The Libertines: Up the Bracket 20th Anniversary 2LP Vinyl

Why you'll love it

This 20th anniversary 2LP set pairs a 2022 remaster with a bonus live LP recorded at the 100 Club in October 2002. Produced by The Clash's Mick Jones, the album gave us "Up the Bracket" and "Time for Heroes" and kicked off a whole wave of British guitar bands.

This edition

2LP set
20th anniversary edition
Remastered
Bonus live LP (Live at the 100 Club)

About the album

Pete Doherty and Carl Barât had a romantic, slightly ramshackle idea of England, the dreamy Albion of their songs, and on Up the Bracket they got it onto tape. With John Hassall on bass and Gary Powell on drums, they signed to Rough Trade, and their first single cracked the UK top 40 before the album had even arrived.

"Vertigo" and "Death on the Stairs" open in a happy tumble, "Horrorshow" is a gleefully scrappy rush, "Time for Heroes" and "Boys in the Band" are the twin-guitar singalongs everybody remembers, and "The Good Old Days" and "I Get Along" show the poets underneath the noise. The bonus LP catches them live at the 100 Club that autumn, with "What a Waster" and "The Delaney" in the set.

"Time for Heroes" went on to reach No. 20 in the UK, and the band's next album went straight to No. 1. Two decades later the guitars still sound as if they're about to tumble down a flight of stairs, which, given track two, feels thematically appropriate.

Also at Kops: more The Libertines on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Side A
1. Vertigo
2. Death On The Stairs
3. Horrorshow
4. Time For Heroes
5. Boys In The Band
6. Radio America

Side B
1. Up The Bracket
2. Tell The King
3. The Boy Looked At Johnny
4. Begging
5. The Good Old Days
6. I Get Along

Bonus LP, Live at the 100 Club
1. Horrorshow
2. Vertigo
3. The Delaney
4. What A Waster
5. Begging
6. Time For Heroes
7. Death On The Stairs
8. Boys In The Band
9. I Get Along