Every Arctic Monkeys Album Ranked

AM was seen as a return to form for a lot of the fans that dropped off after the band's second album. Recorded in LA, the hip hop influenced rhythm section went a long way towards making this one of their most impactful albums over in the US, and a return to sharp observational lyrics made things easy for fans that were bewildered by the likes of Crying Lightning.

Aesthetically, the band appear to be in their prime. Turner looking like the Teddy Boys of yore with his meticulously coiffed hair and more muscular frame, this was the Arctic Monkeys supersized to fit the American landscape. The almost-eponymous title of AM hints that the band themselves may see this album as quintessentially 'them' or some of their finest work, and that is largely true. The lead single Do I Wanna Know? was an instant classic when it surfaced. The steady metronomic kick/snare pattern from Helders forms a ticking clock while lyrically, Turner spends an evening pacing, listening to a song that reminds him of a potentially-requited love interest and spilling drinks over his settee, tying himself in knots well into the early am hours.

AM includes many of the band's stronger singles but around half of the track listing loses some sticking power. Tracks like Number 1 Party Anthem, Fireside, Mad Sounds and I Want It All hold their own at first, but over time they reveal themselves to only posses the style and not the substance of tracks that go the distance; art imitating LA life perhaps?