The Arctic Monkey's second album is good, but it doesn't quite reach the dizzy heights of their debut. This isn't for lack of good songs - in my opinion, it's because the album doesn't provide as much variance, or as many hooks. Whereas with the first listen to Whatever People Say I Am... leads 70% of the songs on the album instantly sinking into your memory, a first listen to Favourite Worst Nightmare leads to great impressions of only a handful of tracks.
For me, those few tracks were: Flourescent Adolescent - possibly the best song they've ever released, it contains an immensely catchy melody, a great riff, and a soaring chorus; this will be a part of the live set for a long time. Teddy Picker, another single, has a great chorus in a different way - banging away with an incessent rhythm. And 505, the closer, is a wonderful low-tempo effort, more haunting than anything else Arctic Monkeys have produced.
The rest of the tracks certainly grow with every listen, and the album of a whole is really good. Indeed, the only reason this review has the slightest hint of criticism is because my favourite tracks from their initial release were Mardy Bum, A Certain Romance and When The Sun Goes Down, whereas the majority of the tracks here seem more influenced by ... Dancefloor.
Overall, this album is well worth picking up