#346: AM

Revisiting Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” (2020)

In 2020, in the depth of the pandemic, I took on a project of reviewing all 500 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” It was an excellent distraction from the state of the world at the time. I am making my way through the list again, from #500 to #1, this time sharing my reviews of each album.

Arctic Monkeys, 2013

The 1-2 punch of “Do I Wanna Know?” and “R U Mine?,” both featuring Sabbath-like riffs, to open the album is a bold move and demonstrates the shift from their earlier dance-rock sound. At a vintage runtime of 42 mins, this album manages to breeze together, maintaining a thread of sound and concept throughout, from the low-key “On For the Road” to the four on the floor beat of “I Want it All,” finishing with a slower jam called “I Wanna Be Yours,” showing either personal growth from the earlier power jam “R U Mine?” or acknowledging the game of his object of desire.

It’s a classic British rock album, giving me a sense that they were listening to a lot of TRex and Blur at the time, with a dash of Zeppelin and the aforementioned Black Sabbath for the Blues sludge. The resulting radio rock seems more global than their earlier very British albums. It’s certainly their biggest commercial hit, and probably their most popular Stateside. It’s got muscle and great riffs, yet I don’t think it surpasses their debut, 2006’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

Arctic Monkeys, 2006

The Monkeys’ debut is a power pop masterpiece, sounding fresh 20 years later. It’s upbeat and dare I say cheeky. Alex Turner’s vocals are appropriately British, his northern accent proudly on display, something that has been a feature of Arctic Monkeys since. Each track sustains the energy of the album, dance-rock and underground. Turner’s lyrics are fast and furious, novella-length verses filled with tales of the club and missed connections. “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” “Mardy Bum,” and “When the Sun Goes Down” are the highlights but there’s no low point here; the album finishes with “A Certain Romance,” another killer closer.

This is a great album and a great listen start to finish. AM is also a great listen, and while there are great songs on there too, I just don’t think it’s their best.