Arctic Monkeys Albums in Order, and the Two Records That Are Not Theirs
Arctic Monkeys albums in order comes to seven studio records, from the 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not to The Car in 2022. My map draws nine stations rather than seven, because I folded in both Last Shadow Puppets albums, and I want to be straight about that up front. Here is the running order as the artwork reads it, left to right.
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006). Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007). The Age of the Understatement (2008, Last Shadow Puppets). Humbug (2009). Suck It and See (2011). AM (2013). Everything You've Come to Expect (2016, Last Shadow Puppets). Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018). The Car (2022).
Every credited musician on those nine records runs as a named line through the albums they played on. I researched and drew the Arctic Monkeys Discography Map Art Print myself, working album by album from the credits, and the findings below are things I only noticed once every player had a line of their own.
Andy Nicholson Is a One Album Line
The four piece most people picture, Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley, does not exist on the first station. Bass on the 2006 debut belongs to Andy Nicholson, and he appears nowhere else on the map. His line starts and stops at the same album, which is exactly what a branch line is for.
Nick O'Malley picks the bass up at Favourite Worst Nightmare in 2007 and plays on every Arctic Monkeys record after it. He is absent from both Last Shadow Puppets stations, so his line has two visible breaks in it, and both of them are Turner side projects rather than gaps in the band.
Alex Turner is the only line that runs the full width of the map, all nine stations. Jamie Cook is on all seven Arctic Monkeys albums and neither Puppets record.
James Ford Produced Eight of the Nine, but His Musician Line Breaks Twice
James Ford produced every record on the map except the debut, which Jim Abbiss and Alan Smyth handled in 2006. Eight production credits in a row is the longest single involvement on the whole artwork, longer than any band member's run outside Turner.
His musician line is a different shape, and this is where my own rule bites. I only draw someone as a musician line if they are credited playing something. Ford is credited playing on Favourite Worst Nightmare, The Age of the Understatement, AM, Everything You've Come to Expect, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and The Car, but on Humbug and Suck It and See he is production only. So the line drops out twice, at 2009 and 2011, even though he made both records.
Where it does appear, it appears loudly. On Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Ford is credited on drums, percussion, Orchestron, vibraphone, pedal steel, acoustic guitar, piano, Farfisa, RMI Rocksichord, baritone guitar, harpsichord, synthesiser, synthesiser programming, rotary timpani and organ. Fifteen instruments and roles on one album, from a man the sleeve calls the producer.
Josh Homme Shows the Rule Working Both Ways
Josh Homme is the cleanest example I have of the same person landing on either side of that rule. He produced most of Humbug in 2009 and is not credited playing anything on it, so there is no Homme line at that station. He sings backing vocals on "All My Own Stunts" on Suck It and See, and on two tracks of AM, so the line exists at those two.
It looks inconsistent until you know the rule, and then it is the most honest thing on the map. A producer credit is not a performance, and I do not draw one as though it were.
The Orchestra Sits on Everything You've Come to Expect
If you go looking for the string players, they are not where most people expect. The cluster of violins, violas, cellos, a contrabass, a French horn and a flute all belongs to one station, Everything You've Come to Expect in 2016. Eric Gorfrain, Marisa Kuney, Amy Wickman, Daphne Chen, Gina Kronstadt, Alwyn Wright, Chris Woods, Leah Katz and Nick Daley on violin, Rodney Wirtz on viola, Richard Dodd, John Krovoza and Peggy Baldwin on cello, Ian Walker on contrabass, Stephanie O'Keefe on French horn and Sara Andon on flute.
That is why 2016 is the busiest station on the map by a wide margin, at 28 credited names. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, which sounds like the orchestral one, carries no string section at all. The Car has strings, but as a single line credited to Orchestrate, with the arrangements down to Bridget Samuels and Alex Turner.
The Age of the Understatement Has the Fewest Names and the Biggest Sound
The 2008 Puppets debut is the quietest station on the map to look at, with 9 credited names, fewer than any other album here. It is also the one recorded with the London Metropolitan Orchestra, who appear as one line rather than sixty.
That is a limitation of the form and I would rather name it than hide it. An orchestra credited as an ensemble gets one line, an orchestra credited player by player gets seventeen. Read those two stations next to each other and you are reading a difference in how the sleeve was typeset as much as a difference in the music.
Matt Helders Is the Only Other Monkey on a Puppets Record
Turner aside, exactly one Arctic Monkey turns up on a Last Shadow Puppets album. Matt Helders sings backing vocals on three tracks of Everything You've Come to Expect, which puts him on eight of the nine stations, missing only The Age of the Understatement.
Miles Kane goes the other way. His line covers both Puppets records and one Arctic Monkeys album, playing additional guitar on track twelve of Favourite Worst Nightmare. Owen Pallett is a two station line eight years apart, arranging and conducting on the 2008 Puppets record and again in 2016.
The one off appearances are worth hunting for too. Alison Mosshart on additional vocals and John Ashton on keyboards and backing vocals, both on Humbug alone. Pete Thomas on percussion and Bill Ryder-Jones on additional guitar, both on AM alone.
Credited Names on Each Station
| Album | Year | Credited names |
|---|---|---|
| Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | 2006 | 11 |
| Favourite Worst Nightmare | 2007 | 10 |
| The Age of the Understatement | 2008 | 9 |
| Humbug | 2009 | 13 |
| Suck It and See | 2011 | 13 |
| AM | 2013 | 13 |
| Everything You've Come to Expect | 2016 | 28 |
| Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino | 2018 | 19 |
| The Car | 2022 | 14 |
Those figures count every name on the sleeve, players and engineers together, which is how I keep the research honest rather than flattering.
Sizes, Paper and Framing
The print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium acid free matte fine art paper, made in A3 (420 x 297mm), A2 (594 x 420mm) and A1 (841 x 594mm), plus three separate inch formats at 16 x 12 inch, 24 x 18 inch and 36 x 24 inch for buyers in the USA, Canada and Australia. Those inch formats are their own sizes rather than conversions of the A sizes. Prices start at £35.
A3 is unframed only. A2 and A1 come unframed, or ready to hang in a black wood frame. A1 is the size I would take for this one, because the 2016 station alone carries 28 names and they want room to be read.
A Gift for the Fan Who Reads Sleeve Notes
If you are buying for an Arctic Monkeys fan who already owns the records, the thing this gives them is the bit the records do not: the shape of the whole run in one frame, with the Nicholson handover and Ford's two missing stations there to be found. That is a different proposition from a poster of an album cover they already own.
Arctic Monkeys poster ideas for fans who already own the records
An Arctic Monkeys poster gives you one album cover, and the interesting thing about this band is what happened between the covers. My Arctic Monkeys Discography Tube Map Art Print draws the studio albums in order with each credited musician on a line, and you can see the band widen from eleven names on the debut to twenty-eight by 2016. It is a Giclée on archival fine art paper rather than a poster, and the comparison page explains the paper and the printing.
Related Music Maps
The closest companions in the range by era and label are my Oasis and The Smiths maps, and the full range sits in the Music Wall Art Prints collection.
Questions About the Arctic Monkeys Map
How many Arctic Monkeys albums are there?
Seven studio albums between 2006 and 2022. The map shows nine stations because both Last Shadow Puppets albums are included alongside them.
What is not on the map?
Live albums, compilations, EPs and singles. So At the Apollo and the early EPs are absent, and so is anything released after The Car, because the artwork was drawn before it existed. Producers and engineers are named in the credit research but only get a musician line if they are credited playing something.
Why are the Last Shadow Puppets albums included?
Because leaving them out breaks the story. Miles Kane, Owen Pallett, Zach Dawes and the 2016 string section only connect to Turner through those two records, and Matt Helders' backing vocals on Everything You've Come to Expect would vanish with them.
Which album has the most people on it?
Everything You've Come to Expect in 2016, at 28 credited names. The Age of the Understatement in 2008 has the fewest, at 9.
Was it drawn by hand?
Yes. I worked through the credits for all nine records myself and made every layout decision. No AI was used to research or draw it.
See the Arctic Monkeys Discography Map Art Print in full on its product page, or if you are buying for someone and are not sure which map they would pick, there is an art print gift card.
