Placebo ~ Black Market Music

Virgin Records

The script’s been played a million times. If you had predicted that the cross-dressing glam-rockers Placebo were living on borrowed time after the release of the heroin-laced Without You I’m Nothing, no one would have argued with you. While Placebo’s performances were astonishingly energetic, the sex, drugs, and insanity of rock- and-roll stardom were evidently taking their toll.

Fortunately, Placebo’s lead singer and songwriter Brian Molko appears to have read the same script, and got off the bus before it crashed. The band’s third album, Black Market Music, is a subtle departure from the post-teen angst and raw sexual energy of their self-titled debut and the anxious, introspective longing of their follow-up Without You I’m Nothing. Within the classic Placebo sound of grinding guitars layered with driving rhythms, Molkos’ lyrics on songs such as "Taste in Men," and "Before You Came" allude to a transformation from self-absorption to reflection, recklessness to forgiveness – and from lust to loss.

The band, consisting of guitarist/singer Molko, bassist Stefan Olsdal, and drummer Steve Hewitt, have also introduced some funkier rhythms, more electronic elements, and several interesting guest artists, including rapper Justin Warfield (One Inch Punch) and singer/guitarist Severe Loren (Linoleum). If you’re looking for another defiant "Nancy Boy" or "Brick Shithouse," you might not find it here. But after hearing these songs of atonement and reflection, it makes one think the future of Placebo may be less predictable than its past. –Jodie Rogers

 

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