This is truly a remarkable album. "Soon it'll be cool to hate the Arctic Monkeys" Alex Turner said in an interview, and to judge by some reviews, this is true. It's like they're being punished for NME's enthusiasm about the band. Arcitc Monkyes reviews often turn into an NME-frenzy, which is a pity, as this album is worth much more than e.g. the Stylus and Playlouder reviews. Let's have some reviews about the Arctic Monkeys, please! Not about the hype.… Expand

the best debut album in 15 years absolute class

Very powerful!

Stellar debut album by the kids from Sheffield and happens to be one of the best records of the past decade.

Wicked cool album, these yougens have got some thing that can be huge!!

this CD is boring and just rips off oasis.

Well... yes, they are really hyped by british media, but their record is still great. On 2005 we had Bloc Party and Hard-Fi as fantastic new bands (maybe Kaiser Chiefs also), now you can add Arctic Monkeys to that list.

Deserves this score simply for 'I bet you look good on the dancefloor', 'AView from the Afternoon', 'Still Take You Home', and 'Fake Tales of San Fransisco'. I don't think it is the best debut of all time and niether does NME, however, if guitar music is your thing then the Arctic Monkeys are well worth checking out.

Those that say the Arctic Monkeys are simply and overhyped band need to remember this point, the hype surrounding this album come from the fact that most people have had access to the songs on this album for months now, as well as a handful of other great tunes. The Arctic Monkeys hype is, not hype based on nothing it's hype based on great tunes and amazing live performances.

Some of the songs should probably have been b-sides but the quality of the rest more than makes up for a few dodgy ones. Brilliant album. Brilliant band. Can't wait to see them live!

best rock album in years, revitalizing and addictive and so very full of that brit swagger

All hype and nothing else. Yet more proof the British indie scene is stagnant. I rank it lower than I should only because of the massive hype surrounding it.

I thought the Libertines disbanded?

Uber cool album with great lyrics for such a young band, brilliant album!

Almost as overrated as the new Franz Ferdinand. They got alot potential. Personally I feel artists like The New Lows, Bark Bark Bark, and Harley Goldstein deserve the spotlight. No one deserves hype for one quality single. Music should sell itself. Download "Dancefloor" and check out those other artists and you be the judge.

this is complete hype. bands such as Art Brut and Franz Ferdinand still sound even more original. the industry must be severely lacking for this so-called band to get the exposure they're recieving.

Why do you americans just brush off anything brittish straight away. The monkeys are better than anything i have heard come out from america for a long time. This is an awsome album and should be owned by all!

Yes, they sound like a school band, but they sound like the best school band you'll ever hear. Grin inducing tunes, sharp, unpretentious lyrics. A rare case of the hype being true.

i read Q magazine and there was this voting is done by their readers to pick their most favourite album of all times..and the readers dare to put this album in the top 10 list..don't tell me this one is better than the jesus & mary chain's Psychocandy or how about The Cure's Pornography...don't believe the hype, warns Chuck D !

10 out of 10.

As Johnny says above: "This CD is boring and just rips off oasis" ... who ripped off The Beatles and everybody else! Warning: "Don't Believe The Hype" (as somebody else once said). We'll see how well The Monkeys fare in a few years' time. Will they go the same way as Hear'Say (the previous best-selling debut album) or The Stone Roses (arguably the BEST debut album). Either way, I hope they disband soon, then we can have the next round of "Best-Group-Since-The-Beatles". [I was panicking that I was going to have to give this 1/10. Mighty relieved there was a '0'!]… Expand

I think the album deserves a nine, but I'm giving it ten simply to balance against the idiots who can only review a CD with reference to context or other bands. If you think AM sound like Libertines, then it's time for that yearly ear wash. As someone says earlier, the fact that Stylus and Playlouder review it only with reference to NME is hardly surprising, but it's still quite sad that music journos of this type get any work whatsoever. The album itself is hurt by a couple of less than excellent translations from demo to professional studio, see Mardy Bum and Certain Romance. On the other hand, Red Lights..., Probably Couldn't See... and View from the Afternoon are stupendously good. I've seen them 6 times now (it helps being in Sheffield) and if you're lucky enough to have tickets for the NME tour, then you're in for a treat. But please please please, show some respect for the other bands on the bill, us Arctic Monkeys fans are getting quite the reputation. It's not the fifth best album of all time, but it's still outstanding and will be the best of the year at a canter.… Expand

this band tell it like it is there lyrics are as clever as anything the smiths ever produced believe the hype these guys are set for world domination

the arctic monkeys have produced a superb album but to say they are on par with oasis is a little premature! out of all the tunes 1 or 2 let it down but overall superb!

really pathetic writing skills here and music that is far from interesting. don't believe the hype, boi!

Above average. The hype may have had something to do with it, but this album certainly does NOT deserve the #5 spot on NME's GREATEST BRITISH ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME. You mean to tell me that this is musically/llyrically superior to Radiohead's OK Computer?? I'm sorry to all you British folks but this is far from "ground-breaking."

Hype or not - both the album and the preceding bootleg (widely available online) were great. I also saw them play live last year and they were awesome. This album consists of great tunes and I will eat my hat if it doesn't end up on the critics' 2006 yearlists in december.

great, best british act in 2006. it seems that is going to be a great year for r'n'r music.

This album is about as original as a Joan Rivers joke – it's the worst album I've come across in years. The band do themselves no favours with their 'swaggering' ways, as this just serves to make them look like the infantile, talentless monkeys they truly are.There are two types of people buying this album – young, impressionable teenyboppers who desperately want to look cool, and old, out-of-touch dads who desperately want to look cool.… Expand

A vacuous pointless exercise in hype so succesful in its execution that I suspect its a government conspiracy. How many more albums must we have based on the chavy antics of middle class boys pretending their fathers are miners? All the wit of an episode of '2 Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps', the musical excitement of a block of lard and the fact that they look frankly RUBBISH make for a band whos success will go down as one of the great mysteries of the 21st century. Pathetic.… Expand

the most overrated band of the last 50 years. they've got a catchy single and a lot of boring songs, but nme needs a new idol every year.

All the massive hype will probably spurn their initial downfall..but for now this is a refreshing and vital album that sits comfortably along other great British artists of the last three decades. The song about vampires, though, is really dreadful crap. Mardy Bum and The ritz to the rubble is top of the class and future classics in indiedom.

a great observation into working class england but really just a result of the libertines genius

Goes a bit awry in the middle but likely to be up there come the envitable Albums of the Year listings. Great upbeat tunes abound with only Riot Van slowing things down somewhat. Red Lights Indicates Doors are Secured drives along at a fantastic rate and is simply about the problems in trying to get into a taxi late at night.

Anyone who says this is a bad album is entitled to their opinion, just its wrong!, 3 things that make this band great, lyrics, catchy riffs, and they maintain it live (i've seen em) an album that deserves the hype for a change

I challenge anyone to follow your heart musically for a year, really listen to what's out there ... take some chances, take some recommendations, etc - and then come back to this one. It just doesn't add up. This is a very average album pumped up by a relentless British music press. There are less ideas in this album than the first Strokes album, and anyone with half an ear knew they'd be utterly out of ideas by album #3.… Expand

worthy of all hype, this album is brilliant from its first minute till its last.

I thought Britrock was dead in 1997… well, not really, some teenagers decided to revive this 'addictive' musical genre. Yay.

Great songs, not much new here, but the ·$%&ers have incredible talent. Denying it can only mean youre jealous, cause theyre hugely talented and young... As far as rock goes, 2006 is lookin good already

Tedious pub-punk with awkwardly-worded football chants over the top. Grrrr.

Simply Brilliant. For a bunch of 19 year olds to bring this out as their first album is astonishing.

Amazing music and lyrics, I reckon this is the revolution of Indie Rock of today.

I like it, and am pretty impressed at how much they seem to have polarised people, there are just as many scathing reviews as their are glowing ones on here.

brilliant!

The best debut for a long, long time. Fun, exciting and made to be played loud. The hype machine is in full force, but this time theres something of substance behind it.

yawn. hype hype hype. zero originality

The most hyped band ever. The music? Tedious Brit-rock crapola. Utterly average in all respects. This year's Franz Ferdinand.

"Style" over substance wins again. Hype hype hype, and nothing else. Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors, Bloc Party et al - get over yourselves, all of you.

Tom B.. (see above)... wrote that this was pumped up by a relentless British music press... (he's wrong) ...the real story here is that some talented, cocky, guys wrote songs that make you think of the Jam... and the Streets... and put the tracks online (free) where they got passed around (I got them early last year) like old fashioned mix tapes until the buzz burst out with 360,000 people buying a copy in a week... was at their gig last night and the great thing is that they can still improve (!) but boy the atmosphere was electric... amazing... why do people who can't perform, sing, write consider it necessary to so flippantly damin those, at 19 (!) who can? It's like the Razorfish song "Golden Touch", that they mind because they can never do the things that you can I do so well.… Expand

excelente disco con canciones increibles y altamente adictivas de principio a fin!

SIMPLY GREAT!

They are not bad, but they are not very good too. They are just like 10000 other bands, i.e. average. Certainly, being the most-hyped band ever is not going to help them. The Strokes had enough talent to live up to the hype surrounding them. This is not the case with Arctic Monkeys. I doubt anybody will be talking about them in 2 years.

Original lyrics and excellent delivery help to make what would sound like quite a normal album into a great one. Not quite as great as the 'hype', but then what is. That said, does have some cracking tunes that will be filling indie dancefloors for years. Filling stadiums will be trickier, but that's their charm. Whether they will be able to cross over the countries that dont undertand the phrase 'mardy bum' remains to be seen!… Expand

There's no way this CD could live up to the hype being generated. But that doesn't mean it's not a good record. (It's at least /very/ good.) And the more I listen to it, the more I like it. The sound is just different enough from Franz Ferdinand and their ilk to make it refreshing. And you've got to love those accents.

Not bad. But why some people can't stop acting rashly?

Who reads Stylus Magazine?

fucking great !!!!

What kind of music do you like Rob R? I'm willing to bet that it's supremely gay. Bloc party and Arctic Monkeys are both really good bands. Anyway, this album solid throughout and doesn't disappoint. Worth the money.

excellent guitar, catchy lyrics that relate to their audience and highly upbeat. great 1st album, but new oasis? if theyre stil around hitting number1 spot in 10years then i would agree, until then just credit them for a well rounded album.

The praise being given this effort is astounding. If it were half as good as the tastemakers say it would be ok. A major disappointment.

Like Franz Ferdinand with more energy and weaker hooks.

Is it just me or has the "best of Britain" as of lately just sucked beyond belief. They always compare every band as the best post Libertines band. So if the Libertines = crap, where does that put the Arctic Monkeys? Actually better in my mind, but in no way similar to the the second coming of Christ. I dug When The Sun Goes Down and it raw approach to lyrics. Honestly though they are a flavor of the moment and may be a dull as American equivalents such as Fall Out Boy and Yellowcard. Rating: Buy at your own risks.… Expand

Great sound. Fun and upbeat. Great album.

The hype machine is in full effect. The album is not bad, but it's way overrated. It sounds a bit like the Libertines meet the Rakes. You want to hear the best of Britain? Check out Hard-Fi. Stars of CCTV is a great album that Metacritic completely missed. Maybe they'll finally list it since it's getting a U.S. release. Only 9 months late!

very enjoyable album would probably have rated it 7 1/2 if that had been possible above par songwriting, some nice (early) Sonic Youth kinda music some great tracks not worth the great hype (but, let´s face it, no album is) but very enjoyable

Not as good as the Brits are saying it is but not as bad as the Americans are saying it is.

Horrid cack. The hype surrounding this high school level band of jerks would be funny if it wasn't so sad and desperate. One of the greatest bands ever? Sure, and The Knack were the new Beatles, too. A year or so from now you won't be able to find anyone who admits they ever liked these chumps. Proof that rock music in the 00s is in sad shape indeed.

sublimely witty lyrics, catchy melodies. not exactly the instant classic the british media is claiming it to be, but it could be a lot worse. it is what it is: a promising debut from a promising band. the demos sounded better, but the songs are still top-notch.

To be honest, I've only heard this album all the way through a couple of times, but it sounds no different to any other NME-hyped flavour of the month thang (see also the Libertines, Franz Ferdinand). Pretty mediocre then, but with haircuts...

Well..its not as awful as I expected considering this album has been scene raped beyond comprehension. I just couldn't get past the oldness of everything- it all sounds like a combination of every thing that's been big on the british scene in the last 10 years..plus, some songs just grate me.

Ouch. You Europeans have some weird taste in music if you're claiming the the Arctic Monkeys are the "it" sound of 2006... Remember folks, these are the same people that brought us the Spice Girls.

Meh ...it's O.K. Well executed but one has the feeling that they've already heard this album done by at least a dozen other bands. The NME hype proves that the Brits are as gullible we Americans ...CHEERS!!

Very good debut album...At last a young band bridges the gap between good old Rock and Roll and Hip Hop.A change had to come and there it is!!!

Yeah their good but christ not THAT good. ' Bet you look good on the dancefloor' is magnicent as are 'sun goes down', ' a certain romance', 'mardy bum' and ' fake tails of san fransisco', they all sound like hits but some of the rest is dour, 'dancing shoes' slips by, 'viabsb...' grates ( as does the full title), and riot van is very very average… Expand

This isn't painful to the ears, but it is bland. The hype here earns this release a zero because it steals time from listeners that could be spent listening to superior album.

The Greatest Album in the History of Humanity. Period. No question about it. You will *never* hear anything better ii your lifetime!!! Go and buy it now!!!!! No score can truly do it justice. Therefore I'm giving it a 0. Ok?

This is already sounding like one of the top albums of 2006, they have the genius of Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads. Im feelin' a new british invasion.

Music should always be this fun. Hard to find a record with more catching tunes

Yeah it' overhyped. I'm glad I only bought a couple songs. Whatever other reviewer compared them to a British Fall Out Boy is dead on.

Although their debut is very good it does not push up to the levels that The Strokes entered when they introduced the genre.

'Dancefloor' apart, this is mediocre and forgettable. Completely overhyped.

this album has a couple of decent songs but everyone now loves to run around talking about the arctic monkeys as if it was them who discovered them first and that they are a member of a rare cult following. their lyrics are pretty fucking dodgy when you look below the surface and they are incomparable with the libertines. they havent a fucking chance of a half decent secound album.

I have only heard two songs and I am very impressed. I hear the Clash and Hot Hot Heat, some minimalized Strokes (which is good in this case), yet it's an original signature. I'd like to know from those that give this band low scores who they find exceptional. I'd like to know if we can trust such plummeted ratings. C'mon, boys and girls. Put it all out there. Let';s get philosophomoric.… Expand

I'm just going to come out and say it, this release was a bit of a disappointment. I'd read the hype and was expecting something phenomenal. I was expecting caviar and instead I got salmon roe. You get the idea. When I listened to Oasis for the first time, or even Travis(Good Feeling) I was blown away. Those songs grabbed me by the jugular and didn't let go. Arctic Monkey's on the other hand are a decent band. NOT A GREAT ONE! The songwriting lacks maturity, along with the lyrical content as well. Also, the vocalist is lacklustre at best. I heard these guys listen to a lot of hip-hop and it's evident in the vocalists delivery. Too much, too fast. His tone is boring, and he has absolutely no range. The first time I heard Liam Gallagher sing Live Forever it gave me goosebumps. This dude just doesn't do it for me. Most of the songs are good but there's no standout. Some are hummable but most are forgettable. I gave this a 7 because they have some potential, but realistically I think this band will be gone and forgotten in a year or two. Just a blip on the radar screen people. As for the next great rock band, I'm still waiting. P.S. NME needs to lay off the funky herb!… Expand

simply amazing. an impeccable debut album. lets just hope they don't pull an Oasis and fall short on us in the long run...

Really awful. Concrete proof that the NME no longer has a clue. Buy this and you are a total dork.

Have not heard a fresher sound in rock since The Strokes. Great Humor and melodies. Will be listening to this 5 years from now

This is the album I always wanted to hear from many of the UK bands. Futureheads' energy, Bloc Party's riffs and Oasis' lyrics mixed into one.

Insanely energetic and catchy, but hardly life-changing. They've got some great tracks but they miss the target with their fillers more often than not which makes the album ring a bit hollow.

I give it a 6.5 actually. Its definitly pretty good, but its no Up The Bracket.

After a couple of listens I was hooked. But the only thing that I feel deserves recognition on this album is the lead singer. It's his energy that brings everything together.

decent, not spectacular

Considering that I do like Franz Ferdinand's sound, and even enjoy a bit of Oasis now and then, I was sure I would like this one...but, eh... It's only so, so. A few catchy tunes here and there, but the lyrics are flat and forgettable, and it really starts to grate on your ears after a while...

Good album well worth a listen just for the lyrics which in some places are inspired. Not particularly groundbreaking music but good nonetheless

I'm glad to know that 15yrs later, the UK finally got its own version of Sublime. With bands as generic & boring as the Strokes, why laud cut-rate imitators? This is just another crappy garage band feeding off the hype of the continually tone-deaf UK criitcs.

Just proves that British rock keeps producing amazing albums. Alex Turner the leadman is fronting one of the greatest bands in the future. This album is totally amazing, and is a must have for sure!

Incredibly overrated. Listened to it once over and wouldn't go threw that again. I dont understand the big deal. Sounds like everything else. Some critics dont have a clue.

Damn...this album sucks shit. Terrible. How could anyone in their right mind give this a fucking "10"? I want my $15 back!!!