"Ghosts maybe be the only entity Brian Molko hasn't slept with -- just thinking about it appears to have restored his mojo after the muted Black Market Music."
review of SWG, from Q 2003
"Placebo's self-titled debut stirs up images of fear, vulnerability and gender-bending sexuality so honestly you can't help but carry a torch for Molko's optimistic delusions of grandeur."
review of self-titled, from Rolling Stone 1996
"The resulting compound is glam-grunge, for want of a better label, with the glam half provided by the androgynous Molko and his love- it-or-hate-it Muppet whine."
review of a live gig, from The Independent 1997
"In the great tradition of T. Rex-whose "20th Century Boy" they actually improved for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack-Placebo's hooks are no less muscular for their androgyny. The yummy radio single "Pure Morning" has the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" in its Middle Eastern melody and Rush's "Tom Sawyer" in its drum boom and nasal tone; Brian Molko quacks out wacky words about how friends with weed and undressed breasts are best."
review of WYIN, from Rolling Stone 1998
"But even if only half of this record pleases the cultists, it's still Placebo all over - clever, sexy, arch, propulsive and resolutely unfashionable."
review of BMM, from Rolling Stone 2001
"Placebo are your classic example of the band that everyone applauded for about six months before getting pretty bored with them. Good first album, verrrrry similar second. And much of the first album was, well, let's be kind and say 'identifiably Placebo'. But Brian Molko amused us with his tales of Blood and Spunk (as the NME put it) related adventures on the road, and the whole gender issue. But after a while people started paying a little more attention to the Bowie comparisons, and found a band who were fast approaching their sell by date. The third album has failed to impress, and whilst the singles grace the lower ends of the top twenty, I can't imagine Placebo will survive too much longer... "
from http://www.garbledonline.net/BandsNotLike.html 2000/2001?
/I'd say Placebo proved the twat who wrote this review to be wrong. -the ed./
"Although the lyrics reflected the devil-may-care sensibilities of a seasoned sinner, the songs were often philosophical, musing on such universal concerns as desire, heartbreak, self-loathing, and oppression.
review of a 2001 gig, from The LA Times
"As the lights stay low, pre-encore, I glance around me at the audience, trying to get a handle on who it is exactly that Placebo attract. I come to the conclusion that, at last there's no ABC category when it comes to pop fans. Possibly because Placebo are hard to define themselves, are they rock? Metal? Indie-schmindie? Gay? Does it matter?"
review of a Bristol gig, from Sessions magazine issue #3, Mar 97
"Placebo's commitment to freedom and anarchy is rare in a pop field that expects proven performers to churn out stylistically recognizable--and commercially seductive--fare until the market for a particular sound and/or look crumbles. And the building blocks of the Placebo sound are vastly more diverse than the glam genre into which many critics pigeonhole the band."
article about Brian & Placebo, from Guitar Player 2001
"Hands up who'd given up on Placebo? They've become one of those bands who are routinely ignored and mocked by everybody but their, admittedly large, hardcore fanbase. Well the laughter can stop here, because 'Meds' is a fantastic album."
review of Meds, from Rocksound, April 2006
"Placebo once again open the sordid casebook of their psychosexual misadventures. Stand-out cut 'Protect Me From What I Want' even sees dirty little Brian looking for some head space and a way yo escape his grubby temptations."
review of Sleeping With Ghosts, from The Rough Guide To Rock (3rd edition), published 2003
