Up the Bracket

Up the Bracket is the debut album by English indie rock band The Libertines, released in October 2002. It reached #35 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was part of a resurgence for the British indie/alternative scene and received widespread praise from critics and has quickly become considered one of the greatest albums of the 2000s.[1]

This article is about the album. For the song, see Up the Bracket (song).

Up the Bracket
Studio album by
The Libertines
Released14 October 2002
RecordedAugust 2002
StudioRAK, London
GenreIndie rock, punk rock, garage rock revival, garage punk
Length36:33
LabelRough Trade
ProducerMick Jones
The Libertines chronology
Up the Bracket
(2002)		 The Libertines
(2004)
Singles from Up the Bracket
  1. "Up the Bracket"
    Released: 30 September 2002
  2. "Time for Heroes"
    Released: 13 January 2003

The album's cover is based on an image of riot police squaring up to protesters during the Argentine economic crisis of 1999–2002.[2]

Title

The title Up the Bracket alludes to a phrase used by English comedian Tony Hancock, of whom the Libertines' Pete Doherty is an avid fan. In Hancock's Half Hour, "Up The Bracket" is a slang term meaning a punch in the throat.[3] Hancock is also referenced in the opening track, "Vertigo" – "lead pipes, your fortune's made", being a line from the Half Hour episode "The Poetry Society".[4]

Release

The album was re-released on 8 September 2003 with an additional track, "What a Waster" and DVD featuring the promotional videos for the singles: "Up the Bracket", "Time for Heroes" and "I Get Along".

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Blender[7]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[8]
The Guardian[9]
NME8/10[10]
Pitchfork8.5/10[11]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
SpinA[14]
The Village VoiceA[15]

Upon release, Up the Bracket received generally favourable reviews. Online music magazine Pitchfork placed Up the Bracket at number 138 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s,[1] and it was placed 44 on a similar list by Uncut.[16] NME placed the album tenth in a list of the greatest British albums ever,[17] as well as calling it the second greatest album of the decade.[18] NME also placed the album number 70 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone placed the album number 61 on its list of the 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time and number 94 on its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 2000s.

In April 2008, BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe chose the album as one of his Masterpieces, playing the album in full with interviews from the band members, fans and fellow musicians who were influenced by the album.[19]

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Doherty and Carl Barât.

  1. "Vertigo" – 2:37
  2. "Death on the Stairs" – 3:24
  3. "Horrorshow" – 2:34
  4. "Time for Heroes" – 2:40
  5. "Boys in the Band" – 3:42
  6. "Radio America" – 3:44
  7. "Up the Bracket" – 2:40
  8. "Tell the King" – 3:22
  9. "The Boy Looked at Johnny" – 2:38
  10. "Begging" – 3:20
  11. "The Good Old Days" – 2:59
  12. "I Get Along" – 2:51
Bonus tracks
Bonus tracks on US, Canadian, Spanish and Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
13."What a Waster" (non-album single)3:58
14."Mocking Bird" (hidden track)3:17
Bonus tracks on Australian release
No.TitleLength
13."What a Waster" (non-album single)2:58
14."Mayday" (b-side to "What a Waster" single)1:02
Bonus track on 2003 UK reissue
No.TitleLength
13."What a Waster" (non-album single)2:58
2003 UK reissue bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Up The Bracket" (music video)2:55
2."Time for Heroes" (music video)2:56
3."I Get Along" (music video)2:50
  • "What a Waster" is listed as track 13 on US, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese and UK reissue editions

Chart performance
Chart (2002–03) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[20] 120
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21] 49
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 59
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 35
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[24] 13

Footnotes
  1. "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200–151". Pitchfork. 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  2. "11 years on: 11 facts about The Libertines' debut, Up The Bracket". Gigwise.
  3. Davies, Hugh (21 December 2005). "Stone me! Tony Hancock is Pete Doherty's hero". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  4. Barât, Carl (13 February 2013). "lead pipes, fortune made is from Hancock's half-hour, the poetry society episode ..." Twitter. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  5. "Reviews for Up The Bracket by The Libertines". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  6. Phares, Heather. "Up the Bracket – The Libertines". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  7. Pemberton, Andy (April 2003). "The Libertines: Up the Bracket". Blender (15): 124. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  8. Brunner, Rob (29 November 2002). "What's Rocking Our World". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  9. Simpson, Dave (18 October 2002). "The Libertines: Up the Bracket". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  10. Needham, Alex (19 October 2002). "The Libertines: Up the Bracket". NME.
  11. Carr, Eric (5 January 2003). "The Libertines: Up the Bracket". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  12. Grundy, Gareth (December 2002). "The Libertines: Up the Bracket". Q (197): 103.
  13. Christgau, Robert (11 March 2003). "The Libertines: Up The Bracket". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  14. Klosterman, Chuck (May 2003). "The Libertines: Up the Bracket". Spin. 19 (5): 109. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  15. Christgau, Robert (1 April 2003). "Consumer Guide: As Long As I Still Can". The Village Voice. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  16. "Log into Facebook – Facebook". Facebook. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  17. "NME's best British album of all time revealed". NME. Archived from the original on 6 February 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  18. "NME's The Top 100 Greatest Albums of The Decade". NME. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  19. BBC. "BBC – Radio 1 – Zane Lowe – Masterpieces – The Libertines – 'Up The Bracket'". bbc.co.uk.
  20. "Lescharts.com – The Libertines – The Libertines". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  21. "ザ・リバティーンズ". Oricon. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  22. "Swedishcharts.com – The Libertines – The Libertines". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  23. "The Libertines | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  24. "Up the Bracket – The Libertines (Awards)". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
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