Placebo, Meds

Although I thought Placebo will never reach the peak they had reached with Without You I'm Nothing, they come close with Meds. What confuses me a bit about this album is that I don't understand where they position themselves. Infra Red , although not a bad tune, and definitely a catchy guitar riff sounds a bit childish and lacks the depths Placebo used to drag us in. But it's alright, they come back. They become the same drama kings (or queens?) of hangover and post-drug moods in the cold light of morning, falling into the abyss, shattered dreams and unfulfilled expectations, hate towards the human mediocrity that probably dominates the entire race. More than the slowly-killing depression felt in the previous works of the band, Meds is about the chaos afterwards. About the cold reality that leads into further depression, of course. But it's that superiority of the man who has lived and learned, the man who felt everything, endured everything, and despises everything. The man who seeks revenge: Infra Red, Song to Say Goodbye, Follow the Cops Back Home, Broken Promise (that is a lot of anger, isn't it? Rage in Molko's voice, in the angry electric guitars, in the unleashed drums. Yet, beware; they do not lose their melodicity). Of these, Broken Promise benefits from REM's Michael Stipe's intervention. It is a wise choice, as the track is powerful in itself, and Stipe is just 'the cherry on the cake'.Follow the cops back home is more of a ballad, but not as good as Pierrot the Clown, the only tune that actually keeps the old school Placebo vibes. The spleen, the melancholy, the dark suburbs, the broken smile. To conclude: worth testing, for fans, but not only. Personally, I would not recommend it as a starting point for listening to Placebo, because of the different atmosphere. But, all in all, not bad.