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The Libertines - The Best Of: A Time for Heroes Audio CD

A fair review of the The Libertines "The Best Of: A Time for Heroes" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Libertines reviews here, or go back to the The Libertines tabs.

The Libertines Band: The Libertines
Title: The Best Of: A Time for Heroes
Rating:
Release Date: 2007-12-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Up the Bracket 2: Time For Heroes 3: Mayday 4: Don't Look Back Into the Sun 5: Tell the King 6: What Katie Did 7: Can't Stand Me Now 8: What a Waster 9: The Delaney 10: Boys In the Band 11: Death On the Stairs 12: I Get Along 13: What Became Of the Likely Lads

Good, but just buy the real albums
But since this is merely a compilation of their 2 albums, just buy the albums. This is a good album, the Libertines are a good Euro-Indie band which gave way to the Babyshambles.


The Libertines-Time For Heros; The Best Of
I knew who Pete Doherty was and I heard that the current drummer for the recent carnation of the New York Dolls had played with The Libertines so I thought it might be worth my while to give the band a try. The Libertines-Time For Heroes; The Best Of ***½


I have to write this review from the perspective of someone who used this collection as an introduction to the band, because that is exactly what I did when I bought it.

Now I usually do not buy greatest hits, or best of collections unless I own everything else by the band and wish to own everything that they release, but this was the only thing I could find from the band so I bought it. Before buying it I noticed that on the album cover was a sticker that was comparing the band to The Clash, which with them being one of my all time favorite bands that this was going to be a good purchess. After listening I feel I must warn that the only compareson between the two bands is that they are both from around London, were both young bands (with the exception of Joe Strummer) and the attitude. If I was going to compare the band to any early punk band from England it would be with out a doubt, The Jam. They whole sound, the vocals, the lyrics, and the guitar all scream the Jam, which is not a bad thing as The Jam were a phenomenal band.

So after listening to the band I came to the conclusion that from this collection I liked it. The song writing was great from Doherty, and the musicianship is pretty good from the `punk' band, though I would hardly call The Libertines a punk band from this collection, ,only `Mayday' even remotely reminded me of punk. For the most part they sound like a decent rock/mod band. But over all this is a great collection of songs, but not good enough to make me go out and but any of the bands actual albums.


Good Introduction to The Libertines
I owned the original albums when they first came out, and while there was certainly a collection of songs that I truly enjoyed on those records, I've never found The Libertines to be that spectacular of a band. I purchased this album recently in order to get The Libertines' singles. I always felt that their albums featured a few songs that were great, while a majority of the songs were mediocre at best. As such, I traded away the CDs, and then spent a few successive years missing the critical songs. As such, when this "best of" compilation came out, I took the opportunity to pick it up, as it contains a good collection of songs for a casual listener of The Libertines (and it can be had for a low cost).

It's true, that since The Libertines only put out two proper albums, it isn't that significant of an investment to purchase both of those; however, if you're like me, and you want the singles on one disc, and don't want to sift through the material that isn't as good, then this is a good compilation for you.


What a Waster...
But, they didn't! This is pretty much a waste to buy, unless you're missing the few bonus tracks and the couple of EP songs they have on here. If Rough Trade would've repackaged their two studio albums, and perhaps even added a bonus disc with a fair amount of B-sides and rarities for good measure, there would be nothing wrong with this compilation.

This includes their six single songs from the two albums they released, two songs from the I Get Along EP ("The Delaney" and the song which is also a single, "Don't Look Back into the Sun"), the bonus tracks from the US and Japanese releases of Up the Bracket ("Mayday" and the single "What a Waster"), four other tracks from Up the Bracket, and only ONE other track from their self-titled second album The Libertines. If one is going to be technical about it, Up the Bracket is the "better" release (and not nearly as melancholy as their second), but their second, self-titled album is a perfect mirror of the turmoil that was going on within the band at the time. By only listening to this compilation, you are almost completely missing out on that side of The Libertines; "Music When the Lights Go Out", "Narcissist" (with a nod to Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray), "Tomblands", "The Man Who Would Be King" (the first Libs song I heard), are all great songs that appear on the second album, but not on this so-called best-of compilation! Other tracks I love from Up the Bracket are missing; "Vertigo", "Radio America", "The Boy Looked at Johnny", "The Good Old Days". . .

This is a fantastic band, one of my top favorites. "What a Waster" is one of the greatest singles released by any band, in my opinion. I'm not knocking this CD down because there is anything wrong with the songs, individually. I just feel that 'The Best of: A Time For Heroes' gives one a very muted feel for The Libertines. If you're looking for an "introduction" of The Libertines. . . well, they released only two studio albums, so listening to those ought to do the trick!.


You can see a complete list of all The Libertines discography, or go back to the The Libertines tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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