Once More With Feeling

Placebo celebrate 10 years of existence (and 8 of recording) by releasing a best of/singles collection entitled Once More With Feeling. I personally couldn't wait to get my hands on it after I learned that there would be a two disc edition, and two new songs. Now I have it I'm very happy.

Placebo certainly know the highlights off of each of their four albums, for not a song on here is bad. It covers pretty much each of the singles off of each album, plus an extra song usually. The songs are arranged nicely in order of release, which means that you can get a taste of their musical progression. This means you can see their progression from young (and highly sexual) rockers, who released "36 Degrees" and "Nancy Boy" (which is one of my favorites of theirs), to the more worldly (yet not weary) men who have done "I do" and "Twenty Years" just for this. The most amazing fact is that they have yet to misstep, always releasing consistent, excellent albums, which the songs on here do little but give you a taste of.

The other thing you will notice by the single edits that are on here is that Placebo will always try to give your money's worth for their singles and albums. I personally have one single and it has almost as many songs as many albums. I really like the new songs by the way, "I Do" slightly reminds me of a poppier Xiu Xiu.

The second disc is 10 remixes, (some of which were on some of the singles), each are very good, and show how close Placebo's music could be to the rave/techno scene. The extra disc was certainly worth the extra money. My favorite was the remix of "Protege Moi", which was really excellent. As is the Pure Morning one.

The packageing is very nice, though certainly not what you would expect from a "greatest hits" album. Placebo seem to be showing that they are a current band, as they are. This compliation really does more to strengthen Placebo's greatness to those who already love them. They give you your moneys worth, and with alot of class. This feels like a report card from a band who won't be staying in one place for very long (much like H.I.M.'s recent best of ...And Love Said No). A record to treasure for sure if you are already a fan. And perhaps a good place to start if you want to get into Placebo.

Track Listing:
Disc One:
1:36 Degrees
2:Teenage Angst
3:Nancy Boy
4:Bruise Pristine
5:Pure Morning
6:You Don't Care About Us
7:Every You Every Me
8:Without you I'm Nothing(w/ David Bowie
9:Taste In Men
10:Slave to the Wage
11:Special K
12:Black-Eyed
13:The Bitter End
14:This Picture
15:Special Needs
16:English Summer Rain
17:Protege Moi (aka Protect Me From What I Want)
18:I do
19:Twenty Years

Disc Two:
1:Special K (Timo Maas Remix)
2:Without You I'm Nothing (Unkle Remix)
3:Every You Every Me (Inflicted by the Scourge of the earth mix)
4:Protege Moi (M83 Remix)
5:Slave to the Wage (I can't Believe it's a remix)
6:Pure Morning (Les Rythmes Digital Remix)
7:Taste in Men (Alpinestars Kamikaze Skimix)
8:Black-Eyed (Placebo Vs Le Vibrator Mis)
9:English Summer Rain (Freelance Hellraiser Remix)
10:This Picture (Junior Sanchez Remix)

As a note, I did a best of Placebo that came out to be strangly close to this one, so that's how I figure that this is close to the best of Placebo.