Placebo were formed in 1994 with the partnering of Brian Molko (vocals, guitar) and Stefan Olsdal (guitar, bass). At the time, Olsdal was taking guitar lessons and was on his way home when he met Molko at the South Kensington tube station. Molko, observing that Olsdal had a guitar strapped to his back, invited Olsdal to watch him perform at a local bar. On the strength of Molko's performance, Olsdal decided that the two of them should start a band.
The two initially formed Ashtray Heart, a lo-fi duo, playing mostly on children's toy instruments. The duo needed a drummer, and although Steve Hewitt―who would play later with Placebo―was their first choice, he was working with London-based band Breed at the time. This led Robert Schultzberg to assume the position of drummer. Schultzberg had known Olsdal from boarding school in Sigtuna, Sweden where they had played together in a band.
The newly formed band released the single "Come Home" on Deceptive Records in February 1996. This led to signing a contract with Hut Records and the band began to work on their debut album. Placebo was recorded over two months in 1996 in Dublin and London and was produced by Brad Wood.
After an argument in August 1996 shortly before their first television appearance, Molko decided that it would be best for the band if Schultzberg left. However, Schultzberg suggested playing together until they finished the promotion for the album, which the rest of band accepted. Before going on stage for their first show in the state of New York, Olsdal informed Schultzberg that he would not perform on the tour in Germany that was following the US tour. Schultzberg played two more shows with the band in Paris after the US tour, the last of which was a performance at "Nulle Part Aillleurs". Molko has said that he was "tired of being the focus of Robert's rages against the world".Schultzberg left the band in September 1996 and was replaced by Hewitt.
Many of the songs on Placebo were written in 1995. Regarding the album's opening track "Come Home", Molko called it "punk pop for postponed suicides", "Teenage Angst" is about the emotions you feel as a teenager and want to have everything kept to yourself and create your own world, while Molko says "Bionic" is "about a robot fuck".
The meaning of the album's fourth song "36 Degrees", either sexual preference or death, caused debate among fans. Molko has stated the title is a play on words regarding the expression "cold blooded", as the average human body temperature is 37 °C (99 °F). Molko has stated the song's inspiration came from his fascination with skin texture and the warmth of other human bodies; moreover, he originally intended to call the album Body Politic. "Hang on to Your IQ" wa about self-deprecation regarding intelligence. Molko has stated it is the most "story-like" song on the album: "The person [in the song] is having a breakdown about every physical and emotional thing they could feel." "Nancy Boy" differed from previous songs' themes about drugs, sex, gender confusion and bisexuality.
The track "Lady of the Flowers" was influenced by Jean Genet's debut novel Our Lady of the Flowers which Genet wrote for his own entertainment whilst in prison. Molko states the song "Swallow" was inspired by an acid trip Molko and Olsdal had, saying it was never written in a state of reality. Initial pressings of the CD included "H.K. Farewell" as a hidden track which began playing approximately 10 minutes after the end of "Swallow".
On 23 June 2012, it emerged that the boy photographed for the album cover, David Fox (shown wearing a red jumper and pulling his face downward), was threatening to sue the band for "ruining" his life. His cousin Saul Fletcher had taken the photo. Fox claims he was quite popular at the time and that when the album came out everyone bullied him.
The inserts for the album feature another picture of the boy on the cover and a very small picture of the band. The rest of it is green or blue paper, with no lyrics. The reason for this is that Molko did not want people to focus on the liner, but rather the music itself.
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