Placebo - 'Meds' (2006)

Versions:
CD
CD+DVD

Tracklisting:
1. Meds
2. Infra-Red
3. Drag
4. Space Monkey
5. Follow The Cops Back Home
6. Post Blue
7. Because I Want You
8. Blind
9. Pierrot The Clown
10. Broken Promise
11. One Of A Kind
12. In The Cold Light Of Morning
13. Song To Say Goodbye

Best Tracks:
Song To Say Goodbye
Meds

Currently listening to: CD


I thought I'd try another one that I probably won't like.

Hello, Meds.

I loved Placebo as a teenager. They were good band for gay teenagers back in the late 90's - elements of Sonic Youth, early PJ Harvey and Morrissey were all filtered through this weird lady boy.

I was a pretty faithful fan, even as I outgrew them. They still had a special place in my heart. Truth be told, they still do. I'm still compelled to buy their records. And, sometimes, they still make good records.

I worshipped those first two albums. I wasn't huge fan of Black Market Music when that came out, but they won me back with Sleeping With Ghosts. Meds, unfortunately, was the final nail in the coffin.

We start with the track, 'Meds'. It features Alison Mosshart from The Kills on vocals. I was pretty excited when I saw that. The results, however, were underwhelming. It's an OK song. I seem to like it more tonight than I remembered. Though, having Alison Mosshart on this song feels like a wasted opportunity. That said, it's definitely grown on me, over the years.

Thing really start to go south on 'Infra Red', and we're only on the second track. It's sounds like a parody of Placebo. In fact, most of the album sounds like a parody. 'Drag' sounds too much like a cross between 'You Don't Care About Us' and 'The Bitter End'. 'Space Monkey' reminds me of an inferior version of Sleeping With Ghosts' fantastic, 'Something Rotten' and another (Placebo) song that I can't place. 'Follow The Cops Back Home' could have been good, but it's made me realise how much I don't like the production of the whole album. By the time we get to 'Post Blue' the album is bordering on embarrassing. This is really Placebo-by-numbers. The whole album feels like a watered down version of Sleeping With Ghosts - and, as much as I liked that one, that almost felt like it was Placebo trying too hard to be Placebo.

'Because I Want You' is a classic Placebo single - in that, all their singles since 'Slave To The Wage' all sound the same. 'Special K', 'Black-Eyed', 'The Bitter End', 'This Picture', 'Special Needs', 'Because I Want You', 'Infra Red' - I've never understood why they've always picked their most uninspired songs to be singles (when their albums, and even B-sides, have been scattered with far more interesting material). Except that they have that "trademark" Placebo sound. And, by "trademark" Placebo sound, I mean it sounds like their trying to re-write their older hits to secure more hits. That Placebo were never really a "hits" band, aside from a few early singles in the UK, makes the whole thing appear a little more desperate. Especially when they've done so many better songs during that time.

'Pierrot The Clown' is so bad that I've decided to break the rules of this blog and skip it. Michael Stipe pops up on 'Broken Promise'. Nope, skip that one, too. 'In The Cold Light Of Morning' is another that has potential. Again, it comes off as an average Sleeping With Ghosts outtake.

Not all hope is lost, however. The album ends with, 'Song To Say Goodbye'. Now, this is a great song. This is what the whole album should have been like. It's sounds typically Placebo, but it's a step forward. It's inspired. There's new elements, there's old elements - it's a successful Placebo song. And, a good song by anyone's standards. It's well written, compared to the rest of the album, which feels almost lazy.

So, what went wrong? The album is book-ended by two decent songs, but everything in the middle sounds like a band going through the motions. That artwork even looks like a mock-Placebo cover. Even worse, is that I've read interviews where the band said they thought this was their best album. Considering how good some of their other albums have been, this baffles me.

Thankfully, they followed this up with Battle For The Sun, which I really enjoyed. It's become a pattern where if they put out an album I like, I invariably don't like the next one. I haven't given Loud Like Love much of a listen, but it still seems to be the case. Which means I'm due to like the next one.