Black Market Music (album)

Black Market Music
Studio album by Placebo
Released	9 October 2000
Recorded	Late 1999–mid 2000 at various locations
Genre	Alternative rock, glam punk
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
"Taste in Men" Released: 17 July 2000 "Slave to the Wage" Released: September 2000 "Special K" Released: 19 March 2001 "Black-Eyed" Released: September 2001 "Blue American" Released: May 2002

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Alternative Press	[2]
NME	(unfavorable)[3]
Pitchfork	(2.4/10)[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Q	[6]

Black Market Music is the third studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released in 2000 by Hut Records.

Background

Black Market Music took nine months to record, the longest that the band have ever spent recording an album to date, and is dedicated to the memory of Scott Piering.

The song "Commercial for Levi" is named for 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.^[7]

Release history

A limited-edition version of the album was released simultaneously in Europe with an identical tracklisting; it featured a black paper case with the cover image in silver foil, slightly different inlay pictures, and a BurgoPak sliding design.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Placebo. 

No.	Title	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)	3:37
5.	"Passive Aggressive"	5:24
6.	"Black-Eyed"	3:48
7.	"Blue American"	3:31
8.	"Slave to the Wage"	4:06
9.	"Commercial for Levi"	2:20
10.	"Haemoglobin"	3:46
11.	"Narcoleptic"	4:22
12.	"Peeping Tom" (contains the hidden track "Black Market Blood" starting at 10:14)	14:10

Japanese release bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Without You I'm Nothing" (featuring David Bowie)
2.	"I Feel You"	6:28

Personnel

• Brian Molko - vocals, guitar, keyboards, 6-string bass guitar
• Stefan Olsdal - bass guitar, guitar, 6-string bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Steve Hewitt - drums, percussion
• Paul Collins – art direction
• Ian Cooper – mastering
• Paul Corkett – producer, mixing
• Rob Ellis – string arrangements
• Lorraine Francis – engineer
• Scott Kannberg – sampling
• Bill Lloyd – bass guitar on "Peeping Tom"
• Severe Loren – backing vocals on "Taste in Men" and "Special K"
• Dare Mason – producer
• Placebo – producer, mixing
• Dimitri Tikovoi – string programming
• Justin Warfield – rapping vocals on "Spite & Malice"
• Kevin Westenberg – art direction, photography

Chart positions

• #1 - France
• #3 - Belgium (Wallonia)
• #4 - Germany
• #6 - UK
• #7 - Austria
• #9 - Italy
• #10 - Belgium (Flanders)
• #15 - Switzerland
• #17 - Sweden
• #18 - Australia
• #24 - Finland
• #27 - Poland^[8]

References

1. ^ Dean Carlson. "Black Market Music - Placebo". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/black-market-music-r501078. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
2. ^ Alternative Press. 
3. ^ "Black Market Music". NME (6 October 2000). http://www.nme.com/reviews/placebo/3091. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
4. ^ Paul Cooper (8 May 2000). "Placebo: Black Market Music". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6327-black-market-music/. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
5. ^ Rolling Stone. 
6. ^ Q. 
7. ^ "I'm the Anti-Eminem". Melody Maker (20 October 2000). Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080220112809/http://www.placeboworld.co.uk/archive/melodymoct.htm. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
8. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedazy". olis.onyx.pl. http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=2&lang=pl. Retrieved 30 October 2011.