History Music / WhateverPeopleSayIAmThatsWhatImNot

''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' is the first studio album by the Music/{{Indie rock}} band Music/ArcticMonkeys. It was released in 2006, to near universal acclaim, and it became the fastest selling debut album ''ever'' by any band in the history of the UK[[note]]Since surpassed by Music/LeonaLewis's ''Spirit'' and Music/SusanBoyle's ''I Dreamed A Dream''[[/note]]. It has since gone quintuple platinum and quickly established the Monkeys as a mainstream AlternativeIndie act, though the band more or less eschewed this label with their constant experimentation on later albums such as ''Humbug'' and ''Suck It and See''.

''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' is the first studio album by the Music/{{Britpop}} band Music/ArcticMonkeys. It was released in 2006, to near universal acclaim, and it became the fastest selling debut album ''ever'' by any band in the history of the UK[[note]]Since surpassed by Music/LeonaLewis's ''Spirit'' and Music/SusanBoyle's ''I Dreamed A Dream''[[/note]]. It has since gone quintuple platinum and quickly established the Monkeys as a mainstream AlternativeIndie act, though the band more or less eschewed this label with their constant experimentation on later albums such as ''Humbug'' and ''Suck It and See''.

[[caption-width-right:300:"''What a scummy man/Give him another chance, he'll try to rob ya if he can...''" [[note]]This guy isn't a band member; he's a friend of Alex Turner's, named Chris [=McClure=][[/note]]]]

[[RollingStone Rolling Stone Magazine]] named it as the #371th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime best album of all time]], and Magazine/{{NME}} named it as the #19th best album on their list.

* LongTitle: Most of the songs, as seen above, average about six words per title. The fifth track takes this UpToEleven (literally) with ''a fourteen-word long'' title. Most MP3 versions of the album truncate it.

* DrowningMySorrows: "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me" is about a guy so desperate to hookup with a girl that when she ignores him, he goes and drinks a few.

* OopNorth: Alex Turner's strong Sheffield accent is very prominent on this album. Most non-Englanders can't really understand a word that he's saying.

* StopAndGo: In the middle of "The View From The Afternoon", before it picks up speed again.

* UpperClassTwit: Turner pokes fun at these guys in "Red Light", where he describes a preppy townie chatting up a girl while drinking a Smirnoff, which is a fruity drink light in alcohol content (as opposed to the harder beers that middle-class kids like Turner drink).

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The album title itself is a reference to a line from Alan Sillitoe's novel ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'', which is about a character who goes on a drunken night out.

* DigitalPiracyIsOkay: The band actually began to [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes encourage the circulation of their bootlegged material]] after it began to spread on MySpace and other sites, which led to the debut's massive success.

Its massive success stems from the fact that their demo album was [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay leaked onto the Internet in 2003]] (called ''Beneath the Boardwalk'') and the fans subsequently began widespread file-sharing on websites such as Main/MySpace. The songs "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down" were both released prior to the album, and both hit number one on the UK Singles chart. The band thus became one of the first to emerge through Internet popularity, and the album became a landmark in the TurnOfTheMillennium since they won a widespread audience of millennials in a way almost no other band had done before.

[[caption-width-right:300:"''What a scummy man/Give him another chance he'll try to rob ya if he can...''" [[note]]This guy isn't a band member; he's a friend of Alex Turner's, named Chris [=McClure=][[/note]]]]

'''''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''''' is the first studio album by the Music/{{Britpop}} band Music/ArcticMonkeys. It was released in 2006, to near universal acclaim, and it became the fastest selling debut album ''ever'' by any band in the history of the UK[[note]]Since surpassed by Music/LeonaLewis's ''Spirit'' and Music/SusanBoyle's ''I Dreamed A Dream''[[/note]]. It has since gone quintuple platinum and quickly established the Monkeys as a mainstream AlternativeIndie act, though the band more or less eschewed this label with their constant experimentation on later albums such as ''Humbug'' and ''Suck It and See''.

'''''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''''' is the first studio album by the Music/{{Britpop}} band Music/ArcticMonkeys. It was released in 2006, to near universal acclaim, and it became the fastest selling debut album ''ever'' by any band in the history of the UK[[note]]Since surpassed by Music/LeonaLewis's ''Spirit'' and Music/SusanBoyle's ''I Dreamed A Dream''[[/note]]. Its massive success stems from the fact that their demo album was [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay leaked onto the Internet in 2003]] (called ''Beneath the Boardwalk'') and the fans subsequently began widespread file-sharing on websites such as Main/MySpace.

The album spawned a series of hits such as "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "The View From The Afternoon". [[RollingStone Rolling Stone Magazine]] even named it as the #371th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime best album of all time]], and the album has become somewhat of a monumental AlternativeIndie hit similar to Music/TheStrokes ''Is This It'' and Music/ArcadeFire's ''Funeral''.

The Monkeys have since continued to diversify the themes and ideas expressed in their songs since the lyrical themes in the album often revolve around Saturday Night clubbing and regret following the dangers of letting oneself loose. Arctic Monkeys have enjoyed considerable success, evven though following the album promotion tour, bassist Andy Nicholson decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by their overnight success. He has since been replaced by Nick O'Malley.

'''''Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''''' is the first studio album by the Music/{{Britpop}} band Music/ArcticMonkeys. It was released in 2006, to near universal acclaim, and it became the fastest selling debut album ''ever'' by any band in the history of the UK[[note]]Since surpassed by Music/LeonaLewis's ''Spirit'' and Music/SusanBoyle's ''I Dreamed A Dream''[[/note]]. Its massive success stems from the fact that their demo album was [[DigitalPiracyIsOkay leaked onto the Internet in 2003]] (called ''Beneath the Boardwalk'') and the subsequent widespread file-sharing on websites such as Main/MySpace.

The album spawned a series of hits such as "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "The View From The Afternoon". [[RollingStone Rolling Stone Magazine]] even named it as the #371th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime best album of all time]], and the Monkeys have since continued to diversify the themes and ideas expressed in their songs. However, following the album promotion tour, bassist Andy Nicholson decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by their overnight success. He has since been replaced by Nick O'Malley.

* Matt Helders – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002–present)

* QuestioningTitle: "Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?", which lampshades the

A ConceptAlbum of sorts, its lyrical themes mainly revolve around a night of clubbing among [[OopNorth northern Englanders]]. The [[LongTitle excessively long ''sentence'']] of a title comes from a line from Alan Sillitoe's novel ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'', which is about a man going on a reckless bender on a Saturday night. The album was thus able to resonate with a substantial portion of London youth, for it effectively straddled the concepts of the fun of partying along with the guilt, materialism, jealousy, and disorder that follows letting oneself loose.

----
!!"When the Sun Goes Down" EP

----

!!"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" EP

----
!!"Leave Before the Lights Come On" EP

----
!! "Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?" EP

* ConceptVideo: The video for the single "Leave Before the Lights Come On", in which the band doesn't make an appearance ([[spoiler: Although Matt Helders, the drummer, does [[TheCameo a cameo]] at the very end]]). It is about a girl who attempts to jump off of a building before being saved by man. When he takes her to a cafe afterward, she tries to seduce him, but he maintains that he already has a fiance/wife, but she continues to pursue him. In the end, [[spoiler: after he firmly tells her to stop following him around, she goes back to the building, before revealing that the whole suicide act was a ruse all along to win men's attention]].

* LongTitle: Most of the songs, as seen above, average about six words per title. The fifth track takes this UpToEleven (literally) with ''a fourteen-word long'' title. Most MP3 versions of the album truncate that title.

* SmokingIsCool: Chris [=McClure=], a friend of the band, taking a drag from his cigarette on the album cover.

* {{Instrumental}}: "Chun-Li's Flying Bird Kick", which was even nominated for a GrammyAward.

--> ''Just like a robot from 1984''

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Mardy Bum", "Riot Van", and "A Certain Romance" are all gentle romantic songs amidst the more loud and rocking tracks on the rest of the album.

The album spawned a series of hits such as "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "The View From The Afternoon". [[RollingStone Rolling Stone Magazine]] even named it as the #371th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumOfAllTime best album of all time]], and the Monkeys have since continued to diversify the themes and ideas expressed in their songs. However, following the album promotion tour, bassist Andy Nicholson decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by their overnight success. He has since been replaced by Nick O'Malley.

The album spawned a series of hits such as "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "The View From The Afternoon". [[RollingStone Rolling Stone Magazine]] even named it as the #371 best album of all time, and the Monkeys have since continued to diversify the themes and ideas expressed in their songs. However, following the album promotion tour, bassist Andy Nicholson decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by their overnight success. He has since been replaced by Nick O'Malley.

--> The only reason that you came\\

It's what you there for

--> Oh there ain't no love no, [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Montagues or Capulets]]\\
Just banging tunes and DJ sets

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Mardy Bum", "Riot Van", and "A Certain Romance".

** He continues to mock them in "A Certain Romance", citing their Converses and tacky bottoms they wear to appear hip and cool. However, he appears to vindicate them by the end of the song, saying that despite all their show, they're still his friends and he just can't get angry at them.

The album spawned a series of hits such as "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "The View From The Afternoon". [[RollingStone Rolling Stone Magazine]] even named it as the #371 best album of all time, and spurred on the Monkeys' successful career. However, following the album promotion tour, bassist Andy Nicholson decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by their overnight success. He has since been replaced by Nick O'Malley.

The album spawned a series of hits such as "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "The View From The Afternoon". Following the album promotion tour, bassist Andy Nicholson decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by their overnight success. He has since been replaced by Nick O'Malley.

* UpperClassTwit: Turner pokes fun at these guys in "Red Light", where he describes a preppy townie chatting up a girl while drinking a Smirnoff, which is a soft, fruity drink (as opposed to the harder stuff middle-class kids like Turner drink).

It's what you there for\\

# "7" (2:10)

* BreakUpSong: "Mardy Bum", which is about the narrator and his girlfriend fighting over minor things, with the narrator pining for more romantic, simpler times in their relationship.

* ConceptVideo: The video for the single "Leave Before the Lights Come On", which is about a girl who attempts to jump off of a building before being saved by man. When he takes her to a cafe afterward, she tries to seduce him, but he maintains that he already has a fiance/wife, but she continues to pursue him. In the end, [[spoiler: after he firmly tells her to stop following him around, she goes back to the building, before revealing that the whole suicide act was a ruse all along to win men's attention]]. Matt Helders, the drummer, even does [[TheCameo a cameo]] at the very end.

--> Just banging tunes and DJ sets

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Mardy Bum" and "Riot Van". The latter overlaps more with a NostalgiaSong.

!!Principal Members:

* Alex Turner - lead vocals, lead & rhythm guitar, keyboards
* Jamie Cook - lead & rhythm guitar
* Andy Nicholson – bass, backing vocals
* Matt Helders – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002–present)

* ConceptAlbum: Alex Turner maintains that he didn't intend for most of the songs to have a similar theme, but concedes that the album is mostly about the dark side of partying.

* SignatureSong: "Dancefloor" is their most well-known song from this album, and it was never kept off of a single one of their setlists until their more recent albums.

[[caption-width-right:300:"''What a scummy man/Give him another chance he'll try to rob ya if he can...''" [[note]]This guy isn't a band member; he's a friend of Alex Turner's, named Chris McClure[[/note]]]]

# "Still Take You Home" (Turner, Jamie Cook) (2:53)

* OopNorth: Alex Turner's strong Sheffield accent is very prominent on this album. Most non-Englanders can't really understand a word that he's saying.

1. "The View from the Afternoon" (3:38)
2. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (2:53)
3. "Fake Tales of San Francisco" (2:57)
4. "Dancing Shoes" (2:21)
5. "You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me" (2:10)
6. "Still Take You Home" (Turner, Jamie Cook) (2:53)
7. "Riot Van" (2:14)
8. "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" (2:23)
9. "Mardy Bum" (2:55)
10. "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..." (4:28)
11. "When the Sun Goes Down" (3:20)
12. "From the Ritz to the Rubble" (3:13)
13. "A Certain Romance" (5:31)

!!"Whatever People Say I Trope, That's What I Trope":