#346 Arctic Monkeys, ‘AM’ (2013)

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Following the lacklustre (in my opinion) album, ‘Suck It And See’ in 2011, Arctic Monkeys hit us with this monumental record that no one saw coming, similar to Green Day’s ‘American Idiot,’ in a way. ‘AM’ came flying out the gates to become one of the greatest albums of this century, and definitely a top album of the 2010s. Spawning the singles ‘R U Mine?,’ ‘Do I Wanna Know?,’ ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?,’ ‘One For The Road,’ ‘Arabella’ and ‘Snap Out Of It,’ this album plays out like a greatest hits featuring some of the best tracks of the band’s career (sidenote: these singles seem to ask a lot of questions).

Alex Turner is one of the best lyricists of our age and on this record he does not disappoint. The album features contributions from Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, as well as a monkey of a different kind, Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford, who also produced the record. The album would go on to become their most successful in the States, and second most to their debut in the UK. The album was nominated for a Grammy, won Album Of The Year at The Brits, was nominated for the Mercury Prize and was named album of the year AND decade by NME. Simply put, this album is a modern classic and like with most perfect records, it’ll be very difficult for them to top (their follow up, ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino,’ was a major disappointment for me, to be frank, although that’s been a contentious topic between my friends and me since it came out).

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