Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
62
50 Cent
70
AFI
65
Air
70
Alice In Chains
53
Kris Allen
78
Amerie
79
Annie
76
Anti-Pop Consortium
86
The Antlers
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound
77
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
59
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
71
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan
72
Beak>
72
Brendan Benson
84
Biffy Clyro
72
The Big Pink
95
Big Star
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
72
The Black Heart Procession
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
53
Bon Jovi
76
A.A. Bondy
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
83
Brother Ali
72
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
77
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
78
Califone
69
Mariah Carey
81
Brandi Carlile
72
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash
71
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
82
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
64
Exene Cervenka
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System
67
The Clean
84
The Clientele
72
Cold Cave
85
Converge
71
Eric Copeland
76
The Cribs
79
Cymbals Eat Guitars
62
Dashboard Confessional
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
77
Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One
88
Destroyer
73
Do Make Say Think
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
67
Bob Dylan
58
Echo & The Bunnymen
61
Electric Six
44
The Entrance Band
69
Fanfarlo
71
Jay Farrar And Benjamin Gibbard
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
66
Orenda Fink
79
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
83
Fuck Buttons
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
65
Calvin Harris
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
67
Hockey
67
Whitney Houston
80
Hudson Mohawke
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
74
Jamie T
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
68
Daniel Johnston
76
Norah Jones
77
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
75
Kid Sister
66
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
63
Mark Knopfler
73
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
85
Miranda Lambert
72
Ledisi
71
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
62
Leona Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt
74
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
83
Patty Loveless
73
Lyle Lovett
79
Lucero
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna
85
Manic Street Preachers
61
Maps
73
Mario
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
62
John Mayer
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
75
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
75
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
66
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie
76
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
82
Nirvana
96
Nirvana
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
64
OneRepublic
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
78
Osso
67
Alec Ounsworth
81
Owen
73
Paramore
78
Pastels And Tenniscoats
54
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
69
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
72
Port O'Brien
79
Q-Tip
79
R.E.M.
88
Raekwon
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
74
The Raveonettes
79
Real Estate
76
Jay Reatard
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
66
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
78
Russian Circles
69
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
78
Say Anything
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
55
Steel Panther
75
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
68
Joss Stone
83
Barbra Streisand
77
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
79
The Swell Season
80
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees
80
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
78
The Dutchess & The Duke
71
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
74
Them Crooked Vultures
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
73
Frank Turner
71
The Twilight Sad
60
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
69
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
70
Kurt Vile
65
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
73
Rufus Wainwright
78
Wale
57
Weezer
81
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
69
Robbie Williams
59
Andrew W.K.
65
Wolfmother
84
The xx
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
52
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Libertines
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 56 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sanctuary
Release Date: 31 August 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
While some eponymous albums suggest a lack of creativity, the heralded UK rock outfit's sophomore disc is titled 'The Libertines' because it is indeed about The Libertines--or, more specifically, about the ongoing conflict between the band's two songwriters, Carlos Barat and Pete Doherty (the latter of whom was subsequently kicked out of the band after three failed rehab attempts). The Clash's Mick Jones returns as producer.
Also By This Artist: Up The Bracket
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: Babyshambles: Down In Albion Dirty Pretty Things: Waterloo To Anywhere
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Uncut
The Libertines is a record of such raw autobiographical honesty that it carries a weight few others in 2004 can match. [Album of the Month, Sep 2004, p.94]
Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
Often seems fragile, offhand, tentative, even enervated. But this isn't a weakness--it only makes their sound more their own.
Read Full Review >Spin
A dark, tense record, but one still crackling with life. [Sep 2004, p.114]
Q Magazine
This record... is brimming with character, easily surpassing their debut, its energy level like a battery charge. [Sep 2004, p.108]
Mojo
An extraordinary record... It's not, nor is it intended to be, easy listening. [Sep 2004, p.94]
New Musical Express
What you have here is the most agonisingly voyeuristic listening experience in rock, ever. It's also some of the most exhilarating and brilliant rock'n'roll of the past 20 years. [7 Aug 2004, p.46]
Filter
Goddamn if the entire mess doesn't sound great. [#12, p.93]
The Guardian
A step on from Up the Bracket, this album is a winningly idiosyncratic explosion of dizzy pop and punk fury that could yet be honed to perfection.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
A deeply moving record that is greater than the sum of its individual songs, The Libertines achieves near-tragic grandeur.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
It's basically more of the same sort of wistful, sometimes hard-charging melodic rock of the group's first and better release, Up the Bracket.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Libertines seems less of an exercise in salesmanship and more a set of lightly buzzed, brightly conversational studies of modern urban nightlife.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
This is a fragile, beautiful music, it all nearly falls apart and then flops back together.
Read Full Review >Junkmedia
Some songs are sloppily stretched out and others simply half-finished, but the ample charms of Doherty and Barat are just enough to rescue any of these lows.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The Libertines is an accurate, sometimes uncomfortable reflection of the band at this point: more scattered and unstable than they were on Up the Bracket, but also more ambitious and more interesting.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
It's brilliant at points, exhibiting the casual, grimy grace that laced Up the Bracket through English countryside benders, sing-alongs, and pub anthems, but evidently, The Libertines are creatures of excess, and even a good thing can be overdone.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
No band in recent history has better captured the vertiginous experience of falling apart and loving it. [16 Sep 2004, p.79]
Dot Music
Everywhere you look on this record there is a sense of magic escaped, accompanied by the ever-tantalising presence of a great band just beneath the surface.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
The Libertines don’t even try for a good album; they sound like four blokes lucky to be jamming in the same room again, and their joy in each other’s company redeems the enterprise.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Review #1: Despite the fact that the new album is, yet again, a half-assed effort, The Libertines is nonetheless a thoroughly fascinating one to hear. [score=60]; Review #2: There is not a weak moment on this album. [score=80]
E! Online
The album quickly unravels into a mess of mumbled vocals, pointless guitar solos and songs that sound suspiciously unfinished.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Some of these songs are excellent, in an unfinished but inspired way. But many of the album's tracks evidence a band that's bursting at the seams with talent, only to stumble on unfocused, scattershot song-writing.
Read Full Review >Blender
A thrilling, frustrating souvenir of a band whirling out of control. [Sep 2004, p.130]
Entertainment Weekly
Like the Strokes on their own sophomore effort, the Libs thoroughly disappoint on this follow-up. [24 Sep 2004, p.106]
Drowned In Sound
From the very start, The Libertines is the sound of the band at its most muzzled; paralysed by poor production, underdeveloped songs and private lives that have become more sensational and noteworthy than the music.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
The Libertines just don't live up to the hype. [Jan 2005, p.113]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 56 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
pbaber gave it a10:
Up The Bracket is, for more, one of the greatest albums of all time. On hearing it, it made me feel invincible, vulnerable, angry, ecstatic. And this follow up is very close to being as good. A second maserpiece from the Libertines.
P Stirups gave it an8:
Song are good. Everything about it is good, but it isn't a rough and fun as the orignal Libertines album.
maria s gave it a10:
Painful, artistic, messy,amazing,the Libertines are one of those bands you hate to love because they make you care.
maxwell w gave it a10:
this is a fucking fantastic album, imperfect and raw. The libertines paints a scruffy, beautifal picture of pete doherty's and carl barat's crumbling relationship. and i can't stand the wankers who ignorantly dismiss this because its not as tediously polished as most tripe that reaches radio stations, if you own a brain cell, then this must be purchased. Alternative Press are also twats.
dom c gave it a10:
So honest its slanderous.
Todd R gave it a2:
When oh when will they stop ripping off the Wedding Present?
jaz b gave it a10:
shit hot album
