The Libertines

I’ve always loved this album but can’t really pinpoint why. There is a roughness to it that makes me think of it more from the lineage of punk than alternative. And it definitely finds that connection on certain tracks. But everything is handled with an intricacy and a deftness that escapes most offerings in this style, layered with a lush musical r

This wasn't particularly amazing music but I really do value things that are unique and this was really interesting in that regard!

Kind of a fun listen.

It seems weird to me that this album was liked well enough that it would be called the third most overrated album of all time. It must have been much bigger in the UK than here in the US. It's not bad but it's not anything that I feel like anyone would have a strong reaction to, good or bad. It's middle of the road early 2000s indie. Was good for one listen but I didn't feel the need to play it again or play anything else from them. 3/5

Reminds me of the Clash in terms of proficiency and the Arctic Monkeys in vibes.

Phew… this one’s tough to rate. A band that once meant so much to me.

First off, I much prefer the raw(er), immediate impact of their debut. OK, I’m biased because Up The Brackets basically rewired my teenage brain. Everything I heard back then had to measure up to it. Including the band’s own follow-up, self-titled one - And yeah; first listen? Massive letdown… Boy, was I disappointed. And in euqal mesureas was I pissed that they did not include “Don’t Look Back into the Sun” (not even as part of some stupid bonus track edition).

Over the years, my initial skepticism faded: Partly because I don’t love the Libertines as much as I did back then anymore, partly because I realized that the highs (pardon the wordplay) are pretty amazing. I mean… “Can’t Stand Me Now” (the best “Don’t Look Back into the Sun” substitute there is), “Music When the Lights Go Out,” “What Became of the Likely Lads”: all messy, brilliant songs.

But the lows are also pretty low. The mid-section of the record should have been trimmed; it’s frankly rather boring. Tracks like “Narcissist,” “The Ha Ha Wall,” “Campaign of Hate,” and “Arbeit Macht Frei” or the meandering "Road to Ruin" don’t add much, if anything at all. Then there are a lot of kinda OK songs and some that hinted at what was to come from Barât’s Dirty Pretty Things (“Tomblands”) and Doherty’s Babyshambles (“What Katie Did”).

What I still appreciate after all these years is that it takes a lot of craft and talent to sound so nonchalant and charmingly dilettante. Good for Pete and Carl that they had such a tight rhythm section - credit where credit’s due to John Hassall and Gary Powell - that was able to compensate for their chaotic intertwining guitars.

Temu The Strokes.

*Unique and interesting early 2000s rock album.

Pretty solid modern post-punk here. What's turning me off though is the genre experimentation. They're at their best when they're channeling The Smiths through the 2000's indie rock sound.

But then they have songs that weirdly sound a little like Primus or 50's diner music and while it's solid, it's not doing much for me. The garage rock style songs aren't really my thing either.

Pete Doherty?! “The Duke of Dorchester”?!? Well just like the Duke, this is not very good but has some charm.

A lot more chill than I remember

I never understood the popularity of the Libertines and this does not change my mind.

Could have been a 1 star review but every now and then a riff or song will make the album acceptable

What's the point? Their albums are just a pretext for the obsessive press coverage of the most boring drama imaginable. Generic even in 2004, rote indie sounds and postures, some decent guitars and big drums, but no imagination and way too much of that whinging singing English guys thinks is charismatic.

Better than Coldplay

Boring brit pop/indie

God awful whiny ass voices

What an idiotic album cover but at least music sounds almost exactly like you would imagine. Another boring indie record, yay. 2 stars

Favorite track(s): Another victim of the time and place that birthed this list, a desperate hope that kids in Britain would revive rock music in the early 2000s. You figure out for yourself how that went.

This is 2000's British indie rock, with a little bit of a punk edge: in other words, it's kinda Arctic Monkeys before Arctic Monkeys, and I can personally hear The Strokes in here a little too. It should come as no particular surprise that this is fine. I'd say, it's slightly less interesting than prime Arctic Monkeys, but The Libertines do still have some merit. This album does have some well-written, catchy indie rock songs. Can't Stand Me Now, Music When The Lights Go Out, and What Katie Did are all pretty infectious. And I dig some of the songs here where they let their punk side talk a little more. Last Post On The Bugle, The Ha Ha Wall, Campaign Of Hate, Tomblands, and The Saga ended up being my favorites here. There're enough good songs that the whole experience ends up enjoyable. Besides, the lyrics seem interesting, the performances are tight, and the energy is largely there. It's a pretty decent indie rock album.

Musical genius or complete shite? I’m firmly in the latter camp.

Nothing original going on. Sounds more like a demo than a finished album - and I get that’s probably the idea, but that only makes sense if the ‘live’ recording is capturing something spontaneously amazing in some way that can’t be captured in the studio. This is just rough and ready to the point of being a mess.

And it’s considered their finest work!

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