I like the Arctic Monkeys! More than a lot of bands and definitely more than swine flu :( Arctic Monkeys first two albums were good and their third does not disappoint either (even if it is called Humbug. Yuck. And the album cover is the worst. Album cover: 1/5 stars.) Supposedly the band was listening to Black Sabbath and Cream and maybe some other bands that I don’t care about when they wrote the songs for this album.
I know some people don’t like the Arctic Monkeys, so let me tell you why I do like them. One, I think their songs are catchy and pleasant to listen to. Two, (and this is the best part) Alex Turner writes some great lyrics and delivers those lyrics in an exciting and original way.
Most of Humbug’s ten songs are produced by Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures, Craig Kilborn lookalike), who is pretty awesome in his own right. Rated R and Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age are pretty much essential listening. He does leave his mark all over the album, especially the guitar tones and sounds.
Here is the first single, “Crying Lightning”
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What was that about a Gobstopper?
Next single (and likely candidate for best song on the album) is “Cornerstone”. Here is the pretty awesome video.
Get a haircut, hippie.
What a great melody!
Another song that I like is called “Dance Little Liar”. I really like the part at 3:18, one of my favorite things in music ever.
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Humbug is a solid album and I would say it’s as good as Arctic Monkeys other two albums.
4/5 stars.
I can get behind you on the Arctic Monkeys. I enjoyed all of the songs you posted. The album cover and title are stupid and/or lazy *gags*. They don’t get as much hype as they used to, which is nice, but I remember when they did and it was pretty annoying. Thanks for the review!
I like the album overall.
But the cover is L-A-M-E… and I don’t like “Dangerous Animals” either… mostly because of the spelling out the title part… not a fan of that in any song… including the ever popular G-L-O-R-I-A by Van Morrison who I otherwise dig a lot… that song gets under my skin… big time. #1) I know how to spell. #2) What a cheap chorus… couldn’t come up with anything better than that? Seriously. Oops, sorry for the rant, have some strong feelings about it I guess. :)
My top three songs from this album are “Secret Door”,”Fire and the Thud” and “Dance Little Liar”
Good review!
Hope you and the rest of the fam are feeling better and having a good weekend!
That video is great. Really. Solid effort.
Love the video! I haven’t heard these last several albums that Josh has reviewed so I’m getting schooled right along with you guys. Need more hours in the day to listen to all of this good stuff.
I tried. I really did try. It’s not for me. The Monkey of the Arctic are just clearly the most overrated band since U2. Thank goodness The Big Pink is also moving across the Atlantic to take the crown from as the band from England that makes me want to puke the most. I wish there was some pirate in the likeness of Keith Richards to roam the Atlantic keeping terrible British bands from making their way into my eartubes.