Black Market Music (album)

Black Market Music
Studio album by Placebo
Released 9 October 2000
Recorded Late 1999 – mid 2000 at Olympic Studios, Townhouse Studios and Moody Studios in London
Genre Alternative rock
Length 45:44
Label Hut
Producer Paul Corkett
Placebo chronology

Without You I'm Nothing
(1998)		 Black Market Music
(2000)		 Sleeping with Ghosts
(2003)
Singles from Black Market Music
  1. "Taste in Men"
    Released: 17 July 2000
  2. "Slave to the Wage"
    Released: September 2000
  3. "Special K"
    Released: 19 March 2001
  4. "Black-Eyed"
    Released: September 2001
  5. "Blue American"
    Released: May 2002

Black Market Music is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Placebo. The album took nine months to record, from between late 1999 to mid 2000; the longest that the band have ever spent recording an album to date. It was released on 9 October 2000 by record label Hut.

It has sold over one million copies to date.

Background

The album is dedicated to music publicist Scott Piering, who died of cancer in early 2000.[1] The song "Commercial for Levi" is a reference to the sound technician Levi Tecofski, who on one occasion saved frontman Brian Molko's life: Molko, drunk and about to cross the road, was quickly pulled back by Tecofski from the path of an approaching vehicle.[2]

Release

Black Market Music was released on 9 October 2000.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 65[3]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [4]
Alternative Press [5]
Robert Christgau ambiguous[6]
Drowned in Sound 8/10[7]
NME unfavorable[8]
Pitchfork 2.4/10[9]
PopMatters neutral[10]
Rolling Stone [3]
Q [3]

Black Market Music received a generally favourable critical response, though a less enthusiastic reception than previous records. Dean Carlson of AllMusic wrote that "Black Market Music finds Molko in such moody lust that his strangled, androgynous wailing rivals anything the band has previously flashed to the world [...] Placebo seem to have finally found that sweet wet spot between beauty and perversion."[4] Dale Price of Drowned in Sound called it "a heavily revised upgrade of their back catalogue. And then some."[7] Nicholas Taylor of PopMatters called it "highly listenable dark guitar rock".[10]

Among its detractors were NME, who called it "a case of ambition eclipsing talent, of hubris, of a band losing the plot. Placebo's frame of reference has always been narrow, but they've now been reduced to empty gestures without any visionary tunes to tip the balance."[8]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Placebo, except where noted. 

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Taste in Men"    4:15
2. "Days Before You Came"    2:33
3. "Special K"    3:52
4. "Spite & Malice" (feat. Justin Warfield)Placebo, Justin Warfield 3:37
5. "Passive Aggressive"    5:24
6. "Black-Eyed"    3:48
7. "Blue American"    3:31
8. "Slave to the Wage"  Kannberg, Malkmus, Placebo 4:06
9. "Commercial for Levi"    2:20
10. "Haemoglobin"    3:46
11. "Narcoleptic"    4:22
12. "Peeping Tom" (all versions except the vinyl edition contain the hidden track "Black Market Blood", starting at 10:14)  14:10

Personnel

Placebo
Additional personnel
Technical personnel

Charts and certifications

Charts
Chart Position
Australian Albums Chart[11] 18
Austrian Albums Chart[12] 7
Belgian Flanders Albums Chart[13] 10
Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart[14] 3
Dutch Albums Chart[15] 28
Finnish Albums Chart[16] 24
French Albums Chart[17] 1
Irish Albums Chart[18] 12
Italian Albums Chart[19] 9
New Zealand Albums Chart[20] 22
Norwegian Albums Chart[21] 9
Swedish Albums Chart[22] 17
Swiss Albums Chart[23] 15
UK Albums Chart[24] 6
Certifications
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[25] Gold 35,000^
Italy (FIMI)[26] Gold 50,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[27] Gold 25,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Album liner notes.
  2. ↑ "I'm the Anti-Eminem". Melody Maker. 20 October 2000. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Critic Reviews for Black Market Music – Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Carlson, Dean. "Black Market Music – Placebo | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Alternative Press (155): 80. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Placebo". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Price, Dale (9 October 2000). "Album Reviews: Placebo – Black Market Music / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "NME Reviews – Black Market Music | nme.com". NME. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Cooper, Paul (8 May 2000). "Placebo: Black Market Music | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Taylor, Nicholas (7 May 2001). "Placebo: Black Market Music | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Placebo – Black Market Music". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Placebo – Black Market Music – Austriancharts.at". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "ultratop.be – Placebo – Black Market Music". Ultratop. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  14. ↑ "ultratop.be – Placebo – Black Market Music". Ultratop. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Placebo – Black Market Music". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  16. ↑ "Finnishcharts.com – Placebo – Black Market Music". Finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Placebo – Black Market Music". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track". Chart-track.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Placebo - Black Market Music". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  20. ↑ "Placebo - Black Market Music". charts.org.nz.
  21. ↑ "Placebo - Black Market Music". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  22. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Placebo – Black Market Music". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  23. ↑ "Placebo – Black Market Music – Hitparade.ch". Hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  24. ↑ "Placebo | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  25. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  26. ↑ "Placebo: Sleeping with Ghosts" (in Italian). MTV Italy. 27 January 2003. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  27. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Placebo; 'Black Market Music')". Hung Medien.
  28. ↑ "British album certifications – Placebo – Black Market Music". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Black Market Music in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search

External links