Out of all the Alt-Rock acts to rise out of Brittan during the 90's Placebo would have to be one of the most original. The band was instantly embraced by critics as fans for their style of moody, dark rock. The band formed in 1996 when Brain and Stefan ran into each other at a subway station (They went to the same school but as Brain puts it Stefan was a jock and I was a nerd so they didn't really know each other). They released their first self-titled album in 1996 and it came to alot of critical acclaim. Without You I'm Nothing is the bands second album and many regard it as their best. It's an album of dark moody and emotional rock. Now lets look at the tracks.
Pure Morning - Probably the most popular Placebo song. This song was the first single off WYIN and a big hit. This song is great and the lyrics here are fantastic and will stay in your head. 'A friend in need is a friend in deed, a friend with weed is better. A friend with breasts and all the rest a friend that's dressed in leather' don't know who Placebo are? That lyric should jog your memory.
Brick S
hithouse - The song opens with blurred and distorded vocals before going straight to a verse. Brains voice is great on this song very melodic yet still it brings a shudder down your back. The lyrics here are great again 'Now your lover went to put me in the ground, I'll be watching when he's around' those point of the theme of the song.
You Don't Care About Us - This song has a pounding chorus and great melodic verses. It was the second single release off WYIN and though it didn't enjoy the commercial sucsess of Pure Morning it's still just as good song.
Ask For Answers - One of the most emotional songs on the album it starts off slowly but bursts into a beautiful melodic chorus. It's a slow song but it's a welcome break after the first three songs. The lyrics are great and Brians voice makes this the song it is.
Without You I'm Nothing - Every band has their best song. It comes eventually and the title song of this album just happens to be Placebo. This has to be one of the best songs ever. It's a sad depressing song but so beautiful. Brains voice is incredible and he shows off some of his guitar skill here. This song is practicly perfect. The right length, a beautiful melody, perfect chorus it's the highlight of the album.
Allergic (To thoughts of Mother Earth) - Alot of songs on albums suffer when they are placed after a fantastic song however on this album they don't. Allergic starts off with a distorted guitar riff which could only be Brain Molko's before kicking into the verse and then to make the song great it has a fantastic chorus. The lyrics are again great here.
The Crawl - By now there should be a bad song on the album but.. there's not. The Crawl is very slow but what it lacks in speed is made up for in lyrics and vocals. The song really is another beauty and like every song on this album it sounds unique.
Every You, Every Me - Just as well known as Pure Morning this was Placebo's third single from the album. It featured on the movie Sliding Doors. The song starts with the clean guitar riff before the drums pound in and bang straight to a verse. The lyrics here are probably Placebo at their catchiest and they are masterfully written. It's not hard to see why this song is so popular and it's a great way to pick up the pace after The Crawl.
My Sweet Prince - This is another slow song and it's still great. Yet again it's beautiful, melodic and powerfull. It's a slow dark love song and the lyrics are great and though it's slow it's still unique and different to anything else on this album.
Summer's Gone - This is a bitter sweet song of growing up and who you are. It's driven by an acoustic chord progression and it works really well. It has great versus and in the middle there is a brilliant monolouge. The chorus of this song is great and Placebo still fail to make a bad song on this album.
Scared Of Girls - This is the last 'rock' song on the album. It's also a brilliant song. It kicks straight off and is lyrcially another fantastic song. The chorus makes this song along with Brains great vocals. It's just an overall powerfull song.
Burger Queen - One coment sticks in my mind with this song. I remember my dad being in the room when this song was on and him directely saying 'Wow this song actually has some melody in it' now for my dad this is a very big comment. Melody is something it certanely has. There's no bass in this song instead Stefan plays a second guitar. There is a beautiful melody in the guitar and Brians voice and it's a fantastic ode to a great album. The lyrics are powerful and this song really will wow you.
Evil Dildo - This isn't so much a song but i'll include it anyway. The story behind this song is that when Brain got home from recording one day he had an answer phone message and played it and it became the lyrics for the song. Warning homophobic content: The lyrics are 'Hey motherf
ucker, I'm after you. I know where you live. I will f
uck you up the a
ss and I will sneak into your room and cut your cock off and stuff it in my mouth and chew it up with my little teeth.' Beautiful stuff. Instead of be offended they took the message and added music to it to make an almost serene sounding scary song at the very end of this record. This bonus track is after about 15 minutes of noise and the end of Burger Queen and it isn't listen in the album booklet.
So overall wow. This was really the first full album I listened to that wasn't pop. I was about 10 when I first heard this and right in the middle of my teenybobber phase. This was my sisters CD and even to this day i'm still amazed by it. It's a beautiful album. Brain commented the recording process for this album was frustrating and a bad experience but all that pain is reflected in the music and what fantastic music it is. This is in my mind no doubt one of the greatest albums of all time and the Million sales it achieved around the world should go to show that. It's a rare occourance to get such a good album but Placebo pulled it off with this one. The peak of the bands career was this album and something I still listen to this day 5 years after it's release.
Rating: 5/5 :thumb: This is truely an album which excells it's genre and can make anyone that doesn't appreciate alt or indie music come to their senses.
