Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)

Favourite Worst Nightmare is the second studio album by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys, first released in Japan on 18 April 2007 and in the United Kingdom on 23 April 2007 by Domino Recording Company. Recorded in East London's Miloco Studios with producers James Ford and Mike Crossey, the album was preceded by the release of lead single "Brianstorm" on 2 April 2007. It was the band's first album with new bassist Nick O'Malley, replacing their previous bassist Andy Nicholson, who left the band shortly before the North American tour of the band's debut studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006).

In comparison to their debut album, the album is considered more musically ambitious, with ambient sounds and expanded drum rhythms being introduced. As with their debut, Favourite Worst Nightmare received widespread acclaim from critics, who highlighted the band's new emotional depth and frontman Alex Turner's matured songwriting. NME and Uncut ranked it the second-best album of 2007, while Dutch publication OOR named it the best of 2007. Retrospectively, the album is considered the start of the band's change of sound with each of their albums after their debut.

Like their debut album, Favourite Worst Nightmare debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling over 227,000 copies in its first week of release. "Brianstorm" and "Fluorescent Adolescent" were also both hits on the UK Singles Chart, with the former reaching number two on the chart. In the United States, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling approximately 44,000 copies in its first week. The album has since been certified 5× platinum in the UK. It was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize and won Best British Album at the 2008 Brit Awards.

Title and cover art

The album's title comes from a lyric in the song "D is for Dangerous", the third track on the album: "I think you should know you're his favourite worst nightmare". 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 songs 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, but did not make the final cut.

Half of the album's songs were debuted at concerts before the release of the album. The album was recorded quickly as the band wanted to start touring and play the songs.

The album's cover art features a black-and-white photograph of a house in the Garston district of Liverpool, with colourful cartoonish images visible through its windows. This marks the second consecutive time the band used a photograph taken in Liverpool as an album cover, following their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.

Musical style

The music on Favourite Worst Nightmare has been characterised as post-punk revival, indie rock, alternative rock, garage rock, and post-Britpop. 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 the local stories of the first record, Favourite Worst Nightmare 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 influenced their new style. For example, the organ at the beginning of the album's final track, "505" replicates Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (where Angel Eyes enters before the final standoff).

Critical reception

Like with the band's debut album, Favourite Worst Nightmare has received widespread critical acclaim since its release. It has a score of 82 on Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100, based on 38 reviews.