The Boy Kicked Out At The World (The Libertines - Libertines)

Member Name: Andy.mack

Product:	The Libertines - Libertines
Date:	10/09/04 (410 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Follow up, Excellent Guitar riffs, decent vocals for the most part

Disadvantages: Dont Be Shy, The Soap Opera that is The Libertines

It’s been an odd couple of years as a fan of The Libertines. Following on from huge success with their debut album Up The Bracket, the soap opera that is the Libertines began. The lead singer and main singer/songwriter Pete Doherty was kicked out of the band due to his reliance on Class A drugs. After a few months of rehab Pete was arrested for burglary, after he broke into former band mate Carl’s flat. Then a few short months later Pete was asked to rejoin The Libertines just before they started work on the follow up to 2002’s debut.

They certainly hadn’t sounded the same with Doherty. While he was missing they had drafted in a replacement guitarist and Carl had taken on lead vocals. On a lot of the songs he had sounded pretty good but some were just let down by it not being Pete singing. So with Carl back to writing the music and Pete returning to write the lyrics and sing things seemed to be back on track for the boys.

With all eyes on The new album the Libertines finally released it on the 30th August. As with the bands history so far the album release didn’t exactly go to plan. Pete is once again no longer with the band, having been asked to leave again due to drug abuse. Then just last week he received a suspended sentence for possession of a knife. The Libertines have been known to make music as well and when Pete is in the right frame of mind that music can be fantastic.

This second album really picks up where Up The Bracket left off. The drive and passion in the vocals from Pete is still there despite his troubles between albums. It’s clear that each song means something to him and that’s one of the reasons the band don’t sound right without him. The album takes the band musically onto the next level. I felt that Up The Bracket was a very catchy album, where you could easily find yourself humming or singing along to all the tracks.

With this album however its clear to see from the opening bars of “Can’t Stand Me Now” that this isn’t going to be the case. Gone are the happier chords of the last album. This time around the album is a lot darker. As a result it doesn’t quite sound up to the standard of the first album and on first listen it sounds a little disappointing. The more you listen to it though the more infectious the guitar riffs become.

The whole album has a solid musical backing with the drums really leading the way for most of them. The guitars always play a major part in the albums overall sound. A lot of the tracks are guitar driven and this compliments the vocals well. All the while the drums keep a steady tempo in the backing. The real let down in places is Pete’s vocals. Although the band don’t sound anywhere near as good without him, he sounds a little over stretched on certain tracks. One of the best examples of this is “Don’t Be Shy”, where Pete’s vocals are totally out of Tune.

There are still those tracks though, like the first album, that after a few listens you wont be able to help singing along to. There are parts of the album that portray a happier side to the band like “What Katie Did Next” and “What Ever Happened To The Likely Lads”. The majority of it though takes to the darker side of the returning Libertines. It’s slightly more evident in “Arbeit Macht Frei”, which reflects the darker side of the album perfectly.

From the first time I listened to this album there were a couple of tracks I thought were brilliant straight away. On my first listen to the album “What Ever Happened To The Likely Lads” really jumped out at me, standing out from the rest of the album. The vocals sound superb with a good mixture of Carl and Pete’s. The album is a grower but one track that still doesn’t make much of an impression on me is “Don’t Be Shy”. I’ve already mentioned this track but Pete’s vocals really ruin the track. The track as a whole never really gets going and just feels so flat and hollow.

On the whole the album wasn’t as good as Up The Bracket but when you consider the events of the last 2 years that may not be surprising. I’m not sure what the future will hold for The Libertines and how long it’ll be before Pete is back with the band is anybody’s guess. One thing is for certain though if they want to really make a name for themselves they will need to raise the bar just a touch for the next album. That said this isn’t a bad album it just doesn’t strike me as the one that will do it for them.

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