Babyshambles
Down In Albion

THE REVIEW

Pete Doherty. Is he a genius or an overrated madman? There is no answer to this question. It can certainly be said that no one divides critics like he does. In fact, Pete Doherty is either hated or loved. I hate and love him.

I hate him because I bought the ticket for the concert in Milan, and he stood me up, but I love him because he is rock, very rock, even too much!!! He is proof that rock n' roll is still alive. Now many of you will say: "You don't have to take drugs to be Rock", that's true, you're right, but the "cursed" artists (and I'm not just referring to music) from "Jim Morrison", "Nick Cave" to "Van Gogh" are the most fascinating and the most debated.

"Down in Albion" can't be an album that you like immediately at the first listen, it can't be that simple, it takes time to understand it, it takes many listens to get into the head of a madman like Pete. I wanted to comment on this album, in fact, only after several months from purchase. Result= a nice album, Mick Jones tries to produce a new "Up the Bracket" (The Libertines"), but it's undeniable that the outcome is not the same. The alchemy between Pete's style (casual and far too offbeat... even in singing) and Carl (who follows more of the music rules... Eg. verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, and a rarely changing key) is missing. The result was called Libertines, but the dream is now over.

Unlike Carl's album ("Dirty Pretty Things") which is rather linear and all too smooth (in the series "neither infamy nor praise") here there is more genius, more confusion, peaks are reached with "Fuck Forever", "32nd December", "Down in Albion" and it falls into the abyss of the absurd "Pentonville". It takes more than one listen to immerse oneself in the atmosphere of "La Belle et la Bête", "Pipedown" and appreciate songs that on the first listen made you miss the Libertines "Up The Morning", "Back from Death". Let it be clear, I still miss the Libertines, but Babyshambles have been too harshly criticized, partly for the heavy legacy of the Libs, partly for Doherty's awkward persona. We will have to wait for the new album, which it seems is in the works, hope Pete survives, and try to listen to this album with the awareness that you're not listening to a normal band but each note and each line come from the mind of a madman, of a troubled, sensitive guy (because Pete is), unstable, with an exceptional talent like few around.

And anyway, if he were appreciated by everyone, he wouldn't be a genius (yes, I said genius, an exaggerated term you say? Maybe you're right, maybe not, maybe I see a genius where there's nothing but a clown, maybe I don't understand shit about music, maybe I'm a clown too... Anyway, FUCK FOREVER!!!!