At the very end of the album there’s a strange message that was left on Brian’s answer machine which some may find amusing. Across the album no matter where you climbed aboard the Placebo train there is something for everybody. The heaviest song on this album is “Brick Shithouse” which may not appeal to newer fans. What is instantly noticeable about this album is the sound & songs on this album are immediately more mature than the predecessor with a darker feel to them.

After the success of their debut the band signed to major record label Virgin & got to work on the follow up. “Nancy Boy” is the song that exploded the bands popularity but it was “Bruise Pristine” that happened to be the bands 1st single and is still one of my favs. There’s a few songs worthy of being in my picks below but I chose the 2 which currently stand out to me. It wasn’t always this way and “36 Degrees” was a relatively recent new favourite after revisiting the album after many years. “36 Degrees” is probably my favourite song on the album. I was 16 when this came out and it was their unique sound that immediately caught my attention and the band became an instant favourite of mine. Conflicts between him & Brian Molko meant that it just wasn’t going to work & he was replaced afterwards by Steve Hewitt who happened to be the bands preferred choice for original drummer but was playing with another band at the time. This is the only album to feature original drummer Robert Schultzberg.

Most of the songs were written in 1995 & a few demos of those early versions exist on youtube. Their sound is as unique today as it was 22 years ago thanks largely to Brian’s distinctive vocals. So what is it then? Is it melodic punk pop music with a goth edge?. It’s frantic without sounding like a punk album, heavy without sounding like a metal album. What a cracking album for a debut from Placebo.

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