Arctic Monkeys : Favourite Worst Nightmare
 

Poll this please, somebodeh.

Ok, so here goes nothing. I'm really curious to see how people who gave this album a go really felt about it.

Personally I must say that after buying the CD, it was my favourite listen for literally a month if not more. I had it spinning repeatedly, over and over - such was the point to which I was overcome with adoration for this record.

I stopped listening at some point, and thinking back, I don't think it's nearly as amazing as I once thought, or even close. But not-being-a-masterpiece aside, it has some truly soaring songs which I'll always love. My favourites are:

505
Do Me A Favour
Balaclava

and also love The Bad Thing, D Is For Dangerous

I think this is one of the best albums from last year, Fluorescent Adolescent is a great song, its the best single from the album, and 505 is the strongest track on the album.
This album is much stronger than their first.

MMmmm, I'm having trouble deciding what to vote...i think I'll go with very good, for actually really enjoyed this album....Flourescent Adolescent was my favorite song when it came out, and I also really like 505, and D is for Dangerous...I listened to it lots when it came out, but not to much anymore, which is why it is not excellent...

Strange. I was listening to this at work after a couple of months hiatus and my opinion still has'nt changed. I still prefer the first albums energy and drive. That is not to say it's a bad album, it is merely one of many British Indie albums released last year that did'nt set me on fire. Lyrically it is definitely more accomplished than their debut and it tap's succinctly into British working class mentality regarding it's humour. Brianstorm sets the album up on a false note. We are expecting an all out sonic assault full of the riffage that accompianied the debut. That we never get this detracts from the album and lulls you into a false sense of security. Whether this was intentional, I do not know. What I do know is that if this opener was further down the running order, I would have listened to the album with a completely different mindset.

I compare the first two Arctic albums with those of Oasis. Both arguably came at a time of stagnation in the mainstream U.K music scene. Both debuts blew the cobwebs away with their attitude and their subsequent follow up's, while perfectly listenable and competent, never scale the same heights.

Though I think Favourite Worst Nightmare is a great album, it doesn't quite top Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not for me. Despite that, the album did feel like a breath of fresh air and I listened to it constantly upon release. The lyrics are still witty, the jam-like sound of the instruments is still there and most importantly, the music is fun to listen to and it sounds like the band's had fun with it too.

Why don't you?

That's the exact impression I got listening to the album the first time.

I can't lay claim to having shared in such an impression. Not least because I don't feel it's really accurate. There's more along the lines of "sonic assault" on FWN than the first album: not only is it faster, but considerably louder too. And most of the songs are full of rif***e anyway, I'm not sure what y'all mean - if anything, the momentum of Brianstorm carries all the way through until the end of Balaclava, the surge only being stopped by Fluorescent Adolescent and Only Ones Who Know.

From that point on, we are introduced to a new side of Arctic Monkeys - a darker, more sinister side full of brooding undertones. Do Me A Favour, This House Is A Circus and If You Were There, Beware epitomize the sound best. But these songs always deliver the rock-factor goods, ultimately. As does 505, one of the best things Alex Turner's ever written.

The style has clearly changed here, it's true, but that's in all ways a good thing as far as I'm concerned. If the first album was a bit more guitar riff driven, then this was more bass driven. But as far as the songwriting goes, FWN is undeniably superior. What people tend to forget is that the first time round, Arctic Monkeys while SORTA having their own thing also seemed to rely an awful lot on their Libertines influences, aping riffs from Up The Bracket and at least aping the general style at any rate. From Leave Before The Lights Come On to the present date, Arctic Monkeys have managed to shake off those influences and create a sound that's wholly them. This has come with greater depth and above all, stronger signs that there's a lot more to come from Turner.

Me-->http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...wer/setnja.gif<--Rainard

Right, so because you can't derive any enjoyment out of them, therefore everybody else on the other side are bonkers. Hmmmmm. Go back to U2, Keane and James Blunt, or whatever.

Fair enough. I appreciate them for not playing a particulary commercial form of music (lack of chorus's for example) and the singing in their own regional dialect. Lyrically Turner is sublime and he has that northern wit thing down to a tee.

And I'm from the Balkans...:rolleyes:

Biggest disappointment of last year, this is rubbish. Brianstorm i can live with, but afterwards its simply the most average songs ever written. The first album is great but this is just them doing the same thing as all the bands that copied them in the first place.

lol, what a load of twaddle. this was a considerable improvement on album no.1 and if anything, brianstorm itself is the most average half-assed song on the album. you just didn't get what you were expecting/wanting. that's all it is.

sad thing is, i'd bet you're one of those who thought hard-fi's pile of steaming horse excrement "once upon a time in the west" was good.

Eurgh yuck no. That was severely bland. What makes you think i'd like it? :S

Average IMO.
Got bored of it real quick(although i liked it at first).

I still think the first album blows this out of the water.

yeh i know i'm late, but I just got this album yesterday and wow.

It's sooo much better than their first, i have to say my favorite track is Fluorescent Adolescent. Really great!
:thumb:

I still cannot remember a lot from this album, even though I have heard it many times. The musicianship is better than the first and maturity has set in but for the worse. This is just another banal guitar pop album that will not be remembered in ten years times whereas the debut definitely will due to the multitude of genres it lightly touches upon.

i disagree =\

It's far from banal. You are right that in all likelihood it will not be remembered in two years time let alone ten, but that's not because of its insipidity or whatever. It's just because it doesn't contain any of those "massive" songs: A Certain Romance, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Mardy Bum, When The Sun Goes Down, The View from the Afternoon... those are what will make the debut the memorable one, not the "multitude of genres" is supposedly touches upon. But the sophomore album is the one where the Arctics find their own sound and stop aping others. And yeah, so it has a more brooding tone and doesn't scale the pop heights of Whatever People Say I Am, but that wasn't the idea - Turner's not one to get stuck in a niche, unlike so many others, and exploration/redefinition is his game. As such, this album proved that if any of these New Wave Revival/Britpop bands have anything actually special, exciting and new in store for the future, then it's the Arctic Monkeys.

^ This post is what internet discussion boards were made for.

C'mon man, I know you can do better than that...

You never answered me Rainard :(

Sorry to disappoint , but after listening to both, I'm starting to see what Jackhammer is on about. But I do think it'll be remebered as will the Monkeys, and this album will be remembered as the album where the found their sound.

Oh sorry - well basically, I hadn't seen you on the forum before so just assumed you were some twonk from my country with bad taste in British indie and cookie-cutter britpop. Course I don't think that of ya now ;).

Ahh, well if you asked me about 4 years ago then i probably would have been, though i don't think even i liked Hard Fi when they came out..

great album... i wasn't the biggest fan of it at first, i loved the first one right away because it was such a refreshing sound from what i usually hear. anyways, one day this album just kinda came together for me and now i prefer it to the first one. alex turner is a wonderful musician and quite prolific at that. My problem with the monkeys is that they for some reason shy away from songs that seem meant to be played acoustically and it kinda bugs me. There are some great live acoustic performances and i think AM would do well to record on acoustic.

5 stars though, Do Me a Favour is an outstanding track

You mean, he writes a lot of music?

Best track on the album.

This is a great album, I'm listening to it right now.

One thing I noticed about the Arctic Monkeys is that although they don't have any outstanding solos on either album they are capable of producing some great guitar laden music. I liked their debut album better but it was sincerely hard for me to distinguish which songs I enjoyed better. I have to admit, when I first heard of them, I was a bit skeptical, but I learned to enjoy them. Alex Turner may not be a great songwriter but he's certainly interesting enough. It's very, very British rock n' roll. :)

Um, how is he *not* a great songwriter? Anybody who single-handedly writes a track like Mardy Bum is clearly a very very talented writer.

I wasn't insulting the kid. I really like it too. But I read (and ascertained) that he seems like he doesn't have confidence in the material he writes. If he overcame his inhibitions, he could make a truly remarkable album.

That might be true. I hope it is.

Seriously now, is there any reason to hate this album?

It's darker than their debut, but it's dark with a message.

Matt Helders is a beast on the drums.

All of the songs are catchy.

They are not pop.

Brilliant band.