ON THIS DAY: 2007: Arctic Monkeys hit number one with second album

After arriving in a blaze of publicity, all eyes were on Sheffield favourites the Arctic Monkeys as they released their second album.
Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. (Photo: Glenn Ashley)Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. (Photo: Glenn Ashley)
Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. (Photo: Glenn Ashley)

It was on this day nine years ago that Favourite Worst Nightmare hit the top spot, the follow-up to 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,

And the album.containing the singles Brianstorm, Fluorescent Adolescent and Teddy Picker proved to be just as successful, remaining at the top of the album chart until May 19.

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Recorded in East London's Miloco Studios with producers James Ford and Mike Crossey, the album was preceded by the release of Brianstorm on 16 April 2007.

In comparison to the band's debut album, the record has been described as "very, very fast and very, very loud."

Favourite Worst Nightmare was described by the Daily Express 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."

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.

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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 had 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 2x platinum in the UK and the album was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize.

At the 2008 BRIT Awards it won Best British Album.

Since then, the band have released three more studio albums, the last being 2013's AM.