Karina Tsoy / Staff Reporter
The Arctic Monkeys is an English rock band formed in 2002, in Sheffield, England. The band consists of Alex Turner on lead vocals, Nick O’Malley on bass guitar, Matt Helders on drums, and Jamie Cook on guitar. On September 9, 2013, the band released it’s fifth album titled AM, which became their most important one yet.
The band was already well-known in the UK, but the twelve-record album catapulted them to headline at virtually every music festival on the planet and to finally have their big break in America.
Upon the first week of its release the album sold over 157,000 copies in the UK, topping the UK’s Album Chart as well as becoming one of the UK’s best-selling vinyl albums of the decade, selling 73,000 units.
Topping charts in several countries and reaching top ten positions in many more, the album’s most popular track “Do I Wanna Know?” gave the band its first appearance in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which was their first number one in the US, first one billion views on YouTube, and a Grammy nomination for best rock performance in 2015. The album then went on to topping five more Billboard charts and being certified platinum in the US in 2017.
The album was praised by many critics for its new groovier and darker sound opposed to the band’s previous records. Featured in several album of the year lists, Rolling Stone ranked it 346 of the 500 best albums of all time in their 2020 edition and NME named it the best album of the decade. The continuous and sudden success allowed the band to sell out their first US arena show in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
In 2018, the band went on a global tour promoting their newest album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, but it is the success of AM that made it all possible.
As of 2022, AM is reported to have sold almost three million copies worldwide and is considered as the band’s most successful album, giving them their most popular hits up to date.
Sources:
Arctic Monkey’s Fifth Album Made Them Immortal
Arctic Monkey’s Most Important Album
Pictures:
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Tour Picture