Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Studio album by Arctic Monkeys
Released	23 January 2006
Recorded	June–September 2005 Chapel Studios Lincolnshire, England 2 Fly Studio Sheffield, England Telstar Studios Munich, Germany
Genre	Indie rock,[1] post-punk revival, garage rock
Length	40:56
Label	Domino
Producer	Jim Abbiss and Alan Smyth
Arctic Monkeys chronology
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006) Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)
Singles from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" Released: 17 October 2005 "When the Sun Goes Down" Released: 16 January 2006

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the debut album by English indie rock^[1][2] band Arctic Monkeys, released on 23 January 2006. The album became the UK's fastest selling debut album, shifting over 360,000 copies in its first week,^[3] and remains the fastest selling debut album by a band.^[4] It has since gone quadruple platinum in the UK .^[5] The album includes both tracks from the band's original EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, as well as their first two singles and UK Number Ones, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down". It has since appeared in several critics' publications, and is often cited as one of the best rock albums of the 2000s^{[citation needed]}.

Composition and content

The common thematic content of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not has led to it being considered by some a concept album concerning "the lives of young Northern England clubbers".^[6] All tracks record first-person narratives of observations made within this context. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", "Still Take You Home", "You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me" and "Dancing Shoes" all examine human behaviour in nightclubs. Alex Turner describes "Dancing Shoes" as being about "people always looking to pull when they go out however much they mask it."^[7] Other songs examine other aspects of nightlife; "From The Ritz To The Rubble" is an account of nightclub bouncers, while "When The Sun Goes Down" was inspired by prostitutes in the locality of their practice room in the Neepsend district of Sheffield.^[8] Other songs are themed on romantic relationships, such as "Mardy Bum", or youth subcultures, such as "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and "A Certain Romance". In NME's list of top 100 tracks of the decade, "A Certain Romance" was described as "a strangely even-handed song which starts out scorning local townies then appears to absolve them at the end of the song."^[9]

Release

Prior to the release of the album, the tracks "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", "Dancing Shoes", "Still Take You Home", "Riot Van" , "Mardy Bum", "When the Sun Goes Down" (then known as "Scummy" or "Scummy Man") and "A Certain Romance" had been released for free via the internet in late 2004 and consolidated on the unofficial Beneath the Boardwalk compilation.

The original release date was 30 January 2006, but was brought forward to 23 January 2006 due to "high demand". Although the same was done with Franz Ferdinand, it was speculated that the move was an attempt to counter the effects of the album's leak onto online file-sharing sites.^[10] The re-recorded album versions had been leaked onto the internet by December 2005.

On the first day of its release, the album became the fastest-selling debut album in British history, selling just under 120,000 copies. By the end of the week, the album had sold 363,735 copies - more than the rest of the Top 20 combined and making it the overall fastest selling debut album in British history. Its release in the United States on 21 February 2006 saw it become the second fastest selling debut indie album in history,^[11] turning over around 34,000 copies in its first week and achieving #24 in the album charts. The album also went to #1 in Australia and Ireland.

The track "Mardy Bum", while not released as a single, appeared on radio playlists throughout the UK in mid-2006, and is still played infrequently on BBC Radio 1 and some alternative rock stations such as Sirius XM's Sirius XMU. The track "A Certain Romance" was ranked #90 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Tracks of 2006 and cited as the standout track.^[12] NME also placed "A Certain Romance" at 10 in their list of 100 Tracks of the Decade.^[13] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 140 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[14]

Name

The album's name was taken from a line from the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning written by Alan Sillitoe. The name was chosen after Turner recognised similarities between the two works and the appropriateness of the title. He said that "it’s good because the book is called Saturday Night And Sunday Morning and that’s kind of what the album is, so there’s a link there. And also, there’s a lot of people saying a lot of things about us and you don’t have control over it."^[15] He also said that "songs including 'The View from the Afternoon', 'Dancing Shoes', 'Still Take You Home' and 'From the Ritz to the Rubble' all cover that bit of the weekend and feature the same character."^[16]

Artwork

Cover artwork of the album is a photo of Chris McClure — a friend of the band, frontman of The Violet May and brother of Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers — taken in the early hours of the morning in Korova bar, Liverpool^[15] after the band had given him, his cousin and his best friend "seventy quid to spend on a night out".^[17] The image caused some controversy when the head of Scotland's NHS criticised the cover for "reinforcing the idea that smoking is okay".^[18] The band's product manager denied the accusation, and in fact suggested the opposite: "You can see from the image smoking is not doing him the world of good." In March 2006, McClure announced that he would be giving up smoking, due to lack of funds,^[19] though it has been recently^[when?] reported that his attempts to do so have failed. Billboard advertisements for the album used a similar image to the cover picture, but without the cigarette.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	89%[1]
Allmusic	[20]
The Guardian	[8]
The Independent	[21]
NME	10/10[22]
Pitchfork Media	7.4/10[23]
Robert Christgau	A-[24]
Rolling Stone	[25]
Winnipeg Sun	[26]
PopMatters	8/10[27]

The album since its release has received universal acclaim with a Metacritic rating of 82^[28] and featuring highly in many year-end lists and being hailed as a modern classic.^[29] Many critics and figures in the British Media hyped the Arctic Monkeys and their rapid rise to acclaim through unconventional means^[8][30][31] and some even cited the Arctic Monkeys as revolutionising the way people find music as they built a fanbase on the basis of a few demos shared by fans through the internet.^[32] NME declared them "Our Generation's Most Important Band" and Alex Turner's lyrics and depiction of Sheffield and the night lives of teenagers in particular praised with him being labelled as a "master of observation"^[22] and USA Today claiming "you probably won't hear better CD all year long" and calling it "utterly infectious".^[29] MusicOMH wrote that it was the sort of guitar rock that "makes you fall in love with music all over again" and along with many other critics cited "A Certain Romance" as the standout track and as being "a wonderfully articulate dissection of youth culture that belies Turner's tender years". It was however, noted that some of the tracks which had previously been released on the internet as demos had lost some of their quality and "don't sound as good".^[30]

Awards

• 5th greatest British album – NME, January 2006
• Best Album – Q Awards, October 2006
• Album of the Year – NME ^[33]
• Album of the Year – Crossbeat Magazine (Japan), December 2006
• Album of the Year – Time Magazine, www.time.com/time/topten/2006/albums/01.html December 2006^{[dead link]}
• Album of the Year – Hot Press Magazine (Ireland), December 2006
• Best International Album – Meteor Music Awards (Ireland), February 2007
• Best British Album – 2007 BRIT Awards, February 2007
• Best British Group – 2007 BRIT Awards, February 2007

In 2009 the album was voted the 9th greatest album ever by MTV from an online poll voted for by fans. [3]

Singles

• "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (17 October 2005, Domino Records) #1 (UK)
• "When the Sun Goes Down" (16 January 2006, Domino Records) #1 (UK)

Track listing

All lyrics written by Alex Turner except stated, all music composed by Arctic Monkeys.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The View from the Afternoon"	3:38
2.	"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"	2:53
3.	"Fake Tales of San Francisco"	2:57
4.	"Dancing Shoes"	2:21
5.	"You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me"	2:10
6.	"Still Take You Home" (Jamie Cook)	2:53
7.	"Riot Van"	2:14
8.	"Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured"	2:23
9.	"Mardy Bum"	2:55
10.	"Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But.."	4:28
11.	"When the Sun Goes Down"	3:20
12.	"From the Ritz to the Rubble"	3:13
13.	"A Certain Romance"	5:31

Personnel

• Alex Turner – lead vocals, guitar
• Jamie Cook – guitar
• Andy Nicholson – bass
• Matt Helders – drums, backing vocals

Charts

Charts (2006)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	1
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	1
Austrian Albums Chart	23
Belgium Albums Chart	9
Canadian Albums Chart	46
Danish Albums Chart	6
Finnish Albums Chart	8
German Albums Chart	20
Irish Albums Chart	1
New Zealand Albums Chart	15
French Albums Chart	17
Japan Album Chart	9
Netherlands Album Chart	8
Swiss Albums Chart	15
Swedish Albums Chart	26
Italian Albums Chart	40
US Billboard 200	24

Sales

• UK – 1,200,000+ – 4x Platinum
• USA – 305,000 ^[34]
• Japan – 103,734 Gold
• Argentina – 100,000 Platinum
• Australia – 70,000 Platinum
• Canada – 50,000 Gold ^[35]
• France – 49,000
• Denmark – 20,000 Gold
• New Zealand – 7,500 Gold
• Worldwide – 2,310,000

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.net. http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=119278. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
2. ^ "BBC - Seven Ages of Rock "What the World Is Waiting For"". Seven Ages of Rock. 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/sevenages/programmes/what-the-world-is-waiting-for. Retrieved March 2, 2011. 
3. ^ "Arctic Monkeys make chart history". BBC News. 29 January 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4660394.stm. 
4. ^ Leona Lewis's 2007 album Spirit became the outright fastest selling debut album upon its release in November 2007.
5. ^ "Arctic Monkeys win Mercury prize". BBC. 5 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5315452.stm. 
6. ^ "Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 21 February 2005. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/arcticmonkeys/albums/album/9199780/review/9359479/whatever_people_say_i_am_thats_what_im_not. 
7. ^ "Arctic Monkeys' debut album in their own words". NME. http://www.nme.com/arcticmonkeys/ownwords. 
8. ^ ^{a b c} Petridis, Alexis (13 January 2006). "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Review". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/jan/13/popandrock.shopping6. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
9. ^ "| #". Nme.Com. http://www.nme.com/list/100-tracks-of-the-decade/158050/article/159115#article. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
10. ^ "Arctic Monkeys album rush released". NME. 5 January 2006. http://www.nme.com/news/arctic-monkeys/21884. 
11. ^ "Arctic Monkeys make chart history". BBC. 29 January 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4660394.stm. 
12. ^ Pitchfork Feature: The Top 100 Tracks of 2006
13. ^ "100 Tracks of the Decade". Nme.Com. http://www.nme.com/list/100-tracks-of-the-decade/158050/page/10. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
14. ^ "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". Nme.Com. http://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years/248648/page/2. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
15. ^ ^{a b} NME.COM - Arctic Monkeys - A Scummy Man and Mardy Bums: The ultimate Arctic Monkeys Album Guide
16. ^ "Monkeys explain album". Yahoo! News. 9 January 2006. http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/060119/340/g1jzf.html&e=l_news_dm. 
17. ^ Wichelow, Sam (9 February 2006). "Familiar face?". BBC News - South Yorkshire. http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/articles/2006/02/06/chris_mcclure_video_feature.shtml. 
18. ^ "Arctic Monkeys defend album cover". BBC News. 3 February 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4677356.stm. 
19. ^ "Arctic Monkeys Cover Star Quits Smoking". Entertainmentwise. 29 March 2006. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/15171/Arctic-Monkeys-Cover-Star-Quits-Smoking. 
20. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r819841
21. ^ Gill, Andy (20 January 2006). The Independent (London). http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article339754.ece. 
22. ^ ^{a b} "NME Album Reviews - Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not". Nme.Com. 2006-01-12. http://www.nme.com/reviews/arctic-monkeys/7837. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
23. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
24. ^ "CG: Arctic Monkeys". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=5600&name=Arctic+Monkeys. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
25. ^ By Barry Walters (2006-02-21). "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whatever-people-say-i-am-thats-what-im-not-20060221. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
26. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}
27. ^ Braidwood, Stefan. "Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/arcticmonkeys_whatever/. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
28. ^ "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/arcticmonkeys/whateverpeoplesayiamthatswhatimnot. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
29. ^ ^{a b} Sanneh, Kelefa (30 January 2006). "Teen Spirit: Arctic Monkeys Observed in the Wild". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/arts/music/30monkeys.html?pagewanted=all. 
30. ^ ^{a b} "Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not | album reviews". musicOMH. http://www.musicomh.com/albums/arctic-monkeys_1205.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
31. ^ Plagenhoef, Scott (2006-01-24). "Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/497-whatever-people-say-i-am-thats-what-im-not/. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
32. ^ Barton, Laura (25 October 2005). "The question: Have the Arctic Monkeys changed the music business?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/oct/25/popandrock.arcticmonkeys. 
33. ^ Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006 (2006-12-17). "10 Best Albums". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570779,00.html. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
34. ^ "Arctic Monkeys Win UK's Mercury Prize". Billboard. 5 September 2006. http://indiehq.com/2007/03/14/independent-sales-chart-3-14-07/#. 
35. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification". Canadian Recording Industry Association. August 2009. http://www.cria.ca/goldplat.php. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 

External links

• "Arctic Monkey album details revealed" NME, 12 December 2005
• "Arctic Monkeys album leak" NME, 3 January 2006
• "Monkeys confirm album" Launch music news UK
• "Arctic Monkey album rush released" NME, 6 January 2006
• "Arctic Monkeys Release Date Change Not Caused By Leak?" Clickmusic, 6 January 2006

Preceded by Stars of CCTV by Hard-Fi	UK number one album 29 January 2006 – 25 February 2006	Succeeded by In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson
Preceded by Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George by Jack Johnson	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album 27 February 2006 – 5 March 2006	Succeeded by Face to Face by Westlife