Album Review: AM by the Arctic Monkeys

At last! 

I bought the album exactly on September 6th, planning to write a review on that very evening, but I had such a lot of stuff to do, and I completely forgot about it..!

But now, it's finally time to tell you something more about the greatest album and band of 2013, in my opinion!

I had seen the Arctics at BKS last year, and they literally blew me away (or "knocked me socks off" in a thick Sheffield accent).
I had been looking forward to buying the album ever since I saw them perform, so when I found out the album would come out on September 6th, I was really excited. Would it sound as great as it did when I saw them performing live?
So, on September 6th, I rushed to the nearest record store to get this little piece of perfection, and found out the record was just as stunning as their live performance.

Sweet Lord. What a record.

Where do I have to start?
The album art is really simple, yet really good; it's a very striking design, and really recognizeable. The band's looks really match the dark and almost sexy sound of the record, like Alex' quiff, perfectly combed backwards, just as swift and smooth as their music can get.

Everything on the record is just complete; it really doesn't miss a single thing. It's rough (with its great guitar riffs and luscious basslines), poetic (just listen to those lyrics; purely magnificent), sexy (well, find it out yourself; you can't deny it. Basslines, Matt's backing vocals..), but also quiet (on "Mad Sounds" and "Number One Party Anthem").

I know it's really dangerous to change your music style, but there's something the Arctics always keep in their music; their very own style. They can change the genres on every album, but still sound like the one and only Arctic Monkeys.
There are a few songs that could have been on Suck it and See, or on Humbug, but the record really is something unique, and a massive success.

It's really striking how they managed to capture the ethos of one of those dark Sheffield nightclubs, or a good concert late at night, like they did on the first few tracks.
But who doesn't know this is some real good stuff right when that spot-on ''Do I Wanna Know?'' riff bursts in?

So the first five tracks (Do I Wanna Know?, R U Mine?, One for the Road (oh the bassline), Arabella (probably, as vaguely admitted by Alex, about his current girlfriend Arielle Vandenberg) and I Want It All) make you want to wear leather jackets and go out to concerts. You end up feeling extremely tired, right when the next tracks start; Number One Party Anthem and Mad Sounds.
Alex, you're completely right; those Mad Sounds "make you feel alright", indeed. Great tracks, that can definitely cheer you up.

But that's enough sweetness on the album, the Arctics thought. Those listeners shouldn't fall asleep before the album ends!
So, what they did, they got another chunk of smooth guitars, drums, bass and vocals, and made some other songs to wake you up again: Fireside (with its melancholic lyrics and beautiful instrumental parts, it is believed that the song's actually about Alex' former girlfriend and model Alexa Chung), Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? (just sheer perfection), Snap Out Of It (the song kinda reminds me of Amy Winehouse, especially the vocals on the second verse. Great song, but watch out; it'll get stuck in your head for days! Oh, and it might make you want to dance.), and Knee Socks (perfect catchy riff, great vocals by Josh Homme near the end of the song).

And then, unfortuntately, the last song on the album; I Wanna Be Yours, the dreamy lyrics by punk rock poet John Cooper Clarke, and a perfect song made out of them by the Arctics. Pure melancholy, the perfect way of ending such one hell of an album.

Now it's silent again, and I don't even hesitate to put the album on again, just like I've been doing ever since I bought it in September. Wow.
The album really never gets boring, and you know, if a band can do that, they have really made it.

That's why I don't doubt; I give this album a good 10/10, because I think this is a real classic. Not just for the band's discography, but one we'll still listen to with joy in the future.

Yes. That was a hell of an album...