Placebo are a rare breed : a band with a large cult following but seriously limited commercial success. 1998's Without You I'm Nothing is probably their most commercially successful album, with well known songs like Every You Every Me and Pure Morning. But, is it good?
I know when I review albums I generally go through them song by song, but after my rift with grannycroft over this subject, I'm not going to do that. Basically, I'm just going to write about it and see how it is rated.
This is a bit of a mixed album really. Basically, there is some really dramatic, sad songs, like Without You I'm Nothing (which is a class song), The Crawl and Burger Queen. There's faster, punky songs like Brick Sh*thouse, Every You Every Me and Scared Of Girls. There's dead slow songs like My Sweet Prince. Then theres the other songs. Its all a bit of a mixed bag. usually on these kind of albums though, when you listen to the whole album they seem to fit together. On WYIN, they don't. On The Colour And The Shape, Doll and Monkey Wrench fit. On Blood Sugar Sex Magik I Could Have Lied and Suck My Kiss fit together. Every You Every Me does not fit with The Crawl. This means instead of a soulful, musically excellent album, it heads towards Mansun's Little Kix - A bad collection of good songs.
This may sound a bit harsh. I really like Pure Morning, Brick Shithouse, Without You I'm Nothing, Every You Every Me and Scared of Girls. You Don't Care About Us and Allergic are OK. The rest are cak. Thats what ruins this album - the bad songs. The worst offender is My Sweet Prince. Its over 5mins 30 long and totally fails to get going.
However, even the good songs need a bit of getting used to. I didn't like Without You I'm Nothing (the song) until I heard it live, and now it's my favourite track.
Placebo do have some very good points. Technically and creatively, they are an excellent band. Brian Molko's voice is good. His lyrics are generally awesome. The drumming can be totally amazing. It all fits, and it neatly polished off to perfection. He's even good on the guitar, with some excellent riffs.
But, as usual, they do have minus points. The inlay card is the worst that I have ever seen. Its even worse than the RHCPs Freaky Styley (nothing inside). Molko's voice isn't nearly as good when they slow right down and he whines.
Basically, Placebo are commercial failures. They are extremely good live. Therefore, you have to have an album to remind you of them. WYIN is the one to get. Balck Market Music is rubbish. Get this one if you like them a bit.
Without You I'm Nothing (1998)by Molko/Olsdal/Hewitt
1. Pure Morning 2. Brick Shithouse * 3. You Don't Care About Us 4. Ask For Answers 5. Without You I'm Nothing * 6. Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth) 7. The Crawl + 8. Every You Every Me 9. My Sweet Prince + 10. Summer's Gone 11. Scared Of Girls * 12. Burger Queen +
* = best 3 + = worst three
Inspired by grannycroft
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
"Placebo are a rare breed : a band with a large cult following but seriously limited commercial success."
Didn't this album sell way over a million copies? That sounds successful to me!
PlaceboFan 07.07.2004 22:17
Good review, although I like this the best outta all placebo albums. I particularly liked how u commented on ure fave 3 and 3 u didnt like so much. Not everyone does this. Good op anyways! PlaceboFan x
green182 09.10.2001 22:08
I agree with you that WYIN has excellent and very bad songs, and I agree that WYIN is one of the best, and that My sweet prince the worst, however what you have against the crawl and burger queen baffles me, however i still give it v.helpful as I agree with you fully on the concept of the album
Sep 4th, 2001
very helpful by (91%):
helpful by (9%):
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