Placebo – Battle for the Sun
What is a “Battle for the Sun,” and why would anyone imagine that it would make for a particularly great musical concept? Placebo, a UK band formed in 1994, took their name not from the placeholder that pretends to be a drug but rather from the root Latin, meaning “to please.” Which should be a red flag to anyone that this band possesses very little in the way of concrete opinions. The notion behind artistry is to realize one’s unique vision in a world of sameness; Placebo, unfortunately, fail to deliver.
“Bright Lights” is the only saving grace on this album, and as a stand-alone single, it might work. There is a certain energy, personified by its effects-laden guitar, reminiscent of a peppier, more harmonic groove. When paired with the rest of the insipid, sluggish compositions, “Bright Lights” can’t raise the album alone. There is simply too much drudgery and foot-dragging competence to elevate this album into anything other than grinding background noise.
The guitars are amped up to sound less like instruments and more like the tuneless wallow of grunge from which the band’s musical style emerged. Not that there was anything wrong with the original grunge. At least that music had passion. Aside from the tuenful blast of “Bright Lights,” which will get your feet tapping, even though it fails to fire any synapses or heart strings, the majority of “Battle of the Sun” is recycled and lukewarm.
In this case, “Bright Lights” is anthemic without being particularly meaningful; it allows the listener a temporary harmonic reprieve from the rest of the album, which sinks into dirge-like bass and unimaginative lyrics. Placebo’s problem is that they seemingly began listening to music in 1995, and then switched off all auditory input in 1996.
Perhaps Placebo is just in a rut, but one hopes the band will regain some of the passion and joy that should inform their musical choices, even if their work isn’t neccessarily upbeat in tone. A positive outlook should never be confused with artistic merit; but Placebo fails to provide satisfaction on either count.
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