Loved their first album. Got bored of them. Then liked their last album. The stuff in between the first and last albums is pretty meaningless to me. The stuff Alex Turner did solo for the movie submarine is lovely but weâre talking about the Arctic monkeys so Iâm gonna say 3/5
Thinking about it I actually really like quite a lot of their stuff, plus the submarine soundtrack that Iâm grouping in, turner seems a good enough egg plus some Sheffield centric voting means Iâll round up to a 4
Loved their early stuff, pretty much hated it when they went all generic American rawk (apart from the odd song). They seemed to trade away about 70% of the quirk and spark that made them interesting to start with.
The last album was a really interesting left turn. I think weâll only be able to assess their career when we see where they go from here.
Those first few albums came out when I was in secondary school and sixth form, wonât ever be able to disentangle the two tbh, they were so ubiquitous. Happy to leave them there really, not particularly arsed about anything new they do, but ofc still enjoy a singalong on the radio/pub/wedding etc. 3
Had their demo thing that was all over Myspace before WPSIAMTWIN came out, loved it and the album, a big soundtrack to my second year at uni. Still go back to it now and itâs not aged that badly really, though that might be partly nostalgia. FWN and Humbug didnât do a lot for me really apart from Fluorescent Adolescent and Cornerstone which are both brilliant. Suck It And See is really good, very underrated record. AM isâŠfine, didnât get why it was so hyped but didnât hate it, and the new one is interesting. Donât think theyâve ever made a bad album, but they never quite made one of the standard you thought they could have at the start if that makes sense. Gonna go with a 5 just for those early years if nothing else.
Reckon being at school during the time before the first album will be a big divider here. The last band (possibly ever) to get absolutely massive before a proper release.
Ridiculous how quickly they blew up looking back. Remember seeing them in a small venue in Sheffield Utd when they were a last minute replacement for a band Iâd gone to see. Couldâve bought a demo that went on to sell for hundreds for a couple quid. Didnât. Thought they were dreadful.
Not a massive fan but theyâve got a knack for a catchy lyric and riff. Maybe 2, maybe 3.
I like that theyâve changed up their sound every few albums, Alex Turner has an eye for a sharp lyric, and generally theyâve got more going on than 99.9% of guitar based proper tunes bands. But I canât remember the last time I thought âI fancy listening to the Arctic Monkeysâ. Only seen them live once, just after the first album, and the most memorable thing about that was that Paul Weller was stood next to me throughout the gig. A generous 3/5.
I think theyâll score a lot of 1s here just from people who lump them in with the other lad bands of the time.
Heâs an underrated lyricist, could have become a really dull band after their first couple of albums but heâs a smart enough guy to change the formula when it looks like it may get a bit stale. Tranquility Base was brilliant just for trolling âladsâ. Such a crazy album.
