Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Arctic MonkeysEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Music Label: Domino
Soundtracks:
- View From The Afternoon, The
- I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
- Fake Tales Of San Francisco
- Dancing Shoes
- You Probably Couldn't See The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me
- Still Take You Home
- Riot Van
- Red Light Indicates The Doors Are Secure
- Mardy Bum
- Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...
- When The Sun Goes Down
- From The Ritz To The Rubble
- Certain Romance, A
Free Music Notes for Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not
Free Music Review: Exceptional Debut Flawed Merely By The Hype
Hit: 5 Stars
The Arctic Monkeys have made the biggest impact on the music charts in Britain of 2006, and are the biggest rock band to do so since Oasis twelve years ago. The band will go down in history and they've only released one album. Building from internet hype alone, they became the most talked-about band in the country within a matter of weeks. Then their debut single went straight in at No.1. The second single followed in its predecessors footsteps, and then when the album was released in January 2006, the Monkey PR-machine went into overload.
The Arctic Monkeys are hyped beyond belief. In my opinion they are also incredibly overrated, yet nothing can escape from the fact that this is a brilliant debut album. NME magazine ranked it as one of the top five debut rock albums ever. Again, incredibly overblown! However, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," went straight in at No.1 in the UK album charts for more than a month and sold a record-breaking 363,735 copies in its first week on sale. Figures like this are completely unheard of for a debut album, putting this band in a difficult position; millions of fans but also millions of detractors, and so early on in their career.
The band consists of Alex Turner (vocals, guitar), Jamie Cook (guitar), Andy Nicholson (bass), and Matthew Helders (drums). Their music is sort of a mixture between The Jam, Pulp and The Streets with traces of The White Stripes' Elephant era, with lyrics focusing on social commentary that reflects 21st Century life in Britain. The album opens with the brilliant "The View From The Afternoon." Rumoured to be the third single, this song has a brilliant, stomping introduction and such a catchy first verse; "Anticipation has a habit to set you up! For disappoint in evening entertainment but..." The chorus is amazing as the guitars drive and crash up and down. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" is the band's most famous song, and also their debut single. Released in October 2005, it crashed straight into the charts at No.1, and with good reason. The guitars on this song are just superb, and the lyrics are what made this song stand out from the crowd. Alex Turner's voice is at once staggering, at times sexy and rough, but always honest and truthful. It's probably the most popular anthem in pubs and bars around Britain of the past year - a real head banger!
"Fake Tales From San Francisco" is one of my favourite songs on the album and could well be a single later this year. The guitar hook is incredibly catchy and the chorus is catchy as heck; "I don't want to hear you kick me out, kick me out!" This song is amazing when performed live, especially towards the end when the line "Get off the bandwagon and put down the handbook!" roars into your ears. "Dancing Shoes" opens with a rollicking bass that will get your toes tapping from the offset. The vocal lines are brilliant, very loud and raucous. The chorus lets me down a bit because it disrupts the flow but I love it when Turner sings, "Get on your dancing shoes, you sexy little swine!" Had me in stitches for days. "You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me" is one of my lesser favourite songs on the album, but it's barely two minutes long so it doesn't really make much of an impact. It's still got a great hook though, and the drumming is particularly impressive. "Still Take You Home" is an amazing song and has this brilliant melody that repeats itself over and over, really getting wedged into your brain. I don't reckon much to the verses, but the choruses are simply genius. Just the way the vocals are arranged is really impressive, and the breakdown around 1:54 will have you chanting anthemically with all your mates.
"Riot Van" is a slower, softer song that tells the story of a group of riots wreaking havoc on the streets (of Sheffield, presumably). They really don't give a toss about the police and their efforts to rid the streets of yobs. Quite a controversial song really, but it does work and fit in with the image. "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" has a great guitar riff running through it, although the lyrics don't really make an impression. However, the line, "No surrender! No chance of retreat!" always stands out for some reason. "Mardy Bum" is one of the best songs on the album and would also make a fantastic single. The band are really sorted in terms of commercial singles for this album - they could probably get about 7 released in total that would all do well on radio. This song is a bit softer than the rest of the album, but a bit louder than the likes of Riot Van. The real gem in this song is in the chorus and the lyrical melody of the lines, "Up, up and away!" This reminds me of Brit-pop in the mid-Nineties, it's very Oasis/Blur-ish.
"Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..." has an amazing bass at work as soon as the song kicks in. The main guitar riff is awesome too, and the chorus rocks hard because the vocals are only sung when no instruments are being played, stopping just before the instruments start up again. I love this style, it works so well in actually making the listener listen to the words. The instrumental section two minutes in is also a future-classic. "When The Sun Goes Down" was the second single to be released from the album in January 2006 and went straight to No.1. I don't care too much for it, I think there's a lot better on this album, but I love it when the song starts properly after the line, "Said he's a scum-bag, don't you know?" The next song is "From The Ritz To The Rubble," another song that I don't care too much for. This song sounds a bit too much like filler, but thankfully all is redeemed for the final song and album closer, "A Certain Romance." This is the longest song on the album at five and a half minutes and will go down a storm at live shows and festivals. It has a brilliant introduction with guitars and drums rolling in at breakneck pace, which are suddenly obliterated for a sweet and melodic guitar riff some 37 seconds in. This is what makes this song so memorable for me, and the lyrics add a sense of completion to the whole thing; in other words, no other song could close the album better than this.
OVERALL GRADE: 10/10
I hate to feel like I'm just going with the crowd by praising The Arctic Monkeys, because we all know that if too many people begin to pile on the praise, it will, inevitably, become uncool to like them. However, I think you just have to go with your instincts and not be swayed by what everyone else thinks. In my opinion, this is a great rock album but I probably wouldn't have bought it this soon after its release were it not for the hype. So I suppose it works both ways. I hope they become big in America too because they're more deserving of dull as dishwater singers such as James Blunt. Don't mind me for vomiting. Alex and Jamie are also sexy too, and that's always a bonus. Check them out, I - and millions of others, no doubt - highly recommend them.
Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not Poster
Musically, there are bits of The Stone Roses, "What's The Story Morning Glory", and "Nevermind". As catchy as those reference points are, it's the songwriting that has won the band a fiercely dedicated following; a mix of the observational storytelling of Davies and Weller crossed with the harsher documentary eye of Mike Skinner of The Streets and "Ghost Town" era Specials. Two #1 UK singles. Press already lined up with Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, and Interview, to name a few. Three more US/Canadian tours planned for this year, including headlining Domino's label showcase at SXSW.Hot on the heels of their shock UK No. 1 single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not confirms Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys as the UK underground's most proselytizing young preachers of the DIY gospel. Marrying nervy, caffeine-and-cigarettes indie clatter to conversational, pretense-free lyrics and the occasional burst of off-the-cuff eloquence ("No time for Montagues or Capulets/Just banging tunes and DJ sets," proffers "Dancefloor"), it's an instant, pulse-racing hit.No question, the Monkeys are more sinners than saints. The opening "The View from the Afternoon" predicts a ruckus with a whole lot more grit than the Kaisers can muster, while on the mellow "Riot Van," a tale of underage drinking and cop-baiting culminates in a messy beating in the back of a station wagon. Look beyond the Arctics' bristly, laddish exterior, however, because it's actually affairs of the heart that comprise this album's secret core: see the sweaty-palmed "Dancing Shoes," bearing testament to the trial of nerves that is pulling in a suburban indie nightclub, or "Mardy Bum"--a tribute to a moody girlfriend that, for all its witty barbs ("I've seen your frown and it's like looking down the barrel of a gun"), is tinted with sweet affection. --Louis Pattison
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