Once More With Feeling:Singles 96-04

Rating:
Summary: Placebo man
Review: Placebo are one of the more successful UK bands of the past ten years. This shows them in all their phases: post-grunge, neo-glam, and pan-euro rockers. I have seen most of these videos already. "Nancy Boy" and "Pure Morning" and "The Bitter End" used to be shown on MTV in the USA quite a lot. Probably more in Europe. I was at that Placebo/Kid Rock in NYC back in 1998. It's funny hearing that story being retold in the documentary. I was one of about ten Placebo fans in the audience. I remember talking to some girl who was talking about how dumb Americans are and how more intelligent English people were. She was moving to the UK soon, she hoped. Their commentary on their videos is not very self-depricating, like Suede are. Actually the Placebo videos are quite better and only a few videos seem dated. Maybe these guys will catch on in the USA one day.

Rating:
Summary: ...and that's the breaks
Review: the question is, how can this dvd not be an excellent edition to a placebo fan's collection. you get what they're giving you, plain and simple. while some of their music videos stand out more than others (notably, in my opinion, pure morning, special k, slave to the wage, and special needs) they are all well done. stylistic, artistic, sometimes suggestive, the concepts and ideas behind them are excellent. the dvd offers audio commentary which by nature, gets a little dry here and there, but offers insight into the production of the videos and the band's experiences when making them. unfortunately, and for obvious reasons, you do not get the more explicit videos for this picture and protege moi. being from the states, i've missed out on the majority of their videos, and its great to finally see all of them and even better to know, they're not drab and boring.

regarding the interview and extra little live performances you get, they're enjoyable as long as you care for such. 20th century boy being an added bonus if you're a bowie fan (same goes for without you i'm nothing). the only thing i find unecessary is the english summer rain live video.

it's not pertinent to the content inside, but it makes sense that the dvd's design reflects the quality of the works and the band itself. the menu is refined, simple yet visually engaging, portraying the singles' albums, and images of the band, and continuing the themes used for their latest releases- the singles collection of course and sleeping with ghosts. the booklet continues with this simplicity and use of the nude figure with shots of the human body. in bold lettering, the lyrics of twenty years.

buy it