10 Years of ‘AM’: Revisiting Arctic Monkeys’ Career-Defining Album
On September 9th, 2013, Arctic Monkeys released their critically acclaimed, career-defining, and iconic pseudo-self-titled album, AM. Ten years later, the band has released seven studio albums, received nine Grammy award nominations, and performed countless sold-out shows and festivals. While AM has served as a pillar for Monkeys’ widely acclaimed success, elevating them from former UK British-rock sensations to international superstars, it was also a turning point in the band’s musical style and artistry. The album marked their transition from a youthful, grimy, and uncut sound to a cleaner, more mature sound.
In earlier albums, the band gravitated towards post-punk and garage rock. Their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, epitomizes boisterous teenage punk rock music. It’s energetic, angsty, blunt, and cocky—what more could you want from the Sheffield rockers? The following album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, is my personal favorite. This album amps up the punkiness and grunginess of the previous album but sands down the scruffier sound for something slightly smoother.
Their third effort, Humbug, shows the beginning of the genre shift that AM eventually propels forward. Monkeys’ typical fast-paced, thrashing, and vigorous melodies matured into heavy, bass-filled, and dark-sounding songs. Furthermore, frontman Alex Turner traded his usual gritty and frisky tone for something more sultry and velvety-smooth. This shift is most strongly attested to Josh Homme’s (member of Queens of the Stone Age) co-production of the record, as he helped them realize their vision and sound. Suck It and See, the Monkeys’ fourth album, showed even more deviation from their earlier records as the musicians took further risks with a darker sound and their (now infamous) not-so-straightforward lyrics, like “Library pictures of the quickening canoe / The first of its kind to get to the moon” from the track “Library Pictures”.
It was in 2013 that the band found their greatest success, bringing us to the ever-famous album at hand: AM. On the second album produced by Homme, his influence is quite clear. With all the best aspects of their earlier albums—guitar-driven melodies, themes of insomnia-filled love-lorn nights, and hideously obtuse lyrical metaphors—the band incorporates a new lens of pop-influenced alternative rock and tasteful, emotional depth. With AM, Arctic Monkeys confirmed they were no longer just the teenage Brit-rockers that audiences first met; they had proved their musical capabilities and gained the public’s trust to take risks in their music.
While the band’s fanbase faltered at the genre shift in the two previous albums, AM not only reaffirmed the existing fanbase but catapulted the band into the global music sphere, solidifying them as a household name. With songs like the passionate and lust-filled “Arabella”, the incessant and yearning “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”, and the gritty and thundering “Do I Wanna Know?”, this album was a guaranteed success before its release. Following the album release, Arctic Monkeys had an enormously successful tour with significant achievement in the US, where they performed 70 shows including a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden. On the charts, they topped the UK Albums Chart and four Billboard charts, along with “Do I Wanna Know?” becoming their first song on the Billboard Hot 100. If that wasn’t enough, they received 13 award nominations for AM, including the Best Rock Performance Grammy nomination for “Do I Wanna Know?”. The release of AM marked a new chapter for the Arctic Monkeys, as they became some of the most sought-after pop rockers.
Five years after AM, the band released Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino which delivered groovy lounge-pop tracks loosely centered around the concept of a luxury hotel resort on the moon. This album received seven award nominations, reached the top 10 in the US, and topped the charts in eight countries. Most recently, the Monkeys released The Car, which took yet another sharp turn into the alternative rock-adjacent genre of baroque pop with elements of jazz and orchestral rock. The most shocking change was the addition of sweeping string arrangements in the instrumentals. The Car received six award nominations and each of the album’s singles peaked in the top 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
AM was, by far, the Arctic Monkeys’ most monumental, classic, and masterful album. The Brit-rockers broke out of their shells and into a new realm of grandiose sounds, thought-provoking lyrics, and a self-built image separate from what the public expected of them. The album’s legacy remains inescapable even 10 years later, with multiple songs trending on TikTok, Miley Cyrus’ cover of “Why’d You Only Ever Call Me When You’re High” gaining 24 million views, and Rolling Stone placing it as #346 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Although the following albums didn’t see as much success as AM, the album created a legacy for the Arctic Monkeys as brilliant, unpredictable, and undoubtedly talented musicians.