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,punk rock
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.

Contents 1 Name 2 Reception 3 Track listing 4 Chart performance 5 Footnotes

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.

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

The Libertines Carl Barât · Peter Doherty · John Hassall · Gary Powell Anthony Rossomando · Johnny Borrell · Paul Dufour · Steve Bedlow Studio albums Up the Bracket (2002) · The Libertines (2004) Extended plays I Get Along (2003) · Don't Look Back into the Sun/Death on the Stairs (2003) · What Became of the Likely Lads (2004) Singles "What a Waster" · "Up the Bracket" · "Time for Heroes" · "Don't Look Back into the Sun" · "Can't Stand Me Now" · "What Became of the Likely Lads" Compilations Time for Heroes - The Best of The Libertines DVDs Boys in the Band · Who the Hell Is Pete Doherty? Related articles Discography · Babyshambles · Dirty Pretty Things · Yeti · The Libertines Bound Together