Pete Docherty is dead! (The Libertines - Libertines)

Name: theblackstar

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Product:	The Libertines - Libertines
Date:	19/10/04 (7371 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good reason not to do drugs!

Disadvantages: What happens when a brilliant mind gets involved with drugs.

The headline they all want to see! I've watched the development of what is a disturbing form of hero worship. The desire to see self-destruction in the flesh, is how I read many of the reviews I've read about Pete Docherty, Babyshambles, the Libertines new album.

I've read article after article recently about Pete Docherty and The Libertines. It seems that the whole Trainspotting heroin cool is back, with an additional rock of crack on the side for good measure. Pete's face and deep sad eyes stare back at me from nearly every music magazine and Sunday supplement. Those stories of freakish fans paying a tenner to sit in Pete's flat while he bangs out a couple of acoustic tracks before running off to score a bag. What is wrong with this scene? Everything!

Now the album that goes along with the soap opera that is the news coverage that follows the Libertines, the whole sountrack to this sorry state of affairs. Is about as hit and miss as Pete sticking a needle into his arm. Some would call it sloppy, even amateurish. Some would go with inspired. The trick is recognizing that there often isn't much difference and just enjoying the ride. Back to Pete and again and his famous drug habit. And that's the thing, this album is overshadowed by Pete, and what some may describe as his self-pity.

A train wreck of an album, the final bow of an almost made it band? Possibly! Many would be dissapointed in listening to this after their first offering Up The Bracket. The album does tell a story, not in its music or lyrics, but in its shoddiness. (Done on purpose by Mick Jones, he of The Clash and BAD.) Single takes, little production value, all done to make this album what it is. Worth a listen, will probably become a milestone, but a sad end to what could have been a brilliant band and a could have been a dam good album overshadowed by a media circus.

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