Taste in Men

"Taste in Men" is a 2000 single by the English alternative rock band Placebo. Taken from their third album, Black Market Music, it reached number 16 in the UK singles chart.

"Taste in Men"
Single by Placebo
from the album Black Market Music
Released17 July 2000
Genre
Length23:13
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Steve Hewitt, Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal
Producer(s)
Placebo singles chronology
"Burger Queen Francais"
(1999)		 "Taste in Men"
(2000)		 "Slave to the Wage"
(2000)
Alternative cover

Music and reception

Gigwise ranked the track as Placebo's greatest hit, describing it as "bubbling, space-age blast of howling, claustrophobic electro-rock."[1] Nevertheless, Pitchfork considered the song as an "lazy reprise the Roland 303 industrial funk of 'Pure Morning'."[2]

According to frontman Brian Molko, the band was influenced by the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails during the recording of the song, particularly by the track "Wish".[3]

Music video

The music video, directed by Barbara McDonogh, was filmed in the Central London Register office. It shows Molko involved in a bizarre love triangle with a rowing couple. Montages of Molko with both the man and the woman are sequenced throughout the video.

Live performance history

The song was a staple of the Black Market Music and Sleeping With Ghosts tours. Despite not appearing during the initial legs of the tour, it reappeared for the winter 2006 leg of the Meds tour and remained until the conclusion of the tour. It was the closing song for all shows on the Battle For The Sun tour. The song also appeared during the 2012 tour as the concluding song for all shows, but was dropped at the start of the Summer Festivals leg.

Trivia

The phrase "come back to me awhile" is taken from the Sonic Youth song "Catholic Block", found on their album Sister.

The song was used in an episode from the United States version of Queer as Folk.

The bass riff is almost identical to Roger Waters' "Let There Be More Light" from the Pink Floyd album A Saucerful of Secrets. The track Block Rockin' Beats from the 1997 The Chemical Brothers album Dig Your Own Hole also reaps from the before mentioned Pink Floyd album.

Track listings
CD1
  1. Taste in Men (Radio edit) – 4:02
  2. Theme from Funky Reverend – 2:54
  3. Taste in Men (Alpinestars Kamikaze Skimix) – 4:36
CD2
  1. Taste in Men (Album version) – 4:15
  2. Johnny and Mary – 3:24
  3. Taste in Men (Adrian Sherwood Go Go dub mix) – 4:19

Charts
Chart (2000) Peak
position
Portugal (AFP)[4] 7
UK Singles Chart[5] 16

References
  1. "Placebo's Greatest Hits, Ranked In Order of Greatness". Gigwise. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  2. Cooper, Paul (8 May 2000). "Placebo: Black Market Music | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  3. "I'm the Anti-Eminem". Melody Maker. 20 October 2000. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  4. "Music & Media: Portugal" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  5. "Placebo - Official Single Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
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