Grace/Wastelands

Grace/Wastelands
Studio album by Peter Doherty
Released	13 March 2009 16 March 2009 24 March 2009
Recorded	Olympic Studios, London, 2008
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	41:40
Label	/ EMI Astralwerks
Producer	Stephen Street
Peter Doherty chronology
Oh! What A Lovely Tour (2008) Grace/Wastelands (2009)
Singles from Grace/Wastelands
"Last of the English Roses" Released: 9 March 2009 "Broken Love Song" Released: 3 August 2009

Grace/Wastelands is the debut solo album from Babyshambles frontman/The Libertines co-frontman Peter Doherty. It was released in the UK on 16 March 2009, with the single "Last of the English Roses" preceding it by one week. The album features contributions from Blur guitarist Graham Coxon (who plays guitar on all the songs on the album apart from “Broken Love Song")^[1] Dot Allison, Peter Wolfe (aka Wolfman), and members of Babyshambles. Most of the songs have been played live or feature in demo form on leaked sessions.

History

Following famous stints in Babyshambles and The Libertines, Doherty began to play various solo shows throughout the UK. His biggest came on 12 July 2008, where Doherty played a solo gig at the Royal Albert Hall. It was his biggest solo show ever but the solo show wasn't received well. According to the critics "whole chunks of the set passed by as listless noodling, with neither Doherty nor the audience appearing to know quite how to behave". The consensus was that - without a full band - Doherty seemed out of place at such a big venue.

However, on 13 January 2009, NME.COM announced that Doherty's solo album, entitled Grace/Wastelands would be released on 16 March, preceded by a single, "Last of the English Roses", on 9 March. The website also revealed the track listing of the album and credits.

Recording and release

The original track listing included "Through The Looking Glass" but it was replaced by "I Am The Rain" due to it fitting the vibe of the album more. "Through The Looking Glass" ended up as a B-side to "Last of the English Roses." A preliminary track list for the album also included "Darksome Sea", a song co-written and recorded with Peter Wolfe in Summer 2008, however the song did not end up on the album. Also, the song "1939 Returning" was originally planned to be a duet with Amy Winehouse.^[2]

The album was released to positive reviews, despite only reaching #17 in the UK.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B+[4]
Allmusic	[5]
Robert Christgau	[6]
Drowned in Sound	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[8]
The Guardian	[9]
NME	[10]
The Observer	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Spin	[13]
The Times	[14]

Initial critical response to Grace/Wastelands was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 74, based on 22 reviews.^[3]

Though critics were a lot more fond of the record than Doherty's last two efforts, the album did not sell as well as was expected, particularly in the UK - peaking only at 17 in the UK Top 40. However, Q stated that the album was impressive, awarding it 4/5 and stating the album "demolishes the charge that his talent has been fatally squandered" although it did state it isn't the "defining statement" of genius his fans insist is round the corner.

Similarly, The Observer newspaper gave the album positive reviews, stating that the album said "goodbye to Pete Libertine the Rehab King, and say hello to Peter Doherty, outstanding singer-songwriter and charismatic poet-vagabond. It's a pleasure finally to meet him."^[11]

Track listing

All tracks by Peter Doherty unless noted

1. "Arcady" – 2:53
2. "Last of the English Roses" – 4:59
3. "1939 Returning" – 3:10
4. "A Little Death Around the Eyes" – 3:32 (Doherty, Carl Barât)
5. "Salomè" – 3:14
6. "I Am the Rain" – 3:14 (Doherty, John Robinson)
7. "Sweet by and By" – 3:05 (Doherty, Alan Wass)
8. "Palace of Bone" – 4:24
9. "Sheepskin Tearaway" – 2:43 (Doherty, Dot Allison)
10. "Broken Love Song" – 3:44 (Doherty, Peter Wolfe)
11. "New Love Grows on Trees" – 3:38
12. "Lady Don't Fall Backwards" – 2:17

Credits

• Pete Doherty – acoustic guitar, piano, organ, harmonica, vocals, melodica, artwork, composer
• Trevor Myers – trombone
• John Metcalfe – viola
• Stephen Street – dulcimer, guitar (Acoustic), harmonium, guitar (Electric), percussion, programming, vocals (Background), drums (Snare), mixing, mellotron, producer, tambourine
• Peter Wolfe – composer, guitar (electric)
• Dot Allison – vocals
• Sophie Harris – cello
• Tom Stanley – engineer, mixing
• John Robinson – guitar (acoustic), vocals
• Andrew Murabito – design, reworking
• Dave Emery – assistant engineer
• Martin Burgess – violin
• Adam Ficek – accordion, cymbals, brushes, drums
• Drew McConnell – bass
• Stephen Large – organ, piano and vox continental
• Alize Meurisse – artwork
• Graham Coxon – guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric)
• Benny Cummings – trumpet
• Sally Herbert – violin
• Richard Koster – violin

Charts

References

External links

• Grace/Wastelands at Metacritic
• Grace/Wastelands Review