Placebo - The Never Ending Why [Single]

PIAS

September 10, 2009, 01:33 PM

Views: 448   Comments: 0

Buy Placebo - The Never Ending Why [Single] From Amazon.com

Blasting out of the speakers like a modern James Bond theme, 'The Never Ending Why' certainly makes an imposing first impression. Placebo appear to have ditched the 'less is more' aesthetic that worked so well for them on their 'Sleeping With Ghosts' album (an album I rate as their best) and have opted for full on, balls to the wall rock and/or roll. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, 'The Never Ending Why' is a melodic, powerful and enjoyable little pop song given a drastic OTT make-over that might even make Muse blush.

The lyrics are effective but ultimately nonsense, an existential, philosophical brick wall that paints in colours too broad for my blood. However the theme of the song (understanding the bigger questions will always evade us so choosing to live for the moment), and the general upbeat tone of the song are indicative of where Placebo find themselves with this new record. It appears they have grown tired of the 'misery-guts' label and have proactively tried to do something about it, and that's fair enough.

'The Never Ending Why' is strong and well balanced structurally, the guitars are louder than pretty much everything else in the mix but I presume that was an intentional decision. The horns and choir in the bridge and last chorus should really add another layer of intent to the song though, and as they are buried too far in the mix, they really don't prove as effective as they should be. The full-on production has one major advantage in that it results in one of the heaviest sounding songs I've heard from the band. It manages to retain a keen melodic edge though, which off-sets the dirty distortion and punishing drums nicely. It's just a shame that the bombast sometimes clouds some of the songs more subtle and inventive moments.

All in all 'The Never Ending Why' is a decent song with some nice touches (is that a xylophone I hear in the second verse), but there's nothing here that Placebo hasn't done before and better.

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report