Grace / Wastelands

Pete Doherty | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 24, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B001QCJNN6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,247 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Libertines and Babyshambles leader, Spin cover boy, frequent gossip magazine and TV show paparazzi target. Peter Doherty fi nds himself constantly at the center of a hurricane of media attention, a windstorm of publicity that constantly keeps him in the public consciousness.

Grace/Wastland is a brave exploration into the eye of the hurricane. A stunning new album that goes beyond the news stories and photos that lays bare a man's soul, an excavation of a heart left desolate. Recorded over a month of sessions in autumn 2008 at London's legendary Olympic Studios with producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs), Peter Doherty brings to life a collection of songs many which have existed since the heady days with The Libertines. Without the guise of The Libertines and Babyshambles to hide behind, never before have we seen Doherty so personal, raw, and vulnerable in his songwriting. Ripe with lyrical insights, Doherty's main themes are present and truthful - his troubles with youth, music, love and addiction are all revealed.

Adding color to Doherty's compositions is Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, appearing on nearly every track, instilling in the music his pedigree and refi ned studio nous. Scottish singer Dot Allison (One Dove) and poet Peter "Wolfman" Wolfe also make contributions to the record.

So, having laid himself bare, Peter Doherty has left himself open for critical analysis. Take this album for what it is and judge it on its merits, rather than the distortions of truth we and Peter are forced to endure. Think you know Peter Doherty? Listen carefully: this album is Peter Doherty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, But a Little Worrisome, May 20, 2009

By 

Timothy Hallinan (Bangkok/Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Grace / Wastelands (Audio CD)

This is a rich, beautiful, muted, heartbreaking and occasionally exhilarating CD. All the media crap aside, Doherty is the real thing, an artist who can put deepest and sometimes his darkest impulses into memorable, if often heartbreaking songs. His singing is perfect: he never gets in the lyrics' way and his phrasing is totally his own. And there's not enough to be said for the production. It's immaculate.

What's worrisome is that most of these are old songs. I'd be terrifically happy to hear a dozen new songs, if only to demonstrate that Pete's still turning them out.

But this is a collection that just gets richer with repeated listening.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pete Doherty? Really? Really? NO...REALLY? WOW!, May 18, 2010

By 

JG "wordmule" (...onward....thru the fog!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grace / Wastelands (Audio CD)

If someone played this CD for me and didn't tell me who it was, I'd never guess Pete Doherty. If they then told me who it was, I'd say "The Pete Doherty who's been on a slow motion trainwreck to self destruction on the front page of tabloids for much of the last decade? That Pete Doherty?".

Most people probably wouldn't characterize Mr. Doherty's heroin induced public conduct as mature. Well, folks, I'm here to tell you that after just a couple of spins of this CD, this is mature music and songwriting. With the possible exception of "Sweet By and By", which, with its New Orleans brass band sound doesn't quite seem to fit in with the rest of the album, for the most part, this is a great record.

It's been said that good songwriting comes only from people who wrestle with problems, internal strife, psychological issues, etc. Who knows whether that's really true or not, but if there is any truth to that, then Grace/Wastelands is a good record to use as an example in support of that argument.

It doesn't hurt matters that the great guitarist and creator of retro ambience, Graham Coxon, plays on most of the tracks.

This is music that will stand the test of time. Now, if Mr. Doherty can just keep the momentum of what he's done here going, we can look forward to more good stuff, and hopefully, look back at his self destructive tabloid days as just a phase.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Amazing Album, May 8, 2010

By 

Aaron J. Gauthier "gracewastelands" (spokane) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grace / Wastelands (Audio CD)

Pete Doherty does it again! If you're going to properly listen to this album make sure to enter into it without any preconceptions about who Pete Doherty is. Ignore the tabloid stories, ignore what you've heard about his drug abuse, enter into it with an open mind. If you do you will find one of the best albums of the last year.