Advantages: staggering early sales, quality of the band at such an age...
Disadvantages: ...in over their heads maybe?

...Four Sheffield lads with guitars eh…. Who'd have thought it. The Arctic Monkeys tale is an intriguing one indeed. Having shifted over 100,000 copies of their debut album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" on it's first day of sale alone, the album went on to sell a further 250,000 copies in the following 6 days - making it the quickest selling debut rock release in British recording history, eclipsing all the greats of the past in the process. It's a remarkable achievement for a band that were only getting their name out-and-about a mere 3 months ago, but thanks to much bigging up on the part of the NME (and other publications besides), Sheffield's newest rock quartet are set to become the band to be in 2006 - Stateside included. The bands tale is one of internet sites and demo releases; having passed about short demo... Read review

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Advantages: An awesome follow-up album
Disadvantages: Disadvantages?!

...The Arctic Monkeys…the phenomenon that is. When they released “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”, the music world took to them like a duck to water, breaking all sorts of records for debut selling albums etc. etc…now comes, of course, the difficult second album. “Favourite Worst Nightmare” was released in April this year on Domino Records, and the whole world were waiting on it… The first sounds we heard from it was a month earlier with the release of the single “Brianstorm” that was first debuted on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show…I was listening at the time at he ‘bigged’ it up as if it was the saviour of world hunger and global warming. Was he right? Well, from a musical point of view, he couldn’t have been far off. A 3-minute piece of music, face-paced, clever lyrics, just how rock music should be. It was certainly... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Alex is a fantastic lyricist writing about real down to earth experiences
Disadvantages: There are a couple of weak tracks.

...When somebody’s beat The Beatles in the charts with the debut album, the expectations from the second record are as high as the anticipation before it's release. Will they do it or will they not? -- is all that bothered fans the day before Arctic Monkeys’ sophomore album Favourite Worst Nightmare was out (I should admit, the same question has been haunting music critics). They did it -- the new record is a worthy follow-up to Whatever People Say I am That's What I'm Not. It doesn’t grab you by the balls like the previous record did. Instead, you would need a few listens to get into. The titles became shorter, the guys are saying less words a second than they used to and are more straight in expressing themselves, avoiding any flourishing details. What you would expect from a sophomore album is most of it's songs sounding like... Read review

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Advantages: Second great album from the Arctic Monkeys
Disadvantages: Might need to listen a few times

...It's second album time Arctic Monkeys, arguably the most eagerly awaited album of the year. This famous foursome from Sheffield set out to prove that they're not just a flash in the pan. It sounds like they have done things right too. There are no unlistenable to songs and they haven't lost their edge. Sensibly, they have decided to stick to what they are best at. Their wonderful 'pop' songs with loads of depth and maturity. Tracks such as Brianstorm on the opening single are perfect. While the sound is more of an evolution from Whatever People Say I Am, there are times when the musicianship is simply fantastic. Matt Helders is on top form, being compared to the likes of Dave Grohl, on Brianstorm. It sounds almost as if the band have cloned him, so massive is the drum sound on the opening track. The amount of depth... Read review

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Advantages: A great debut album
Disadvantages: Disadvantages?!

...A phenomenon or a fad? Love them or hate them? Regardless of what you think of the Arctic Monkeys, credit must be given through what they've achieved in such a short time. Personally, I'm all for them - witty lyrics and catchy rhythms make them people-friendly. Just over a year ago I heard about the 'buzz' regarding a track called "Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" that was circulating at the speed of light through the Internet. They playing Reading and Leeds festival in 2005 on the Carling stage, the smallest stage at the festival, and although I didn't watch them, just passing the tent when they were on showed at least crowds of 12 to 15 rows deep outside the tent, something that was completely unheard of for the Carling stage. At the time, they had no record label, and no single had been released. Exactly one year on, they were... Read review

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Advantages: Everyday tales of pub/club/cub culture we can all relate to.
Disadvantages: We had heard most of the tracks already on the net!

...Anthemic indie tricksters The Arctic Monkeys, a cheeky bunch of Yorkshire lads, seem to 'ape' Mike Skinner as much as they do Hard-Fi, with their brand of Sheffield steel. How ironic for a city forged in a furnace of industrial heritage that the Arctics, who claim to be technophobes, owe so much to the 'burning' of files on the internet. If Pete Doherty is the Byron of the music industry, this band is part Alan Bennett, kitchen sink drama and part Pam Ayres - telling it how it is with tongues still in their cheeks. So was 'You Look Good on the Dance Floor' - an honest-engine bona-fida naughty Northern nattering - a fluke on an album solely based on a couple of singles, or, as many dewy-eyed critics suggest, are they are the new Streets/Smiths/Verve/Wedding Present? Indeed whatever happened to Menswear - the last band... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: The music is quite fun to listen to, great to dance along to.
Disadvantages: A couple of filler tracks included here, very dodgy lyrics in parts.

...'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is the super successful debut album from the Sheffield based indie band that is the Arctic Monkeys. The album sold over 360 000 copies in its first week of going on sale, it was the fastest selling debut album in the UK since Oasis 'Definitely Maybe' effort in 1994; an incredibly fine achievement for the four lads from Sheffield. Is it actually any good an album though? Well, it's not quite so magnificent as some people would have you believe, it's still a pretty decent debut effort however and if you're looking for a fun indie rock album then 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is most definitely well worth listening to. The album comes complete with a number of highly infectious indie rock tracks; it's not perfect, but the music is great fun to dance along to nonetheless... Read review

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