Placebo: Ranking The Albums
Built around the core of cosmopolitan duo Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal, Placebo are truly unique, and have produced some of the most innovative, yet universally popular, rock music in Europe over the last 30 years. We take a deep dive into each of their stellar albums, ranking them in order of greatness and listing key tracks. Scroll down to find out which record made Number One, and let us know what you think! Check out this Spotify playlist too, which All Things Rock believe goes beyond Spotify’s recommendations and is the best way to experience Placebo. Then take a look at some of our other rankings!
Half the songs that made up Placebo’s seventh studio album were initially written for an abandoned Brian Molko solo record. Perhaps this goes some way to explaining why ‘Loud Like Love’ feels somewhat subdued instrumentally, with the emphasis being placed on Brian Molko’s vocals,which themselves sound more grating than endearing this time around.
In all honesty, ‘Loud Like Love’ is quite a slog to get through. Second track ‘Scene of the Crime’ makes some interesting attempts to be a high-energy song, but it is scuppered by obnoxious synths and overly loud vocals. Lead single ‘Too Many Friends’ tries to be both provocative and poignant ("My computer thinks I’m gay / What’s the difference anyway / When all the people do all day / Is stare into a phone") but it comes across as trite and forced.
‘A Million Little Pieces’ is the best track here by a mile, with a lovesick message wrapped up in swathes of piano, huge guitars and drums that are reminiscent of The Cure. This is the only song that stands shoulder to shoulder with Placebo’s best work, and as such ‘Loud Like Love’ is a clear choice for last place in this list.
Standout tracks: ‘A Million Little Pieces’, ‘Purify’, ‘Bosco’
In many ways, ‘Black Market Music’ was a retread of ‘Without You I’m Nothing'. The structure of the album is very similar, starting with an intriguing mid-tempo song with limited melody but lots of interesting textures (‘Taste in Men’ vs ‘Pure Morning’), followed by a fast-paced, riff-heavy rocker (‘Days Before You Came’ vs ‘Brick Shithouse’), then an up-tempo single (‘Special K’ vs ‘You Don’t Care About Us’), and ending with a delicate ballad (‘Black Market Blood’ vs ‘Burger Queen’).
The problem is that the songs on ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ are generally much better than the ones here. This isn’t to say that there aren’t some good songs here, though. The album’s final single ‘Black-Eyed’ is superb, with nostalgic and self-aware lyrics and a huge, life-affirming sound. Brian Molko’s voice is deliciously cracked on ‘Blue American’, even if the lyrics (“Thank you Mum / Hi Mum”) are perplexing at first. ‘Commercial for Levi’ is short and sweet, and the closest Placebo get to being whimsical, with a narrative of deviance that could almost be a sequel to ‘Nancy Boy’.
Unfortunately, for all its strong moments, ‘Black Market Music’ is weighed down by the dullness of ‘Narcoleptic’, ‘Black Market Blood’ and ‘Peeping Tom’. And the less that is said about the attempt at rapping in ‘Spite and Malice’, the better.
Standout tracks: ‘Commercial For Levi’, ‘Black-Eyed’, ‘Blue American’
When the time came for Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal to write their 8th album, they had recently completed an extensive world tour that had focused on the hits, as a celebration of Placebo’s 20th anniversary. Having famously moved away from playing ‘Nancy Boy’, ‘Pure Morning’, ‘Come Home’ and the like, the band relented to pressure and brought back these anthems for the masses - not just as a one-off, but for months on end throughout 2017.
As such, it was perhaps understandable for them to want to flex their creative muscles again, and to produce something new that was deeper, and less immediate and radio-friendly. The result was ‘Never Let Me Go’, an intriguing and consistent record that was significantly better than ‘Loud Like Love’. The Covid pandemic also led to some delays in the recording process, which perhaps enabled some extra time for the songs to develop. ‘Never Let Me Go’ was eventually released in 2022, and its resultant tour resulted in a subsequent live album, ‘Collapse Into Never’, which is well worth a listen.
One immediate observation is how much better Brian sounds on this record compared to its predecessor. Where his characteristically nasal voice had started to threaten to descend into self-parody, here there is an increased confidence in his vocal range, which may not be high as in the 90s and early 2000s but still carries a punch.
‘Never Let Me Go’ would have benefitted from a little trimming. Closer ‘Fix Yourself’ is a somewhat lacklustre end to proceedings, and it is hard to know what point ‘Sad White Reggae’ is trying to make. But the hits outweigh the misses, and tracks like ‘Chemtrails’, ‘Surrounded By Spies’ and ‘Went Missing’ all bring fresh ideas to the introspective Placebo that we have loved for 3 decades, while ‘Beautiful James’ and ‘Try Better Next Time’ stand shoulder to shoulder with their catchiest, poppiest work.
Standout tracks: ‘The Prodigal’, ‘Beautiful James’, ‘Surrounded By Spies’
‘Kitty Litter’ is a bold move as an album opener - angular, discordant and distinctly un-commercial. It sets the tone for a record that sounds like Placebo asserting control over their destiny, refusing to give in to commercial demands, while also stripping away the electronic leanings of ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ and ‘Meds’ and focusing on the core sound of guitar, bass and drums (with a new drummer this time too, with Steve Forrest replacing original drummer Steve Hewitt).
Acclaimed producer David Bottrill (Tool, Muse, Silverchair) gave ‘Battle For the Sun’ a muscular, beefy sound that sounds especially good in single ‘For What It’s Worth’, with subtle layers of brass and synths in the choruses, but nothing eclipsing the guitars in the way that happened in the previous two records. At times they sound heavier than ever - ‘The Never-Ending Why’ for example, which is an absolutely thrilling pop song with riffs cranked up to max, and the high-energy ‘Breathe Underwater’.
Where ‘Battle For the Sun’ falls down is in its slower songs. If tracks like ‘Happy You’re Gone’ ‘Come Undone’ had been written in the ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ era, they would have been more atmospheric and delicate; but Placebo in 2009 were all about big riffs and electric guitars, so the songs become stadium-sized power ballads, and unfortunately they lose some poignancy with the amps turned up to 11.
‘Battle For the Sun’ is arguably Placebo’s most direct and consistent record. As a statement of intent, it shows that they can rock out with the best of them.
Standout tracks: ‘Battle For the Sun’, ‘Speak in Tongues’, ‘The Never-Ending Why’
‘Black Market Music’ had been something of a mis-step, essentially being a retread of ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ but with worse songs, so Placebo had a point to prove with their 4th album. Seemingly distancing themselves from the more radio-friendly early hits, Placebo attempted something more adventurous with ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’, a multi-layered, experimental collection that dialled back some of the guitars for a more electronic experience, which is best enjoyed through headphones.
Rather than a wholesale shift in sound, ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ adds some interesting new layers to Placebo’s core setup. The best example of this may be the title track, which has a very traditional Placebo melody, but the guitars and drums are augmented by washes of synths, additional electronic beats and sumptuous vocal echoes. It was clear that the band had taken a lot of care over the sonic textures of this record, bringing to mind Radiohead and PJ Harvey. Lead single ‘The Bitter End’ could have fitted easily on the debut album in terms of songwriting, but the production is significantly bolder.
It isn’t all brilliant, though, and some of the experimentation leads to a sense of quantity over quality. ‘Something Rotten’ has lots of interesting production ideas, but the song itself leaves next to no impression. ‘I’ll Be Yours’ sounds more like a b-side. ‘English Summer Rain’ has the mechanical intrigue of ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Taste in Men’ but it outstays its welcome. The highlights are generally the more up-tempo tracks like ‘Second Sight’, ‘Plasticine’ and ‘This Picture’, which are an intriguing update of Placebo’s early sound.
Soundout tracks: ‘This Picture’, ‘Plasticine’, ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’
Emerging in the mid-90s, Placebo were lumped in with the Brit-pop of Blur, Ash, Oasis, Elastica, Republica and countless others, but in reality they didn’t really fit into this movement. For a start, though marketed as a London band, Placebo’s origins were multi-cultural, with family roots in Luxembourg, Belgium, Sweden, USA and UK, and their visual image and lyrical themes around gender ambiguity, cross-dressing, hedonism and sexual experimentation were a far cry from the laddish culture of TFI Friday and Loaded Magazine.
‘Bruise Pristine’, ‘36 Degrees’ and ‘Teenage Angst’ were our first taste of Placebo, and each song made an impact in the rock world, but it was ‘Nancy Boy’ that blew everything up. Original pressings of the self-titled debut album had a different version of ‘Nancy Boy’ that was slower and less vital, but the song was then re-recorded and released as a single, and its immense popularity led to ‘Placebo’ being re-released with the new version. Brian Molko has gone to great lengths to distance himself from the song, but there is no denying that ‘Nancy Boy’ is a stunning track, with a wicked melody and just the right balance of discordant noise, catchy melodies and provocative lyrics.
Closer ‘Swallow’ can be a bit of a slog, but otherwise every song on this record is an absolute gem. ‘Hang on to Your IQ’, ‘I Know’ and ‘Lady of the Flowers’ are slower, menacing and brilliant. ‘36 Degrees’, ‘Bionic’ (the only song from the record to remain as a consistent staple in latter-day setlists) and ‘Come Home’ are perfect pop songs, and the aforementioned ‘Bruise Pristine’ and ‘Nancy Boy’ brought enough heaviness for Placebo to get on the bill at more metal-heavy festivals than many of their mainstream peers.
If the 3 singles released so far from the 2026 ‘RE:IMAGINED’ version of the album are anything to go by, this imagining will be an absolute masterpiece, remixing and updating the sound while retaining the original performances.
Standout tracks: ‘Teenage Angst’, ‘Lady of the Flowers’, ‘Bionic’
It may start with the strums of an acoustic guitar, but those strums are full of urgency and feeling. Building to a discordant conclusion that has echoes of Marilyn Manson, ‘Meds’ is a thrilling opener to Placebo’s excellent 5th album of the same name - a record that only narrowly misses out on being top of this list.
There are a few out-and-out rock songs (‘Because I Want You’, ‘Infra-Red’, ‘Drag’), but much of ‘Meds’ is more electronic, with programmed beats, keyboards and processed sounds that bring to mind Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. Every song has a unique character, but the record works so well as a whole, from the understated cameo from REM’s Michael Stipe in ‘Broken Promise’ to the dirty bass of ‘Post Blue’, to the lethargic and seductive ‘In the Cold Light of Morning’ and the devastating ‘Pierrot the Clown’.
Where ‘Black Market Music’ had a few failed experiments and ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ occasonally played it safe, ‘Meds’ strikes the right balance between experimentation and familiarity. Brimming with ideas, ‘Meds’ is a fantastically entertaining listen.
Standout tracks: ‘Follow The Cops Back Home’, ‘Meds’, ‘Blind’
Placebo had made a significant impact with their debut album, and their follow-up record ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ expanded on it in every way. The heaviness of ‘Bruise Pristine’ led to the distorted menace of ‘Scared of Girls’ and ‘Brick Shithouse’. Where ‘Lady of the Flowers’ and ‘I Know’ had shown Placebo’s knack for slower, darker atmosphere, album two built on this magnificently, with ‘My Sweet Prince’, ‘Ask For Answers’, ‘The Crawl’ and ‘Burger Queen’ having all the delicate fragility and beauty of rose petals, Brian Molko’s voice being given space to shine within the sparse instrumentation. And the pop-rock of early singles ‘Nancy Boy’, ‘Teenage Angst’ and ‘36 Degrees’ was revisited, albeit with greater maturity, in ‘You Don’t Care About Us’, ‘Allergic’ and ‘Every You Every Me’.
In many ways, ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ is a showcase of all aspects of Placebo at their best. Opener ‘Pure Morning’ may seem simple, staying on the same chord throughout, but it has multiple layers, not to mention some deliciously provocative lyrics (“A friend in need’s a friend in deed / A friend with weed is better / A friend with breasts and all the rest / A friend who’s dressed in leather“). The title track, which was then re-released as a single with a curious but high-profile cameo from David Bowie, has an unconventional structure that builds to a devastating conclusion, and is utterly beautiful. ‘Every You Every Me’ is an immediate classic, elevated by its inclusion in the Cruel Intentions soundtrack. Penultimate track ‘Summer’s Gone’ is the only comparative weak point on the album, but it still plays a useful role in the tracklisting.
There may be better singles on other records (‘Teenage Angst’, ‘The Bitter End’, ‘This Picture’, ‘Slave to the Wage’), but as an album ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ is such a wonderful, cohesive statement, and one of the best British alternative rock albums of the 90s.
Standout tracks: ‘Brick Shithouse’, ‘Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth)’, ‘My Sweet Prince’
