Without You I’m Nothing

Placebo scored an initial American foothold with “Pure Morning,” a notable example of Brian Molko’s son-of-Martin-Gore-level forced rhymes still carried brilliantly by the music, a stirring slow-burn rise of feedback and rhythm. The album as a whole delivers on that promise, with further careening on the edge anthems like “You Don’t Care About Us” and “Every You Every Me” served up alongside more instances of slow heartbreak ballads, including the title track, later redone with David Bowie, and the in-the-spotlight melodrama of “My Sweet Prince.”