Do you remember the glory of 2005?

Facebook was but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerman’s eye, Myspace was cool and music festivals were dirty places where grungy people went. And then – in short - a group of lads called Arctic Monkeys started making music together and the entire British music scene changed forever.

There were obviously other smaller events that contributed, but when we nostalgically look back at the noughties in 2050, we will undoubtedly blame the Arctic Monkeys for single-handedly MAKING INDIE COOL. The five boys from Sheffield who rose to mainstream fame simply by having their music passed between fans on the internet (most notably, via Myspace) will forever be remembered as THE band who revolutionised the music industry and the way it promotes new bands.

This is all old news. Arctic Monkey’s debut, ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ came and went, slaying the music charts, wiping garage music off the map and putting Indie music at the top of its game. Chavvy, skinhead types started rubbing shoulders with the ‘alternative’ crowd at Brixton Academy, music festivals were suddenly the new lads-holiday and The Great Divide that separated so many colonies of music lovers blurred to the point on non-existance.

The most obvious thing for the boys to do following the success of their debut was to sit back and enjoy it. Not the Arctic Monkeys. Not from an act who, it soon became clear, were full of surprises.
In the space of a year, the band found the time to write and record second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, while simultaneously riding the hype wave of their first album. What was expected was a rushed imitation of ‘Whatever People Say…’.

What actually surfaced in April 2007 was the complete opposite. It’s easy now – three years down the line - to say that every track is a hit. All 12 tracks have had a chance to permeate our lives; attach themselves to past events and memories and most of us have heard the record live. But I’ll say it anyway because it’s glaringly true – Favourite Worst Nightmare is jam-packed full of hits, each song capable of standing alone as a single and storming the charts.

Taking off with all the fervour and entrapment characteristic of the louder moments on their debut (‘A View from The Afternoon’, ‘A Certain Romance), opener song, Brianstorm - Inspired by a rendezvous with a PR mogul of the same name - is a force to be reckoned with. The first single from the album, Brianstorm shot straight into the Top Ten, proving that FWN was capable of winning the hearts and minds of Great Britain from the moment Turner snarled: “Briiiian”.
The bouncy, guitar hooks reminiscent of the band’s biggest hit, ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’, return on Teddy Picker and D is for Dangerous sounds like it was made for the fans to shout back at the band (“I think you should know/ You’re his favourite worst nightmare!”). Balaclava echoes the rascal rock of the band’s earlier tracks, accompanied by the garage guitar hooks that we’re all too familiar with. Second single, Fluorescent Adolescent is as poppy as ever and its July 2007 release meant it swamped the summertime radio playlists and soundtracked all the festivals. Turner is back on top form lyrically here, making quick-witted observations on modern society: “You used to get it in your fishnets/ Now you only get it in your nightdress” and “That Bloody Mary’s lacking a Tabasco/ Remember when you used to be a rascal?”
The rowdy brilliance of Fluorescent Adolescent is followed by its antithesis; the mellow Only One Who Knows. There’s something about that usually cheeky Yorkshire accent and the melancholy honesty of lyrics, “They made it far too easy to believe/ That true romance cant be achieved these days” that offers some beauty in amidst all that pop chaos.
Do Me a Favour and This House is a Circus are both pretty epic rock tunes that squash any fears the band have wandered into mainstream, indie pop territory. As the album nears its end, tracks like If You Were There, Beware and Old Yellow Bricks are hauntingly darker, while Do The Bad Thing offers some quick pop relief.
Like that moment when the lights come on at the end of a party, 505 starts off slow, hinting at a quieter ender. And then, albeit two minutes and 30 seconds in, 505 takes off; that trademark northern voice that we’ve all fallen for sings desperately and passionately to end the Arctic Monkey’s much-anticipated debut on an astounding, victorious note.

As previously mentioned, in hindsight of Favourite Worst Nightmare’s success and after many, many listens since its release, this review could be considered slightly biased. But ultimately, the simple mention of those ‘many, many listens’ could conclude this review; if it were a bad album, it would be long-forgotten, not even worthy of a re-listen. It’s not often that highly-anticipated albums deliver, but Arctic Monkeys didn’t just deliver on this one, they exceeded anything anyone expected of them.