🩸 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒 - 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 🩸

💊 Among the items in the Placebo catalog, one of my favourites is the 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐 𝑪𝑫.

💊 Released on March 13, 2006, this copy has the particularity of being presented in the form of a 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙, including the CD and a leaflet with instructions on how to take the treatment correctly. The aim of the treatment ? To be addicted to Placebo of course ! 😄

💊 The content of the leaflet is quite funny and well written. Everything is there: the dosage, the composition, the indications. And like all medicines, it is recommended "𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛" !

💊 The leaflet also contains a short history of the band, which is very inspired and inspiring. Lovely words.💖

I have translated it for you.

Photo credit: Nadav Kander / Edit by Laetitia

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𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢.

𝐼𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛.

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦. 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒.

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Talent always comes out in the end. In 2000, while the world was wondering about the future of rock, Placebo, without pulling the wool over the eyes, sold a million copies of Black Market Music, their third album, which reached number one in almost all of Europe. Three years later, as the long-awaited new rock waves swept through London and New York, Placebo sold one and a half million copies of Sleeping With Ghosts and played to 18,000 people at Bercy. When the band of Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt played a sold-out show at Wembley Arena in 2004 to celebrate the release of their singles compilation Once More With Feeling, the truth became even more blinding: a decade after their debut, Placebo's persistence, blistering albums and scorching live shows had finally earned them a place on the podium of the major bands of their generation. "This rise to prominence has been a gradual process since the first album," confirms Stefan. Each of our albums has done a little better than the last and we weren't shocked. The same goes for the stage: there were five of us on the last tour, which allowed Brian and I to perform better.


What is truly remarkable about Placebo's rise to fame is that it has always been linked to a thirst for musical creativity, self-discovery and good storytelling. From the androgynous imagery of their early days, the band went on to analyze human nature (its perversions, the humiliations we inflict on others, the addictions and hope we often refuse to see), while exploring new musical territory: hip-hop and disco elements were incorporated into Black Market Music, while for Sleeping With Ghosts, Placebo dabbled in electronics. Courageously, the band challenged their audience to follow them, and saw them grow exponentially. With Meds, Placebo will take a new step.


Written in the summer of 2004 in the south of France, recorded in four months at London's RAK studios the following year with French producer Dimitri Tikovoï, and mixed by the legendary Flood (U2, Depeche Mode), Meds shows Placebo as they are now, convinced that they have written the best songs of their career. "We ended up with too many songs for this record," Brian says . In general, we were always one short. There are at least five or six singles on Meds."


Placebo have encouraged Tikovoi to tone down their enthusiasm for electronics, a direction the band thought they were going to exploit after writing Twenty Years for the singles compilation, in favour of the guitar/bass/drums formula that doesn't cheat and emphasizes the intrinsic quality of the songs. "Dimitri's idea was that we should approach this record as if it were the first," Brian explains, "to get out of our comfort zone, to put Placebo back in danger. RAK is a studio where time has stood still, it hasn't changed much since the 70s and 80s. We had to go back to the elemental side of Placebo: for example, instead of expensive vintage keyboards, we used a simple piano. We had a reputation for being a bit complicated and we liked the freedom to go back to the basics. We preferred to put a lot of emphasis on writing rather than showing how skilled we were in the studio. We favoured simplicity over elaboration."

Photo edit: Album cover, edit by Laetitia

The result is not only a detonating cocktail: Meds is certainly the most human Placebo record to date. Brian Molko no longer feels the need to define himself using his array of S&M gadgets. He has become an adult, a storyteller who can talk about life without a coded language. In Meds he tells stories of fragile souls who panic because they forgot to take their medication. (Meds with VV from the Kills), of shame seen in the bathroom mirror at dawn, of re-declining after taking certain substances (Cold Light Of Morning) and of "friends who make the worst life choices" (Song To Say Goodbye). There is also a beautiful ballad (Follow The Cops back Home) and mysterious, haunting songs like Space Monkey, which Placebo listen to again as if it were a different band. Among other encounters, Meds is also marked by the presence of Michael Stipe, who illuminates Broken Promise with his presence: "We've known Michael since Velvet Goldmine and we met him in a hotel in Paris," Brian says. It's a song about adultery and we felt it would have more substance if it was performed by two men. I was thinking of a duet with a girl but we thought Michael would do very well. With VV, we have the best of the new and old generation on the record."


At first glance, you might have thought that Placebo had covered all the topics on Meds (love, confusion, revenge and addiction), but this is not the case, as Brian explains: "In a rock band, you don't grow up as fast. There's a lot of confusion on this record because nothing is ever simple in the Placebo world ! The people the songs are about are in constant conflict with themselves and struggle to find their place..."


Meds holds the promise of new adventurous excursions that this band, which considers the unknown as its home, intends to lead. Its success deserves to be commensurate with its non-conformism. We should not forget that we are talking about a band that played in Chile last year, to fulfill an old commitment, and found that they were excessively popular in South America... without even knowing it.


By going back to their roots, by becoming themselves again, Placebo continues to grow up. Like all the bands that have marked the history of rock, they know that salvation belongs to those who dare and do not hesitate to put their destiny on the line.


With Meds, Placebo does more than just play with fire: it makes a mockery of the sun and shows that it has managed to avoid burning their wings.

Alison+Mosshart by Andrew H. Walker

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𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙋𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉:

𝑉𝑉 ............................................... 23𝑚𝑔
𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑒 ............................. 23𝑚𝑔
𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 ........................................ 144𝑚𝑔
𝑇𝑖𝑘𝑜𝑣𝑜𝑖̈ ..................................... 302𝑚𝑔
𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 ............................ 38𝑚𝑔
𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 ..................................... 499𝑚𝑔


𝙈𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗘(𝗦) 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗗𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡:

𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑒.

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑏𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 (𝐴𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)


𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦:

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜.

𝐴𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑓𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠.

𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑛 (𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑒𝑡𝑐.) 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒.

𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑.

𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒.


𝗗𝗢𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘:

3 𝑡𝑜 4 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 (𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔)

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Michael Stipe by Tim Roney

💊 The composition of this medicine is very well dosed and here is what the band says about the choice of 'medicinal molecules' to make the treatment all the more effective.


𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒓𝒊 𝑻𝒊𝒌𝒐𝒗𝒐𝒊̈ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 ?
📜 We always produced our previous albums with other people while doing our B-sides or covers with Dimitri. And every time the B-side sounded much better than the rest! So at some point we thought: "Ok, this is ridiculous, now we have to work directly with him". And then he lives in London... We had a lot of discussions about this, reminding him that when he was in France he was producing Guesch Patti records and thus giving a really bad image of French music. Before the recording, we kept pounding on him that once he moved to London, he was going to do the same thing with English music...


𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅...
📜 We didn't choose him, he did ! The truth is that we had asked him several times before and he had always refused. Then one day he came and asked if he could mix our new record. It was a no-brainer, just look at his previous collaborations: Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey... All the albums he's produced are records that have inspired us in our songwriting.


𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒕 ?
📜 I've been friends with Jamie for ages. We went to university and studied drama together. We've seen him play in lots of different bands. But it was once he started the Kills that we realized he had created a really important band and we were extremely proud. I've always found Alison overly intimidating. Just because of who she is, just because of her presence. And if it wasn't for Jamie, I would never have been able to talk to her. But it became possible, and as we were looking for a female voice, it seemed like a no-brainer. Her voice is like Viagra. When you see the Kills on stage, it's so sexual. She is the ultimate rock chick.


𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒓𝒆 ?
📜 It was a song about adultery, and we were looking for a female singer. And then one day Steve said: 'For God's sake, why does it have to be a duet between a woman and a man ? That was the trigger, we realized that the song would be stronger with two singers. And I found it interesting to play the role of the cuckold in the song. Because it didn't happen often in reality...
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 - 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎́𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 #𝟷 - 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴𝙱𝙾

Dimitri Tikovoi. Photo credit unknown

💊 Dimitri Tikovoi brought the perfect balance to Meds, even if it was not easy for everyone ! You need what you need when you make a healing potion. 😉

📜 I was quite nervous when they asked me to make their album. Firstly, it was one of the projects I'd ever worked on. Secondly, the band had four albums under their belt, all of them very good in different genres - the last one was a huge hit. And then it was the fifth album from a band that was becoming a bit settled.

I didn't want to make another Placebo album either. So I put a lot of pressure on myself before I started to make sure I never gave up on anything, to make sure I could push the band as far as possible. [...] We've worked together before, but in a different context, and I came in with the idea that it wasn't going to be a pleasant or enjoyable job. I had to get into it from the beginning, push them, without waiting until the middle of the album. On the third day in the studio, I got angry with Brian and he stormed out. It was an immediate shock. Brian didn't want to come back. So we both cleared the air and everything became possible. We pushed each other and constantly asked ourselves if we could do better. If we felt it was possible, we started to improve again and again.
✔️ 𝙳𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚒 𝚃𝚒𝚔𝚘𝚟𝚘𝚒̈ - 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 - 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎́𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 #𝟷 - 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴𝙱𝙾


💊 VV, "𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬", contributed to the smooth preparation of the album, bringing her fragile and sensual touch despite some confusion and uncertainty about the recording of the song Meds.

📜 I came to record this duet scared to death... I ended up in the studio on October 7th and I only stayed there for 3 hours. I rediscovered the song on the spot and tried to bring what I could to it. They gave me whisky, a glass of water and an ashtray. They turned off the lights and let me get on with it. It's funny to sing someone else's lyrics: I had no idea what Brian was getting at and I didn't ask him, I didn't want to get him pissed off with my questions and then it's kind of funny to sing something you don't understand. As you're off the mark, you change the tone, the spirit...
✔️ 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚝 - 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 - 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎́𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 #𝟷 - 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴𝙱𝙾

Photo credit: Kevin Cummins

💊 In the 2006 𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚊 show, Brian regrets not calling the first album Meds, as it made sense given the name they had chosen for the band. And when Nagui points out that a placebo is a drug that doesn't cure but gives the impression that it does. Brian replies: It has a psychological effect on the patient.

That's why I personally think that presenting the album Meds in such a format was a very appropriate stroke of genius ! Placebo is just like the treatment of the same name: harmless but the therapeutic effect is undeniably effective. No adverse effect noticed 😉


⭐ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 ?

⭐ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬: 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 ?


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