Favourite Worst Nightmare

Change of style

In comparison to the band's debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, the album has been described as "very, very fast and very, very loud," being seen as "more ambitious, heavier...and with a fiercely bright production". Reflecting the band's travels around the world more than local stories of the first record, FWN is a "faster, meaner" album. The album arguably has influences from The Smiths - "twanging, quasi-ambient backdrops...and Turner's voice [...] crooning like Morrissey or Richard Hawley." Matt Helders said "James was DJing loads in the evening so we'd go out and . . . have a dance." As a result, the drum rhythms of Helders and bassist Nick O'Malley have drawn comparisons to the Eighties funk band ESG. The band's love of classic films also influences their new style. For example, the organ at the beginning of the album's final track, "505" is taken directly from Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (where Angel Eyes enters before the final standoff).

History of the album

The album title, "Favourite Worst Nightmare", came from the song "D is for Dangerous", the third song featured on the album. The band said they also considered naming the album Lesbian Wednesdays, Gordon Brown or Gary Barlow".

In an interview with NME, Nick O'Malley announced several titles including "D is for Dangerous" and "Balaclava". The tracks "The Bakery" and "Plastic Tramp" also mentioned in the NME interview did not make it onto the album, but were later released as B-sides on the "Fluorescent Adolescent" single. The track "Leave Before the Lights Come On" was also rumoured for inclusion, though it didn't make it.

6 of the 12 songs were debuted at gigs before they released the album. The album was recorded quickly as the band wanted to get out and play the songs again.

Critical reception

Favourite Worst Nightmare has received universal acclaim since release, with a score of 82 on Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews. In a 5-star review, The Daily Express described it as "a shockingly good release that just gets better, faster and stronger with each listen", while The Guardian said it had "successfully negotiated the daunting task of following up the biggest-selling debut album in British history" and stated that the second half of the album was the stronger half, noting the similarity to Morrissey in "Fluorescent Adolescent" whilst criticising the opening tracks, Brianstorm in particular. Their progression was also highlighted with The Guardian saying "if you removed everything from the album except Matt Helders' drumming, it would still be a pretty gripping listen", and The Observer praising the new sounds on the album referencing the "piercing, melodic guitar by Jamie Cook" and "where Turner reveals the other weapons in his armoury" when referring to Alex Turner's progression. Pitchfork Media noticed the "new emotional depth" of tracks such as "Do Me a Favour", "Only Ones Who Know" and "505", which were also commonly cited by most other critics as being amongst the highlights.

Commercial performance

In its first week following release the album sold over 220,000 copies, emulating Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in going straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart, albeit selling 100,000 copies fewer than their record-breaking debut. The first two singles from the album Brianstorm and Fluorescent Adolescent were both UK Top Hits.

Favourite Worst Nightmare's first day sales of 85,000 outsold the rest of the Top 20 combined, while all twelve tracks from the album entered the top 200 of the UK Singles Chart in their own right. By September 2013 the album has sold 821,128 copies in UK.

In the USA, the album debuted at number seven, selling around 44,000 copies in its first week. The album has since gone double platinum in the UK and the album was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize. At the 2008 BRIT Awards it won Best British Album.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Alex Turner, except where noted; all music composed by Arctic Monkeys.

Bonus video

Singles

Personnel