I should have probably thought that statement out more clearly. Sure I hate most Arctic Monkeys fans sense they tend to focus on Alex's looks rather than actual music output but it's no real reason to lose respect for band (I think FWN and the new single are already doing that) because other bands have suffered from the annoying teenage girl fanbase. Such as Blur, with their catchy songs and good lucks they had a small army of teen girls ranting on about Damon's good looks but luckily they were able to lose them with their self titled album. And I completely agree with adidass about the 'I love the Monkeys for their energetic punk rock' thing, which is why I found most of FWN to be boring and non memorable. You can go on and on about them going for something new and trying to change things up but they really shouldnt be doing that, not at this point in their career atleast. If you sound great doing something on thing you really shouldn't go to another thing at the drop of a hat.

505 is about as close to Riot Van as I am to you. Riot Van is a slow song that never really picks up and brings down the album a bit. 505 is almost a ballad like song that is constructed completely different than anything from the debut and hits a climax that you really don't see from any other of their songs except for Do Me a Favour.

I know, I said the Josh Homme influence was definitely there. I still hear FWN in it though.

Says the Radiohead fan...

Ohhhhh snap.

OH wow you're clever. :rolleyes: Radiohead unlike Arctic Monkeys CAN pull off doing something like this.

Also is Crying Lightning supposed to have bad quality? I thought it was just the link that dac posted but today I bought the single of itunes and it still has bad quality unless they are going for that garage rock sound.

They are open about their fanboyism of The Strokes...

I get what you are trying to say about the fans but past that. When they create material if they end up with a different formula than they are used to doing they will go with the flow and change it up. I have no problem with that. Some bands stick with the same formula for numerous albums because it works for them and fickle people will slam the same band for having songs that all sound the same. Then there are people that like you that slam bands for going with their creative motivation but because you don't like the sound you feel like they shouldn't be changing their formula. They know they can't please everyone so they just go with whatever they feel creatively while in the studio and song writing process. It comes down to a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

FWN is pretty forgettable to me also though lol. there were about three or four tracks that stood out for me and I haven't listened to that album since I heard it awhile ago.

I won't be in a hurry to checkout the new album. I will hear it sometime but I wasn't all that impressed with FWM and I haven't played it for well over a year. I still love the attitude and rawness of their debut and adidasss is right. Bands can certainly explore more musical avenues but the reason why the Moneys work is their Englishness, through the raw working class city sound to the regional accents and the idiosyncratic lyrics. Pairing them with Homme doesn't sound like the best idea. Of course you cannot slate it until you have heard it but it sounds less appealing to me all the time :(

^ I agree with most of this. (But I really loved FWM). I'm am not a Josh Homme fan (in fact I dislike him quite a bit) so I am a bit disappointed that they may be moving away from their signature sound and in this direction. BUT I will approach the new album with a open mind.

Josh Homme is the only reason I'm checking out any of Arctic Monkeys new material, that probably annoys some people but I've never found any of their music to have merit until potentially now.