The Arctic Monkeys’ AM has received critical acclaim, especially when it was released more than a decade ago. I had previously heard most of the singles on here (in fact, I really like most of the singles), but I only took the time to listen to the entire record after a conversation with a student. He asked me some questions about the sort of music I listened to, and I asked him to recommend me five musicians or albums that he would consider essential. He consulted some of his classmates, and one that the came back with was the Arctic Monkeys.

The album is dark, and it hits hard. The only word that comes to mind to describe what sets it apart is its “grooves.” The whole album hits hard, including the few songs that were not also released as singles. In some ways, it may even have defined the indie rock of the 2010s before it shifted over to more folky, acoustic sounds in the second half of the decade.

It’s funny that this album was released only a few years after the students who recommended it were born. The equivalent would be me recommending the Smashing Pumpkins. For students today, AM is already an “old” album where, for me, it’s a contemporary hit. Yet, appreciation of the album cuts across generations, and it’s a really valuable album to listen to, even today.