Placebo's third - I smell summit, may be a turd! (Black Market Music - Placebo)

Member Name: DanielKemp

Product:	Black Market Music - Placebo
Date:	01/05/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Peeping Tom is a great ballad, Spite & Malice is an impressive fusion of Rap & Rock

Disadvantages: Awful singles, Molko's song writing isn't up to scratch

Released in 2000, Black Market Music is Placebo's third LP and is a considerably darker listen than their second album. The title of the album hints at what is on offer here - seedy tales, backstreet deals, broken hearts and of course Brian Molko's song writing forte, drug abuse.

The problems with Black Market Music are immediately noticeable. No amount of studio trickery can do away with the simple fact that if your song writing isn't up to scratch, people are going to notice. The songs on BMM aren't bad by any means, but Molko has certainly hit a wall in terms of both developing his song writing and pushing Placebo out of their comfort zone. On their previous album the band had managed to arrange the compositions in such a way that they were still a challenging listen but without sacrificing any of their melodic integrity. In comparison the tracks on this album often feel unwelcoming and somewhat eager to push you away.

Taste in Men reached number 16 in the singles chart. It begins with a looped bass riff and is followed by successive squalls of feedback and for a moment it would appear that Placebo dare to be exciting again. However this is little more than a pipe dream as Taste in Men quickly becomes their worst opening song to date. Molko's nasal vocals annoy as he repeats the lyrics, "Come back to me a while, change your style again, come back to me a while, change your taste in men". With regards to the lyrics, I don't know if Taste in Men was an attempt to be shocking, but I can report that it does indeed end up that way, but for all the wrong reasons.

Other single, Special K, is an ode to the horse tranquilizer turned druggy favourite, Ketamine. The song has a real energy and Stefen Olsdal and Steve Hewitt provide some great backing, but there is no getting away from the fact that this is just another rocker that you've heard before.

The final two singles, Black-Eyed and Slave to the Wage, just about finish me off and have little to no redeeming features. The former is introduced by Molko playing a really mellow guitar line and is then built around a repetitive bass section; stereotypical drum rolls included. Slave to the Wage is a little better, but only marginally so. The song is just horribly produced and it makes my ears shy away as everything just sounds so compacted and unnatural. The saving attribute is that I actually don't mind the theme of rallying against the daily 9 to 5 that we all have to endure. Somehow it managed to reach number 19 in the singles chart.
Needless to say, I'm not much of a fan of the singles released from this album.

After all this negativity I shall now rain down upon you the highlights of the album, because despite what I may have led you to believe, there are interesting moments on this LP.
The songs which work the best are the ones which at least attempt to try something new, a good example being Spite & Malice.
Now, rock and rap hybrids were nothing new in the nu-metal era that was the turn of the millennium, but Brian Molko is still a decent song writer and Jason Warfield is an above par rapper. Put them together and I couldn't think of two artists better suited. For the first time on the album the lyrics are excellent and Molko's beautiful vocals echo Warfield's rapping in the closing moments.

Passive Aggressive is gorgeously produced and has one of the band's most enchanting introductions; Molko's restrained vocals allowing for a more sensitive tone to cascade through the song's lush guitar work.
Despite all this good news I feel that Commercial for Levi is a joke too far. The lyrics make me cringe as Molko laments, "you're the one whose always choking Trojan, you're the one whose shower is always golden", with the glee of a child in a sweet shop. Subtlety isn't Molko's strong point and that is no more noticeable than here.

The last song of the set, Peeping Tom, is the best track on the album. The muddy guitar work mimics the tender piano keys and for perhaps the first time on the album Molko cuts the crap and forges the band's best ballad yet. Placebo have put a great deal of effort into making you feel for their peeping Tom character and everything reaches an emotional peak when Molko remarks with a sense of bliss, "...You're still the one who makes me feel much taller than you are - I'm just a peeping Tom, on my own for far too long, problems with the booze, nothing left to lose..."

So while I simply cannot recommend Black Market Music over the two Placebo albums which preceded it, there are still moments to be enjoyed. It is by no means a bad album, but the band is far more capable than this LP leads you to believe.

5.5/10

Daniel Kemp

Read more of my reviews at www.danielkempreviews.co.uk

Summary: Do you Like Brian, Stefan and Steve? This album made me weep and grieve!