Song · Placebo
“The Bitter End” by Placebo
From the album Sleeping With Ghosts (2003)
“The Bitter End” by Placebo appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations in 2003. It was first released in 2003 on the album Sleeping With Ghosts. Its best result is #30 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #148 alternative song of 2003.
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Placebo came back swinging with "The Bitter End", which hit the shops on 10 March 2003 as the lead single from Sleeping with Ghosts, the British band's fourth album. Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt wrote it together: Molko supplied the words, the guitar and the lead vocal, Olsdal played bass and Hewitt drums, and Jim Abbiss produced it and mixed it with Simon "Barny" Barnicott, who also recorded it.
Critics mostly loved it. The BBC's reviewer heard a pop tune with just enough gothic gloom for the faithful and enough radio-ready guitar for a new wave of indie kids, Rock Sound heard the Smiths in its bloodline, and the NME heard a melody that sounded like U2 chasing the Cure. It stuck, too: only "Every You Every Me" matches it as a fixture of their live shows.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 45 (tie) | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2003 | 196 |
| 2003 | 30 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003 | 100 |
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