Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Arcady
2. Last Of The English Roses
3. 1939 Returning
4. A Little Death Around the Eyes
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

Disc 2:

1. DVD: Grace/Wastelands - The Interview
2. DVD: Salome (Acoustic)
3. DVD: New Love Grows On Trees (Acoustic)
4. DVD: Through the Looking Glass (Acoustic)
5. DVD: Lady Don't Fall Backwards (Acoustic)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7495 in Music
• Released on: 2009-03-16
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

CD Description
Grace/Wastelands is the debut solo album from Babyshambles frontman  and ex-Libertine Peter 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

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 mighty The Guitar and Other Machines

Oh yes - the DVD that comes with this edition: definitely worthwhile - Street's conribution to the interview segment is enlightening. Doherty is coherent and no longer the colour of a raincloud. But the live acoustic segment is the main draw for the dvd - how 'live' it is well ha, you have to wonder (overdubs? retakes? me, cyinical?) but the quality of the songwriting shines thru.

[Apologies for the amount of words in this review, but i think this is a record that can't be reviewed in a couple of lines]

Expect the unexpected
I am 67 and my son is 24, so you might guess this purchase wasn't for me. Yet, you'd be only half right as it was for both of us. My lad has learnt never to force-feed anything, so my interest in Peter Doherty is a sulf-cultivated thing. However, he does try to keep me up-to-date and I welcome that. So, when he said "shall we see what this is like?", I thought why not? Getting the CD/DVD edition was an excellent decision. Whether one finds Peter's unique version of unpredictably and fraility (much in evidence in the DVD) appealing or not, his performance is fascinating. A troubadour in my view, and this evidences his devotion to subjects lyrical and amatory. Any artist whose work is equally but diffently attractive to us with our age difference must be worth a look?

Good effort
Grabbed this the other day in HMV. Didn't even realise he had a solo album out, but I saw it on the shelf and bought it.

It sounds exactly as you'd expect really. Just mainly Pete and his guitar, not really many full band numbers on the record. It's difficult to pick a stand out track, but it's a pretty solid album. I certainly don't regret my purchase.