Battle For The Sun
by Placebo
  • Record Label: Vagrant
  • Release Date: Jun 9, 2009
Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. Pitchfork
    34
    They've jettisoned just about anything that ever made them perversely enjoyable.

Awards & Rankings

91
#91 Most Discussed Album of 2009

User Reviews

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User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 66 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 66
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 66
  3. Negative: 3 out of 66
  1. Xathiahs
    Jan 21, 2022
    9
    The most complete album of the band. The title track and some other few songs will stuck in your head. The messages behind are always veryThe most complete album of the band. The title track and some other few songs will stuck in your head. The messages behind are always very important for Placebo and this album reminds it to us.… Full Review »
  2. Charlyrockstar
    Apr 30, 2014
    10
    The last great placebo album, with a new drummer, & new sound full of greatest song, is the 4th. best album of the band, change style music,The last great placebo album, with a new drummer, & new sound full of greatest song, is the 4th. best album of the band, change style music, change drummer, change evrything, wouldn't be the same in the next years. the last great album of Placebo… Full Review »
  3. Ricko
    Sep 13, 2013
    8
    At first listen it was my least favourite Placebo record. Apart from Brian Molko's vocals it just doesn't feel like a Placebo record. It mightAt first listen it was my least favourite Placebo record. Apart from Brian Molko's vocals it just doesn't feel like a Placebo record. It might be the brighter, more positive sound of the record or it might be the strange pop like production. There is definitley a placebo shaped hole in the middle of this album and it just isn't as spikey as other Placebo records. Strangely enough the band re-released the record a year after its initial release in remastered form, a treatment usually reserved for records that are decades old. The remastered version is a marked improvement, with the new mix giving the record a fuller and deeper sound. It has definitely helped me to hear the record in a different light and the more I've listened to it over the last few years the more I like it. I'm still not sure if I would rate it above any other Placebo record but I have decided it is a very decent record, undeserving of the criticism its received. For those who don't like it perhaps try the "redux" (remastered) version. It's definitely a better record. Getting to the songs, they are still different to the traditional Placebo sound being more power chord rock than glam/goth rock. The band obviously tried to go in a different direction with this record and for that should be commended rather than lambasted. There are plenty of excellent tracks on it but perhaps is spread a little too thin at 13 tracks. That said, I can find positives with every track, even "The Never Ending Why", my least favourite track on the record, has a nice dancy chorus. In fact there are several times throughout the album where I'm reminded of the bands cover of Boney M's Daddy Cool, be that a good or bad thing. The worst thing about the album is that lyrically at times it takes itself a bit too seriously, and also the fact that Trigger Happy Hands was omitted from it and included on a bonus disk on a reissued version of the album. For the most part it's a very strong album. … Full Review »
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