Track Listing

1. Arcady
2. Last Of The English Roses
3. 1939 Returning
4. Little Death Around The Eyes, A
5. Salome
6. I Am The Rain
7. Sweet By And By
8. Palace Of Bone
9. Sheepskin Tearaway
10. Broken Love Song
11. New Love Grows On Trees
12. Lady Don't Fall Backwards

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6152 in Music
• Released on: 2009-03-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Possibly never before has the expression "his reputation precedes him" become such a talisman of negativity around a musician’s neck. In fact, it might be news to you that Peter (nee Pete) Doherty is a musician, given his primary recent standing as celebrity junkie and/or the ragtag down-n-out slumped across Kate Moss and newspaper gossip pages. The fact that his time in The Libertines is still so fiercely revered by the fans that follow him and attend his concerts says a lot about the dark days of Babyshambles, with true highlights and poetic accomplishments of the standard he’s proved he was capable of few and far between. Grace/Wastelands, his debut solo album, however marks a real wind change for his career, the early years included. These 12 tracks hold possibly the first recorded evidence of the man sounding entirely in control of his output. There are plenty of examples of him playing to the gallery, hamming up his debt to that English ideal in his head that refuses to die--or Albion as he quaintly refers to it--see the East-End boozer knees up of "Sweet By And By" for a manifestation of that. But there are further facets to this character (the Bond theme stylings of "A Little Death Around The Eyes", Waterboys-epic "Broken Love Song" or Kinks-esque ascent of "I Am The Rain"), delivered with a deftness of touch and a lyrical honesty. It’s not the classic he’s clearly striving for, but it’s a soberer shuffle in the right direction. --James Berry

CD Description
Grace/Wastelands is the debut solo album from Babyshambles frontman  and ex-Libertine Pete Doherty. Featuring collaborations with Graham Coxon and Dot Allison, Grace/Wastelands is a record full of invention and charm. Strong, poetic lyrics are backed by a blend of unpolished guitar twangs and softer acoustic strums. Includes the single "Last Of The English Roses".

Customer Reviews

What Babyface Did Next - A Rake's Progress
It would appear that young Mr Doherty has taken a little
time away from his demons (or at the very least, on the
basis of this, his solo debut release, they would appear
to be treating one another a little more kindly of late).

Poetic self-destruction has a long and noble legacy of course.
However,the latter-day rake and tormented romantic
pose was beginning to wear a bit thin.

The blood drawings were certainly never going to be his salvation.
Just fodder for another bad dealer making an opportunistic buck
on the back of his, very public, dissolution.

More show-off than Shelley. More brazen than Baudelaire.

Everyone loves a bad boy nonetheless and those of us who
retained some belief in this young man's abilities have
been rewarded for our patience.

The twelve compositions delivered in this new project do indeed prove,
if proof were needed, that Mr Doherty can indeed write and sing a song.

'Grace / Wastelands' is a very English affair. Willfully so.

Opening track 'Arcady' is, on the surface, a breezy affair but the
worm in the rose is never far away. Pretty perversity.

Single 'Last Of The English Roses' is magnificent.
A series of fragmented memories woven into a
captivating melody and a killer chorus.

The lyrical discourse of '1939 Returning' was a tad confusing
for this old Wolf but will almost certainly be understood immediately
by anyone else listening to it. A moody piece, well performed.

'A Little Death Around The Eyes' is another dark elegy.
The uncertain position of the storyteller in relation to
the subject is morally ambiguous and all the more disturbing
because of this.

'Salome' pins his desire for bohemian credibility to
the mast with flying colours ( and he wants it very badly!)

'I Am The Rain' is a somewhat lacklustre affair in comparison
with what has gone before.

Proceedings recover splendidly with 'Sweet By and By',
a wonderfully silly seaside postcard of a song which
demonstrates both a capacity for humour and a deeper,
more accomplished musicality.

'Palace Of Bone' contains echoes of many past troubadours.
A performance of light and shade and not insignificant power.

'Sheepskin Tearaway' is a sweet ballad, enhanced winningly by
Ms Allison's supporting vocal.

'Broken Love Song' gives our hero a chance to flex his tortured
emotional muscles and soar. It's a cracker !

'New Love Grows On Trees' is a confessional letter full
of sour memories and bitter reflection.
For my money the album's strongest track by a mile.

'Lady Don't Fall Backwards' brings the collection to a warm
and wistful close. A little hope. A small redemption.

All in all Mr Doherty has delivered a very fine piece of work here.

Mr Street's production skills fully understood the space that
these songs would need to breathe and make their mark.

They both deserve our respect and admiration.

Highly Recommended.

Waste/ Greatlands
Shotter's Nation was a bit of a disappointment, I thought. Stephen Street's production didn't suit the record, which needed a much less of the celluloidy smoothness Street provided, and more of the dynamic sound that Mick Jones (genius) got out of the band.

But that was yesterday and today is today. 'Grace/Wastelands' is pretty much a return to form for Doherty - I'm sure some will like praise the record and others will slate it. But I think it's a winner, and Stephen Street has really nailed it with the production, it doesn't sound pro-tooled or too polished, it sounds appropriate to the material. Like I say, it's a winner:

First off, it's not a Babyshambles record, although the individual band members do appear on most of the tracks in varying numbers. Ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon plays guitar on nearly all of the tracks, and his playing works very well on every song. Coxon's mature enough not to want to dominate the sound, and basically adds a lot to this record - while all his playing is excellent, there are bits that are truly inspired.

Songwise - and this is unusual for a Doherty record - there's nothing that really smacks you round the gob on first listen. But I wouldn't go judging Grace/Wastelands on first listen - there's a lot here, and not unlike the later work of Laughing Lenny, it's not going to go after you, you have to go after it. But if you do, it's a rewarding listen.

How it breaks down for me

Outstanding:
'A Little Death Around The Eyes'.Brilliant. Slightly filmic vibe here. Street's production gives the song a platform and a context, and it works very well.
'1939 Returning' guitar masterclass from Coxon, great title. Lyrics probably contain some anachronism, but hey, poetic license and all that...
Salomé - this is easily as good as (better than?) anything off Albion. Coxon brilliant here, (I didn't really know who he was before listening to this, as I have no Blur LPs, but I think I might check some of their stuff out now), a cracking tune. Just ace.
Lady Don't Fall Backwards - excellent. Some of this ('when the cold wind that blows in my heart/ was a summer's breeze') is like Linton Kwesi Johnson's 'Seasons Of The Heart'. Just excellent.

Very Good:
I Am The Rain - almost a classic. But still very good, like looking at a UK sky during any season.
The Sweet by & by - not enough trombones in rock, I say.
Broken Love Song - filmic again. Sometimes this record's like sitting in a cinema watching your own minds visual interpretations of the songs.

Good, but take it or leave it
Palace Of Bone - hmmm, I'm not heavily into the lyrics on this. The whole Fagin/ Barnardo bit is too cartoonish, although full marks for the playing and the production.
Sheepskin Tearaway - again, still a decent track, but it's too much like Doherty by numbers and lacks the acuity of perception/description that you'd expect from a Doherty song.
New Love Grows On Trees - ok, some great production here, but the song is just a bit uninspired

Strangely, for a solo record Grace Wastelands sounds remarkably collaborative, and not only that, very successfully so. I haven't marvelled at any of Street's productions since the Durutti Column's mighty The Guitar and Other Machines.

Amazing
After having doubt whether Doherty would make a solo album, I bought it the day it was released. I was not disappointed. The album is nothing short of melodic perfection; upon listening to just the first three tracks I found myself lost in his songs, not an unusual occurrence when listening to his music. Of course, like all great music, the album's certainly a grower and I would highly recommend anyone who likes Pete's lighter stuff such as The Lost Art Of Murder or For Lovers with "Wolfman". Let's hope he goes on to write more phenomenally good music.