Loud Like Love

Loud Like Love
Studio album by Placebo
Released	16 September 2013
Recorded	2012–2013 at RAK Studios in London
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	47:16
Label	Universal[1]
Producer	Adam Noble
Placebo chronology
B3 (EP) (2012) Loud Like Love (2013)
Singles from Loud Like Love
"Too Many Friends" Released: 8 July 2013[2] "Loud Like Love" Released: 6 August 2013

Loud Like Love is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released on 16 September 2013.

The album was announced on 21 May 2013 through the band's official website.^[3] Loud Like Love's track listing and its first single, "Too Many Friends", were officially announced on 17 June 2013.^[2]

Background and recording

During the Battle for the Sun tour, band members Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal both stated on various occasions that they were working on material for the next studio album.^[4] In November 2011, the band announced via their Facebook page and official website that they will be returning to the studio in 2012 to record their seventh studio album.^[5]

Molko was originally working on material for a possible solo release, and he wrote various songs for it that would later appear on Loud Like Love. The band went in the recording studio to record some singles, but then they began to record more and more material.^[6]

The album was recorded in London's RAK Studios, where Placebo have also recorded their fifth studio album, Meds. Production duties, as well as mixing, were handled by Adam Noble.

Composition

The album revolves around the theme of love, in all different forms: romance, happiness and also heartbreak. "Too Many Friends" deals with people spending time on the internet and end up being far more close to the hundreds of friends on the internet than off the computer. "Rob the Bank" is about somebody loving you unconditionally, even if you, in this case, rob a bank.^[7]

Release

The album's lead single, "Too Many Friends", was released on 8 July 2013. The music video, filmed in Los Angeles, features the first collaboration between Placebo and American novelist Bret Easton Ellis.^[8] Another song premiered from the album is the track "Loud Like Love", which was released as a digital download on 6 August 2013.^[9]

The album was released worldwide on 16 September 2013. The release formats include a box set, a deluxe CD digipack with the DVD "Live at RAK Studios", a CD and a 12" vinyl. On the day of Loud Like Love's release, an internet show titled "LLLTV" was streamed live from YouTube Studios in London. It was the first YouTube live stream of its kind.^[10] The show featured, among other things, Placebo performing songs from the album and older songs (chosen in part by the audience through an online poll), band interviews and guest appearances by people who collaborated with Placebo on the making of the album.^[11]

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 13,^[12] the first time Placebo have missed the UK Top Ten in ten years (since Sleeping With Ghosts) and their lowest UK album position ever.^[13] The album also entered the French Albums Chart at number 3, the first time they missed the French number one spot since Without You I'm Nothing fifteen years earlier. The album charted in the Australian Albums Chart at number 9 and at number 18 in the Irish Albums Chart. Loud Like Love is also the first Placebo album to miss the Portuguese Top Five, peaking at number 15. The album entered the US Billboard chart at number 98, where the previous one, Battle For The Sun, reached number 51.^[14] The album did peak at number 1 in Switzerland, Placebo's third album in a row to do so. This currently is the album's only number 1 peak.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	55/100[15]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[16]
Alternative Press	[17]
Clash	6/10[18]
Drowned in Sound	5/10[19]
The Guardian	[20]
Mojo	[15]
Q	[21]

"Loud Like Love" was met with generally mixed reviews from music critics. The album holds a Metascore of 55 at Metacritic, which indicates a mixed or average reception.^[15] At Alternative Press, Mischa Pearlman told that "too much of this album comes off like self-parody, meaning it's a far cry from the pulverizing of their best work", so Pearlman affirmed that "Unfortunately, the naysayers will have a field day with this seventh album."^[17] Allmusic said that "many of these songs play like less-alienated, if no less paranoid, OK Computer-era Radiohead cuts," adding that "however, the songs here are still laden with Molko's high-pitched vocals, which he characteristically uses to play the eternally angst-ridden and alienated teenager -- something the band's fans will surely appreciate," giving the album 3.5 stars out of five. Amanda Arber of Clash said that Loud Like Love is "easy to absorb musically and easy to ignore lyrically," and that "Loud Like Love is 50 minutes of simply okay alt-rock." The Guardian gave the album two stars out of five, saying "the veteran band sticks to what it knows for Loud Like Love."

Track listing

Charts

Release history

Personnel

• Brian Molko – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Stefan Olsdal – bass guitar, guitar, piano, keyboards, cimbalom, backing vocals
• Steve Forrest – drums, percussion
• Bill Lloyd – keyboards, bass guitar
• Fiona Brice – string arrangements, backing vocals
• Fabian Waltmann – additional programming

• Adam Noble – production, mixing, programming
• Mike Horner – assistant engineer (RAK Studios, London)
• John Prestage – assistant engineer (Strongroom Studios, London)
• Tom Bailey – assistant engineer (Air Studios, London)
• Dick Beetham – mastering
• Joseph Llanes – photography

References