Battle for the Sun

by Placebo

Overview

Placebo's career is a living, breathing example of the power of a niche audience. After making a mild splash in the glam-friendly Brit-pop aftermath -- they ratcheted up the gothic androgyny of Suede, straightening out the guitars while piling up the makeup, vocal tics, and tortured poetry -- the group settled into an appreciative cult that never seemed to penetrate the pop consciousness on either side of the ocean. Battle for the Sun, the band's sixth album and first with drummer Steve Forrest, is given a steel-reinforced production by David Bottrill, a sound that could conceivably be placed on mainstream rock radio if that format still existed, or if it were used as a vehicle for something else than Placebo's music, which remains resolutely pitched toward a niche audience, no matter how many little frills of horns or farting synths grace their guitar grind. Certainly, a good portion of what makes Placebo a cult band is Brian Molko himself, how his strangled vocal affectations and enduring angst speak directly to a small, dedicated batch of listeners while alienating all others, something that Molko, after a decade and a half of semi-stardom, rightly wears as a badge of honor, but the increased care spent on the sound of Battle for the Sun emphasizes how the band's sound -- an extension of '80s growth, right down to its reflected love of '70s Bowie, but never unfriendly to any passing electronic fad -- is never quite hooky, nor does it have a rock kick. Instead, everything about Battle for the Sun -- the thumping rhythms, the subtly churning keyboards, the clanking grind of the digital distortion -- is coloring for the group's disaffected stance, not so much stylish but terminally out of time, alienation preserved in amber for those few who understand. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	01/26/2018
Label:	Shock
UPC:	5021456165643

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Placebo   Primary Artist
Perry White   Baritone,Baritone (Vocal)
Valerie Etienne   Vocals (Background)
Terry Promane   Trombone
Ian Burdge   Cello
Gita Harcourt   Violin
Stephen Hussey   Violin
Gillon Cameron   Violin
Fiona Leggat   Viola
Deborah White   Violin
Kufu   Violin
John Johnson   Flute,Sax (Tenor),Flute,Sax (Tenor)
Fiona Brice   Musical Direction
Vicky Matthews   Cello
Lydia Lowndes-Northcott   Viola
Hazel Fernandes   Vocals (Background)
Emma Owens   Viola
Natalia Bonner   Violin
Peter Cardinali   Conductor,Horn Conductor
Steve McDade   Piccolo,Trumpet
Hazel Fernandez   Vocals (Background)
Helen Rathbone   Cello

Technical Credits

Stefan Olsdal   Composer
Kevin Dietz   Audio Engineer
Neil Comber   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Dave Bascombe   Mixing
Andy Savours   Mixing
Brian Molko   Composer
Alan Moulder   Mixing
David Bottrill   Audio Production,Producer
Darren Lawson   Mixing Assistant
Jordan Page   Composer
Fiona Brice   Arranger
William Lloyd   Composer
Steve Ludwin   Composer
Catherine Marks   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Steven Forrest   Composer
James Brown   Audio Engineer
Dimitri Tikovoi   Producer,Audio Production
Peter Cardinali   Arranger,Horn Arrangements
Placebo   Composer