Placebo-Once More with Feeling: Videos 1996-2004 (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Booklet Audio Commentary-Placebo Interviews-Cast-Care In The Community Additional Footage-Spite And Malice, Reading 2000 Additional Footage-20th Century Boy (featuring David Bowie), Brit Awards 1999 Music Video-English Summer Rain Music Video-Nancy Boy And Peeping Tom Tour Visuals Trailer-Soulmates Never Die, Live In Paris
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	66:43 (Case: 129)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	EMI Music	Starring	Brian Molko Stefan Olsdal Steve Hewitt
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    The past decade or so has seen so many great new bands hit the world music scene and (at least to my ears) a significant portion of those have come from the UK. I have greatly enjoyed the music of many bands from the UK during that period such as Radiohead, The Verve, Supergrass, Blur, Super Furry Animals, Embrace, Oasis, The Charlatans, Starsailor, Toploader, Ocean Colour Scene, Keane and many more including the subject of this video compilation, Placebo. Placebo are an interesting three piece band with quite a distinctive style. Their style includes influences such as glam rock, David Bowie (who appears on a couple of the videos here), heavier guitar based rock such as The Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana, other UK bands such as those mentioned above and even U2. They first hit the broader consciousness with their second album from 1998, Without You I'm Nothing, which included four very strong singles. This is when I first heard the band and the album is one I still enjoy playing.

    The members of Placebo are:

• Brian Molko - Vocals / Guitar - Brian is famous for his androgynous look including makeup and sometimes dresses. A singer of great feeling and quite a good guitar player. Quite diminutive in stature.
• Stefan Olsdal - Bass - Originally from Sweden.
• Steve Hewitt - Drums - Joined the band after the first album replacing Robert Schultzberg.

    This DVD is a compilation of video clips for songs from all four of their albums including all the singles. Most of the videos are the original videos but some have been replaced with live footage or a different video. According to the commentary some were too risqué for the M rating of the disc and others which are included here were not shown on UK television for similar reasons. The tracks included mostly derive from one of their four albums, which are:

1. Placebo (1996)
2. Without You I'm Nothing (1998)
3. Black Market Music (2000)
4. Sleeping With Ghosts (2003)

    The individual videos included are:

1. 36 Degrees - Album 1. This song was their first single off their debut album. The video shows the band underwater and in a swamp. Brian looks quite unwell.
2. Teenage Angst - Album 1. Includes the band playing in a rubber cube in a park and various angsty teenagers entering the cube. Good video.
3. Nancy Boy - Album 1. Full of interesting imagery, such as disembodied legs and heads, lots of morphing and other optical tricks. Another interesting video.
4. Bruise Pristine - Album 1. This one again features quite a lot of interesting images this time of a more sexual nature.
5. Pure Morning - Album 2. This was their first single off the second album and the first which I encountered on radio in Australia. The video involves Brian standing on a building ledge considering jumping.
6. You Don't Care About Us - Album 2. Another successful single of the second album. This time the video includes imagery related to feeding sharks, firstly fish and then band members.
7. Every You Every Me - Album 2. Another strong single from the second album. This is the first live performance footage video included.
8. Without You I'm Nothing - Album 2. This version of the song and video includes David Bowie on vocals in addition to Brian. This version was not included on the album. The video is of a live show they did together the day after recording the tune. The footage was taken from the mixing desk by their manager and is not up to the quality of the other videos.
9. Taste In Men - Album 3. The lead single off their third album, which was less successful than Without You I'm Nothing. Another interesting video involving Brian in a love triangle.
10. Slave to the Wage - Album 3. This is a cracker of a video which was inspired by the movie Gattaca. Also includes a visually interesting shredding effect. Probably the best video here.
11. Special K - Album 3. Based on the film Fantastic Voyage and filmed in the 'bubble' commentary box at Lord's Cricket Ground. Another excellent video which has some similarities to the previous one.
12. Black-Eyed - Album 3. Filmed at a German music festival, it includes the band playing live but also two young actors playing specific roles.
13. The Bitter End - Album 4. Another interesting video filmed in a radio telescope dish.
14. This Picture - Album 4. According to the commentary this is the x-rated version of this clip and it certainly includes some strong sexual imagery. It is about the effect of destructive relationships.
15. Special Needs - Album 4. By using a fascinating visual effect involving compressed air, this video is about people making love to a memory of their ex-boyfriend or girlfriend.
16. English Summer Rain - Album 4. An animated video sent to them by a South African student. Uses stop motion animation of the band. There is a different video for this song included in the extras.
17. Protege Moi - This song is an excerpt from their other DVD, Live in Paris Soulmates Never Die.
18. Twenty Years - A new single for this compilation and its CD equivalent. It's a good song without really standing out. The video includes various circus acts.

    Overall, this is a comprehensive compilation of the band's singles and would be a worthy addition to any fan's collection. It is full of quality songs and interesting videos. Additionally, this set is well packaged including a plastic outer sleeve, hard cardboard box and booklet.

Video

    The video quality is very good but lacks 16x9 enhancement.

    The feature is presented in a variety of aspect ratios from 1.33:1 through to approximately 2.40:1 depending on each video clip. None of them are 16x9 enhanced, despite the fact that the menus and some of the extras are.

    The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. There was no noticeable grain, however, the lack of 16x9 enhancement on the widescreen videos affects the clarity. The shadow detail was excellent.

    The colour was very good throughout with no issues to report.

    The only noticeable artefact was aliasing here and there. The only spot where it was overt was on the bass guitar during Bitter End.

    There are subtitles in 7 languages including English which are for the commentary. This is a useful feature as it allows you to watch the videos with full sound while also being able to see what the band are saying about the video.

    The layer change is not obvious and is presumably placed between programs.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is good but certainly nothing spectacular.

    This DVD contains a Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 1536Kb/s. There is also a Dolby Digital 2.0 track which contains the commentary. The Linear PCM track sounds pretty much like the original compact discs of this music and although fine really doesn't do much in terms of using your home theatre setup or surprising you with its startling clarity or quality. Personally, I found it slightly disappointing that this was the only audio option available. Overall, the sound was a little thin when compared to many new music DVD's I have reviewed, especially those featuring DTS.

    The surround speakers added some mild atmosphere to the music when played with Dolby ProLogicII.

    The subwoofer was used to add bass to the music but this was a function of my amp's bass management rather than the soundtrack itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu is 16x9 enhanced and features an interesting visual motif incorporating pictures from the original videos. By selecting one of these pictures as they move by it shows you details of each video such as where it was filmed and who directed it. The menu allowed for playing all videos or choosing them individually.

Video Audio Commentary

    The band provide an interesting commentary on all the videos except (strangely) the last one. Includes discussion of filming locations, style, inspiration, props used, the cast, censorship and quite a few jokes, mostly at Brian Molko's expense. Definitely worth listening to for fans. There is also the ability to play the videos with full sound, while having the commentary provided as a subtitle stream in any one of seven languages.

Care in the Community (38:23)

    Presented 16x9 enhanced. This over-long featurette includes individual interview footage with the band members and a group discussion with the band and some of their crew. The discussion includes fairly honest viewpoints on each other, various anecdotes from live shows and tours, how they approach working in the studio, the frustrations of touring, how they use a sampler in a live show, various personal issues and slagging off Sting and Billy Corgan. Should have been cut to about 20 minutes rather than nearly 40.

Video Playlist

    This function allows the viewer to choose which videos to play and in what order. A good feature.

Twenty Years (3:23)

    Although listed in the extras menu this is actually just the last track from the main program.

Spite and Malice Reading 2000 (3:51)

    A live recording of the song from the Reading Festival in 2000 featuring rapper Justin Warfield. Didn't do much for me.

20th Century Boy Brits 1999 (3:50)

    Another live recording, this time of the T.Rex song, 20th Century Boy featuring David Bowie sharing the vocals with Brian Molko. Not bad..

English Summer Rain Video (3:10)

    A alternate video for the song which is different to the one included in the main program. This one feature live footage of the band.

Nancy Boy Tour Visuals (4:16)

    Although this isn't really explained I would assume these are videos which are played onstage while this song is being played during their live shows. A strange selection of visuals about a young man dressing up as a woman..

Peeping Tom Tour Visuals (5:54)

    As above, except this is a video seen from the peeping tom's perspective as he watches a young woman..

Soulmates Never Die - Live in Paris Trailer (1:57)

    A short highlights reel of their other DVD.

Booklet

    A 12 page booklet is included which features interesting photos, which are more artistic that your usual band promo shots, credits, track listing and some text.

    This disc is coded for all regions and as far I can tell has the same specifications everywhere it has been released.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is fine but uninspiring.

    The disc has a wide range of extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall