Arctic Monkeys

[st dan]

Just saw this tweet from Toby Tarrant - a good take and something I hadn’t really considered, but completely agree with.
I’m a big fan of the album but it does lack in any real for of chorus or ‘singalong’. The highlight of the album for me is probably the 2nd half of Body Paint after the break, and that is the closest the album gets to having a form of recognisable chorus. It would also help the newer songs to come across better live, and probably make them become more acceptable to the masses. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by st dan

[Gregcharlie]

As they return to play LCCC next summer, just going to post this review of Suck It And See from 2011, whilst quoting the bit most related to this discussion. 
 

In short, this is nothing new. Some people have misinterpreted this band from the get-go, a band whose first album title ended up being a bit of a clue in that regard. 

https://drownedinsound.com/releases/16262/reviews/4142790

‘No, the real defining moments in the seachange enacted by Arctic Monkeys can be illustrated precisely by two separate events. Rewind the clock back to Saturday 28th July 2007, and take a trip to Manchester's Old Trafford cricket ground you'll find a band delighted yet somewhat ashamed by the adulation surrounding them.

Though cementing their position as the UK's biggest musical success story in a decade, the sight of aggressive lads fuelled by cheap lager and girls caught short, dropping their pants and crouching brazenly in the middle of the audience must have horrified a band who seemed to have attracted a fanbase who'd misinterpreted the irony of songs like 'Mardy Bum' and 'A Certain Romance' as semi-autobiographical statements instead. Hurriedly returning to the time machine, the second destination would be the Leeds festival, Friday 28th August 2009. Four days earlier they'd released Humbug, their third and most diverse long player to date, and rather than play the greatest hits set expected of a major festival headliner, they chose to play the record pretty much in its entirety bar the odd single and obligatory Nick Cave cover. Reviews at the time were lukewarm (except here). They'd grown beards and bought plaid shirts, yet this performance undoubtedly marked the 'coming of age', the point where those fans reared on stories of riot vans and looking good on dancefloors either stagnated in their own Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not vomit, or embraced the changing tide Alex Turner and co. had spent two years formulating.’ 

[gfa]

3 hours ago, JoeyT said:

"We were going to make a good album but then we decided to make another absolute yawnfest"

 

😂 out of upvotes

[Boomtowner]

22 minutes ago, Gregcharlie said:

As they return to play LCCC next summer, just going to post this review of Suck It And See from 2011, whilst quoting the bit most related to this discussion. 
 

In short, this is nothing new. Some people have misinterpreted this band from the get-go, a band whose first album title ended up being a bit of a clue in that regard. 

https://drownedinsound.com/releases/16262/reviews/4142790

‘No, the real defining moments in the seachange enacted by Arctic Monkeys can be illustrated precisely by two separate events. Rewind the clock back to Saturday 28th July 2007, and take a trip to Manchester's Old Trafford cricket ground you'll find a band delighted yet somewhat ashamed by the adulation surrounding them.

Though cementing their position as the UK's biggest musical success story in a decade, the sight of aggressive lads fuelled by cheap lager and girls caught short, dropping their pants and crouching brazenly in the middle of the audience must have horrified a band who seemed to have attracted a fanbase who'd misinterpreted the irony of songs like 'Mardy Bum' and 'A Certain Romance' as semi-autobiographical statements instead. Hurriedly returning to the time machine, the second destination would be the Leeds festival, Friday 28th August 2009. Four days earlier they'd released Humbug, their third and most diverse long player to date, and rather than play the greatest hits set expected of a major festival headliner, they chose to play the record pretty much in its entirety bar the odd single and obligatory Nick Cave cover. Reviews at the time were lukewarm (except here). They'd grown beards and bought plaid shirts, yet this performance undoubtedly marked the 'coming of age', the point where those fans reared on stories of riot vans and looking good on dancefloors either stagnated in their own Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not vomit, or embraced the changing tide Alex Turner and co. had spent two years formulating.’ 

The early stuff was good and the later stuff isn't. The end

[Andy0808 v5]

This is definitely better than the last, I’ve got a few of them stuck in my head that I’m singing when not even listening.

 

Towards the end of ‘I ain’t quite where I Think I am’ has also had me singing ‘we can work it out’ and I can’t put my finger on why. Can’t be a bad thing 😂

[EighteenSixty7]

Can’t get I Ain’t… out of my head. 

[SCG95]

The strings in Perfect Sense are beautiful. 

[NorthernSoul52]

Is it a grower or a shower? Will be interested to here.

[Stokesy10]

First listen. Wasn't expecting this. Absolutely fucking beautiful. Pisses on Tranq for the most part.

Hello You is one of the greatest tunes they've ever produced. Bad Ideas, Sculptures - superb. The 3 singles have grown on my enormously, particularly I Ain't. 

Yep. They continue to absolutely break their own boundaries, take risks, and develop in the most astounding way.

As well as the obvious Bowie influences, I'm getting Floyd vibes in parts.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Stokesy10

[EighteenSixty7]

 

Sculptures of Anything Goes, fucking hell.

Edited October 21, 2022 by EighteenSixty7

[benali]

New album is very good. I admire a band that makes different styles of music rather than spaff out the same record over and over. 

[st dan]

Really do the like the line ‘smudging dubbin on your dancing shoes’ in Mr Schwartz.
I do love a call back, and this shows the passing of time, and shift away from their debut. Lovely stuff. 

[clasher]

22 hours ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Good record, will mostly die on its arse in stadiums. Absolutely understand why they've moved into stadiums - but yeah.

1 There'd Better Be a Mirrorball
2 One Point Perspective
3 Snap Out of It
4 Crying Lightning
5 Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?
6 Sculptures of Anything Goes
7 The View From the Afternoon
8 Brianstorm
9 Do Me a Favour
10 Teddy Picker
11 Body Paint
12 Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
13 Do I Wanna Know?
14 Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
15 Pretty Visitors
16 I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am
17 I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
18 505

19 Cornerstone 
20 Arabella
21 R U Mine?

Nah they'll do two from the car, two from tranq and inexplicably 7-8 from AM, because why wouldn't you bore the living hell out of your fans with filler songs from a 10 year old overrated record.

[charlierc]

18 hours ago, st dan said:

Just saw this tweet from Toby Tarrant - a good take and something I hadn’t really considered, but completely agree with.
I’m a big fan of the album but it does lack in any real for of chorus or ‘singalong’. The highlight of the album for me is probably the 2nd half of Body Paint after the break, and that is the closest the album gets to having a form of recognisable chorus. It would also help the newer songs to come across better live, and probably make them become more acceptable to the masses. 

I can see that. There's a singalong of sorts quality to Mirrorball and I Ain't Quite, but a lot of the songs have a shapeless kinda vibe. I appreciate the fact they don't wanna just make knock-offs of AM or the first 2 albums again, and I like a lot of the sonic textures, but I do think there's a version of this album's style with a big single or two that has a large pop vibe while still playing with this sound.

I've not heard The Car in full yet - what I have heard is nice, but I do ponder if I preferred TBHC on first listen. But this feels like an album for repeated playing.

It did intrigue me that they considered going back to a heavy direction in 2019 but the longer the album making of process went on, the more they gravitated towards exploring this kinda post-rock sound. Maybe for the next album they'll pivot again and decide to make something different.

[misterplow]

14 hours ago, EighteenSixty7 said:

Can’t get I Ain’t… out of my head. 

That one sounds more like an interlude rather than a song for me. 

[ClementsMike]

A couple of days in and I thought I’d post a full set of my thoughts on The Car. 
 

I love it.,

[Matt42]

I admire the fact they are shaking it up, I just really don’t like where they are going

[lighthouse]

Imagine thinking AM were ever going to top Swift in the charts... 😅

[FloorFiller]

15 minutes ago, lighthouse said:

Imagine thinking AM were ever going to top Swift in the charts... 😅

I quickly changed my mind on thinking AM would stand a chance against Swift in the charts, but I didn’t think her release would completely mute any conversation on their new album; it doesn’t seem like it’s getting nearly the same attention or coverage as their previous albums. Wonder if the continued muted loungey direction has put a lot of people off completely - there’s really not a lot here for you’re strictly in to them for the hooks or bangers. 

[Matt42]

20 minutes ago, lighthouse said:

Imagine thinking AM were ever going to top Swift in the charts... 😅

“AM will sell more physical….. (maybe)”

[Matt42]

4 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

I quickly changed my mind on thinking AM would stand a chance against Swift in the charts, but I didn’t think her release would completely mute any conversation on their new album; it doesn’t seem like it’s getting nearly the same attention or coverage as their previous albums. Wonder if the continued muted loungey direction has put a lot of people off completely - there’s really not a lot here for you’re strictly in to them for the hooks or bangers. 

Said this separately but the marketing team/label behind AM have dropped the ball big time on this. They should have moved. Yes people can listen to two different albums but they’ve allowed themselves to be completely eclipsed by another gigantic album.

Taylor moved the red remake not to compete with Adele. It happens. 

(And before anyone says anything I’m not talking about the band. I know the band don’t care. I’m talking about the marketing team/label behind the band whose literal job is to ensure the album gets promoted properly and gets a #1 position). They are likely going to break their #1 streak. If they moved the album to next week they’d have been fine.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Matt42

[Hugh Jass II]

1 hour ago, Matt42 said:

Said this separately but the marketing team/label behind AM have dropped the ball big time on this. They should have moved. Yes people can listen to two different albums but they’ve allowed themselves to be completely eclipsed by another gigantic album.

Taylor moved the red remake not to compete with Adele. It happens. 

(And before anyone says anything I’m not talking about the band. I know the band don’t care. I’m talking about the marketing team/label behind the band whose literal job is to ensure the album gets promoted properly and gets a #1 position). They are likely going to break their #1 streak. If they moved the album to next week they’d have been fine.

Matt you seem to be the only person who actually cares about any of this.

[kingcrawler]

Seems like there’s a full Jools Holland special with them on 5th November.

[NorthernSoul52]

6 minutes ago, kingcrawler said:

Seems like there’s a full Jools Holland special with them on 5th November.

Curious. Could be good.

[st dan]

1 hour ago, kingcrawler said:

Seems like there’s a full Jools Holland special with them on 5th November.

See that looks spot on to me. I would absolutely love them to tour and play TBH&C and The Car songs only one day, in the right sized venues. Could be epic.
This sound just isn’t appreciated enough in their current setlist. The change of pace from something like IBYLGOTD to this just cant really work. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by st dan