Placebo is the self-titled debut studio album by British alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Placebo

Placebo (band)

Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...

, released on the Hut Records

Hut Records

VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records...

 label on 16 July 1996.
In 1998, Q magazine

Q (magazine)

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 readers voted it the 87th greatest album of all time. Virgin placed the album 154th best album of all times on their 1000 greatest albums list.
The album set the tone for Placebo's trademark angst-ridden style. This is the only album recorded with drummer Robert Schultzberg

Robert Schultzberg

Robert Schultzberg was the original drummer for alternative rock band Placebo. Schultzberg had known Stefan Olsdal from a band in school in Sweden they were both in in 1993 and joined Placebo when the band formed in September 1994, helping them to record their first studio demo in April 1995,...

 before his departure from the group.