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Album Details
- Artist: Peter Doherty
- Album: Grace/wastelands
- Label:
- Year of Release: 2009
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: tosnob on 2009-03-10
RecommendWith all the copious consumption of drugs (and Kate Moss), it would be easy to have been skeptical that Pete Doherty's solo albumGrace/Wastelands (out Mar. 24th) would ever arrive.
But arrive it has. And with it we see a much more mature Pete Doherty, in sound if not in actions. After all, isn't going from "Pete" to "Peter" a mature thing to do?
Produced by Stephen Street (Blur), the album shows us a more sophisticated Doherty. We get sweeping cinematic tunes ("New Love Grows On Trees", "A Little Dead Around the Eyes") and introspective tracks ("Lady Don't Fall Backwards", "Shalome"). What we don't get are loose uptempo rockers.
Blur guitarist Graham Coxon provides support on most of the tracks. The result is many songs sounding as though they could have been lifted from a later Blur album like Blur or 13. That's not a terribly good thing. Those cuts end up as uninspired walk-throughs rather than peppy, fun Libertine ditties.
When Doherty does squirm out from under the Street/Coxon comfort zone the result bear remarkable fruit. "I Am the Rain" is a clever gypsy waltz. Doherty even channels both sides of Tom Waits for the loungy "Sweet By and By" and the quirky "Palace of Bone".
The collaboration of the sweet Dot Allison also gets a big gold star. "Sheepskin Tearaway" is a laid-back strummer which features the two on a stunning duet.
It's good to see Doherty back creating music. However,Grace/Wastelands leaves you craving that good old free-wheelin' Libertines rock.
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on 2012-04-09 CharlesMartel Said:
Back in the days, the Libertines garnered some acclaim with their brand of energetic and casual rock. I have to say that I was not that keen on them at the time. The music seemed to sloppy for my tastes. But it is evident that joint frontman Pete Doherty had some talent. If only that talent could be harnessed. Some years later and Doherty has been kicked out of the Libertines, formed his own band and then gone solo. What has happened to him?
In simple terms, Doherty is one of life's great arseholes. If there were awards for being a twat, then Doherty would have a mantelpiece full of them by now. Pete Doherty has two essential problems. The first problem is Pete Doherty. The second problem, the more important one, is that he doesn't know what the first problem is. Doherty's talent was wasted on drugs. Any creativity he had he lost. Quite how he avoided jail after being pulled up for possession countless times is anybody's guess, but I suspect if he weren't high-profile Pete Doherty who was then shagging supermodel Kate Moss, and just some regular junkie, he would have been inside.
And how does all this affect his music? Pretty much as you would expect. " Grace/Wastelands " lacks all the former and, creatively, aptly described by the latter. Pete Doherty attempts to deliver an insight into his personality with an acoustic guitar and an occasional other instrument alone. But if you were thinking there might be a Nick Drake in here, then think again. Without wishing to be disrespectful, Nick Drake could do better than this now - and he's been dead forty years.
But by far the worst thing about it is the dreadful tone of self-justification and self-pity. Doherty's songs are all about how he, Pete Doherty, the great Pete Doherty, has been misunderstood, abused and harmed by all those around him. All the garbage in his life has been inflicted upon him by others. Hes stared death in the face with nobody's help. He's been wronged by a woman (big deal, who hasn't?). If only life had treated him better then he would be a better person. What a load of crap! Doherty's life has been his own making. All the harm done to him has been done by himself. And he has inflicted a fair deal of harm on others as a result of himself as well, so I have no pity for him whatsoever.
In some ways this album reminds me of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. No, that's not fair. At least the stuff the Brian Jonestown Massace did was listenable even if Anton Newcombe is an equally self-destructive, arrogant, self-centred arsehole. Doherty's whiny voice only adds to the intolerability of it all. Doherty claims to have cleaned up his act. If so, good for him. Now can he just leave us all alone.
Rating: 1/10
