"3:10
6."Something Rotten"5:28
7."Plasticine"3:26
8."Special Needs" (Ends at 4:22, a short instrumental hidden track follows)5:15
9."I'll Be Yours"3:32
10."Second Sight"2:49
11."Protect Me from What I Want"3:15
12."Centrefolds"5:02
Total length:46:32
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Evalia"4:20
14."Drink You Pretty"3:55
European bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Slackerbitch"3:24
14."Eyesight to the Blind"2:58
15."Miss Moneypenny"2:50
16."Then the Clouds Will Open for Me"4:19
17."Waiting for the Son of Man"4:10
18."Leeloo"4:19
19."ION"4:08
Special Edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Protège-Moi"3:13
Special Edition bonus disc: Covers
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Running Up That Hill" (originally by Kate Bush)Kate Bush4:57
2."Where Is My Mind?" (originally by Pixies) Black Francis 3:44
3."Bigmouth Strikes Again" (originally by The Smiths) Johnny Marr, Morrissey 3:54
4."Johnny and Mary" (originally by Robert Palmer)Robert Palmer3:25
5."20th Century Boy" (originally by T. Rex) Marc Bolan 3:40
6."The Ballad of Melody Nelson" (originally by Serge Gainsbourg) Serge Gainsbourg 3:58
7."Holocaust" (originally by Big Star) Alex Chilton 4:27
8."I Feel You" (originally by Depeche Mode) Martin Gore 6:26
9."Daddy Cool" (originally by Boney M.)Frank Farian, George Reyam3:21
10."Jackie" (originally by Sinéad O'Connor)Sinéad O'Connor2:48

Charts and certifications

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria) [43] Gold15,000*
Belgium (BEA) [44] Gold25,000*
Germany (BVMI) [45] Platinum200,000^
France (SNEP) [46] 2× Platinum600,000*
Greece (IFPI Greece) [24] Gold10,000^
Portugal (AFP) [47] Silver10,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [48] Gold20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [49] Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [50]
reissue 		Silver60,000‡
United States—61,000 [51]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI) [52] Platinum1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Placebo
Additional personnel
Technical personnel

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References

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  2. ↑ "Natural Born Chillers". Kerrang! . March 2003. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
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  9. ↑ "[Sleeping with Ghosts review]". Filter (5): 123.
  10. 1 2 "[Sleeping with Ghosts review]". Mojo : 110. April 2003.
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