Chord Magazine April/May 2006
Meds : 4 out of 5 [fans of The Killers, Muse, and Mechanical Animals-era Marilyn Manson take note.]
Ten years and five records into its career, Placebo delivers an album that marries the pop rock immediacy of its first two records with that textured, electronic experimentation of its last two. 2001's Black Market Music was the fallout from the band's youthful hedonism and wistful abandon, an uneven departure remedied with 2003's Sleeping With Ghosts. While the latter turned up the guitars, there was also a sonic spotlight on dense production. Meds harkens back to the urgency and agony of Without You I'm Nothing (1998), its opening chords an instant flashback to "Every You Every Me". The title track, "Drag", "Post Blue", "Broken Promise", "One Of A Kind", and "Song To Say Goodbye" showcase a revitalized band at it's best. From the love cravings of "Because I Want You" to the dejected addiction calliope of "In The Cold Light Of Morning", the themes remain the same, but a decade of performances has morphed Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal, and Steve Hewitt into a power trio to be reckoned with.
