It's been a long time since Brian Molko and co started their journey as Placebo, in that time they have earned something of a reputation as a band which, more than most, divides people into different camps - there is the dedicated fanbase and the similarly dedicated anti-Molko naysayers, put off by the man's infamous androgyny and vocal mannerisms. But there's a third group, as there is with any band - those who, like myself, have mostly been passed by the band's five albums up to now. When it comes to Battle for the Sun, the first group will buy it, the second will not. But what about the third, the floating voters, so to speak? Will the much-touted diverse instrumentation and new direction of this album draw them into the fold?Personally, I seriously doubt it. It's not because of Molko - the average man in the street has embraced figures far odder than him in the past, and it's not as though he's new on the block - but just because under all its faux-drama and bluster, Battle for the Sun is ultimately a very ordinary electro-tinged rock album, hamstrung by a severe lack of ideas and decidedly uninteresting lyrics. Take 'Ashtray Heart' for example - the converted will be satisfactorily preached to by its reference to the band's original name, but the song's repititious nature and uninspiring riffage won't help the band accumulate new fans. Only the hardcore (or music reviewers) will enjoy Molko's insistence on singing the last word of every line multiple times on the title track, even if it does overcome its dirge of an opening to coalesce into something a little more interesting eventually, Molko singing about a "dream brother" - a Jeff Buckley reference perchance?All too often, this all feels like pretty wrapping paper around an empty box, to borrow an expression. A lot of the album's problems are well demonstrated by 'For What It's Worth', which has that diverse instrumentation - a trumpet - making a fig-leaf contribution, a toy piano shoehorned in in the most startlingly incongruous way, and one of the record's worst lyrical passages. When these songs are over, it's a struggle to remember any lines from them, to replay any of the riffs or synth lines in your mind, such is the artificiality and theatricality of all the attempts at drama and an epic, cathartic feel. Alas, in the end Battle for the Sun will sound to many less like a battle and more like a trial. There are just far too many superior albums out there for this to be a credible contender. 40%Placebo on MySpace