Without You I'm Nothing (Placebo album)

Placebo released their debut album Placebo in 1996 and was a massive success, going gold in the UK. The same year they began writing new material for the album. Still on Hut Records, the band signed to major label Virgin Records in 1997 and began recording the album.

Real World Studios

The album was recorded over three months in 1998 at Real World Studios in Wiltshire. Twelve songs were originally recorded in the sessions, excluding "Pure Morning" and including another track, "Kitsch Object", which was never included on the album as the band wasn't satisfied with it.[2] The guitar was recorded in a "U shaped" control room. The band said that whoever wrote the part for the guitar played guitar, Molko noting that "It's not that we're territorial – anything but – it's just an idea that the best person to follow an idea through is the person who had it".[3][4] The vocals are considerably lower in tone; Molko said he was tired of having a high-pitched "squeaky" voice. These were recorded in a control room at Real World Studios and the drums recorded in a kitchen.[4]^:1998-6

The album was produced by Steve Osborne because they wanted a producer who was involved with dance music as well as rock music, and they also didn't have many options at the time.[5] "Pure Morning" was recorded later at Livingston Recording Studios; produced Phil Vinall, originally as a b-side. At the last minute, the band included "Pure Morning" on the album as they liked the song very much.[4]

The band was not entirely happy with the recording sessions. Later on, Placebo's frontman, Brian Molko stated that despite appreciating Osborne's producing skills, the chemistry between band and producer "didn't spark the way we wanted it to spark". He felt it was slightly overproduced and that it contained "too many slow songs for a second album". However, he added that it is still a record the band is proud of.[6]

The album cover features two women sitting on a table in front of each other, looking down on the table. The light coming in from the curtains makes a yellow colour on the cover of the album. The back cover shows a couch in front of some red curtains and shows the track listing and all of the information instead of putting it in the booklet. Two different coloured CDs were made; some black and some red.

In August 1998, the band released the single "Pure Morning". It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.[14] The second single, "You Don't Care About Us", was released in September and reached number 5.[14]

Without You I'm Nothing was released on 12 October 1998. The album debuted at number 7 in the UK and French albums chart and at number 20 in the USA Heatseekers chart. It was later certified platinum on 15 August 2003[15] and has sold over one million copies to date. It also went platinum in Australia and Europe and gold in France.[16][17][18] The album was released on CD, cassette and vinyl.

Three further singles were released: "Every You Every Me" on 25 January 1999, "Without You I'm Nothing" on 16 August and "Burger Queen" on 22 November. Videos were made for all singles except "Burger Queen". The video for "Without You I'm Nothing" features a live performance with David Bowie, which was included on the single release, and the video for "Every You Every Me" features clips from the movie Cruel Intentions, as well as another version with the band playing the song live at London's Brixton Academy.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Boston Phoenix	[19]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[20]
Los Angeles Times	[21]
NME	8/10[22]
Pitchfork	5.1/10[23]
PopMatters	7/10[24]
Q	[25]
Rolling Stone	[26]
Select	3/5[27]

Without You I'm Nothing has been generally well received by critics. James Oldham of NME called it "A thrilling record, then, made by freaks, for freaks. Just don't expect to leave with your soul intact".[22] Delvin Neugebauer of Trouser Press remarked that Osborne's production "brings a new dimension to the songs, making their seamy subject matter feel less like compulsive thrill-seeking than insecurity and agoraphobia."[28] Michael Sandlin of Pitchfork wrote "Moonboy Molko is a lousy songwriter, but his campy lyrical melodrama hits home with paste-eating geeks and plenty of hard-up, acne-ridden adolescents... [...] providing entertainment ideally suited for the young, cynical, insecure and sexually-ambiguous male virgin".[23]

A year later, Ned Raggett ranked the album at number 54 on his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties".[29] In 2010, Musikexpress ranked the album at number 49 on their list of "The 50 Best Albums of 1990s".[30] Polish webzine Screenagers ranked it number 21 on its 2004 list of the Top 100 Albums of the '90s.[31] The album has also appeared in all-time best albums lists; The German edition of Rolling Stone included the album at number 366 in their 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[30] According to Acclaimed Music, the album is the 916th most acclaimed album of all time.[30]

A thirteen-month tour accompanied the album; during this tour Stefan Olsdal fell off the stage and broke his arm, whilst on the same evening Brian Molko slept in the same position for ten hours, waking up with a compressed vertebrae in his neck and with no feeling in his head.[32]

All lyrics are written by Brian Molko; all music is composed by Placebo, except where noted.

Placebo

• Brian Molko – vocals, guitar, bass (tracks 4 and 12)
• Stefan Olsdal – bass, guitar, piano (tracks 7 and 9)
• Steve Hewitt – drums, percussion

Technical

• Adrian Bushby – engineering (tracks 2–12)
• Paul Corkett – additional engineering
• Jake Davies – mixing assistance
• Phelan Kane – programming (track 1)
• Teo Miller – engineering (track 1)
• Steve Osborne – production (tracks 2–12)
• Bunt Stafford-Clark – mastering (at Townhouse Studios, London)
• Phil Vinall – production (track 1)
• Corinne Day – sleeve photography
• Placebo – sleeve design
• Blue Source – sleeve design

• Without You I'm Nothing at Discogs (list of releases)