2009 saw a favourite band of mine Placebo reappear on the music scene with their sixth studio offering Battle for the Sun. As a long time fan I wasted no time in getting myself a copy, and after seeing great reviews for it in the music press I was eager to give it a good old listen. The overall feel of the album is slightly heavier than their previous albums, yet it somehow manages to have a much clearer lighter sound to it. The album sees the first studio appearance of new drummer Steve Forrest and also has the band making use of instruments such as trumpets, saxophones, and the rather weird looking guitar ‘’The Springtime’’. I was interested to find out if their choice to incorporate different sounds would be a winner or not.

Fans out there I’m sure will say that such things don’t belong in Placebo’s sound, the trio are well known for their unique glam punk angst fuelled music, so this left me feeling Intrigued.

The album has enjoyed some success so far in the UK managing to chart at number 8, but it is over in mainland Europe where the album has really taken off with number 1 positions in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium.

The Band Members

Placebo is a London based trio who were first formed in 1994 by lead singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bassist Stefan Olsdal. The bands were recently joined by their new drummer Steve Forrest in mid 2008. The band is known for their punk glam style of music which coupled with Brian’s distinctive singing voice make for an instantly recognisable and unique sound.

Additional Players

Along with the three main members of the band a number of additional musicians contributed towards the albums productions these include;

Bill Lloyd on keyboards who has worked alongside the band on a number of the band’s albums since 1999 as a sound designer and appears with the band live and works as a technician for the band as well.

Fiona Brice on violin who also has worked along with the band on their previous album Meds as well as providing string arrangements for a number of different acts such as Westlife, Kayne West, and Simply Red. During Placebo’s current tour she also provided the violin backing to a number of the tracks which are featured on the Battle for the Sun album.

Track Listing

1. Kitty Litter

The album kicks off with a filthy and grinding sounding guitar riff with a much darker and heavier feel than I have previously heard from Placebo yet Brian Molko’s vocal appears much more crystal clear and allows the listener to really hear everything he is singing much easier than before. Despite these differences the song still remains easily recognisable as a Placebo track.

2. Ashtray Heart

The speed and tempo slow down slightly as the typical song structure of slow mellow verse to more rapid chorus is wonderfully heard in this song. However the old style is incorporated with new as we suddenly are treated to backing vocals something that has always till now been lacking on any Placebo album.

3. Battle for the Sun

The title track for the album sees the tempo and pace of the album slow right down to start with however as the song progresses the guitar and drums start to build back up in pace and strength. Once again the song does have a much more overall heavier feel to it. I found this to one of the songs that I managed to get in to straight away and has very quickly become a firm favourite of mine.

4. For What it’s Worth

This was the first track on the album that I heard as the single for it was released sometime before the actual albums release and it soon became the most listened to track on my iTunes. The song is a pure Placebo sounding track but has been enhanced by the addition of a much fuller sounding backing track to it. Despite the fact that this is the song that I have listened to most on the album it still sounds fresh each time and makes me want to jump about each and every time.

5. Devils in the Details

The album very quickly moves back away from the distinctively poppy sound and feel of the last track and returns to the much darker heavier sound of the rest of the album. After such an energetic previous song this track can sound rather lacking but after several listenings it has really grown on me and provides a great contrast to the lightness of the previous track.

6. Bright Lights

The pace picks back up slightly as we move into this track which also incorporates a lighter feeling to it, Brian’s vocals still remain clear and crisp on this track. The strange guitar sounds throughout are the result of the Springtime guitar that Brian plays during this track.

7. Speak in Tongues

Reported as Brian Molko’s favourite track off the album the pace the song takes on is the typical style of Placebo with the slow mellow verse lines building up to the full crashing sound of the chorus. The track has a much dirty and harsher sound than the previous tracks and makes a good change to the overall feel of the album.

8. The Never-Ending Why

This song starts off full pelt with the whole band crashing into the intro the music then breaks down to a slightly lessened sound to it but soon builds straight back up for the chorus with it increasing as the middle section and solo of the song comes. Despite the massive amount of instrumental sound being made each instrument is still clearly heard with Brian’s vocal track easily riding over the top of it.

9. Julien

Julien has a very different sound to the previous track as it has a much more flat sounding intro to it and it isn’t until later in the track that the pace and strength of the song is shown. Like Devil in the Details this song I believe suffers slightly because the song before sounds better and not the fact that it is a bad track.

10. Happy You’re Gone

The album moves in to the more sort of slow relentless ballad style that we have seen on previous albums but with the addition of extra content which gives the song a much richer and stronger sound than previously.

11. Breathe Underwater

After the ballad we have to have a rockier track and this song does just that as the band kick straight in to this with a massive amount of aggression and raw power. New boy Steve Forrest’s drumming sounds very good and provides a brilliant under lay to this impressive track.

12. Come Undone

After the frenzy of the last track the album slows back down with this next song. Even though the pace has reduced the aggression is still there as the songs literally chugs along as Brian near screams the lyrics out during the chorus.

13. King of Medicine

The King of Medicine starts off in a far lighter tone than the rest of the album however as the song progresses the track slowly builds up to make for a good ending to the album. The trumpet sounds through the ending to the song make for an interesting addition to the tracks overall sound.

Favourite Tracks

My personal favourites of the album are:

For What it’s Worth – Firstly for it being the closest to the older sound, and secondly for it’s very up tempo and jumpy style beat to it.

Battle for the Sun – This song has a strong sound to it with a very simple lyrical content making it really easy for me to sing along to it (badly of course.)

Personal Opinion

After really enjoying the single For What it’s Worth I do confess to finding the rest of the album to be a bit more difficult to get into and after the first listen I found myself returning to their older material after only listening to the first half of the album. Despite this initial disappointment and difficultly in listening to I quickly came back to give it a second chance and after a while started to find the album growing on me more and more. The main problem I feel is that Placebo have had such a unique sound since their debut album that it very hard to accept any other sound from them. However If a band keeps producing the same sounding material over and over again they eventual become very repetitive and boring so this slight change in musical direction is more than welcome for me. The new drummer Steven Forrest has certainly added an extra edge to the drum track of the album and provided an even great level of power to some of the tracks. Overall this album may take a bit of getting in to but is certainly worth it, and like other bands that have produced new and fresh sounds to the discography I sure that this album will be appreciated by more as time goes on.

Where to find out more

If you wish to listen to the first single to this album '"For What it's Worth"' then you can find it here.

http://www.last.fm/music/Placebo/_/For+What+It%27s+Worth

To find out more about the band and the album feel free to browse their website which not only includes some information about the band themselves, but also up and coming gigs and shows for the band. Along with the bands own online shop.

http://www.placeboworld.co.uk/