Up the Bracket

Up the Bracket
Studio album by The Libertines
Released	14 October 2002
Recorded	August 2002, RAK, London
Genre	Garage rock, post-punk revival
Length	39:28
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	Mick Jones
The Libertines chronology
Up The Bracket (2002) The Libertines (2004)
Singles from Up the Bracket
"Up the Bracket" Released: 30 September 2002 "Time for Heroes" Released: 13 January 2003

Up the Bracket is the debut album by British rock band The Libertines, released in October 2002. It reached #35 in the UK Albums Chart.

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". The album was the start of a revival for the British rock scene. 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.^[1] The album received widespread praise from critics and has quickly become considered one of the greatest albums of the 2000s.

Name

The title "Up the Bracket" alludes to the phrase used by British comedian Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour, a slang term meaning a punch in the throat. 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". Pete Doherty is known to be a life-long fan of Hancock and a member of the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society, as well as featuring on a BBC documentary about him.^[2] The line "Up the Bracket" is also a slang term for snorting cocaine.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Blender	[4]
Pitchfork Media	(8.5/10)[5]
PopMatters	(favourable)[6]
Robert Christgau	(A)[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin	[9]
Sputnikmusic	[10]

Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed Up the Bracket at number 138 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s,^[11] and was placed 44 on a similar list by Uncut.^[12] NME placed the album tenth in a list of the greatest British albums ever,^[13] as well as calling it the second greatest album of the decade.^[14]

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

• "What a Waster" and "Mockingbird" are extra tracks on the US and Japanese releases. "What a Waster" is an extra track on the UK re-release. "Mayday" is an additional extra track on the Australian release, along with "What a Waster".

Chart performance

Charts (2002)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	35
French Albums Chart	120
Japan Albums Chart	49
Swedish Albums Chart	59
US Top Heatseekers	13

Footnotes

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Doherty, Jacqueline (27 August 2006). "Pete Doherty's mum reveals her son's softer side". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=402445&in_page_id=1770. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 
3. ^ Allmusic review
4. ^ Blender review
5. ^ Pitchfork Media review
6. ^ PopMatters review
7. ^ Robert Christgau review
8. ^ Rolling Stone review
9. ^ Spin review
10. ^ Sputnikmusic review
11. ^ Pitchfork staff (September 28, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/2/. Retrieved October 1, 2009. 
12. ^ [2]
13. ^ "NME's best British album of all time revealed". NME. 2006-01-26. http://www.nme.com/news/arctic-monkeys/22062. 
14. ^ "NME's The Top 100 Greatest Albums of The Decade". NME. 2006-01-26. http://www.nme.com/list/the-top-100-greatest-albums-of-the-decade/158049/page/10.