Placebo (band)

placebo
Placebo in Krakow (2012)
General information
Genre (s)	Alternative rock , indie rock
founding	1994
Website	www.placeboworld.co.uk
Current occupation
Vocals , guitar , bass, keyboard	Brian Molko
Bass , guitar, keyboard, backing vocals	Stefan Olsdal
former members
Drums , backing vocals	Steve Forrest (2008-2015)
Drums	Steve Hewitt (1997-2007)
Drums	Robert Schultzberg (1995–1997)
Tour members
Drums	Matt Lunn (since 2015)
Guitar, bass, keyboard	Bill Lloyd (since 1996)
Keyboard	Xavior Roide (2003-2005)
Keyboard, guitar	Alex Lee (2006-2007)
Violin, keyboard, percussion, background vocals	Fiona Brice (2009-2017)
Violin, keyboard, percussion, background vocals	Angela Chan (since 2017)
Keyboard, guitar, backing vocals	Nick Gavrilovic (since 2009)

Placebo is a British alternative rock band from London . The band had sold around twelve million albums worldwide by 2009.

history

In 1994 Brian Molko (American / British) and Stefan Olsdal (Swede) met by chance at South Kensington Underground Station in London. Both went to the same school in Luxembourg , but had little contact there. Brian invited Stefan to a gig that Brian played with his then drummer Steve Hewitt , after which Stefan was very impressed by the two of them and joined the band at Brian's request. Steve Hewitt had to get out first because he was still under contract with his second band Breed. That's why Molko and Olsdal brought a friend of Stefan's, Robert Schultzberg, on board.

The band name “Placebo” (lat. “I will like”) goes back to the fact that in the mid-1990s several bands named themselves after drugs. To stand out from maintaining an allusion to drugs at the same time and because of the sound, they chose the generic term for sham drug or dummy drug.

In January 1995 the three had their first official appearance under the band name "Placebo" in the Rock Garden in London. In October of the same year a record deal was signed with Fierce Panda and the title Bruise Pristine was released on a split EP 7 "together with titles from a band called Soup.

In 1996 the band signed a contract with Deceptive Records and released their first single, Come Home . David Bowie became aware of the band and was so enthusiastic about their demos that he invited them on his tour before their first album was released.

1996: First album Placebo

In June 1996 her debut album Placebo was released . The album went gold in the UK. The single Nancy Boy went straight to number four on the British charts, as Placebo were musically moving in a completely different direction than the bands that were dominant in Great Britain at the time.

In July 1997 the downside of the success became apparent. Molko and Olsdal separated from drummer Robert Schultzberg due to internal difficulties and asked Steve Hewitt to rejoin the band. Since his own band Breed was not in good shape, he accepted the offer. From then on, the three worked on demos and song material and appeared as support for U2 on their tour. Among other things, a cover version of the T. Rex hit 20th Century Boy was created for the soundtrack of the glam rock homage film Velvet Goldmine . Todd Haynes, the director of the film, included the trio in the filming and gave them a supporting role with a brief appearance as a band.

1998: Second album Without You I'm Nothing

The album Without You I'm Nothing , released in October 1998, was stylistically very different from their debut and was dominated by ballads. As the band's first professionally produced album, the released single Every You Every Me became their best-known and most successful song in Germany. The title was also part of the soundtrack for the film Ice Cold Angels . The opening credits of the film (in which the song is greatly changed and abbreviated) opened up a larger audience for the band at one stroke. It is also part of the soundtrack to the movie Sorry by American brands Flip Skateboards . This album was collaborated with David Bowie .

2000: Third album Black Market Music

Placebo toured continuously until the fall of 1999 and took a five-month hiatus in March 2000 to write and record pieces for their third album, Black Market Music . The record was released in October 2000. It is again dominated by melancholy pieces, but a bit more rock than its predecessor. On the track Spite & Malice , Justin Warfield , at that time still an MC for One Inch Punch, today frontman of the band She Wants Revenge , contributes chanting passages and political statements.

2003: Fourth album Sleeping with Ghosts

The album Sleeping with Ghosts , released on April 1, 2003, was produced by Jim Abiss ( Björk , James Lavelle , Paul Oakenfold , Arctic Monkeys ). It sounds more electronic, but consistently retains the artistic line of the previous albums, which lives from the guitar tunings and the voice of Brian Molko.

The album was released in two versions and so a special edition was released with a bonus CD of all cover versions of the band up to that point. This mainly includes pieces from the 1980s, which have accompanied the band since its inception and were played sporadically in live performances. These include the titles: Bigmouth Strikes Again ( The Smiths ), Johnny and Mary ( Robert Palmer ), 20th Century Boy (T. Rex), Holocaust ( Alex Chilton ) and I Feel You ( Depeche Mode ). Newer covers include titles like Daddy Cool ( Boney M ), Jackie ( Sinéad O'Connor ) and The Ballad of Melody Nelson ( Serge Gainsbourg ). The particularly successful cover versions of the Pixies - Where Is My Mind? and Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill , both of which were included in the album's tour program.

2004: Singles collection Once More with Feeling - The Singles 1996-2004

In 2004 Placebo published their first singles collection Once More with Feeling - The Singles 1996-2004 . It was released on both CD and DVD . On the DVD all the videos the band (except additionally Come Home ) as well as two new songs included: Twenty Years and I Do . Twenty Years is also released as a single .

In 2005 the band only made a few select live performances and worked on new songs in the south of France. On July 2, 2005, Placebo appeared in the course of the worldwide Live8 concerts in Paris , where they only performed two songs ( Bitter End and Twenty Years ). The last concert in 2005 took place on November 5, 2005 and was a home game at London's sold-out Wembley Arena . The band said goodbye for the rest of the year and retired to Rak Studios for the next three months to work on the recordings for the fifth studio album together with French producer Dimitri Tikovoi ( Peter Kingsbery , Trash Palace , Goldfrapp ).

2006: Fifth album Meds

The first single Because I Want You was released on March 6, 2006 in England. Worldwide released, also on March 6, 2006, the single Song to Say Goodbye . The corresponding fifth album Meds was released on March 10, 2006 in Germany.

In terms of style, Meds went back to the first album, reduced electronic influences and relied more on the instruments guitar , bass , drums and piano - which, according to the band, applies not only to the single, but to the entire album. Placebo also worked again with guest musicians. The opener of the Meds album was recorded with Alison Mosshart , alias VV of " The Kills ", and another track, Broken Promise , was recorded together with REM singer Michael Stipe .

After tour keyboardist Xavior Roide left the band at his own request in 2005 to devote himself to theater training, the long search for a suitable replacement for live performances began. Finally, the multi-instrumentalist Alex Lee of the British band Suede was hired.

Placebo began their world tour, which took them around the globe for a year and a half, on February 19, 2006 in Bangkok , Thailand .

On May 26, 2006, the second single from the current album, Infra-Red, was released . On October 9, 2006, their third single Meds was released from the album of the same name.

In mid-May 2007, Placebo confirmed their participation in Project Revolution , a concert tour that Linkin Park and the record label Machine Shop Recordings have organized annually since 2001 for the purpose of combining rock music and hip-hop.

On October 1, 2007, it was announced on the band's official website that Steve Hewitt , who had been the drummer since the 1998 album Without You I'm Nothing , had left the band due to personal and musical differences.

2009: Sixth album Battle for the Sun

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal announced that the new and sixth album will be produced from spring 2008. In August 2008 the band announced that from now on, drummer Steve Forrest (born September 25, 1986 in Modesto ) will be on the drums. He previously played with the Californian punk band Evaline.

With their sixth album, Placebo completed a long-planned label change from Virgin Records , where they were initially under contract for five albums, to the indie label PIAS . A statement by Brian Molko: “ We are delighted to have signed with PIAS, one of the most respected and successful independent music companies in the world. We were very happy to have so many great labels interested in us signing with them. That means a lot to us, especially because we've been releasing albums for 12 years !! But now we think we have found the right partner for Europe in these ever-changing times to continue this crazy adventure and climb dizzying heights with our new album. "

On December 7, 2008, placebo appeared in front of the Buddhist temple in Angkor Wat in Cambodia as part of an MTV EXIT (“end exploitation and trafficking”) campaign by the music channel MTV . This concert was also the start of their world tour. Brian Molko described it as her “most unique” concert to date (“ it was not the biggest, but it certainly was the most unique and the most special (gig) ”). At this concert, Placebo played semi-acoustic and quiet versions of some of their songs. It was the first concert with the new drummer Steve Forrest. In December 2011 the live recording of this concert was released exclusively on iTunes .

On June 5, 2009, Battle for the Sun was released by PIAS. Even before the album was released, the single of the same name was made available as a download on the band's website. In Japan, the album was released on June 4, 2009 via Solitary Man Records .

In Germany, the first single was For What It's Worth , followed by Ashtray Heart . In February 2010 the third single, Bright Lights, was released, which is very much defined by a melodic synth-guitar mix.

A DVD for the tour of this album was released on October 28, 2011 under the title We Come in Pieces .

In October 2012 the EP B3 was released , which contains four other songs in addition to the single of the same name.

2013: Seventh album Loud Like Love

Brian Molko at the 2014 Highfield Festival

On September 13, 2013, the seventh album entitled Loud Like Love was released.

On July 8, 2013, Placebo presented the first single Too Many Friends and on August 6, 2013, the second single Loud Like Love .

On February 2, 2015, the band announced on their homepage that drummer Steve Forrest is leaving the band with immediate effect in order to concentrate on his solo career. On the following tour he was represented by Matt Lunn.

On November 27, 2015, the band released the live recording MTV Unplugged on DVD and Blu-Ray as well as an album version.

Member overview

Attitude towards streaming services

For many years, Placebo refused to have albums published on various streaming portals because they “make money at the expense of others”. Brian Molko "[...] don't see the point of selling really good digital rights [of your] (your) record company just so that you can put all [your] (your) music on streaming sites".

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal are now offering their last albums via stream - from February 16 to February 22, 2015, the studio albums were put online on YouTube , Spotify and Deezer, among others, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the band .

The band's own guitar mood

Placebo use an alternative guitar tuning that is characteristic of them and deviating from the normal tuning (EADGHE) in a large number of their songs. The strings of the guitar are tuned a semitone step higher, the highest string is reduced to C, so that the strings with the second highest, which is also tuned to C, can achieve a very powerful, treble-heavy sound (Eis (= F) Ais Dis Gis His (= C) C) to accommodate the high pitch of the singer.

Discography

→ Main article : Placebo (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1996	placebo	-	-	-	UK5 platinum (13 weeks)UK	-	First published: July 17, 1996 Sales: + 500,000
1998	Without You I'm Nothing	DE55 (22 weeks) DE	AT43 (1 week) AT	CH95 (2 weeks) CH	UK7th platinum (17 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 12, 1998 Sales: + 2,030,000
2000	Black Market Music	DE4th gold (23 weeks)DE	AT7 (13 weeks) AT	CH15th gold (11 weeks)CH	UK6th gold (5 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 9, 2000 Sales: + 1,500,000
2003	Sleeping with Ghosts	DE2 platinum (35 weeks)DE	AT6th gold (33 weeks)AT	CH3 gold (45 weeks)CH	UK11 gold (11 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 24, 2003 Sales: + 2,010,000
2006	Meds	DE2 platinum (31 weeks)DE	AT1 gold (26 weeks)AT	CH1 platinum (24 weeks)CH	UK7th gold (4 weeks)UK	US180 (1 week) US	First published: March 13, 2006
2009	Battle for the Sun	DE1 gold (25 weeks)DE	AT1 (16 weeks) AT	CH1 (17 weeks) CH	UK8th silver (2 weeks)UK	US51 (1 week) US	First published: June 8, 2009
2013	Loud Like Love	DE3 gold (20 weeks)DE	AT2 (12 weeks) AT	CH1 (14 weeks) CH	UK13 (3 weeks) UK	US98 (1 week) US	First published: September 13, 2013 Sales: + 100,000

Awards

• Kerrang! Awards
  • 2006: for "Classic Songwriter"

• MTV Europe Music Awards
  • 2009: for "Best Alternative Act"

literature

• Brian Sylvester: Placebo , Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf , 2007, ISBN 978-3-8960-2788-7 .

Web links

Commons : Placebo  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website (English).
• Placebo on MusicBrainz (English)
• Placebo at Discogs (English)
• Placebo at laut.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Alternative Medicine"
2. ↑ New Music Videos, Reality TV Shows, Celebrity News, Pop Culture | MTV . In: You R Here . August 18, 2007. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 26, 2013. 
3. ↑ Dave Thompson: Hello Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie , ECW Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-55490-271-2 . P. 159
4. ↑ Intro.de: Placebo - New album in June  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 19, 2009  
5. ↑ "Detour" - video documentation of the Angkor Wat concert (accessed on October 13, 2011)
6. ↑ Video documentation from MTV EXIT of the Angkor Wat concert (accessed on October 13, 2011)
7. ↑ Article on laut.de from December 2, 2008 (accessed October 13, 2011)
8. ↑ Interview with Brian Molko at the "Stuttgarter Sternstunden" on August 11, 2011 (accessed on October 13, 2011)
9. ↑ Interview with Brian Molko from December 1, 2008 (accessed October 13, 2011)
10. ↑ Placebo 'Live At Angkor Wat' Exclusive Itunes Download + Art Booklet Out Now ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , from placeboworld.co.uk, accessed October 1, 2015 
11. ↑ http://www.78s.ch/2009/03/18/neuer-song-von-placebo-battle-for-the-sun-gratis-download/
12. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from June 8, 2013 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
14. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
15. ^ Fabian Peltsch: Brian Molko from Placebo: 'Streaming sites make money at the expense of others' , Rollingstone.de, July 19, 2013; accessed October 1, 2015
16. ↑ Placebo make discography available to streaming services for the first time on Musikexpress.de on February 13, 2015; accessed October 1, 2015
17. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
18. ↑ press release