NME: Arctic monkeys – top 10 tracks so far
It’s been just over 12 years now since Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys burst onto the scene with their instantly popular, record breaking debut album, ‘Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not’, thanks to shrewd self-management and incredible musical abilities. The band’s twitter account recently teased fans with a short video showing dates of multiple shows from their comeback tour, starting in early June, the big news that they were expecting to have an album out before the start of the tour.
Given that it’s their first album to come out in nearly four years, we decided to celebrate the band’s previous five albums by compiling a list of the band’s top 10 greatest tracks so far – a very hard task, might I add.
10 – Brianstorm
Considering this track is from the funkier, less heavy second album, this is probably one of, if not the, fastest songs that the band have ever produced. The thumping beat and lightning-quick opening riff come together with Alex Turner’s fantastically aggressive vocals to create a great song that feels slightly out of place on an album as upbeat as ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’, the home to other tracks coming up on this list.
9 – 505
This song’s keyboard opening is actually the same opening to the ‘Good, the bad and the ugly’ theme. A calming tune that could soothe any restless sleeper is later replaced when both Jamie cook and Alex Turner’ Fenders kick in, from which point any listener can identify that this track is absolutely incredible.
8 – Crying Lightning
Appearing on their third album, Humbug, this – alongside another that will be highlighted – was the saviour of what many were considering a boring album compared to the previous two. The first album with Josh homme producing, Humbug was triggering many fans’ accusations that the band had gone weird. But, Crying Lightning’s haunting bass line and unconventional but effective guitar licks & riffs alongside Turner’s insanely psychedelic lyrics form a masterpiece that’s sure to get stuck in your head for days.
7 – Mardy Bum
With a playful opening melody that’s sure to have you tapping your feet and humming along, Mardy Bum is an upbeat song about a sulking girlfriend who doesn’t seem to appreciate anything done for her. The song is a prime example of the band’s ability to tell a story through music, and the orchestral performance of at Glastonbury is a prime example of how versatile the band’s songs can be.
6 – Do I Wanna Know?
One of their most widely recognisable songs thanks to a killer riff and softly spoken vocals, this track oozes smugness and is the most popular song they’ve ever produced.
Cementing the funky feel of the second album with a finger-tappingly good riff, all the instruments seem to blend together in what’s arguably the best song on ‘Favourite Worst nightmare’.
4 – R U Mine?
Marking the return of the Arctic Monkeys after ‘Suck It and See’, this track has just the right mix of arrogance and confidence; the music video actually won an NME award. With outstanding drumming and incredible guitar licks, this track showed that the band was past writing soppy love songs. Apart from Do I Wanna Know. And I wanna be yours. Which are actually quite good.
3 – Cornerstone
Crying lightning is great, but this is the one that really saved ‘Humbug’. 7 tracks in, it seemed that all hope was lost, until cornerstone appeared. A simple love song with a simple music video, this is one of the best songs they’ve ever produced.
2 – I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor
This was the song that established the band’s abilities as amazing musicians. Again, a simple music video did the trick, showing that they didn’t need extravagances to convey that they were a talented group. With its punchy guitar solo and catchy chorus, this is the one that started it all.
1 – A Certain Romance
Out of all the songs from the first album, this is the six-minute track towards which critics directed most of the praise to. Starting with a heavy opening riff and merging into a calmer solo, the song goes on with Turner’s inspired lyrics about the people around him where he grows up, and the certain romance of all of it, despite everything being a bit rough. Alongside the nearly 2-minute instrumental at the end, this song about not judging people because they’re ‘chavs’ is by far the best they’ve ever written.