Up the Bracket is the debut album by British rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band The Libertines

The Libertines

The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...

, 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

What a Waster

"What a Waster" is the first single from The Libertines. The song was used in the film The Football Factory. The song received little airplay because it has a lot of profanity. "What a Waster" was initially left off debut album Up the Bracket but was later included as the 13th track on a subsequent...

" 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

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 DJ Zane Lowe

Zane Lowe

Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...

 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. 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

Tony Hancock

Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...

 in Hancock's Half Hour

Hancock's Half Hour

Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...

, 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

Pete Doherty

Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...

 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. The line "Up the Bracket" is also a slang term for snorting cocaine.

Reception

Online music magazine

Online magazine

An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...

 Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 placed Up the Bracket at number 138 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s, and was placed 44 on a similar list by Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

. NME placed the album tenth in a list of the greatest British albums ever, as well as calling it the second greatest album of the decade.

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Doherty

Pete Doherty

Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...

 and Carl Barât

Carl Barât

Carl Ashley Raphael Barât is an English musician, actor and author. He was the frontman and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and recently debuted a solo album, but is best known for being the co-frontman with Peter Doherty of the garage rock band The Libertines.-Early life:Carl Barât was...

.

1. "Vertigo" – 2:37
2. "Death on the Stairs" – 3:24
3. "Horrorshow" – 2:34
4. "Time for Heroes
   Time for Heroes
   "Time for Heroes" is a song by English rock band The Libertines, and is featured on their debut album, Up the Bracket. It was released 13 January 2003 as the third single from that album, placing at #20 in the UK Singles Chart...
   
   " – 2:40
5. "Boys in the Band" – 3:42
6. "Radio America" – 3:44
7. "Up the Bracket
   Up the Bracket (song)
   "Up the Bracket" is the second single from The Libertines and their first from debut album Up the Bracket.In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Up the Bracket" at number 47 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.-Chart performance:...
   
   " – 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
  What a Waster
  "What a Waster" is the first single from The Libertines. The song was used in the film The Football Factory. The song received little airplay because it has a lot of profanity. "What a Waster" was initially left off debut album Up the Bracket but was later included as the 13th track on a subsequent...
  
  " 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 UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	35
French Albums Chart	120
Japan Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...	49
Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	59
US Top Heatseekers	13