The Age of the Understatement

I can hear a strong early to mid '60s influence here, but the music itself is too "big" in its production to really hit the mark. It's polished to the point or sterility. The orchestral additions feel forced and out of place. The results make it feel a little lifeless. There are a few faster and fuzzier tracks in the middle of the album that appealed to me more, but too much of this simply tries really hard to elevate itself above its own influences when just aping that sound probably would've been better.

Good but not outstanding supergroup/side project 60s revival from the Arctic Monkeys guy

It's interesting hearing Alex Turner without Arctic Monkey. The music is still very Arctic Monkey-ish though. I like it. I might have to listen to it another time to pick out any one track as my favorite. I don't think I'd listen to this on its own right now, like I wouldn't listen to it while driving somewhere. Who knows, maybe if I listen to it more then I'll like it better. I like when he's like BITING BUTTER and crumbs. I like how he spits out the B's. I'm a big fan of how "The Chamber" fades out.

Jag är förvånad att jag inte hört det här albumet förut, med tanke på hur mycket jag lyssnade på allt som Alex Turner skapade när jag var tonåring. Oavsett är det ännu bättre än jag förväntade mig!

The Good: 30 minute album...
The Bad: 28 minutes too long...
The Ugly: That we were warned about it being an understatement...

Someone rated this album with a 3* stating that this was more insulting than a 1* album, as 3* means you really had no emotions while listening to this... I'm inclined to agree...

I listened to this album 2 times, in the course of a week, just to be able to wrap my brain around what I really think about this ouvre... and I think it is 30 minutes lost.
Not that it is bad... it just isn't much more than stuff that has been done before, by other artists, who put in a better effort.

So, avoiding the possibility that this rating takes longer to read/write than the length of this album, let's just give is a 3* rating and go on to the next...

ok this is hella cool. i'd already enjoyed some arctic monkeys albums in the past so I was definitely jumpscared by the singer's voice here- even outside of that hypnotic english boy, though, this album absolutely bangs. Calm Like You and My Mistakes Were Made For You were some particular standouts but I really enjoyed the whole thing. thanks mr monkey!

Not the biggest fan of this album. It's not similar to Arctic Monkeys despite having the same singer. I just didn't get anything from it.

Not bad.

This was pretty good, might revisit this. It's close to a 4 but not quite there

I've heard some Arctic Monkeys before, and I was aware that this band was a side project. The music is in the same vein as Arctic Monkeys (dark and mysterious). This album brings in more theatrical and dramatic elements, as well as being fast-paced and tight in both timing and musicality. It sounded like a soundtrack to a James Bond film, complete with strings. I liked this a lot.

giving 60s, spaghetti western vibes. sounds like what Arctic Monkeys would do later with AM but more intense in its baroque sound. nothing really stood out to me for this album, just the fact that baroque pop really is pop/rock + orchestral strings.

Very cool album. This was a fun listen, uptempo, lots of instrumentation, driving rhythms and varying styles. I’ll come back to this one.

Black Pistol Fire ahh

Not bad really. Nothing here really blows me away, but this brand of orchestral, theatrical, suspenseful indie music is an interesting concept that I appreciate across a whole album. It’s interesting and does enough that it sustains interest and justifies itself. “Black Plant” is a great song, and a few other songs are above average too. Idk. It’s an original album, but it’s no masterpiece.
7.0/10
DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: NO.

There were some cool moments on this album. I get what they were trying to do. But it really just made me want to go listen to the Arctic Monkeys. 🤷🏾‍♂️

I know it’s a side project, but honestly, anything Alex Turner touches just ends up sounding like an Arctic Monkeys cover band to me. I see what they were going for here, it's a super lavish, cinematic nod to 60s mod rock and old Spaghetti Western soundtracks. At its best, with all those sweeping strings and retro swagger, it’s like stepping into a vintage Bond movie or a stylish Wes Anderson flick. It’s definitely a bold departure from the usual indie rock of that era.

Never heard of this but I know Arctic Monkeys. This was surprising compared to that. Sounded older style pop than this. It was alright.

Aggressively mid.

Unfortunately, I missed out on The Last Shadow Puppets back in 2008; otherwise, I’m sure I would have really enjoyed their album *The Age of Understatement*. You can basically picture it as if The Beatles had created a soundtrack for a Western that can’t quite decide whether it’s meant to be a parody.
These are indeed promising ingredients, and combined with the professional production—which, unfortunately, isn’t a given even for the albums on this list—the result is a record that’s genuinely fun. The only thing that would have made the album even better would have been at least one truly outstanding single release.
For me, this is one of the most pleasant surprises of this project so far!

Recognised Alex Turners voice right away. It was a good album, never a moment I didn't enjoy it. That said, I did kind of miss a spark. It's all solid but not really making me long for more. If only it just had 1 real enjoyable hit on it or something.