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Rating: There are bands that never seem to fail, who know well who they are and what they want to do.
Placebo is one of them.
2008 and 2009 are two record years that continue to disappoint. Well-established bands tire and disillusion.
Placebo with "Meds" hit the mark once again. It was a mature, compact album, and every song could easily be a radio single (except for "space monkeys").
Brian Molko's band is precisely this: complicated and simple; they understand the formula for never going wrong but unfortunately also for not exceeding anymore like in "Without you I'm nothing".
And so in 2009 comes "Battle for the sun" and the Placebo formula still works but does not exceed once again.
It starts with "kitty litter" and it’s immediately comparable to the songs from their first self-titled album, really beautiful, but the spontaneous question arises: "and the electronics used in "Meds" and "Sleeping with ghosts"!?".
In "Battle for the sun" this is absent except in rare episodes ("Julien", "Devil in the details" and "For what it's worth"); here they return to that post punk-grunge of the beginnings, adding a touch of epicness thanks to violins, choirs, etc., etc.
The great track that Placebo has always accustomed us to in each of their albums is missing, the dark ballad that made them what they are today is missing, but it cannot be denied that this record convinces once again. Placebo is smart, they do not exaggerate and remain consistent with their music (see Coldplay, Keane, Travis who unfortunately fell into the mistake) and from here come the pearls of this record: "The never ending why", "Battle for the sun", "come undone", and the already mentioned "kitty litter").
But this record will not remain with the fans and will not conquer new ones.
In the end, this is an excellent work, mature, compact and will be listened to more than once, but I am left to say that "Battle for the sun" is the worst Placebo album.
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Other reviews
By GrantNicholas
"Battle For The Sun is a breath of fresh air for the British band."
"Placebo still don’t dare as much as they could (and should), but at least they’re back on track."
By KIMIr
‘...something is missing, that something that made Placebo what they are today.’
‘If it weren’t for the first of those qualities, this album could easily be mistaken for a work of any Alternative band.’
By Suonoonous
Placebo have made five nearly identical albums in their career. This is different.
They no longer play those two songs! now they play others... such dull things that one really wonders how they manage not to fall asleep during performances.
