Placebo's eyeliner-and-lipgloss power-pop will never compare favorably with the masters of the trio, the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, the Jam, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. And frankly, that's not the band's aim. Their aim, apparent from their first days on the scene as London Suede emulators, is to sell consistently androgynous product to teenagers titillated by the screaming parade of someone else's bisexuality. Frontman Brian Molko is as convincing in this rub-me-the-right-way-and-I'll-make-out-with-you way as Brian Warner is at ducking pantomime Alice Cooper comparisons, and the closest he gets to the Ziggy Stardust he longs to be is wearing an Aladdin Sane Halloween costume. We're never led to believe that Molko has sex with men-- in fact, he's obviously about as bisexual as Tennessee Ernie Ford. Sometimes you just have to allow a guy his own fictions

Sleeping with Ghosts Special Edition released October 2003