In this topic, you can post any reviews you find of this album. You can also post your personal reviews and agree or disagree with any of the reviews posted.

 

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"Answering the reasons why this album is so accessible to the ear may be an attempt to strip Placebo of their claim to fame. There is no simple reason why this album grows on you after several listens. The first single Pure Morning was the song that established Placebo's presence on the Australian music market. Constant flogging on the airwaves meant that Brian Molko's unique voice has become as instantly recognisable as lets say, Robert Smith's from the Cure. Molko's voice has become associated with the opening lyric 'A friend in need's a friend indeed, a friend with weed is better' and so on. Other stand out tracks on the album include My Sweet Prince which is a slow ode to melancholy while Every You Every Me is a memorable hit from the soundtrack to the less memorable movie 'Cruel Intentions'. (...) So here we have an album that doesnt cover new musical territory but represents a generation of bands that can churn out quality music as well as quality lyrics. "

-- Peter Zangari, Workers Online, 7/99

My review:

 

After just over a year away from the music scene, Placebo exploded back in spectacular fashion in the late summer of 1998 with 'Pure Morning', exploring a totally new sound for them and it catapulted them back into the top 5 once again.

The album was finally released after the second single, another top 5 with 'You Don't Care About Us'.

So, how do you follow-up the debut exactly? Let's find out...

The opener is the lead single 'Pure Morning', which is in my opinion the greatest Placebo track ever. Recognisable from the refrain "A friend in need's a friend indeed...", and with a very sleazy feel to it, there is simply nothing in this world like it.

Slipping into the next track which is 'Brick Shithouse', which although nothing exciting, is great to rock out to.

Then into the second single 'You Don't Care About Us', despite being a top 5 single I often feel this track is overlooked, a genius track which uses a minimalistic chorus to great effect, and contains the ingenious line "mental masturbation".

'Ask For Answers' sees them explore a territory they hadn't covered before on the previous album; a totally downtempo song. Lyrically sublime, atmospheric and mesmerising, it seems they pull it off well. Other similar style tracks are 'The Crawl', and 'Burger Queen' which is enough alone to prove how much of a great lyricist Brian Molko is.

High profile tracks from this album worth noting are 'Without You I'm Nothing', a duet with David Bowie and 'Every You Every Me', which is one of their most well known tracks and featured as the main theme song in the movie Cruel Intentions, and also happens to feature some fantastic lyrics.

'Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth)' is a mid-tempo guitar laden track, the lyrics admittedly are random babble but smashing guitar work in this track more than makes up for that.

'My Sweet Prince' is a key album highlight for me, it's a ballad with deep and cutting lyrics, highly melancholic and enough to soften even the hardest heart.

'Scared Of Girls' is one of the more uptempo numbers on this album, so excellent that it manages to make a few dodgy lyrics here and there sound passable ("her younger sister had a blister where I kissed her on her thigh" anyone?)

This era was definitely the peak of Placebo's career, with 'Every You Every Me' featuring as the main theme song in a smash hit movie, and the band getting to perform at 1999's Brit Awards with David Bowie.

All in all this album is essential for your collection, it shows progression both in Brian's voice and in sound from the first album, and certainly blows ignorant people's theory that they've stuck to the same sound for all of their career out of the water.