I clicked on this 'monday' competition thing, and when I saw it was a Placebo album my first thought was.... really?? My boyfriend saw our Brian in Stockholm airport, and we both just assumed they were only big over there now...

Early Years

I absolutely loved them 10 years ago, and even then I felt I was a bit 'late' getting into them. They'd already released two big-selling albums - Placebo and Without You I'm Nothing. In 1999 they played live with David Bowie at the Brit Awards (their cover of 20th Century Boy), and I think that's when I heard of them. After all, I was 11 at the time, my music taste consisted of what my friends liked, what my brother liked, and anything my dad didn't like.... which was Steps, The Offspring, and Smashmouth, respectively. (My dad particularly didn't like their B-Side 'Sorry About Your Penis', which in the days of CDs came on every 4th song when I left the single on repeat... regularly)

I think part of the reason I liked Placebo was because I was so young, the lyrics were sometimes a bit naughty (over the next few years I was also into King Adora who, if you haven't heard of them, had a song called supermuffdiver that pretty much sums up what they were about). Brian Molko's voice was like nothing I'd ever heard before, which intrigued me... at this point all the male artists I'd heard sounded like men, and all the female artists sounded like each other.
Placebo introduced me to the idea that unconventional can be good... and it was around then that I got into Catatonia, Alanis Morisette. Shortly after, I discovered Muse's recently-released Showbiz and gave up pop music entirely, which at the grand old age of 12 alienated me from most of my new high-school friends entirely, but it was ok, Placebo knew all about alienation.

I'm not sure whether my misanthropy came about due to my listening to this kind of music or whether I was drawn to this kind of music because I just liked being different to my Spice Girls-loving school chums, but either way, I remember listening to Placebo instead of attending the school disco... and now today I am listening to Placebo instead of socialising (I was invited to watch the football by Mr. S. I politely declined; I only watch France)

Middle Years

Sleeping with Ghosts was Placebo's 4th album and was released in 2003. It was the last album of theirs I bought. I don't know whether they'd been overtaken by Muse in my CD collection (I always grouped the two together for a while, for some reason) but Sleeping with Ghosts just didn't have the same energy as their previous albums, I felt it sounded a bit.... boring. The album showed me nothing new, and after I saw them at the Birmingham Acadey in 03, I felt I'd grown out of them a bit.

So I've certainly got nothing to say about Meds. I remember seeing a video and being surprised they were still around, and I thought the song was a bit emo, in a bad way.

Battle for the Sun

So I haven't heard Battle for the Sun yet. I have low hopes considering that as far as I'm concerned, Placebo's best days are behind them, they had a great run in a time that was suited to them... I'm not sure they really fit in the 'alternative' charts at the moment.

Still, I hear they have brought in some trumpets.... and despite my not hearing anything about it until this moment, it has reached no. 8 in the UK albums chart. So, I'll give it a listen.... because frankly, if the British public are already buying this, I might need this review to save them.

Track Listing

I'm going to try to review them one by one... I don't really do music reviews, so you'll have to bear with me when I don't know what I'm talking about... which might be always.

1. "Kitty Litter" 3:47
This sounds like Placebo, same guitar sound, just a little neater. The refrain, "Move closer, I gotta feel your touch" is lyrically, nothing astray from what you'd expect. I am pleased. What?? What's going on... 3 minutes into the song they're now doing the kind of 'clap-clap... clap... clap-clap... clap' shenanigans you would only expect from chart-infesting 'indie-pop' wankers Arctic Maximosabianorlight. No Brian, bad Brian.

2. "Ashtray Heart" 3:32

It's a lot more pop than I'd expect, it's got a cute little chorus that I can just see the emo kids bopping to at gigs. This isn't a good thing... you know when you're too old for a gig when you're bewildered by the fact that every 30 seconds in a song, everyone shorter than you suddenly starts jumping up and down....
For around 20 seconds Brian sings "My Ashtray Heart" in his trademark whine while background singers go "Cenicero, Cenicero, Mi corazón de cenicero" which google tells me means the same in Spanish. Frankly, I'm baffled.

3. "Battle for the Sun" 5:33

This is apparently the best song on the album..... it starts off well, strong, fairly-heavy intro, almost chuggy, before rocking out into the main bit of the song, which is another bop-able one. I've always hated in songs when they go - "I I I I I I will not participate pate pate pate pate pate"... it's filler, you might as well go 'yeeaaahhh' for 3 out of the 5 minutes.
The guitar stuff is good though, it's certainly Placebo, and there's a string section that sounds surprisingly appropriate. I can see why it does so well as a single, but I can't say I'd buy the album off the back of it.

4. "For What It's Worth" 2:47

I'm bored now.

'''5. "Devil in the Details" 4:28
6. "Bright Lights" 3:23
7. "Speak in Tongues" 4:06
8. "The Never-Ending Why" 3:23
9. "Julien" 4:43
10. "Happy You're Gone" 3:50
11. "Breathe Underwater" 3:44
12. "Come Undone" 4:36
13. "Kings of Medicine" '''

Conclusion?

Placebo used to be fairly original. They introduced me to 'alternative' music, Brian Molko's voice has always been their biggest asset, but they always had their own unique sound too. You could tell instantly when a Placebo song came on the radio.
With this, I think maybe I have heard some of these songs on the radio if it's gotten so high up the charts without me noticing, I just haven't realised it's Placebo... It's a good album on face value, but any band could have made it.

So, my final verdict is that I wouldn't recommend it - if you want to listen to Placebo, go buy Without You I'm Nothing. If you already own early Placebo albums, don't bother with this one, you'll be disappointed. And if you have never heard of Placebo... and just want to listen to some lame emo band... go buy a My Chemical Romance album. In general I think I'm just glad I didn't have to pay for it.