Customer Reviews

Without You I'm Nothing

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

'A friend in need's a friend indeed, a friend with weed is better', declared Brian Molko at the opening of Pure Morning, the first track on their 2nd album Without You I'm Nothing. Here we go, you think, this shall be an album of irrevent lyrics and punky 'choons', ala the groups 1st album, Placebo. How wrong you'd be.

In fact, despite the suggestion of the opening track, the album is a lot more deep. Musically, you have big shiny anthems ('Pure Morning', 'Every You Every Me'), grungy punky noise-blasts ('Brick Shithouse', 'Scared of Girls), punky anthemic sing-a-longs ('You Don't Care About Us').

However where the album really shines is on its heartbroken love songs, which, both musically and lyrically, are amazing, chilling and emotional. 'Ask For Answers', 'My Sweet Prince', 'Summer's Gone' and 'Burger Queen' all do this well, but it is done most effectively on the wonderful yet incredibly sad title track. It is the sound of Brian Molko's desperation and hurt from rejection. 'Without You, I'm Nothing' he finally croons repeatedly, after a slow build-up of guitars to the third minute or so. It affects you incredibly. This alone merits buying the album, and there is plenty more to enjoy. Enjoy.

I should have written this a long time ago. I saw Placebo in London in 2001 and was immediately hooked. They were so much different than the American bands that I was listening to at the time (Tool, Rage, etc.). The band produced seering pop rock that just flowed through the throng of sweaty people at the show. So after that, I went out and bought the album. Pure Morning may be one of the catchiest songs ever written. Once you hear it, it sticks in your brain for days and is nearly impossible to dislodge. Not to be overshadowed are great tracks like Every Me, Every You and You Don't Care about us. These songs crackle with electricity and are great to listen to anytime, but for me, especially when driving. But the highlight to the album has got to be the title track. Very emotional and strong. I recomend this album to anyone who's gotten stuck in a rut with today's mainstream music.

Take some Smiths, some Joy Division, a little Depeche Mode, and a hint of Nirvana, with a singer who can be compared to Getty Lee. Then make it all much darker, deeper and sad! You'd have Placebo. I have listened to this CD more than any other album ever. It is simply brilliant! It is their best work and if I could only take one CD to a desert Island this would probably be it. (Although I'd probably commit suicide after about a year) Mind you it is not for everybody. You must like deep, depressing, androgenous music. Placebo is an awesome 3 piece band! They play catchy uptempo songs as well as slow ballad type songs and even get a little heavy at times. Brian Molko's vocals and lyrics are one of a kind. If you like alternative music with an 80's type feel or any of the bands I mentioned above, you must check out Placebo and definitely this album.

Seriously. In 39 years of life I have never listened to an album for the first time and loved every single track, first off, first listening. That is how good this LP is. Not even "Ziggy Stardust" did that for me. My first impression was New Oder collides with The Wedding Present. This album at once rocks you into a frenzy with glorious guitar riffs and chord changes, blistering bass rythyms and synchopated vocal intro's. Then it slugs you in the stomach with it's desperate dark melodies and words. It's a roller coaster ride, and Molkos voice is sheer jagged ice. I am one moment atop a mountain revelling in "Brick" and "You don't Care" and then dredging the oceans of my heart with "Crawl" "Sweet Prince". Like Bowie with "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" Molko leaves us with "Burger Queen". My spirits are lifted and dashed in 66 minutes of the best music I have ever heard. I feel the angst in this album, and yet in the end I am left with a sense of hope. Please God let Placebo live forever. Simply the best album ever made, it saved my life.

Placebo's "Without You I'm Nothing" is a spectacular trip through the darkness, angst, despair, heartache, emptiness, and loss of the 1990s. Cheerful? No. Spectacular? Yes. This is certainly musical ground that has been broken before, but Placebo carry it off with such style, energy, and penache that it really doesn't matter. Scrappy underdog Brian Molko is a perfect rock n' roll frontman for the end of the millennium: screwed up, hurt, and sexually ambiguous. Which is just the way we like our rock stars. 'Pure Morning' is a thunderous beast of an opening track, but there are many, many more treasures to be savoured on this album. The next two tracks, 'Brick Shithouse' and 'You Don't Care About Us' don't let up on the energy, while later in the album the band soften its appraoch musically, while Molko takes us through his musings on addictions, heartache, and loss. The title track sends shivers down my spine, while the album-closing 'Burger Queen' is a brutally honest self portrayal of Molko. Slap this album on during a dark, stormy evening and enjoy the ride.

I'd have to say that this is one of the more blatantly emotional Placebo albums. You can really tell that Brian wrote some of these songs coming from a very dark place, and I think that he conveys that beautifully. "Burger Queen" & "My Sweet Prince" are excellent examples of the darker stuff, while "Allergic" & "Scared of Girls" show how the well the band can play slightly harder material.

Yes, there are a few songs where it's quite obvious as to who they have been inspired by. Such as "You Don't Care About Us", very Cure. And yes, Brian did wear alot of makeup and women's clothing in those days, and he still wears makeup. But just as with Marilyn Manson people pay far more attention to a band's "image" then they do to actually LISTENING to lyrics and music. This is a very well-done album and I highly suggest it to anyone with an interest in Placebo.

I am huge Brit Pop whore and have been since I was thirteen. That being said, Placebo really doesn't have much in common with the 90s Brit Pop greats like Pulp, The Stone Roses, Blur or Suede which all have a sort of vague interlocking thread. I'm not even sure why I like "I'm Nothing Without You" so much: it's not my kind of music. I remember when "Pure Morning" was a single, and I didn't think anything of it at the time. All I know now is that I can't wait to get home from work so I can listen to this album. One moment it has me jumping up and down like lunatic, and next I'm pratically weeping. And I LOVE Brian Molko's voice.

So I'd thank all the Amazon Placebo reviewers who convinced me I should give this album a go. You all were right.

And for the record, Placebo does not sound like Smashing Pumpkins (the kind of music I do hate). Buy buy buy.

One of the best (and unfairly underrated) rock albums of the late nineties, Placebo`s sophomore release is an enticing, subtle, addictive and overall solid effort worth of praise.

The band`s debut was already a fine rock record, but in "Without You I`m Nothing" the powerful trio expands their sound and adopts a more goth-oriented feel, providing deep, atmospheric and hypnotic music that`s way above most britpop bands around that get more recognition and mass appeal (Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, the Verve, Travis, yawn.....).

While in the debut the group presented a sound that recalled Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, here they enter a musical universe that is more related to some David Bowie, New Order or Cure material.

The album`s highlights are the ballads, slow and captivating songs where singer Brian Molko truly expressess his emotional and musical range, delivering moments like the melancholic "Ask For Answers", the highly impressive and haunting "The Crawl" and the dark ode "My Sweet Prince". "Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth)" and "You Don`t Care About Us" prove that the trio still knows how to create dynamic and fast-paced rock songs as well.

Why this band doesn`t get more recognition is beyond me, since this record is an excellent effort and should not be on many store shelves waiting for someone to notice it. Its follow-up, "Black Market Music", is also a terrific rock album worth discovering and perhaps Placebo`s best.
A keeper.

We've all heard the question asked on MTV or in printed form in music magazines... "What album changed your life?"

Well in my case, seeing as how I'm now middle aged, this has actually happened to me twice. When I was 16 the self titled "Boston" debut changed my taste in music forever. Or so I thought.

As the years rolled by I found myself living in a small redneck town in Florida and listening to country music, which I still enjoy. The grunge movement at the time had finished off rock music for me and I slipped comfortably into middle age.

Then, through unforeseen circumstances, I found myself living in Manchester England at the age of 38 with a much younger girlfriend. One night, she played a song on her CD player which completely blew me out of the musical funk I'd been living in for the previous six years. I rushed over to the CD player and turned the volume up high and got lost in the most haunting song I'd ever heard in my life. That song, of course, was "Pure Morning" by Placebo and in that instant, my life was changed again.

It was my introduction to "Brit Pop," a musical form I never even knew existed, and began a long affair with this type of music that continues to this day. It also opened my eyes anew to the Rock music which I had abandoned and even made me look at grunge with new eyes of respect.

So today, at the age of 47, you may just as easily find me hanging at a Collective Soul, Offspring, Blink 182, Avril Lavigne, Placebo, Muse, Garbage, Oasis or Radiohead show as you would find me at any number of classic rock shows or even country hoe-downs.

All because of this song and this band and this album. This was just the beginning. I own every Placebo album there is but this was the one that broke it open for me and forever will remain part of my life.

This review probably won't be helpful to the young ones out there but if you find yourself in the same situation as me you should seriously listen to this band.

Absolutely recommended for purchase ... even if you're not middle aged. ;)

Yes, they have many influences, but that's part of their charm. I bought this album wiithout hearing any songs on it, just because I kept meeting people who said I'd like these guys. I must say, they were right. Every song on here totally rocks; the fast ones as well as the moody ones. "Pure Morning" especially grabs me as an outstanding track, but really, there aren't any bad songs. The lyrics/vocals are unique but still amazing. And most importantly, the music is amazing. Imagine Radiohead, old Limp Bizkit minus Fred Durst and DJ Lethal, The Pizxies, and Jets to Brazil, all mixed together in a blender and then put through a filter that removes everything bad about those bands. That's pretty much what Placebo sounds like. I don't have any of their other CD's, but I will buy them soon. These guys are too good for me to own only one CD by them.