Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Another absolute stormer of a debut. I actually saw them in Barcelona in 2006 when they were touring this. “Electric” doesn’t come close to describing the live experience but it was very representative of the album - it crackles with youthful energy but they sound so tight at the same time. Like everyone I have favourites ( Maddy bum, a certain romance) but there are really any weak notes and you’re carried along on a wave of energy from start to finish. Who the fuck are the arctic monkeys anyway?

YUMMYYYY

Amazing album and what a debut! I love the mood and style the Arctic Monkeys use when writing their songs. The album alternates between very fast-paced tracks and slower, more melodic ones, and it does so in a masterful way.

Never gave this album a chance until today. It’s really good the drums are 🔥

144/1001 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Pure nostalgia for my college days this. An album we'd play when sneaking off to the park with a 2l bottle of Strongbow in our lunch break. I don't listen to it often now, but because of it, I appreciate it even more. The wry lyricism, the catchy hooks, it captures life so well.

This is one of the very best debuts ever recorded. Alex Turner is an extraordinary song writer and hit the ground running here, and backed by Matt Helders’ drumming this makes for an incredibly powerful and clever album. There’s barely a misstep here, perhaps the harshest criticism can be levelled at the guitar leads which tend to be very simple boxy pentatonics, but other than that this is brilliant. The hype it had, and I remember it as I was there, was fully deserved.

Cant be objective here because I've listened to this one countless times and the hooks are burned onto my subconscious. One of the finest indie rock albums of the 21st century. Alex Turner and co bringing the Strokes-esque swagger, before they went massive with AM or faded back into obscurity with the current lounge lizard act (which actually is kind of good.) Just incredibly punchy tunes, sleazy Yorkshire delivery, super memorable lyrics. Remember seeing these guys opening for the Black Keys in like 2012 and the Monkeys made much more of an impression on me. The percussion on this record particularly deserves a lot of credit, driving beats and excellent fills

it’s so easy to like this album

Their debut album. Indie / Rock. What a debut ! One of the best debut albums of all time ! I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Fake Tales Of San Francisco, Mary Bum, From Ritz To Rubble, all bangers ! The best of British Indie Rock. Lyrically brilliant, musically superb. An album you can dance and sing along to. A real energetic masterpiece of an album !

Just brilliant

Great trip through memory lane. Lots of bangers

Pretty great album. I had heard the arctic monkeys before but never took the time to listen a full album. Grit, angst, with some swaggering vocals and good rhythms.

Amazing record front to back. Danceable, headbanging, rock done right. Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured is one of my favorite songs ever and I don't even know if it's objectively the best song on this album. 5.2 outta 5

I love this album. I bought it when it came out after seeing the music video for I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor simply because the song was good and the band was the Arctic Monkeys, and it quickly became a favorite of mine. Their high energy London indie vibe resonates along with the narrative of getting into trouble in the underground. Then you get Marty Bum and Riot Van, which break up the tempo and tell very real stories of no win situations that the narrator caused. Then it closes with A Certain Romance, which serves as a perfect reflection of a 20 year olds level of cynicism. It’s a wonderful tribute to ruffians getting their comeuppance without a sense of self reflection. Plus, the guitar and bass are spectacular!

Just a perfect debut. It might be a 4 objectively but ultimately none of this is supposed to be objective. So nostalgia and sentiment make it perfect.

This just rips. One of those bands where I can't find a weak link. I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor and Vampires are all timers.

First time I really listened to them…fantastic!!! Great rock and roll music…my new favorite

Fun album start to finish

curti curti não dá para errar com artic

Really cool guitar rock with a strong English strain. Kind of like if the Kinks never shed their American influences and discovered punk.

I'd almost like to hate on this album, but I honestly can't. Such power, it was a breeze of fresh cold air blowing away any stagnation. Despite how pop it was, I still believe it's a masterfully written album.

Great

Good times

No notes. Favorite song "When The Sun Goes Down" 5/5 just cause it's not a 4/5

Prefer Favourite Worst Nightmare but I’ll never get sick of this

I was not familiar with early Arctic Monkeys. I like this so much more than their later stuff. The raw emotion is still there but there’s an edge in this early stuff that just isn’t there on AM.

(4.75) so so good an insane debut album

This album is the best for its genre. I enjoyed this album when it was released, and I enjoy it probably even more now. Every song is a banger, and no song feels out of order on this album. Amazingly, the concise 41 minutes of music never overstays its welcome. A perfect 5 out of 7.

A personal favorite, with a ton of replayability.

A phenomenal album. Alex Turner’s writing is something else.

A personal favourite that I've listened to more times than I can count. Always amazed at how much I find to enjoy each time through, as well as that they were all ~20 writing this album. It's got an air of amateurishness (complimentary) and garage rock mess. Songs are all tight but loose. Intricately layered, noisy, twitchy, and full of brash, youthful energy. Alex Turner is at his fast-talking best as he sings about being young and stupid in the UK. Love this one all the way through, an easy five stars and a truly great album.

A real classic. I love this album

me like rock hate paper

I LOVE It, it's one of my favourite albums and the fact that it's their debut, it's amazing and the music and the lyrics and Alex turners young voice it's just perfect

Banger

One of the best debut albums of all time

Classic

Superb - every song a classic

There's Verse And Chapter Sat In Her Inbox 1001 Albums Generator 132 (10/03/2025) Having only listened to 2022's The Car when it came out and a couple of hits off of AM, I was floored by how good Arctic Monkey's debut album is. I never really understood the Arctic Monkeys thing because of my limited exposure to them, but Whatever People Say I Am is super fun, energetic piece of indie rock. Alex Turner is a great frontman; he always feels like he needs to say a little bit more than he has time to, but this adds to the feel of the album. The instrumentals on this album are also great. There's a moment near the middle of The View From The Afternoon where it cuts to just this rhythmically ambiguous guitar before the drums come in for an awesome build. This is a great example of how these songs, despite being almost entirely high tempo, still manage to have quite a bit of dynamic diversity and are very well composed. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor has these reserved verses that explode into the choruses, with the last chorus being especially explosive. While I could see this formula getting old for some people, and even I found myself slightly tired of it by the last couple songs, I don't think I really have any notes about this album. The slow song, Riot Van, is my least favorite, but I understand why Arctic Monkeys put it here. I can't believe how much I liked Whatever People Say I Am! 4.5/5, rounded up to a 5. Favs: The View From The Afternoon I Bet You Look Good On The Dancfloor A Certain Romance Least Fav: Riot Van

4.5 - Great

Four young lads on an endless number of uppers, Carlings, pie, mash & liquor are released in the studio and record an infectious rock album about clubbing culture in the northern part of England. The album with the long title contains 13 catchy songs of earworm sonic brilliance hot sharp shit buzzcocked by who & what not. It's met with great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. You know the rest. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not feels both essential and at once forgettable much like life does when you're young.

Wow. I am very familiar with later songs by Arctic Monkeys. I didn't think I knew any song from this album, but I did know A Certain Romance and I love that song. My standouts are definitely A Certain Romance, From the Ritz to the Rubble, Riot Van and Fake Tales of San Francisco. Every song was really good, though. The only maybe downside is this is a VERY British album lol. I think it works here and I wouldn't want anything else from an Arctic Monkeys album, but it can be a bit much sometimes. I do love this album after the first listen. It is not the best thing ever made, but it is fun and familiar. Nothing not to like here.

history. legendary. never been done better. no better song to smoke to while pontificating on the nuances of your girlfriend being a mardy bum...true art...

Redefining Dad Rock

I forgot about this album. Really enjoyed listening to it again.

Instant classic. Maybe the ambition was greaer than the actual raw talent, but it works.

Classic

New favourite band, small sample size but still. They remind me of We Were Promised Jetpacks who debuted one year later in 2003.

Mid 9/10 Very entertaining and energic project throughout with fun lyricism. I haven’t felt bored during the entire listen. I am defo coming back to this project

Brilliant! Great energy.

One of my favorite bands absolutely 5 star

244/1089 - This does not sound like the album cover at all. Probably the best out of all the indie rock/garage rock revival bands from the 2000s, I like the post-punk sound because of how distinct and angular it sounds. Post-punk/New Wave reminds me of classical counterpoint in a way which is one of my favorite things about music.

Yessir

I BET THAT YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR

awesome, of course

Simply a great album. I don't think I can add anything to the accolades already given.

Un de mes albums préférés 🫶

Fucking banger of an album

-good -no bad songs -good voice

I can’t believe this album is 19 years old. It fills me with nostalgia, but also not, considering I still listen to it at least once every couple of months. The single for I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor and the subsequent album were both released during my third year of university. At the time, two of my most-listened-to bands were Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines, so Arctic Monkeys felt exactly tailor-made for me (I guess for a lot of people too, considering they rocketed to stardom). I went in hard for UK post-punk revival and Arctic Monkeys came at the tail end of it and kind of blew everyone else out of the water (at what, age 19, 20?!). This album is absolute catnip to me. It has the wry nightlife chronicles of Pulp, the gritty garage rock charm of The Strokes, a dash of the danceable post-punk of Franz, and the witty lyricism and frenetic energy of The Libertines (minus the disastrous drug habit, doomed-poet pretensions, and absolutely shambolic drama). Oh, and there’s the small detail of a very intriguing frontman… Alex Turner, a dream date if there ever was one, took on the Sheffield storyteller mantle vacated by a semi-retired Jarvis Cocker and ran away with it. Nowadays Alex is quite the seasoned performer with a very, uh, dedicated fanbase. The Arabella video might actually exceed Blur’s Beetlebum for thirstiest YouTube comments section (and for good reason). But before he became the AM-era swivel-hipped, pompadour’d rock god, Alex was a shaggy-haired, awkward-cute boy who happened to be a staggeringly talented songwriter. That’s the Alex Turner I loved best. Alex’s Sheffield is populated by shady pimps, hipster-poseur indie bands, surly taxi drivers, “totalitarian” bouncers, and night club hooligans. Few escape his pointed pen - a vapid Topshop princess, a shitty band, local thugs, the cops, and even his own buddies get sent up. He doesn’t leave himself/the narrator out of the crosshairs either (You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me; From The Ritz To The Rubble). It’s his arch self-deprecating attitude that keeps him from sounding like a judgemental asshole. It’s tempting to see Whatever People Say I Am as a document of what’s now being retroactively called the indie sleaze era. As James Murphy would say, “I was there.” But was I really? I was too busy watching classic movies on DVD, goofing off at home with my housemates (this is what happens when you’re a nerdy introvert in a house full of them), or holed up in my room writing essays (or more likely, procrastinating from writing essays by watching Radiohead performances on YouTube). But I did occasionally enter a club or attend a party populated by scenesters. And while we didn’t have chavs in Vancouver, we had plenty of drunk idiots and girls with bad fake tans and pretentious hipsters. It’s familiar even though I wasn’t living the lifestyle. And that’s the genius of this album. The antics that Alex depicts aren’t unique to Sheffield in 2006. His references are local but he isn’t really writing about a specific subculture or scene. He’s capturing the universal teen/early 20s experience of an underwhelming night on the town. This isn’t The Cobrasnake. There’s nothing aspirational or particularly cool going on in Alex’s stories. Right from the first track, Alex warns not to set your expectations too high before embarking on your night out. You can think of this as a concept album depicting one long, somewhat disappointing night out. There’s initial hope (I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor), a crappy show (Fake Tales of San Fransisco), failed attempts to pick up (Dancing Shoes; You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights), putting on the drunk googles to settle for someone less than ideal (Still Take You Home), a run-in with cops (Riot Van), failed attempts to get a taxi (Red Lights Indicate Doors are Secure), and Sunday morning regret (From The Ritz to the Rubble). The outliers are Mardy Bum and Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But… . The latter is the band’s two-fingered salute to townie haters (and probably the worst song on the album). But Mardy Bum could be a flashback to earlier in the day/week. Was the tiff and possible breakup with the girlfriend the catalyst for the night out? Whether you take the album as a connected narrative or a series of sketches, it tells an impressively coherent story. Interestingly, Alex never really returned to the observational humour and nocturnal sketches of Whatever People Say I Am. As the band evolved their sound away from the scrappy indie post-punk of their debut, Alex stretched his lyrical legs towards more sophisticated wordplay and abstract and poetic themes. His nuanced love songs on later albums displayed his growing emotional maturity - but the songs on the debut have a special place in my heart. This album stands alone as a unique capsule of Alex’s viewpoint at a very specific time in his life. It spoke to me when I was 20, and the appeal never wore off. Not because it reflected my own experiences, but because I love Alex’s sharp, funny social commentary. It’s rude of me to fail to mention the rest of the band until now, but they all deserve credit for the loud, fast, energetic sound of this album (especially drummer Matt Helders). The pace of this thing is relentless. Almost every song is a banger. Interestingly, a lot of the songs start out with a heavy intro, settle into catchy verses and chorus, before ramping back up again. It’s a really fun record to jump around to. I’ve seen them live three times and it’s always the most fun when they play these songs. Whatever People Say I Am has stood the test of time as one of my all-time favourite albums. I’m not sure it’s my favourite Arctic Monkeys album (I’m very partial to Suck It and See, even though it’s not the strongest overall) but I’m always in the mood to listen to it. Sometimes bands just get it right the first time around. Even the weaker tracks aren’t that bad. A near-perfect album. Couldn’t give it 5 stars fast enough. Highlights/my favourite lines: -The View From the Afternoon The first song sets the stage for the “evening entertainment” - a little preface for the tale that unfolds on the rest of the album. It’s also a warning about the hazards of drunk dialling. Is he trying to remind himself not to call the (ex?)girlfriend from Mardy Bum? “Anticipation has the habit to set you up / for disappointment in evening entertainment” This could also be a sly reference to the hype around the band before they released their first album. After their early MySpace-fuelled success led to a record deal, the UK press was collectively frothing at the mouth with the promise of yet another ascendant indie guitar band. Arctic Monkeys weren’t just an “NME band” though. Whatever People Say I Am got pretty universal acclaim, and not just in the homeland. Alex promised a ruckus and he delivered. P.S. Anyone who read Alex’s misplaced Valentine’s card to Alexa Chung would agree there’d be nothing more welcome in your inbox than verse and chapter from Alex Turner…iykyk. -I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor An all-time banger. Like most people, the first song I heard from them. I was instantly sold and ready to accept the album with open arms. -Fake Tales of San Francisco This poseur takedown is the most 2006 song on the album and still so funny to me. As we entered the second half of the 2000s, for some reason the war on hipsters was the most important cultural issue of our time (ah, quaint days!). I wonder how many people listened to this song and quietly put away their trilby hats. Fake Tales, told from the sidelines of a crappy local band’s gig, really showcases Alex’s genius for droll observational humour. His storytelling is so vivid, I cringe every time imagining the vibe of the night. After witnessing a girl run out of the show and complain to her friend that the band was “fucking wank,” the narrator reasons that at least the singer’s girlfriend liked it: “His bird said it’s amazing though so all that’s left / is the proof that love’s not only blind but deaf” I don’t know where or what Hunter’s Bar is but I find this hilarious: “He talks of San Fransisco, he’s from Hunter’s Bar / I don’t quite know the distance but I’m sure it’s far / yeah I’m sure it’s pretty far” -Riot Van It starts as a funny little interlude about some lads’ run-in with the cops and devolves into police brutality. “Have you been drinking son? You don’t look old enough to me.” “I’m sorry officer, is there a certain age you’re supposed to be?” -Mardy Bum There are hints of it throughout, but this songs exposes Alex as an utter romantic. Mardy Bum stands out as the sole light, poppy tune on an album full of loud bangers. The song starts off as a lighthearted recounting of a lovers’ quarrel but takes an impassioned turn when Alex insists he does care about his girl: “Of course I do, yeah I clearly do!” …it gets me every time! On later albums, Alex expands his love song repertoire with devastatingly romantic heartbreak tracks like 505 and Love is a Laserquest. If anything, I think now he’s more known for his romantic songs than the dry humour of his early work. Honourable mention: Alex’s insanely charming Yorkshire-accented pronunciation of “cuddles”(“coodles”!). -When The Sun Goes Down This is why Alex is a cut above in his songwriting. Not content with simply documenting his mates’ drunken antics, he turns his eye towards the streets and is dismayed by what he sees. The song starts off with the narrator observing a sex worker with compassion before turning his scorn on her “scummy” pimp. With a few simple lines, an entire character is sketched out: “Can see it in his eyes yeah / that he’s got a driving ban / amongst some other offences” -A Certain Romance My favourite song on the album. A lyrical master class. This closing track brings us full circle from opener The View From the Afternoon. Here Alex laments the sorry state of his hometown nightlife - “there ain’t no romance around there” … as he told us himself, anticipation has the habit to set you up for disappointment. It opens with their signature furious racket before resolving into a bouncy ska-inflected rhythm. Alex decries the local chavs and barroom hooligans (“just cuz he’s had a coupla cans / he thinks it’s alright to act like a dickhead”) and throws off pithy little one-liners insulting his uncouth fellow youths (“there’s only music so that there’s new ringtones”). But just before you start thinking he’s on his high horse, he cheekily undercuts himself by admitting that his own friends are just as bad: “What can I say? I’ve known ‘em for a long, long time / And, yeah, they might overstep the line / But you just cannot get angry in the same way” And then it’s all punctuated by a two-minute outro solo that sends you to the stratosphere. You feel nostalgic and euphoric and melancholy and regretful of your lost youth. Masterpiece!

This album is a complicated listen for me. I love it. I'm a big Arctic Monkeys fan. But it also makes me really sad, and the more I listened to it for this review, the sadder I got. On the first listen, it was just a fun rowdy rock album i'm revisiting from my youth and i'm just having a good time unpacking my stuff and basking in the nostalgia. On the second listen, the existential dread came crashing in. Turner is so good at capturing what it feels like to be in your 20s and going out to clubs and getting up to mischief with your friends and getting drunk and talking to girls and going to shows etc. I remember doing all of those things. I remember feeling how he feels on this album. I specifically remember shit talking bad bands that I got stuck watching because I was playing in the same show as them, like on fake tales (the girlfriends sitting around watching their boyfriend's shit bands is real, the new girlfriends enjoy the show (the love is deaf scenario), the ones who have been around awhile openly look at their phones throughout their boyfriend's set, they've realized that having a boyfriend in a band is not all it's cracked up to be). The sadness and existential dread comes from the fact that those times are over for me now. No more shows. No more going out with the boys. Meeting women happens on an app. etc etc. I am old-ish now and that feels sad. I wish i could go back to the days described on this album. And by the third listen, the memories of dead relationships started to consume me. I feel like I've bonded with a lot of exes over this album/band. I saw them live in concert with one ex. I saw a cover band do this album in full with another ex. I remember one ex giving me shit for not knowing the middle of the catalogue (at the time i was mainly a fan of this album and AM, now i know all the albums) and forcing me to listen to 505 and more. I can remember different exes singing these songs to themselves, certain lines I can still hear in their voices. I think I even worked on a cover of Mardy Bum with one of them. Weirdly, the vast majority of the women I've dated were into this band. Either they're music people, and they're into this album and Favourite Worst Nightmare (especially fluorescent adolescence) OR they're not music people and they're fans of AM because that album was inescapable in 2013. This is definitely not a "dude" band, there's a sizeable female contingent to the fanbase and I keep dating members of it. Perhaps it's Alex's charming good looks? Perhaps it's the confident, clever and romantic lyrics? It's probably all of the above and more. Anyways... these memories really brought me down, because in the end they all left. There's no happy ending to these memories. Perhaps i need to start dating women who hate this band. Learn from my mistakes. All this to say... i like this album a lot but I also makes me feel quite sad... which i guess is a sign of a good album, in that it definitely has an emotional impact. It definitely captures a time and place in my life, just not one i want to revisit regularly. And this makes it sort of hard to rate. I love this record, but it makes me feel bad. I don't know how to reckon with those feelings in my review. Objectively, it has a very specific sound that i really connect with, a sound they never fully capture again in their catalogue. I love the energy, the stops and starts, the lyrics, the wit, the hooks, the guitar work, the momentum. It's fuckin' awesome. Sure... It's not a perfect album... there are no bad tracks, just a couple that feel redundant in comparison to other stronger tracks on the album... but I don't skip them. They're part of the experience. I think it's probably a 4.5 for me... but i'll round up because of the personal pain it delivered. Specific track thoughts: I Bet You Look Good On The Dance floor - it's a classic. Somehow i missed it on much music when it debuted and only found it later. That guitar solo intro rips. The Romeo and Juliet line rocks. The whole song is hooks (oops all hooks). Fake Tales of San Francisco - Too real. The cocaine line made me laugh. You Probably Couldn't See... - I like that bit at the end with the vocals soloed. Still Take You Home - Love that chorus. Great riff. Even though the song feels sorta cruel, when it comes out of his mouth, it just works. It doesn't feel gross. Somehow he pulls it off. Riot Van - I like how slow and dreamy it is... like they're mocking the cops. They don't take them seriously at all. THe rest of the tracks are so intense. They're about subjects that actually matter. But the cops, pfft. Alex doesn't give a fuck about them. Mardy Bum - Just a beautiful pop song about fighting with your partner. I love the line "and you got the face on"... it paints this picture of a couple that's been together a long time, that knows each other, that's definitely fought before and will fight again. It's a simple phrase but it makes the relationship feel deep and rich and real. When The Sun Goes Down - this was my first exposure to the band. It really blew me away as a teenager. Nothing else in my world sounded like this. I was mainly listening to pop punk and this was something completely different. I still have a soft spot for it. It is probably my second favourite song on the album. The big guitar riff is sooooo good. It's their Roxanne and it's so good. I don't know who this song is about, but I don't like him much. I love the slow intro and outro. I love how he says "scummy". A Certain Romance - this one is my favourite. It's got great riffs. It's got tons of hooks. It's slow and sweet and fast and epic. The lyrics are witty and capture 2006 small town life, which i relate to. But also to me it always felt like a commentary on losing some sort of essence of being alive (a certain romance) through modernity and technology and progress, maybe it was just the music/ringtone line. I love the epic finale. It's a perfect track. I think it was the last one written for the record. I remember telling my dad that this record beat a beatles sales record and he didn't believe me. I'm not sure if it did or not, but in my memory it did.

Vet!!

Favourites: All of them!

Record that hooks you from the starting track! So much energy, great workout album, personal favorite.

One of my favorite bands of all time, high 4? I struggle to be objective with this one, not my favorite monkeys album but high energy, great songwriting, fun drums

My first venture into the Arctic Monkeys' material, and I have to say: this is fantastic. The 2000s equivalent of London Calling. And every bit as angry and energetic. I've been known to condemn punk/rock artists for releasing a relentless onslaught of high-calibre 2-minute tracks, but something about this music just screams "good" more than so many of its predecessors. It's clean yet gritty, tasteful yet grungy... and of course has that anti-establishment embellishment that you don't need to read between the lines to notice. There are no throwaway tracks, with the worst ones still being "really good" and probably the strongest song on most other punk(esque) records. Every instrument is not only played well but also mixed and produced excellently. And those guitar riffs! Juicy, they are. The guitarwork and basswork is on-point here, along with the driven, reasonably complex drumming. The Arctic Monkeys do some pretty unconventional things throughout this record. Music stopping and restarting is interesting enough by itself, but doing it for several seconds? Sometimes multiple times per track? Leading to a new section that develops the pre-established musical themes? Holy arctic. Turner's vocal is intensely British (what else?) but he doesn't sacrifice quality of singing (much). Compare to bands like the Sex Pistols, Limp Bizkit, and Bad Religion. Maybe I'm just immeasurably relieved at a band in this genre actually being kind of great, not sacrificing quality for the sake of political messaging. The two can coexist, and they do here, easily. Re my previous point about the onslaught of punk-esque tracks, Arctic Monkeys even manage to somewhat avoid that with the quieter interlude Riot Van, showing that they don't just cater to sorrowful Gen X alumni with worn-out, now-unused VCRs. 5/5 Key tracks: The View From The Afternoon, Mardy Bum, When The Sun Goes Down

Good all the way through

Arctic Monkeys are such a crazy band. They have been world famous since before I was a teenager, and somehow the lead singer is only 39. They rocketed to extreme fame in a year or two, and they were barely adults. What a crazy life. "The View From The Afternoon" captures the essence of the 2000s Arctic Monkeys immediately. This is a great song and is immediately recognizable as them. The opening to "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" goes so hard. It's a sick riff, and then it transitions into an equally sick but different bouncy rhythm. "Riot Van" is a new-to-me song and I love it. "Mardy Bum" is my favorite song on the record. I love the slowed-down pace and the vocals. This is an amazing album. It's not too long. The sound is a little repetitive, but I love it. There is great variety in here, and I love the perspective of drunken teenage england. 9/10

Favorite songs: Dancing Shoes, I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor, The View from the Afternoon, Fake Tales of San Francisco, You Probably Couldn't See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me, Still Take You Home, Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured, From the Ritz to the Rubble, Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..., A Certain Romance Least favorite songs: Riot Van 5/5

Nice.

Now that’s how you do a debut album. Brilliant, still fresh, original, funny. Passes the test of time.

Ідеальний дебют, все ще напевно найкращий альбом в їхній дискографії.

This is (maybe) not a five-star album in the classical sense. It’s neither all killers, nor is it wildly inventive or groundbreaking. But here is the thing: my judgement is clouded. Because from a subjective perspective, this is where it all started for me personally. As a teenager growing up in a rural town, this album was hu(uuuu)ge for me. Fake Tales of San Francisco is an all-time favorite, and even today it transports me back to the cold winter of 2006, when my brain was rewired after actively hearing this melange of indie and post-punk for the first time - made by someone roughly from my own generation. Over the years, I’ve listened to thousands of different albums, genres (and of course to the godmothers and godfathers of this style) but this one still feels special. Unlike many other releases from that era, I think it has aged remarkably well (with the debuts from Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and Maxïmo Park also standing the test of time). Alex Turner is a great lyricist, the drumming is sharp, and the whole thing carries an amazingly raw energy - youthful yet timeless.

For me, this album has it all.

Visionary, legendary, etc etc, prequel to an incredible rise, nothing else to say

Længe siden jeg har hørt den fra ende til anden, kæft en fed plade! Alle sange er kæmpe bangers og det lyder stadig virkelig cool.

This album is still so good! Everything about it is just so god damn cool. I also know a guy who used to play From the Ritz to the Rubble pretty well in his band 😎

I only really knew the Arctic Monkeys for their major hits, and never gave their catalogue a listen. It's a shame I hadn't done that, because this album is an absolute banger. Top to bottom, it really reminds me of that mid 2000's garage rock scene. The best album I've listened to so far.

15/08/25 - evening 5/5 Proper indie sleaze, no notes. First album ive been given that I've already listen to in full and love. Fake tales of San Francisco is for sure the best on here. Love these Sheffield lads. messy, raw and amazing

So much better than Coldplay

Fun rock album. I really enjoy the grungy raspy Alex Turner.

"Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" is the debut studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys. Indie rock, garage rock, post-punk, revival, punk rock, alternative rock and post-Britpop are the Wiki-listed genres. That's a lot but I agree that they're hard to exactly pinpoint on this album. Critics likened this album loosely to a concept album "which describes British nightlife, clubbing and pop culture and romance from a first person perspective of a young person/clubber from North England." I'll go with that. Commercially, the album was the fastest-selling debut in British music history. The band gave away free demo CDs at their gigs and the subsequent internet sharing promoted the fan expectations. The album reached #24 on the US Billboard 200. The band members included Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitars), Jamie Cook (guitars, backing vocals), Andy Nicholson (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Helders (drums, percussion, backing vocals). The album had wide-spread critical acclaim and won the 2007 UK Mercury Prize. The album kicks off with "The View From the Afternoon." And literally kicks off with the fast drums, roaring guitar and rumbling bass. Turner comes in with rapid vocals. Hard guitar riffs. An appropriate musical start as well lyrically as the narrator anticipates the upcoming evening including the "daft" message he's sure to send before the sun comes up. The band keeps it rolling on the next song, their first single, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor." The guitar riffs builds, the charging drums. The music sets into a groove. A very catchy song. I like the semi start-stop dynamic they have going. They slow it down a bit on the third song "Fake Tales of San Francisco." Another nice groove and it's actually danceable. The music goes harder with the guitar in the middle eight. It's about how a band tries to be like other bands and gives a fake image. A strong start to this album. The band can be melodic and they show it off in "Mardy Bum" with the guitar. This song has a melancholy vibe as it should be as it describes a relationship strained by a partner's grumpiness. The band saves the best for last with the album closer "A Certain Romance." Fast drums and a loud guitar riff, the band jams and then they slow it down. A high-pitched guitar melody. The band really shows the ability to jam together again. It's lovely song as it follows the romantic activities among the youth. Most of these songs are short and rapid with the music and vocals. They are also very catchy and at times have a groove. The music has a punk approach but can be put into a lot of other styles mentioned in the first paragraph. The band can also slow it down with great melodies. Alex Turner's singing style is almost a talk-rap as he matches the speed of the music. This is a great album. I think it sounded better today than when it came out. The band has gone on to other musical styles (which I like) but this is the one to listen to.

2010 took over my body, sorry

Absolute belter of an album that took me straight back to the mid-2000s. The beat is somewhere between disco and rock that lends itself well to shouting along in a room full of partygoers. The lyrics are excellent and many songs refer to common, everyday experiences from the time, such as the anticipation of a night out, drunk texting your crush, or struggling to get a taxi home from the rank. Had so much fun I listened to it twice.

So good I almost didn’t listen to it. I’m glad I did.

I actually don’t look good on the dance floor but thanks for the vote of confidence. Obviously a 5, everything else is bollocks. I think you do need to listen to this with a smoke after a few jars though

It's not quite as good as I remember. I think it's partly because of how annoying he is now. But can't seriously contemplate anything than a 5

🗯 Still an absolute blinder. 19 years on and it hasn’t lost a drop of its pint-splattered brilliance. It’s sonic crack. This album meant something to me at the time — still does. One of the finest of that mid-aughts wave. They seemed to arrive fully formed, all energy and elbows, like they’d been waiting their whole lives for this exact moment. The drums are ferocious — up there with Matt Tong on Silent Alarm — and the guitars punch with purpose. And then there’s Alex Turner: barely 20 and already dropping lines like he’s seen the whole world through a taxi window at 3am. It’s lad culture dressed in poetry, small-town stories with stadium-sized charisma. And songs, well, it’s an embarrassment of riches. It was the fastest-selling debut in UK history — and somehow, it’s even better than we gave it credit for.

One of the great indie records of the aughts. Has the danceability of Franz Ferdinand and mixes it with a punk sound and clever lyrics. The result is still great today.

Fantastic.

Familiar with this one and stands up to when I used to listen to it regularly. 4/5 stars

A classic. I love the Arctic Monkeys so much, dude.

An older guy I knew in high school loaded my mp3 player up with a bunch of 2000s indie rock, including a lot of Arctic Monkeys. In our small town in Montana, it felt like I was listening to music that none of my peers had ever heard of. As a recovering indie hipster kid, I think this album holds up great.

Oli aik hyvä oikeesti. Olin jo tykänny osist biiseist nii ei ollu yllätys

The singer is sooooo Brit-ish! Alot of singers you might not even know that they are British. Like Phil Collins. I don't think I'd know he's British just by listening to him. anyway.. Great guitar work and super creative changes. I'm a 4.5 with this and kick it up to 5 just because they groove as hard as they fucking rock!

Modern classic

It's incredible that this was banged out by a bunch of kids. The lyrics are killer. The intelligence of the arrangement of instruments. Talent beyond their years. 'But his bird said it's amazing so all that's left is the proof that love's not only blind but deaf.'

I hate when the media called something rock'n roll, but for this it was right on the money. 100% energy, variation on point, great songwriting. This gets me pumping.

Early 00's British Institution.

One of my favorite albums growing up and such a fun, high energy punk album. Full of cheeky stories of teenage revelry and mischief, it was filled with perfect anthems of my youth. While I am impressed at the bands willingness and ability to change over the years, this will forever be my favorite version of the band and its raw simplicity and fun lyrics always keep me hooked. What a privilege to re listen after all these years.

Acc insane like wow this album rocked. I think given some more listens this would easily vault into top 15 territory of all the albums we’ve listened to.

It probably is the best of the wave of 00s UK indie I grew up with. Really good, sharp songwriting, tight playing, a great rhythm section, fun, funny, smart.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that it literally took me one second into this album for me to realize I was gonna love it. Arctic Monkeys was one of those bands that were somewhere on the edge of my radar, but never really got to the center. I think I considered them too indie for me, probably because of AM (I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it). But after this, I’m practically kicking myself for never really giving them a shot. It’s got every good element of 2000’s rock and alternative. It’s catchy, frantic, and never one-note. I genuinely don’t think there was one weak song here. Even the slow song Riot Van didn’t break the streak. This list has given me some drivel from the UK music scene in the 2000’s. Really, all they needed to give me was stuff like this. Fucking fantastic. Favorite track: Between A Certain Romance and The View From The Afternoon. It’s hard to pick. Other hits: rest of the album

Was already massively into this album. Just classic stuff - my 3rd fave AM album at time of rating, mainly because of Fake Tales of S.F. and Still Take Yo Home. Massively takes me back to Whistler 2026/27.

essential brit rock band of the 2000's. This album has been saved in my library for ages now and it doesn't get boring or old or outdated with age!! love them, they haven't put out an album i didn't like yet :]

vier bis fünf – nochmal hören

Some of the first basslines i learned, two weaker tracks but otherwise perfect, a classic.

Can remember this coming out and alongside Franz Ferdinand this began a renaissance of guitar British guitar bands. Great debut, much better than Oasis. Musically superior and good lyrics.

Heard it before. This album is the true sound of early 00s indie which could make it terribly dated nowadays but for some reason it sounds as fresh as ever. Every single song is a banger. Timeless classic 5/5

Love it. Great songs, dark subjects. Great debut album.

A land mark debut, an accurate representation of a moment in time.

One of the "new" albums (i.e. not in my version of the book). Not a false step here. Very assured debut (fastest selling debut at the time of release). An Indie classic.

Before he started crooning about the milk going off on his spaceship, Alex Turner really was an incredible storyteller.

Classic!!!!

The birth of Arctic Monkeys arrives at the intersection of iteration and identity, on the corner of continual reinvention, instantly making space for my favorite modern band’s place within the great rock & roll tradition.

Last great rock album. Amzinf sound, great riffs. No skips at all.

No skip territory, but a lot of the style is repetitive. That being said, the style is great. Arctic Monkeys, in my eyes, are one of the first modern rock bands that was making rock cool again, branching away from the soft emo rock era of Nickelback, Fall Out Boy, etc.

god bless Sheffield

este disco se siente como tener 20 años, que te esten pasando miles de cosas por adentro y por afuera, no las entendés del todo pero estás empezando a conocerte y la única forma que tenés de sacarlas es con música galopante, rítimica, que no da respiro, porque un poco te querés escapar del lugar donde creciste y de todos sus personajes aunque al mismo tiempo todo te da un poco de nostalgia. Querés ladrar y comerte el mundo, y la guitarrita es tu más fiel amiga.

Already know and love this one. Yay Arctic Monkeys! :) Best song: When The Sun Goes Down Notable(s): You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights, Riot Van, The View From The Afternoon

Get off the bandwagon. Put down the handbook.

This album is top notch stuff from Arctic Monkeys. While they didn't create the genre of early 2000's Brit-Indie-Pop-Punk they may have perfected it with this album. Bright guitars, fast drums and jazz chords combine for some really fun music. No doubt that I have a bias toward this album from having it on repeat when it came out in 2006 but I stand by my adolescent interest. This music is energetic and fun and has aged perfectly.

En 2006, quatre jeunes de Sheffield, à peine sortis de l’adolescence, catapultaient sur la scène rock britannique un pavé d’une authenticité foudroyante. "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not", le premier album des Artic Monkeys avec un son brut et sans fard d’une jeunesse désabusée mais vibrante. Dès les premières mesures de "The View from the Afternoon", le ton est donné. Une batterie frénétique, des guitares qui lacèrent l'air de riffs acérés comme du verre brisé, et par-dessus tout, la voix d'Alex Turner, gouailleuse, précise, débitant à une vitesse folle des observations d'une acuité sidérante. C'est là que réside le premier coup de génie de l'album : sa capacité à capturer l'ordinaire pour le transformer en une poésie urbaine et électrique. Les sorties en boîte de nuit, les espoirs de séduction maladroits, les altercations évitées de justesse, les taxis de fin de soirée ; chaque morceau est un court-métrage, une tranche de vie de la classe ouvrière du nord de l’Angleterre, dépeinte avec un réalisme cru et une ironie mordante. L'album est une décharge d'adrénaline quasi ininterrompue. Des hymnes générationnels comme "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" ou "Dancing Shoes" sont des invitations impossibles à refuser à une danse frénétique et cathartique. L'énergie est palpable, presque nerveuse. On sent l'urgence de ces jeunes musiciens qui, avant même d'être signés, avaient conquis leur public grâce à la diffusion virale de leurs démos sur Internet – un phénomène précurseur qui a redéfini les règles de l'industrie musicale. Cette ascension fulgurante, bâtie sur le bouche-à-oreille numérique, a insufflé à l'album une aura d'authenticité et de révolution. Les Arctic Monkeys n'étaient pas un produit marketing ; ils étaient la voix du peuple, amplifiée par la technologie. Musicalement, l'influence du post-punk revival du début des années 2000 est évidente, avec des échos de The Strokes ou The Libertines. Cependant, les "Monkeys" y injectent une saveur typiquement britannique, un héritage qui remonte aux Kinks et aux Jam. Les structures sont directes, sans fioritures superflues. La basse de Andy Nicholson et la batterie de Matt Helders forment une section rythmique implacable, un moteur surpuissant qui ne faiblit jamais. Les guitares d'Alex Turner et de Jamie Cook s'entremêlent dans un dialogue constant, tantôt agressives, tantôt mélodiques, mais toujours au service de l'efficacité redoutable des compositions. Le véritable trésor de "Whatever People Say I Am..." réside sans conteste dans les textes d'Alex Turner. Véritable chroniqueur social, il possède un don d'observation quasi littéraire. Avec un vocabulaire riche et un sens de la formule percutant, il croque les personnages et les situations avec une précision chirurgicale. Que ce soit l'hypocrisie des scènes de drague sur "Fake Tales of San Francisco" ou la tension palpable avant une bagarre dans "From the Ritz to the Rubble", Turner raconte des histoires universelles à travers le prisme de son expérience locale. Des titres plus mélancoliques comme "Mardy Bum", avec son analyse fine d'une dispute de couple, ou le poignant "A Certain Romance", qui jette un regard à la fois critique et affectueux sur sa propre culture, démontrent une maturité d'écriture sidérante pour un jeune homme d'à peine vingt ans. L'album ne brille pas par sa complexité orchestrale ou sa diversité sonore mais il mérite une note de 5/5 car c'est un excellent premier album qui se vit autant qu'il s'écoute, un uppercut d'énergie et d'intelligence dont la pertinence reste totale. Un classique moderne, un disque essentiel qui a parfaitement rempli sa mission : définir le son d'une génération avec une honnêteté et une énergie qui forcent l'admiration. Un cri du cœur et des tripes qui mérite sa place au sommet.

Classic. Still holds up. I practically time travelled back to 2006 with its songs about arsehole bouncers and trying to pull girls on the dancefloor.

One of the dirty little secrets of punk rock is that it's better when it steers clear of out-and-out nihilism in favor of pure raw desire - eros rather than thanatos. There's a reason Joey Ramone's favorite word was "wanna." And these guys wanna, whether it's ripping off Bowie's "China Girl" to end a song about people enjoying the Thin White Duke's favorite pharmaceutical or trying, over and over without much success, to get with that vain girl at the party who's bad news in a good way. All along there are great lines ("All the weekend rockstars are in the toilet /Practicing their lines," from the aforementioned coke song) to go with the tunes and the musicianship. (the closer "A Certain Romance" is downright beautiful.) The fake San Francisco call-out is telling - if you're gonna be a Northern Beat then this is the way to do it. Bonus points awarded for looking past Roxanne to see the dark satanic mill keeping her on the street at night.

I can’t be unbiased about Arctic Monkeys, I was obsessed with them all through my early-20s (like Alex Turner posters on my wall and everything, fully wanted to be Alexa Chung and/or Miles Kane) and now in my 30s I know it’s ‘uncool’ but I don’t care and I still honestly get around every song, including their much maligned new 70s space age spy soundtrack lounge vibe records. This album is banger after banger, IBYLGOTD is particularly generation-defining stuff of course, with Mardy Bum and WTSGD my main favourites.

“to all of the fellas out there who were too cool to wave their arms to the pretty visitors chorus, this one’s for your girlfriends. LADIEESSSSSSS” - alex btw the biggest green flag is being able to sing the intro to from the ritz to the rubble

How many stars are there to give? Can I borrow a star from some of the much shittier british bands I've been forced to suffer through to get to this album? Ive never listened tk this straight through but it slaps from the beginning to the end. The only gripe could be some of the songs sound pretty similar. But for me thats good here

This album is a burst of raw energy that never lets up. Sometimes that approach gets tiring over the course of the album, but at least for me, the songs and dynamics were variegated enough to keep me hooked the whole album through. Love all the chaos in view from afternoon, the hooks in still take you home and mardy bum, and there really isn’t a dud on the whole album. It’s a great album for remembering that ‘anything can happen’ feeling of young drunk nights out with your friends. Relatedly, I used to be in a band that would sometimes cover ‘when the sun goes down’ and I would often be too drunk to remember the lyrics I was supposed to be singing so I’d just slur random words in a pretend British accent. Ps- I texted Sean my ebullient praise of this album after listening and he replied that I only like it because I’m a ‘rockwhore’ which I’m choosing to take as a compliment.

Soundtrack to a young dumb semester abroad in London. Still holds up. Not sure about their more recent stuff, but this debut is so good from end to end.

One of my favorite albums all time from a nostalgic view. This album shaped the drummer I am today.

Man, this takes me back to my teenage years. One of my most listened to CDs of all time because it fucking slaps. Just love the energy and vibe this record brings. It changes pace at the right moments and keeps suprising you. Love all of these songs. Prolly one of the rare no skip lps for me.

One of the best debut albums ever. An easy 5*

Das ist wahrscheinlich das Album was ich am meisten in meinem Leben gehört habe. Löst nur gute Gefühle aus

One of my all time favorite albums. No skips. All bangers. Favorites: I bet you look good on the dance floor, still take you home, from ritz to the rubble Rating: 10/10

im not an artic monkeys fan, and I was disappointed when I saw them live in a gig, but this album is a master peace. 5/5

На початку нульових, коли в рок-музиці панував ню-метал, почала зароджуватися хвиля, що зверталася за натхненням до минулого, а саме до гаражного року 60-х, щоб передати його сирий та абразивний дух із вишуканістю сучасного інді, глем-року та постпанку. Так, зусиллями таких гуртів, як The White Stripes та The Strokes, народився Garage Rock Revival. Натомість Arctic Monkeys зі своїм дебютним альбомом з'явилися, коли ця хвиля досягла піку, на який вони успішно "залізли" і згодом досягли приголомшливого успіху, випустивши альбом AM у 2013 році. Проте цей альбом є звичайним сентиментальним інді-роком, який був нескінченно далеким від шикарного та автентичного дебютника. Такого матеріалу, як на дебютній роботі, ми від них не почуємо більше ніколи. На мою думку, більше й не треба, бо на ньому 19-річний Алекс Тернер разом зі своїми близькими друзями, здається, створив квінтесенцію подібної музики. На Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not ви не почуєте технічних відкриттів чи якогось "нового погляду" на гаражний рок, головна сила цього альбому зовсім не в цьому. У кращих традиціях панку музиканти без досвіду створюють просту, сиру та щиру гітарну музику, під яку Тернер, не цураючись свого акценту, передає свій досвід роботи в пабі та розповідає історії "простих людей", із якими він стикався щодня. Обкладинка найкращим чином ілюструє цю ідею, адже на ній, очевидно, зображений один із п'яних "героїв" пісень Алекса. Ще однією виразною рисою є тексти та їхня подача. Текстів у піснях справді багато, і вони подаються майже суцільним потоком, ніби ти дійсно слухаєш п'яні розмови за сусіднім столиком. Приспіви, якщо вони є, дуже короткі. Водночас, попри простоту, тексти не позбавлені поетичної вишуканості та чимось нагадують за настроєм п'єси Подерв'янського (я, напевно, перша людина, яка зробила таке дивне порівняння). Композиції, хоч і прості, мають дуже хукові рифи та моментально запам'ятовуються. Коли все перераховане поєднується в єдине ціле, то що це, як не геніальна робота, якій неможливо знайти аналогів, бо вона "вийшла такою, якою вийшла"? Навіть сам гурт ніколи більше не робив спроб повторити подібне, бо, певно, розумів, що створити "саме такий унікальний, неповторний та охуєнно веселий" альбом вони вже ніколи не зможуть.

Perfect early 2000s British indie rock record

Dit zijn van die bands die het leukst klinken bij hun debuut. Daarna gaan ze iets met een 80's-geluid proberen.

Great indie rock record. Definitely the band's best. So much punk energy but slicker/strokes like production.

An absolute classic, and an album that helped shape my musical tastes when i was just discovering music. The whole band sound fantastic, with incredibly tuneful riffs, and Alex Turners lyrics and vocals are sensational, even more so for his age. Hard to name standout tracks because every song is so strong. 10/10

Good album. Not as much compared to some of their other ones, but worth listening to. Fun, upbeat, but a bit on the forgettable side. 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' was my fave from the lot.

I'm going to overrate it a bit, as it's not my favourite album, but I do enjoy the other AM albums a lot more. However, apart from not being my type, and being a bit samey, I don't think it's a bad album at all, and it certainly has made its dent on history. I wonder if the editors are british, as I'd imagine AM (2013) to be the album on the list, not this.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA amo quest'album grazie

listen, I know what people say about this album (there's a pun there) but I simply do not care. "oh it's suburban teens whining about growing up" yes. "oh it's classist" a bit. "oh it's like the strokes/oasis/radiohead" IDCCC IT'S A BANGER!! Sometimes ALL you wanna do is hear a scrawny rockabily wannabe teen whining about the club scene in suburban UK ok. geez. let people HAVE THINGS man. forever a staple in MY HOME

Whatever happened to this band after this is so sad because this album is so good. It is quick and fast and represents the time beautifully.

🩷🩷🩷🩷

I had seen the music video of Dancefloor in MTV shortly after it was released but I wasnt into rock music back when I was in highschool and while I didnt tought much of it I liked how Matt sang and played the drums. Don't Believe the 'ype indeed. This album is like a freight train, hits you and knocks you over, over and over again. I dont like Riot Van but it is a necessary breath by changing the pace of the album, A Certain Romance is the epic ending to a pretty great debut album 9/10 My favorite tracks View from the Afternoon, Dancing Shoes, Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..., When The Sun Goes Down and A Certain Romance

A great example of a band that knew how to play their instruments from the get-go. High energy from beginning to end.

Album that helped shape a generation? Yeh probably. High 5.

“We’re the Arctic Monkeys…don’t believe the hype” You better believe the hype, at least for the first few albums anyway! Absolute classic indie rock! Razor sharp musicians, razor sharp lyrics. Nothing not to love on this album, even the cover is cool as fuck.

This band came out of the gate swinging and flinging shit. Love the drive, the youthful energy, and attitude. Kind of a swinging The Hives. It's a 4.75/5 album, so I have to round it up 5 here

Glæsileg plata hjá heimskautaöpunum. Ekki eitt veikt lag.

The album feels like a tale of some bloke in his 20’s going trough life, learning how to live it, not like a fairytale, but real life. You can see the life lessons, the growing, and almost a feeling of guilt, resentment. I”ll give it a 10/10 not for the music, but for the storytelling And now that I know it, I can see it in a lot in Ren’s music

The energy in this album was great, it gives you some up and downs to enjoy

It's a perfect album. Alex Turner, you are one of the only people who could ever make me want to be British.

Still holds up as fresh as it ever did.

Makes you want to get on the dance floor and pop like a robot from 1984. Get your dancing shoes and be ready.

Perhaps Genius is a bit strong but... Yes maybe this is very "British" and of a time in my life where most of the quirky lyrics make sense, but even if you take away those elements, the music is phenomenal.

Basically unfair for me to rate as it was so important to my childhood but basically perfect as far as I'm concerned

Surpassed by some of their later work but still a no-skip classic.

Shame this bands late career is both embarrassing and widely popular still, love this tho 5/5

5- Stars (13/15)

5/5 I love this album so much also given

YES YES YES YES YES YES I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! Arctic Monkeys are one of my favourite bands, so this is a straight 5/5. I wasn't enjoying today so getting this album has made me much much happier :] what a coincidence!! Banger after banger after banger honestly. I was really obsessed with From the Ritz to the Rubble a couple of years ago and it's still as good as I remember. Riot Van is probably my least favourite but it still gets a 3/5 so otherwise i love it so much overall: 5/5

Apt to get one of my all time favourites as first album

Not one dud track! Absolutely excellent. Mardy Bum may be my favourite song on here. I think my ranking gauge is set at - if this can go on repeat and you can sing at the top of your voice about angst and class then it’s a no-brainer 5.

Played this none stop when it first came out. Couldn’t believe how original and consistent it was across the whole album. Back then, defo 5/5. Listening start to finish now, still an absolute banger and of its time.

5/2/2025: own this album! Fantastic debut.

Do believe the hype. Arctic Monkeys' debut record is a landmark album, perfectly capturing a time, place and mood as the 21st Century took over Britain. This album tastes like cans. Every song is a banger, every hook is huge and it sticks every emotional landing with a knowing earnest. They're a band who have grown and matured, which makes this focused slice of hormones, heartbreaks and nights out all the more poignant. I miss waking up on unfamiliar sofas. Favourite tracks: A Certain Romance, Dancefloor, Mardy Bum, Still Take You Home, essentially all of it

This album makes me want to play a Tony Hawk game set in Sheffield.

Perfection!

Haven't heard this since high school, but this still holds up and I think it sounds better now.

Banger

I liked this album!! I have listened to Artic Monkeys before, but just a few songs.

I vividly remember renting this CD from the library. Great album. Totally different from anything at the time (from what I remember). Many memories.

Classic. Red Light indicated doors are secured, london taxi. Riot van is perfect.

Classic album

Top 5 of all time.

One of the greatest albums of all time and one of the most influential on my musical taste.

I was OBSESSED with this album when it came out. I was in high school and I learned every word and even worked out a lot of the songs on guitar. I was so crazy about Arctic Monkeys that I even hunted down a leaked copy of their followup album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. So with my storied history with this band established, let me drop some hot takes: Favourite Worst Nightmare is the best Arctic Monkeys album by far. It takes what they did on this album to the next level, with a greater variety of songs, sounds, lyrics, dynamics, everything. Humbug through AM sucks, the songs are boring, the guitar parts are boring, the lyrics are boring, the drumming is super boring, etc etc etc. Their first two records had such a unique energy and then Josh Homme from QOTSA came in and ruined it (until Tranquility Base and The Car, yeah that's right fucking @ me bro). Okay onto this record: it's fantastic! Songs are hooky, lyrics are incredible, guitars are fun and playful, and the drumming cannot be topped. I mean, there's a reason that the video for The View From the Afternoon is just the guy ripping on the drums. Nothing will ever top jamming this record in the car with friends and everyone shouting "ALL YOU PEOPLE ARE VAMPIRES" at the top of your lungs. On When the Sun Goes Down, when the riff kicks in and the drums drop, and there's this cheeky bass slide...chills. So yeah, this is one of my favorite albums ever. And one of the rare times that Br*tish people could make good music again.

Raw energy, actually loved it.

Despite their forward looking reputation as pioneers of social media marketing this is good old fashioned pumped-up melodic punk, riffs and laden with attitude. It’s British working class culture set to music, much more so than the ponderous and repetitious band Oasis became. You can hear the Sheffield accent on Riot Van, which is pleasing. A top notch debut.

Hot take but Favourite Worst Nightmare has aged better than this. But if you want a comprehensive insight into what being a young adult experiencing Northern English Nightlife and navigating relationships was like in the mid 2000's, this is by far the best album to listen to. Alex Turner is a generational lyricist. 5 Stars.

Still a great album. I own this.

Jó lemez

Listens: 1 (and countless others outside of this review) Standout tracks: From the Ritz to The Rubble. Added To Library: TRUE I love this album.

Possibly one of the greatest debut albums of all time? The band announced themselves to the world with an original sound and a great lead singer accent and voice - not to mention the brilliant guitar playing and drummer. The lyrics are really strong too. An easy 5 stars.

I loved you ever since getting to hear your songs in the 'indie slot' when dancing at Que Pasa in Chelmsford.

Still magic. This album is as old today as The Queen Is Dead was when this album was released. That seems strange. What do 19-year-olds think of songs that mention: "And she won't be surprised and she won't be shocked When she's pressed the star after she's pressed unlock"

From start to finish, a fine album. Lyrics are thoughtful, provoking, desperate, humorous & iconic of that period of time- the sound is energetic & raw. I still believe that this their debut album is the AM's best work.

Absolute classic. I remember the buzz before it came out and it still feels super relevant

My personal album of the year 2006. Full of fresh, energetic, fun and in a best way kind of spewed out songs.

When I was in middle school I was good at math and science which meant that I was in classes with kids one year older than me. My biology lab partner's name was Sydney and she was a year older than me and had dyed orange red hair and one of the only things I knew about her was that she was really into the arctic monkeys. So I gave "Am" a listen. It wasn't really my thing, it was pretty close but I never really stuck with it. Coming back to the band with an album that I hadn't listened to, I was very impressed. They reminded me of the strokes but a little bit moodier. I think the instrumentation was great across the board, the drums stand out, the bass stands out, etc. It's all punchy and works together to be better than the sum of its parts which is a high bar. I had a great time listening to this album and while I never got to be an angsty indie kid, I still felt nostalgic for the idea of it.

Love it. Smells like that basement live venue in Central Sq, Cambridge.

Great album, love the Arctic Monkeys

Reputation precedes itself. 40 minutes of hyperactive dynamic strokesy riffs and yelping about drinking, clubbing, and girls. This is what spending your twenties in the UK feels like.

10/10 melhor álbum da banda

Arctic Monkeys make their debut with this album full of energy.

Listened to it already

Have on vinyl: Yes Rating: 9.2 Fav Song: Mardy Bum Notes: Fucking great. Pre-Hanna when this came out. A lot of Blackout (pinball), beer, and this with Kruz

Fantastic album with amazing energy, true classic mid 2000s rock

Love it

Pet fav songs: The View From the Afternoon and Dancing Shoes. Good ol'fashioned British rock. Back to back Dookie then this album came up on the list. Neither had I listened to all the way through and I would choose this one again and again. I have always thought Brit rock has a more interesting sheen to it. This may be a matter of personal taste.

Fantastic debut album. I like earlier Arctic Monkeys far better than later "crooner" Arctic Monkeys.

Not heard this for maybe a decade. When it came out, I was 23 and in a band. I heard this and my first thought was "Shit, my band sounds old-fashioned." I (and everybody) did not realise Arctic Monkeys would be the 'last' great British guitar band. It still sounds exciting. I can still picture mid-noughties Britain when i listen to this. The drinking and undertones of aggression. It's brilliant lyrically, really funny and insightful. The band rips as well. Modern classic.

One of the best debuts of all time

Captures the vibe of the shitty English town where my mom's from with piercing accuracy

Was so surprised to see this on the list because I had no idea it was the object of any degree of prestige - it's permanently entrenched in tumblr and indie sleaze-oriented scenes to me - but I am very very glad to see it here. The album is brilliantly composed, cleverly written, and the definition of all killer, no filler. solid 4.5/5 but i'll round up.

Arctic Monkeys

Love going back to early Turner lyrics a little bit dark humour and pessimism with a bit of whatever drug he was probably on. It's gritty, a little bit punk but with that Steel City cadence you get from AM and their screams counterpart BMTH. Also I love when an album has track names longer than Adrien Brody's speeches. I've never listened to this album but I'm glad this challenge delivered the meal to my palms. It was such a fun delight listening. Its giving British Tony Hawk. Absolute love the diabolical songwriting and instrumentals. And now we have The Car... FAVES: The View From The Afternoon I Bet You Looked Good On The Dancefloor Dancing Shoes You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me Still Take You Home (guitars went to funkytown) Mardy Bum Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But… When The Sun Goes Down 💖 From The Ritz To The Rubble (new fave) A Certain Romance

Still one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Arctic Monkeys are like Game of Thrones, 5 great albums in a row and then Alex Turner goes insane and burns everything. Some super fans might pretend they like the last couple of albums but I think a line from this album sums that up quite well: "his bird said it's amazing though so all that's left if the proof that love's not only blind but deaf". Oh yeah, I'm supposed to review this album, not Arctic Monkeys in general. It's great. To use another TV reference, I'd say it's like "The Inbetweeners" of albums. It's the most relatable album to people (maybe just guys) who grew up in England in the 2000s/2010s.

Oh yes! If you're British and between the ages of 35 and 50 this album is one of the greatest of all time. The view from the afternoon perfectly sums up the feeling you get the afternoon before a session with your mates and a certain romance is a perfect allegory for the relationships you have with your mates at that age. All the tracks between are incredible too, even the overplayed I bet you look good on the dancefloor

One of the more famous indie rock bands from the 2000s with the distinctive scouse accent. They took the Franz Ferdinand formula of dancy rhythms and angular guitars and made it rock harder

THIS ALBUM honestly changed my life It was the first album to get me into music and started my obsession with bands lol Every song on this album is perfection I adore every song on this album The lyrics are so clever and fun and matt helders is such a legendary drummer I adore alex turner, he could release an album of farts and I’d listen to it

Superb - changed the cultural landscape and I won't hear otherwise. (Side note: hearing my accent at age 10 on the music channels when Arctic Monkeys came on was so surreal, I didn't get into them until I was 13/14 but my god that was a great feeling) Standout tracks (all 5/5): - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Riot Van <3<3<3 - Mardy Bum - When the Sun Goes Down (something shifted when this came out) - From The Ritz To The Rubble - A Certain Romance

B2B bangers so can't really rate it anything less.

Excellent

one of my favourites from the 2000s absolutely classic record packed with clever lyrics and catchy riffs

Bestes Album bisher!

One of my all time favorites

I don't even need to listen to this to know it's a 5. One of the greatest debut albums of all time

Excellent album

fan-fucking-tastic

Ultimate Britisch pop-rock

The only track on the album I don’t like is red light indicates doors are secured, and I have an issue with songs based on taxi/car signs: see also, objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are. The rest of this album is bangers. I am British though.

Absolute banger

Man, I almost forgot how good this debut album was. Perfect A side sexy bar punk rippers, perfect B side moodiness with occasional growls. I was 13 when it came out, 15 when a friend showed it to me, and we played Mardy Bum in the High School battle of the Bands.

Did not listen to this in 2006 because it was my hater years and this was getting a lot of attention. Also being presented as the next big Brit band after Oasis also clouded my opinion for reasons I don’t care to explain

Nykivyydessään täydellinen nollarirokkilevy 5/5

Listening to this transports me right back to being like 15 or 16. Listening to songs from this album on a friend's MP3 player, downloaded illegally from god knows where, tinny quality, at lunchtime in school. How time flies! Easy 5 for me - they perfectly captured their (and our) youthful energy in a bottle. In my opinion, they never came close to equalling this album, unfortunately.

Dude. Banger after banger

Changed the face of music at a shit period in time

Classic

Seminal british indie. They've never been able to top this amazing debut.

'when she's pressed the star after she's pressed unlock'. Iykyk. Literally a time capsule back to the mid 00s.

Mellow

Fav: A Certain Romance Least Fav: Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But… It’s peak, another 5/5

was planning to give this a 4 but A Certain Romance is so good and at the very end so

Brilliant. One of few bands to carve out their own unique sound.

Blistering debut. Caught a moment in time. A Certain Romance one of the all time great closers.

Seminal debut. Captures the spirit of British working class youth like few albums have ever achieved. 2 or 3 fillers, but when it’s on form it soars with energy and observation.

I bet you look good on my record player!

Absolutely brilliant album. Back when they were at their best

Great album, great social commentary. Like a time capsule, transports you straight back to being a teenager in Northern England. Best songs: Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..., From The Ritz To The Rubble, A Certain Romance. 5/5

I think they must've sold their souls to make this album, because after this one all the energy and excitement in their music just evaporates (ok the 2nd album is pretty good). But damn, at least they struck gold once, every song on here is a top tier banger. One of the most fun rock albums you'll hear.

“Superb drumming” – my mate Christopher (not his original name; he changed it to emulate his hero Christopher Cross). 2006 was my last year at uni, and pleasantly enough British indie was in robust health at that time. The post-punk revival had injected some jerky funk into the indie system, the rockism of the Darkness and the White Stripes reminded the kids that guitars were quite fun, and the Libertines proved the latest iteration of the band-as-gang attitude prevalent throughout the history of British rock. That is, British indie had undulated back to hard indie. To those who may not know, hard indie is the uniquely British subset of indie, where bands who possessed a fondness for lyrical deftness and shimmering rifts also employed fierce power chords and possessed the threat of a band not afraid of a scrap. With roots in the mods and rockers’ tribalistic barneys, and a hefty attachment of punk attitude, hard indie comprises such titans of British indie as the Stone Roses, the immortal Happy Mondays, the Libertines and, quintessentially, Oasis. As such, many British men of my generation can chart their youth by which hard indie group defined it. And please note that American indie completely lacks this surliness, leaving it as soft as shite and as shite as shite. The leap to fame of the Arctic Monkeys was one of those rare delights that springs up despite the worst intentions of the music industry. The Arctic Monkeys started as a group of teenagers in 2002, and in 2003 recorded a series of demos, which they burnt to CDs in order to give away at gigs. Fans subsequently uploaded these demos to MySpace (remember that?), and this led to a limited-release EP, an appearance on the unsigned stage at the Reading festival, and finally a deal with Domino Records. Their debut single, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, was released in October 2005, and astonishingly entered straight in at number one. For one week. With Westlife knocking them off the top the next week. Still, that was enough. The Arctic Monkeys immediately became flagged by the whole nation as a group worth following, and all they had to do was record a decent debut album. The first thing that anyone notices about the Arctic Monkeys is Alex Turner’s voice, a Sheffield brogue as dense as stainless steel. For a billboard of reasons, British singers oft find themselves singing in American accents, which can’t help but feel like a real shame. Okay, nobody’s especially clamouring for a Brummy Otis Redding, but even a standard RP voice has a bit more local colour than some girl group from Acton copying a copy of Destiny’s Child. The Britishness of Whatever… has become the most noted trope of the album. Along with Turner’s voice, we have the references to Topshop and Frank Spencer, and the usage for proper swearwords like wank and bum. And such is this record’s authenticity, the main themes of Whatever… are the anticipation and disappointment of the Great British Teenager’s Night Out, where you start by spending at least two hours in the bathroom, 90 minutes of those fixated on applying gel to to each individual hair. You then meet up with your mates, everyone wearing Ben Sherman shirts and struggling to see each other through the fog of Lynx surrounding your gang. Two of your gang will be reticent and shrinking due to only being 17. Upon entering the club, always called Ritzi’s or Manhattan’s (don’t think “sipping Cris on the mezzanine with Victoria’s Secret models”, but rather “vomming Smirnoff Ice in a former bowling alley with at least one rat”), the entry fee and the first pint will obliterate the 20 quid you borrowed off your mum (with no chance whatsoever of that ever being paid back), nobody will talk to anyone because the music will be far too loud and far too detestable, your socks will be soaked from the paddling pool of piss the men’s toilets have become, and the ultimate ambition of the evening, actually copping off with a girl, might as well be an ambition to dig your way to Neptune with a Plasticine spoon. Likewise, the music is solidly within the lineage of British indie rock. Despite the mildly gauche references to Duran Duran and the Police, Whatever… is clearly a descendant of the Jam and the Smiths and (despite their then-gaucheness) Oasis. And of course it’s a great album. It’s witty, it’s human, it rocks, it charms, and if you’re British, it’s a dolloping portion of verisimilitude. Near two decades since its release, and as Proustian as that might imply, I can’t say it’s dated at all. As I said, hard indie is one of the great old British imperishables, and a conquering return of hard indie should make you puff off your chest with pride and break out your pogo. By the by, it always bothered me that Turner sings about dancing “to electropop like a robot from 1984”. There were no robots in the novel 1984. Indeed, in the dystopia of Oceania, science didn’t exist, and there was no Newspeak word for “science”. To call 1984 a science-fiction novel feels wrong to my ear, since not only had technological progress frozen in the novel, technology had actually gone backwards (I can’t even recall a car in the novel). But anyway, it was only today I realised that Turner is actually singing about the year, and it’s just robot mime from that year. Hey, both the year and the novel could be the intended allusion. Anyway, who cares for intentions? NoRadio, signing out.

"¡Oh, por Dios! ¡Qué pedazo de disco!" fue lo primero que me salió decir apenas vi la recomendación de hoy. Música de mis últimos años de secundaria y de mis primeros universitarios, éste disco fue durante mucho tiempo mi favorito de Arctic Monkeys: punkie, adolescente, rápido...básicamente como es la juventud. Excelente debut de una más que excelente banda, que pude ver en vivo en el 2022. Hasta mañana.

Brilliant absolutely loved it!

Bangers

Still great. This album really captures a certain romance of being young, going out to bars/clubs, first relationships etc with catchy tunes and sharp lyrics. It also reminds me of the era of downloading and sharing bootleg versions of the songs before they were released, as the music press hyped them up, which was more rewarding than the immediate gratification of today's streaming. I'm glad they have matured since then, but this album will never not be fun.

Remember when it came out it was super fresh and new and a lot of groups that made it big had followed their style. Amazing and refreshing and still holds up

I hate this band lowkey but why is the first song good... Why am I enjoying this oh my god.

This record is the reason why The Strokes and AM scored so badly on the Apple list. This is quality. Honestly the only reason it isn't a 5 is because I've handed out too many today. This and Silent Alarm are pretty much all that is redeemable from that 00s indie scene. Actually fuck it it gets a 5

Album 32 and my first 5*. I hadn't listened in years but knew every note. I must have rinsed this as a 16 year old. I revisit some soft lad rock and leave very disappointed but every song on this album (apart from the riot van interlude) either rocks or grooves and sometimes both in the case of still take you home. I didn't even cringe at the lyrics. Only mardy bum brought on a tinge if this. Excellent album.

That this album is almost twenty years old slightly makes me want to die, but it’s nice to have a proper think about it for the first time in forever. Had forgotten how much of it is about clubbing, a thing I had never done when I first heard it in 2006. Is this kind of a concept album about the people of Sheffield and what they’re all doing one Saturday evening??????? Listening now, it’s all from a pretty young angry male perspective, which is interesting- the closest you get to a female view of the world is either View from the Afternoon or When the Sun Goes Down, and I think it’s deliberate that the first of those is a woman exhausted by her drunk boyfriend and the second is a tired prostitute. It’s women as they relate to and appear to the different kinds of men and boys across the album, with flashes of clarity that the women might have their own internal lives rather than being just archetypes. The album title comes from some kitchen sink drama I don’t remember the name of and that makes so much sense- those films were all from the 50s and 60s and about people from depressed Northern towns who grew up too fast and got married too young and were unhappy because of it, and this is what people that age in 2006 did instead. The view from the afternoon As an opener, this is a bit of a mission statement- Alex wailing “I want to see all of the things that we’ve already seen” in the middle of scenes of Hogarthian excess, finding something glorious in the mess of pub gambling and hen nights. That he knows already from the afternoon that it ends with rambling professions of love on the answerphone of a girl who’ll only roll her eyes gives you an idea of the kind of narrator he’s been for the rest of his career- able to see from above how there can be moments of tenderness and the awkwardness of internality in the most arcane and idiotic bits of everyday life. I bet that you look good on the dancefloor I don’t really think of the Arctic Monkeys as an indie sleaze band, but this is probably the indie sleaze anthem. Honestly, I never liked it much, but listening now I guess it’s quite fun that I’ve always pictured it happening on a dance floor and it obviously actually isn’t, because why would he need to bet? Choosing to believe he’s spotted her behind the till in Budgens. Fake tales of San Francisco I think the bridge to this might be my favourite bit of the album. “And yeah, I’d love to tell you all my problem/You’re not from New York City, you’re from Rotherham” is an all time lyric, and ending with the “yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” of exactly the kind of shit indie band he’s skewering is so fun. Even more than IBTYLGOTD, this is so of an era- the Arctic Monkeys were the reason landfill indie happened, but they were probably seeing shit indie bands coming up around them for years before everyone rode through on their coattails. A lot of the crit I have now for the AM is that they’re not as vicious as they were- is that album they’ve got about a phantom space base a bit rich when they got famous with songs about this stuff? Dancing Shoes This is actually a sad song and I hadn’t realised it before- it’s practically a Smiths song. Like in TVFTA it’s about someone longing for connection and not being able to make it even when they’ve gone out with the express intention of meeting someone. I like how the last verse repeats the beginning like the poor bloke’s on yet another night out, with the same inevitable ending. You probably couldn’t see for the lights I like that this comes after Dancing Shoes- he’s mocked some sad little indie kid for being desperate and awkward and unable to talk to girls, and then one track later he’s self loathing about his behaviour around a girl he likes: “But they’re not half as bad as me/ say anything and I’ll agree”. Another song with a title that helps explain the content without the words ever being said- presumably she’s a girl in a band, which is obviously 2006’s coolest girl. Still take you home Honestly this is more sexist than I remember it, particularly the middle verse. It probably speaks EXACTLY to the kind of sex Alex was having before he got famous, but it’s pretty miserable- he’s mocking the girl who’s dressed up and pretending she doesn’t remember him, even though he’s as much of a cocky little prick as she is. Musically it’s not different enough from the other, less sexist songs, to excuse its inclusion. Fuck this one. Soz. Riot Van I like how dreamy this is- after a million club songs these are young boys sneaking vodka behind a bush, and the music’s almost like an interlude. “Those silly boys in blue/ Well, they won’t catch me and you” - it all feels quite nostalgic even though it’s about getting beaten up by the police for being an idiot kid. I just googled it and 2006 was the year of “Hug a hoodie”, where Labour accused David Cameron of being soft on crime by suggesting he wasn’t sufficiently demonising bored working class kids for hanging around shopping centres being low level vandals. The boys are almost heroic in this, since the police are the bad guys and they’re taking the piss. I like this one a lot. Red light indicates doors are secured Another clubbing song. I like that the verses are a conversation but I don’t find this one that interesting. If this isn’t a concept album, they could definitely have cut some of these. Mardy Bum This makes so much more sense to me as an adult- but I don’t believe it’s from Alex’s perspective. Even though the narration’s first person, it feels like it’s sung by someone older and probably married. I like how the northern slang in it feels a bit older, as well- “Mardy” and “reight” are both words I heard here for the first time, and they sound like they come from a tired man who loves his partner but wants to hold onto the life he had out with the boys, as illustrated in 90% of the other tracks here. Is it sexist? Probably. Are those men? Almost definitely. Perhaps vampires is a bit strong but… This is THE ONLY SONG ON THE ALBUM THAT BREAKS MY CONCEPT THEORY. I’ve also never knowingly put it on. Whatever. When the sun goes down Another Sheffield night time song, and deceptively dark, considering how jaunty it sounds- not that there’s anything inherently bad about sex work, but “it don’t stop in the winter” and I’m not keen on the scummy man’s “nasty plan”. I like how the middle of the song has the narrator awkwardly standing there listening and wondering, a voyeur, because that’s another thing this album is- a profoundly voyeuristic statement about working class culture from someone fantasising about the lives of people they choose to stereotype. Alex isn’t a reliable narrator- he’s made assumptions about both the man and woman in the song, and he moralises at the end to his audience- “I hope you’re not involved at all”. From the ritz to the rubble “Secretly I think they want it all to kick off…/it’s just something to talk about/ a story to tell” There’s some actual animosity in this one, from both the narrator and the kind of throbbing mass of the nightclub queue. They’re craving violence as an antidote to boredom, but then: “This town’s a different town than what it was last night”- it makes sense this is later on in the album, because it takes us to the next morning. While the album’s about what happened one night, this song’s about what didn’t, and how things are different and clearer in the morning. Which leads to: A Certain Romance This is the only song on the album without a kind of precise temporality to it- while everything else is a vignette of a specific time and place, a certain romance is vibes only, a summation of his teenage years now he’s growing out of them and moving away. My overarching review of this album is that I sort of love the swaggering characters in it, but my favourite character of all is Alex- so many songs are about “you” or “the boys” or blow by blow accounts of the people the narrator sees, but there’s still narrative bias you can glean so much about the author from. He’s romanticising working class Sheffield life very much from the peripheries- until the end, the actual Alex character narrator only crops up in clubs shitting on posers, pulling girls’ pigtails and trying to look cool, but A Certain Romance flips that round- after 12 tracks judging absolutely everyone (men, women, children), you see what Alex’s relationship to the chavs and townies and indie kids of 2006 Sheffield really is (is it Alex’s bandmates in knackered converse?). “They’d probably like to throw a punch at me” but “What can I say, I’ve known them for a long long time”- ultimately even with the law breaking and pretentiousness and ringtones, he finally accepts the romance of his grey town and the colourful people in it. I read that Alex started writing lyrics after he read John Cooper Clarke in an English lesson, and that makes sense of this album to me- it’s short story poems about the working classes as told by the cleverest boy in the year. I think the reason it feels like there are slightly too many clubbing songs is that that isn’t the most interesting Alex narrative- a song like Dancing Shoes or From the Ritz to the Rubble is more interesting than Still Take You Home or Red Light because there’s more to be said about what happened on a night where you didn’t get what you wanted than one where you did. I really love this album BUT that’s not to say I wouldn’t have given it an edit to include Leave Before the Lights Come On off their next EP instead of one or two of the others.

A classic that I have enjoyed many times, it ages pretty well.

I was working my 1st job out of college and living off campus at Rutgers with a bunch of hooligans like myself when I discovered the Arctic Monkeys and what a perfect band for that moment. I spent half my time in the office trolling the pirate download sites for new and intriguing music and when I stumbled upon the fan released AM content I was instantly hooked. I immediately spread the word with my housemates and we became diehards. Many an epic night blasting the monks and several tracks became our theme songs that we could very much relate to. This debut album is so technically sound but also has grit. Alex def has a chip on his shoulder for USA but he's not wrong with "Certain Romance" or "Fake Tales" (both bangers). This is one of, if not, my top Indy rock albums of all time...4.5.

Arctic Monkeys debut album is an incredibly impressive release. They managed to bring an original rock sound with the perfect edge of British attitude and punk-rock themes and deservedly vaulted to stardom in the wake of this album. There isn't a bad song on it and has an absolutely blistering second half that I might put at the top of all time Side B's. While I remain and Arctic Monkeys fan, nothing they have done has come anywhere close to this debut album. You can pick any song out a hat and be satisfied but there 5-6 all-timers that I routinely revisit. Props to Alex Turner and company on one of the best ever. 4.60 stars

No notes. One of my favorite albums. Every song tells me a wonderfully vivid little snapshot of life set to music I can jam out or dance to. Always welcome this band in my rotation.

This was always going to get a 5 from me

# Album Name: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not # Artist: Arctic Monkeys # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: Honestly, this is a banging album. It doesnt matter if you dont like indy, or that you are sick of brit pop, you just need to listen to the quirky lyrics, cracking music and feel the energy in this bad boy. The first two albums from the arctic monkeys were absolutely class before they went into that weird phase. This was at their peak imo, raw and full of spunk. Singing with that yorkshire accent like you were in your nana's bathroom. They were pretty tight. Not quite as polished as their later albums but thats one of the things i love about this album. Its gritty. This is one of the best albums from the 00's. I wouldnt put this album up there with the VERY best of all time but its a bloody good album. Low 5 for me because i can easily listen to this all the way through. # Top Tunes: View from the afternoon / Bet that you look good on the DF / Fake tales of san francisco / Dancing shoes / Take you home / Riot Van / mardy bum / when the sun goes down / Ritz to the rubble / Certain romance # Would I listen to it again? Fucking yes man. Av it in yer ear!

Yes. Yes. Yes.

This was pretty much my definition of cool when it came out. Made me want to move to the UK just to get rat-arsed in a random pub in the afternoon.

I liked it muchly

Legendary Recht voor z'n raap. Vanaf het begin meteen vol in de vijfde versnelling. Alle jeugdige energie samengepakt in het debuutalbum waar ze (in volle omvang) niet aan hebben kunnen tippen. Geen moeilijk ge-croon van Alex Turner of lang doordachte gitaar-loopjes. Volumeknop open en gas erop, heerlijk. 9,5/10 Highlights I Bet You Good on the Dancefloor Fake Tales From San Francisco Mardy Bum When the Sun Goes Down

Obviously 5 stars

Best arctic monkeys album

Biased because this is an old fave

I know every single word, every note, and every ad-lib - but still loved listening again. Also one of my daughter's favourite albums, so we must have raised her right!

A classic, obviously.

I mean, it defined indie rock for like 3 generations and somehow managed to remain relevant to this day, what else can I say?

Die ganze Zeit zwischen 4 und 5 Sternen gehadert, aber als dann "When the Sun goes down" war einfach klar, für mich ein 5er Album. Interessante Stimme, geile Gitarrenriffs und ein Album meiner Jugend.

4.5 rounded up Fun one

I somehow managed to never listen to this one when it was big. What a miss, it was amazing outside of the radio hit

excellent

could i write poetry to this? y

Classic from my teen years. All bangers!

Absolute banger of an album -has a place in my heart. Listened to it through twice on a drive and regret nothing.

It's a classic to my youth so I'm biased

This album is just liquid gold. Straight up banger after banger. I really wish I wasn't listening to this alone in my room on a Saturday night cos I'd sell my left tit to be out dancing to this album right now.

Fantastic album. I adore 'deep cut' Mardy Bum, but the big hits (When The Sun Goes Down and I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor) are amazing too. I adore the raunchy style on this album.

Eén voor één kleppers. Nog steeds het beste album van AM. 5.0

Loved this album since it was released. I first discovered Arctic Monkeys when they were still an Internet band so I already knew some of the songs before the album was released and infact I still prefer the early mp3 download of Certain Romance to the album version. I would go as far as saying that this album is genius especially given the age of the band when they wrote these great tunes and quirky lyrics

Classics

Formative album for me. It still holds up nearly 20 years later too. Just bangers from start to finish.

Hits just as hard as it did in 2006. This was life changing for me. They’re weird now but this was incredible.

Not sure I expected to see this here, but fun to have something relatively new! When Arctic Monkeys came I think they took the world by storm a bit, especially in certain age groups. For me personally I had a bit of a hard time with them, and it wasn't until a few years ago that it actually clicked for me. I think this is definitely one of those albums that you either like or hate. It's quite noisy, and I can see how Alex's singing can feel like a whiny teenager going at it. What makes this record shine for me is in its simple, yet extremely catchy riffs, along with Alex's unexpected lyrics and singing melodies, which is quite unique else I dare say. The record contains quite a few uptempo songs that can set a crowd on fire, like 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', 'Still Take You Home', 'When The Sun Goes Down', 'A Certain Romance' and so on. But the rest of the record also has really good songs though, which makes it a strong overall album. Not a perfect album, and I think it very much depends on whether this is anything for you or not, but I think a weak 5 is in order considering how many good songs there are on the record.

If there was one album that defined my teens maybe it would be this. I lived and breathed this album and it was definitely one of my favourite albums. I listened to it all the time on my iPod and I think I maybe had one of the songs as a ringtone? The subject matter was great, all about being a teenager, going to clubs, not getting into clubs, meeting girls etc etc. While they may not be as relevant to me today I still think they do a great job of catching the experience. Listening to it today I'm struck by how much it was inspired by the Strokes and how the simple production really lends itself to the garage rock feel of the album. The riffs and lyrics/melodies are really what sets it apart from the rest. I know all the songs by heart, It is catchy and energetic and I still love it. Can't be anything else than a 5 for me. It stands the test of time.

sehr Gut!

Good

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys (2006) 6/5 Não vou elaborar. Melhores músicas: The View from the Afternoon, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Fake Tales of San Francisco, Dancing Shoes, You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me, Still Take You Home, Riot Van, Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured, Mardy Bum, Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But…, When the Sun Goes Down, From the Ritz to the Rubble, A Certain Romance 6/5

Excellent guitar driven indie.

What a fantastic album! Everything about this is just amazing. The sleeve, the music, the lyrics! Loved it when it came out and loving it now!

>>>

Of course. Brings me back to middle school and I love it.

This is apparently their debut album which I had not heard before and it's better than any of their other songs the radio constantly plays Standout: Fake Tales Of San Francisco

A sonic manifesto of youthful rebellion and disillusionment. Turner's lyrics capture the ennui of a generation navigating the pressures of modernity. The album's raw energy and poetic lyricism make it a timeless masterpiece

I remember, as a nerdy 5th grader, pouring over the copy of the Guinness book of world records in my school's classroom-- I remember the image of a young, floppy-haired Alex Turner wielding a white Strat, with the caption explaining how Arctic Monkeys held the record for the fastest-selling debut album in U.K. history. Back when I actually got into rock music in high school, I finally gave it a listen-- man, what a band. The songs absolutely rip, the lyrics hold up after all these years ("sexy little swine" gets an audible reaction from me still), and while I might personally consider "Suck It and See" to be their best, this one deserves a spot on this list for sure.

Fucking finally. Well what can I say, one of my favourite records from my favourite foursome (no offence to the Beatles). So influential that it arguably jump started the indie sleaze movement. It’s a concept album about those awkward years after graduating high school, you’re out clubbing and drinking every night, meeting new people and losing some along the way. It’s an incredible journey with great hooks and observant yet thoughtful lyrics. People are still begging them to go back to this style of music, that’s how good it is.