What was arctic monkeys first album

More than a crowd pleasing banger, Riot Van depicted a the story of unruly youth winding up the police until the inevitable happens. Riot Van is concise, clear and a great example of how the band could create audio polaroids. Even in the early days, Arctic Monkeys were cynical. Perhaps Vampires…looks at the sycophantic world of the music biz and lashes out at it. The extended outro sees Turner and Cook performing more than simple indie riffs with their guitars.

More than any other track, Vampires really showed their potential musically. But the opening vocal and solo guitar performance is iconic and you can still hear it regularly at indie clubs.

Ever been turned away from a nightclub? Of course you have. McNicholas recalls strolling up to their Reading festival set in August, five minutes before they were due on, only to find the crowd eight-deep outside the tent. In June , iTunes had launched in the UK, and downloads went on to account for By , that number had more than doubled to I decided to use a click track for the beginning of the song. It gets more exciting because of that.

Leona Lewis overtook them in and Susan Boyle in Even in less perilous times labels would have tried to copy a success story that big. Hence the bubble, and it bursting. Arctic Monkeys could have succumbed to hubris, complacency or the burden of success.

The news that Arctic Monkeys, a band that at this point was still very much defined by its Sheffield roots, would be working with Queens Of The Stone Age mastermind Josh Homme was met with more than just a few raised eyebrows.

Surely this combination of angular, indie rock and one of the key architects of stoner rock was to clash too harshly? Less an encounter in one party trying to dominate the other, this was a meeting of minds, talents and ideas that took Arctic Monkeys out of their domestic comfort zone and into New York, Los Angeles at the Mojave Desert. Instead, the two parties found common ground as they brought out the best in each other. But there are also lessons learned from their time with Josh Homme.

And they sound utterly brilliant for it.