The transformation from the future of rock n roll to possible rock martyr to tabloid fodder and finally to indie diva has been a fascinating one, not for the music but the entertainment factor, so finally its back to the music with the long awaited debut from Doherty and pals.

An album which has been hyped to high hell throughout the detox, the arrests, the court appearances, the no shows at gigs, the dropping from the Oasis support slots, the on-off goings on with Kate Moss and the shock of them doing drugs together - hmm, rock star and super model – what did u expect, hand in hand trips to Ikea on a Saturday morning?

Oh and then there was the embarrassment of Live 8, the downright shit storm of a set at Glastonbury, just about every other gig they did during the summer and now this,   the album is finally with us – was it worth the wait? The fact it’s even in the shops and the main creator of it is relatively in one piece is a victory in itself.

The Libertines were pretty over-rated but listening to this shows what a tight unit they were, the musicianship on this album comes nowhere near anything they did but Babyshambles surprisingly manage to cram plenty of good moments on this 16 track car crash through 40 Years of very English pop.

‘Ay’rebours’ and the ‘32nd of December’ are brilliant pop tracks with the former nodding a trilby to the Smiths and The Jam.
Also worthy of an ear is the skiffle of ‘Back from the dead’, the sweet love song ‘loyalty song’ and the title track even manages to cram in a bit of The Beatles and late Ride, finally, the dazzling psychedelic rock of ‘Up the morning’ which features the voice of Mick Jones is nearing excellence.
It’s one of those in these days rare albums which gets stronger as it goes on, they hit a rich vein as the tunes become less frenetic and more introspective.

The album is however equally as bad; the opening track ‘La belle et la belle’ sounds like a band warming up together for the first time and features vocals from Kate Moss which prove that maybe her skills lie in racking them up than taking over the mike. 

‘Pentonville’ is stoned rubbish featuring some reggae toasting dropped on it, adventurous but nothing to keep Peter Andre awake at night.  ‘Sticks and stones’ is a doomed take on reggae, at least UB40 had black dudes in the group and Pete slurring “Sticks and stones may break my bones but your words oh they really hurt’ is the sound of a writer attempting to do so at 9am after 2 days sleep deprivation.

All in all, a narrow success, but it still sounds like Shane Mcgowan taking a load of tramps that smell of special brew and wee to a soup kitchen set to music. 6/10

Chris Todd