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Sep 11, 2013AM is a tight and focused record that sounds huge and retains Turner’s personality and charm in a way previous releases haven’t always done.
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Sep 11, 2013This is vibrant, moody music that showcases a band growing ever stronger with each risk and dare they take.
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Alternative PressAug 30, 2013"Do I Wanna Know?" and "R U Mine?" are a couple of satisfying stomps anchoring this collection of gold-tinted kiss-offs. [Oct 2013, p.82]
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Oct 4, 2013AM's a heavy seduction, restless and all the better for it.
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Sep 9, 2013AM is a pitch black party record, full of menacing pop and grimy, indelible grooves drowned in bourbon.
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Aug 30, 2013All of these stylistic inspirations make AM an invigorating experience.
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Sep 10, 2013Their music is suddenly sexier, no doubt a credit to Turner’s vision for AM, and continues to mature.
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Sep 25, 2013In the end AM not only signifies a career-defining moment that neatly places the band on a proper pedestal for all to admire--this is where not only Arctic Monkeys have come but in many ways, how they’ve masterfully conquered and continue to simply win.
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Sep 4, 2013A punch drunk brawler with a heart, it's the pay off to a perfect evolution.
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Sep 5, 2013AM lacks that character empathy: rather than being detached--ie, cool, wry, transverted--Turner is removed (impulsive, anxious, dull) and it is this subtle distinction that shoots AM down in its shiny leather metal-toed boots.
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Sep 4, 2013Five albums in, they may not be a buzz band anymore, but they've become something much more interesting: a good band.
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Sep 9, 2013As soon as AM’s 12 tracks are over, you’ll be lunging for the play button again--it’s that good.
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MagnetSep 19, 2013AM's wheel-spinning is a bit of a letdown, but a handful of tracks keep it from being a total throwaway. [No. 102, p.52]
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MojoSep 19, 2013This is exciting, audacious work from a band yet again on the edge of a new future. [Oct 2013, p.84]
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Sep 9, 2013While the days of the indie dancefloor hits from their first two records may be long gone, the Arctic Monkeys we’re left with now are undoubtedly at the top of their game.
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Sep 9, 2013Arctic Monkeys’ fifth record is absolutely and unarguably the most incredible album of their career. It might also be the greatest record of the last decade.
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Sep 9, 2013This is perfection from a band at the absolute top of their game, but this by no means implies that they’ve peaked.
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Sep 10, 2013Arctic Monkeys arrive at the end of AM a lot wiser than they may have appeared from the slow opening stomp of the LP.
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Sep 11, 2013This new album's skinny-jeaned funk, Arctic Monkeys have stayed close to the spirit of their debut's title while minimizing its excess at the same time.
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Sep 10, 2013With its multi-layered and complex music (incorporating many subgenres of rock and a great many styles in one cohesive whole), this is a great album for repeat listening, regardless of content.
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Sep 9, 2013They’ve evolved certain factors of their sound and ventured into new territory, but AM is not so much a change of direction as it is an affirmation of all the musical elements that made the band exhilarating to begin with--inspired lyrics, screeching riffs and great melodies.
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Q MagazineJan 27, 2014AM continues a pattern, then: every couple of years, the Monkeys make a great album, sounding tighter and more telepathic with each release. [Oct 2013, p.97]
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Sep 5, 2013Their fifth LP is this quintessentially English retro-rock band's most American-sounding record, especially rhythmically.
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Sep 10, 2013Almost a decade into their career, the Arctic Monkeys have aged gracefully into their precociously world-weary image with a mature album about immaturity, a carefully written and produced effort about the desultory careen of youth.
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Sep 5, 2013Turner's keen lyrical skills have outpaced the band's musical development, and the ultimate role of guitars (which aren't crucial here) has yet to be determined. But if you want expertly creeping unease, dive in.
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Sep 10, 2013Although it doesn’t always measure up to its ambitions, AM is easily Arctic Monkeys’ most realized record, and one that will further bridge the gaps for a band that began as bards for scruffy street tales.
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Sep 6, 2013It’s the romantic last dance of an album that shows that they’re still the same old Monkeys. Just dressed up slicker and sexier.
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Sep 5, 2013This fifth, however, manages to connect those different directions--the muscular riffs of Humbug and the wistful pop of Suck It and See--with the bristling energy and sense of fun that propelled their initial recordings.
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Sep 9, 2013A significant improvement on both Humbug and Suck It and See, suggesting they’ve found a more satisfying rapprochement with the classic rock that tends to come with the territory over there.
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Sep 9, 2013A sassy self-overhaul, AM issues lubricious R&B come-ons over a self-assured narrative arc with personality and open potential cannily spliced.
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Sep 6, 2013While it might not be the masterpiece some people are looking for from this band, it is nevertheless a more than worthy addition to their canon.
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Sep 9, 2013The songs are still sullen, smart and cleverly constructed. But too often on AM, Arctic Monkeys sound less like amalgamators than like imitators.
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Sep 9, 2013There is a depth--a willingness to experiment, a refusal to be pigeonholed--that rewards repeated listens and makes this their most coherent, most satisfying album since their debut. Where they go next is anybody's guess.
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Sep 10, 2013The Arctic Monkeys have comprehensively slaked off their PG-13 pretensions and gone full-on X-rated.
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UncutAug 30, 2013AM feels a considerably more self-assured album: heavy in a dramatic and confident way, conceptually strong and not without groove. [Oct 2013, p.73]
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Aug 30, 2013The Monkeys have pulled off their most technically adroit and controlled recording of their career. Whether that's a good thing for longstanding fans is another matter. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.87]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 770 out of 847
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Mixed: 45 out of 847
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Negative: 32 out of 847
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Sep 10, 2013
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Oct 22, 2013
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Sep 11, 2013This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.