Up the Bracket

This article is about the album. For the song, see Up the Bracket (song).

Up the Bracket is the debut studio album by British indie rock band The Libertines. The album, released on 14 October 2002 by Rough Trade Records, was produced by Mick Jones (guitarist of The Clash), and was recorded at RAK Studios in London, England.

Up the Bracket
Studio album by The Libertines
Released	14 October 2002
Recorded	August 2002
Studio	RAK Studios, London
Genre	Indie rock, punk rock, garage rock revival, garage punk
Length	36:33
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

Peaking at No. 35 on the UK Albums Chart, the album has continued to receive critical acclaim, becoming integral to the development of the British post-punk revival movement of the early 2000s. It's also considered by some to be one of the greatest albums of the decade.^[1]

The album's cover art is based on an image of riot police squaring up to protesters during the Argentine economic crisis of 1998-2002.^[2]

Background and release

Up The Bracket was released on 14 October 2002, peaking at No. 35 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was reissued on 8 September 2003 with bonus track "What a Waster", and a DVD featuring the promotional videos for the singles "Up the Bracket", "Time for Heroes" and "I Get Along".

In 2022 the album was reissued as 20th anniversary editions and box set that featured Live at the 100 Club disc, a disc of studio outtakes, a disc of demos/radio sessions/b-sides/live tracks, a cassette of early demos and DVD with music videos and live performances.^[3]

Title

The title Up the Bracket alludes to a phrase used by English comedian Tony Hancock, of whom the Libertines' Pete Doherty is an avid fan. In Hancock's Half Hour, "Up The Bracket" is a slang term meaning a punch in the throat.^[4] 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".^[5]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Blender	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[9]
The Guardian	[10]
NME	8/10[11]
Pitchfork	8.5/10[12]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Spin	A[15]
The Village Voice	A[16]

Upon release, Up the Bracket received generally favourable reviews. The online music publication Pitchfork ranked Up the Bracket at No. 138 on its list of the "Top 200 Albums of the 2000s",^[1] and was ranked at No. 44 on a similar list by Uncut. British music website NME ranked the album at No. 10 on its list of "The Greatest British Albums Ever",^[17] No. 70 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, as well as ranking it as the second greatest album of the decade.^[18] Rolling Stone ranked Up the Bracket at No. 61 and No. 94 on its lists of "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time" and "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 2000s" respectively.

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.^[19]

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Doherty and Carl Barât.

1. "Vertigo" – 2:37
2. "Death on the Stairs" – 3:24
3. "Horror Show" – 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

Bonus tracks

Bonus tracks on US, Canadian, Spanish and Japanese edition

No.	Title	Length
13.	"What a Waster" (non-album single)	3:58
14.	"Mocking Bird" (hidden track)	3:17

Bonus tracks on Australian release

No.	Title	Length
13.	"What a Waster" (non-album single)	2:58
14.	"Mayday" (b-side to "What a Waster" single)	1:02

Bonus track on 2003 UK reissue

No.	Title	Length
13.	"What a Waster" (non-album single)	2:58

2003 UK reissue bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Up the Bracket" (music video)	2:55
2.	"Time for Heroes" (music video)	2:56
3.	"I Get Along" (music video)	2:50

• "What a Waster" is listed as track 13 on US, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese and UK reissue editions

Charts

Chart (2002–03)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[20]	120
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21]	49
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22]	59
UK Albums (OCC)[23]	35
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[24]	13

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Platinum	300,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.