The Libertines

A real nothing album, forgot almost all of it by the time I hit play on the next album. I wouldn't say it's bad, but in a sea of 2000's indie rock bands it really doesn't stand out. The singing is bland, songwriting is not too memorable and there weren't any songs here I would wanna come back to.

'Oh, I won't take you anywhere / I'll take you anywhere you wanna go.' Carl and Pete, the frontmen of The Libertines, may not be 'shy,' and they're all about - how should I put it? - 'liberty,' w/ a punky answer to life's problems, but they're also melodic as hell. They opine w/ 'arbeit macht frei,' German for 'work makes you free,' but that does not mean they can't at the same time revel in the vocal greenness of: 'Shoop shoop, shoop de-lang-a-lang.' Where that effective naiveté comes from - 'You won't need money / (You won't need money)' - I don't know, but I'm fully on board. Points off for lack of variety, but unlike the Arctic Monkeys, who never actually sing, The Libertines attack things w/ strength and obliquely, since melody matters.

great album, which i ocasionally listened to before this.

Honestly kinda overrated. I've been listening to the two singles for years and always liked them so I was expecting better but the rest of the album is quite forgettable. Would probably give it a 3.5 if I could.

The kind of scruffy, clownish, pork-pie-hat-wearing shambolic music that's exceptionally cringeworthy and dated, and ultimately led to the nauseous, insincere folk-indie so horrifically embodied by Mumford and Sons.
At least their Britpop predecessors knew how to rock, how to add a good riff, no matter how shit their songs were, but this is so excessively in love with its own chintzy decadence that it instantly becomes a self-destructive parody without merit or value.

I like how it sounds, seems to be inspired by the cure, the smiths. But then switches to a more 2000s rock sound, white stripes ?

Ik ben weer eens het internet opgedoken omdat ik werkelijk niets begrijp van het idee dat iedereen dit moet horen. De 1001 staat niet alleen. In alle lijstjes komt dit album terug. Het is opvallend hoe weinig muzikale argumenten er daarvoor worden gepresenteerd. Het gaat over legendarische optredens, het gaat over (emoties rond) de artiesten zelf. Maar nergens lees ik dat het muzikaal geniaal is. Daar is een reden voor. Muzikaal is dit belabberd. De zang bovenop. Het nare Britse accent hebben we al vaker gehoord. Maar zelden zo vals als bijvoorbeeld in Don't be shy. En wat klinkt het af en toe weer lui.
Met één top notering ben ik het wel eens. Wiki laat mij weten dat het britse publiek slechts twee albums meer overschat vindt dan dit album volgens de BBC. Britse artiesten, luisteren jullie ook even naar dit signaal?

A BBC public poll named this album as 3rd most overrated album ever made. Oh no...

This was definately a rear loaded album. The first like 5 songs were shitty British indie, then the rest of the album was punk/garage rock akin to The Clash, The Jam, or The Kinks... Not bad. This album was produced by Mick Jones of The Clash apparently.

Favourite songs: Narcissist, The Saga, Arbeit Macht Frei, The Ha Ha Wall, Tomblands, Campaign of Hate, Road to Ruin

Least favourite songs: Don't Be Shy

4/5

Appealing musically, and anything Mick Jones is associated with can't be all bad. Props to the rhythm section. I'm looking for evidence of the Jam and I'm not really finding it, lads. I'll coin the term "Post-Brit-Pop." Smells like music industry chicanery, what with the pretty boys and all. "What Became of the Likely Lads is aight, innit?

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump down to a 4.

There’s a big chance this album will hit way less on any subsequent relistens, and I’m fully prepared for that to be the case – for a first go-around though, I’m just a sucker for this style, and I think this is 42 minutes of it being done really, really well.

The big thing this album has going for it on its Wikipedia page is that it was “voted the third-most overrated album ever made in a 2005 BBC public poll,” and… that might be kind of fair. I don’t think this is an album that should’ve changed the world or anything, and if it did light the UK on fire, then that’s sort of odd. I don’t think it does anything so special that it should be near a “top 100 albums of all time” list or something similar. Within its own genre and style, I’m sure there are better albums than this, and I’m sure we’ll get to some of them.

With that said, I’m just a sucker for this style – this is a great Arctic Monkeys album, even if this came a year and a half before the Arctic Monkeys dropped their first proper studio album. There’s some serious standouts here; I think “Can’t Stand Me Now” is a hell of an opener, I think “Music When the Lights Go Out” has a really nice sort of local bar feel before the instrumentation kicks in (without distracting from the atmosphere, mind you), and the obvious 60s throwback that is “What Katie Did” just appealed right to my cheesy little musical sensibilities.

I’ll give the album extra credit; I think this is one of the few times an album has actually gotten me on a hidden track, even in the streaming era. The acoustic piece that ends the album is really, really nicely recorded, and I think it’s just a very quaint finish to a rather fun album. The energy never really lets up, and I don’t think there’s a bad track here. It’s not perfect; a lot of this style is stuck in the early 2000s, and it does have that sort of “this fits right on a Tony Hawk soundtrack” smell that sometimes works in its favor and sometimes doesn’t… but I think it works more often than not. I just really, really enjoyed this, but not enough to bump it up to a 5. Very fun album; very good 4.

Highly enjoyable. Love how shambolic it is. Sure, Pete Doherty doesn't have a strong voice, but it sounds just right for this material. Feels like a five to me today.

Aika geneeriseksi jäävä indie-rock-levy. Alkoi paremmin mut loppupuolella jo kyllästyttää. 2/5

1.64

I cant believe this album is now 20 years old. I have a love hate relationship with the Libertines. Their are some great songs but they are just so poor live!!

This is good and middle of the road Indie! Some great pop tunes, some hidden gems and some filler.

Favourite song: cant stand me now and what katie did next
Least favourite: Dont be shy
Album artwork: Iconic cover

In spite of my much professed love of aughts indie rock, somehow The Libertines never did much for me. They just feel like a lesser imitation of bands like The White Stripes and Arctic Monkeys. This album isn't bad by any stretch but I would rather listen to others most of the time.

Got some high points on here, but it's a crowded time & genre space, and I'm putting them below Arctic Monkeys, who I'm already not super big on

2.5

I enjoyed this one, but it kinda of came and went. Not much to stick with me.

Enjoyable and forgettable at the same time

This is ok. Shades of early aughts music. Just ok, 2*, don't hate it. Can't tell why this is on this list. Some reviewer compared them to Arctic Monkeys, which is what this reminded me of.