For those of you who don't know The
Libertines, they were the predecessor of Pete Doherty's Babyshambles, and the
incredibly less popular but infinitely better Dirty Pretty Things. The Libertines
have been out of the spotlight for quite a while now; Pete's drug addiction
being the number one reason for the band's collapse in 2004.
The good news is The
Libertines are back with their first album in 10 years. Recorded in Thailand,
(where Pete had just recently attended rehab) the album is titled Anthems for
Doomed Youth. The album comes in vinyl and CD format, and of course, the
incredibly expensive box set.
My first complaint is the price. At £75 you ship vinyl: Never ship it in the sleeve.
It damages it. So now I've spent $125 US dollars on a box set with damaged
sleeves.
Other than that, the box set
is pretty impressive. The first thing you see upon opening is 12 art prints,
the last of which was autographed by the band. As cool as the art prints seem,
they have little value, but I'm super excited to have the band's autograph
hanging on my wall.
Next is the vinyl. As I mentioned, the
sleeves are not in the best condition. The artwork is the same as the CD copy
except it is blue instead of red. The album is pressed on black vinyl. My
addiction to Third Man Records has me constantly hunting for hidden messages
scratched in, this one has the word "Alchemy" scratched into the A
side.
Also included in the
box set is a download card, a demo CD and a physical CD copy of the album.
Had the album been $75 USD, I would have
said this box set was well worth the money. All in all I am happy with the
product, but then $125 was definitely a little bit steep.
On to the music! I could easily spend all
day going over every song on the album, but I'm sure you have better things to
do than read some random Internet blogs opinion of sixteen songs, so instead
we'll start with two.
Gunga Din- My favorite thing about this song is you can really see how much
they've grown over the years. There's nothing worse than when a band promises a
comeback and attempts to just rehash the same material over again for the
money. The Libertines truly put their all into this album and you can tell it
from this first track. The music is reminiscent of the Clash, funny as this is
the first time a Libertines album has been produced by someone other than Mick
Jones. Opening up with a simple drum beat, it's a great way to open this album.
The guitar work is perhaps one of my favorite things the band has done yet. The
vocals and lyrics remind us of the first two albums. Pete Doherty confronts his
inner demons from the first line of the song. In the second chorus, his partner
in crime Carl Barat brings up his own internal conflicts. All in all, it's a
comeback track that really kicks ass.
The Iceman- I chose this song to review for a reason: It's perhaps my favorite
Libertines song, not just off this album, but of their whole discography.
Opening with a vulnerable singular guitar and vocals, the song has so much
emotion driving it. The song reminds us why we love Carl and Pete together, why
we were never satisfied with their music when they were apart. Their vocals
complement each other, they fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Like Lennon
and McCartney, like Jack White and Brendan Benson, they were made to create
together. The song nears the end with a chorus performed full band, much more
stronger sounding than it began. The ending is a singular guitar playing with
Carl and Pete reminding us once more why we love them, as they join their
voices singing "Just for now we have all the time."
If you haven't bought the album or at least
heard it, you're missing out. Go buy it on i-Tunes, or better yet take a visit
to your local music shop.
-Danielle Brandon
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