Brianstorm

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“Brianstorm”
“Brianstorm” cover
Single by Arctic Monkeys
from the album
Favourite Worst Nightmare
Released 2 April 2007
Format 7", 10", CD
Recorded December 2006
Genre Indie rock
Post-punk revival
Length 2:50
Label Domino
Writer(s) Alex Turner
Producer Mike Crossey and James Ford
Arctic Monkeys singles chronology
"Leave Before the Lights Come On"
(2006)		 "Brianstorm"
(2007)		 "Matador"
(2007)
Favourite Worst Nightmare track listing
  1. "Brianstorm"
  2. "Teddy Picker"
  3. "D Is for Dangerous"
  4. "Balaclava"
  5. "Fluorescent Adolescent"
  6. "Only Ones Who Know"
  7. "Do Me a Favour"
  8. "This House Is a Circus"
  9. "If You Were There, Beware"
  10. "The Bad Thing"
  11. "Old Yellow Bricks"
  12. "505"

"Brianstorm"[sic] (often mistaken as 'Brainstorm') is a song by Sheffield-based indie rock band Arctic Monkeys and is the opening track on their second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. The song was released as the first single from that album on 2 April 2007, debuting at #11 in the UK Singles Chart via downloads alone.[1] The single was released in physical formats on 16 April, the week before the release of the album, and charted at #2 in the UK Singles Chart behind Beyoncé' and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar."[2] It is the band's fourth single in the United Kingdom, following number ones "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", and "When the Sun Goes Down", as well as the non-album track "Leave Before the Lights Come On". The song was noticeably louder and heavier than previous efforts, marking the band's evolved sound.

Prior to the single, there had been a great deal of media speculation questioning the band's ability to emulate their successes of 2006 and their debut album.[3] The single marks a noticeable change in band's logo and cover art, with the "frenetic" cover art seeming to mirror the nature of the track. The track has no chorus, but features an "ascending guitar duel which sounds like a cross between Telstar, Mogwai and the Monkeys' own When the Sun Goes Down".[4] The music itself is harder and heavier than previous tracks, with Matt Helders' drumming being compared to that of Dave Grohl. A feature of Arctic Monkeys songs in the past, Alex Turner's Sheffield-accent is again a feature, "singing over rough, relentless bass and surprisingly appropriate guitar triplets." [5]

When asked to say a little about the song's protagonist, Alex Turner replied, "I can't remember Brian now... I dunno if he were in me imagination or what... it's a blank spot in me brain... I think that's what he ["Brian"] wanted."[6] He later explained in NME that Brian had been a guy that they had met backstage in the band's dressing room at a gig at Studio Coast "Ageha" in Tokyo Japan, and that "When he left the room, we were a bit in awe of his presence. So we did a brainstorm for what he was like, drew a little picture and wrote things about him" while guitarist Jamie Cook added "He was right smooth, very LA. He just appeared with like a business card and like a round neck T-shirt and a tie loosely around it, I'd never seen that before. It felt like he was trying to get inside your mind. We were checking out his attire - it inspired us".[7]

This song was #62 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.[8]It was also used on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien during the final weeks of the 07-08 Writers Guild strike, in which it is played during a showdown between the three.

Contents

[edit] US release

The song was released to US Modern Rock radio airplay on 1 May 2007.[9] As of mid-May, it was among the 75 most-played alternative rock songs on US radio, receiving support from WWCD (Columbus, Ohio), KDLD (Los Angeles), WEQX (Albany, New York), KBZT (San Diego), and digital radio (S026, S021, and X047).[10]

[edit] Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Huse Monfaradi, features the band playing in a sparse sepia set, interspersed with clips of female dancers in front of a large computerised display, stock footage from old medical educational programs and brief flashes of images of objects mentioned in the lyrics, such as "Brian", "jacuzzi" and lightning in place of "thunder". The video was recorded on the 14 February 2007, the same day as the 2007 BRIT Awards, leading to them missing the ceremony and instead sending two video acceptance messages[11] where they dressed as Wizard of Oz characters and The Village People. The video was premiered by MTV2 on the 17 March 2007.

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Alex Turner except where stated.

  • CD RUG254CD,
  1. "If You Found This It's Probably Too Late" – 1:32
  2. "Brianstorm" – 2:50
  3. "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend" (Turner/Rascal) – 3:27 (Guest vocals by Dizzee Rascal)
  4. "What If You Were Right The First Time?" – 3:02
  • 7" RUG254
  1. "Brianstorm" – 2:50
  2. "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend" (Turner/Rascal) – 3:27 (Guest vocals by Dizzee Rascal)
  • 10" RUG254T
    • Side A "If You Found This It's Probably Too Late" – 1:32
    • Side A "Brianstorm" – 2:50
    • Side B "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend" (Turner/Rascal) – 3:27 (Guest vocals by Dizzee Rascal)
    • Side B "What If You Were Right The First Time?" – 3:02

[edit] Chart positions

Chart Peak position
Turkish Top 20 Chart[12] 20
UK Singles Chart 2[2]

It reached number 1 on the UK indie chart.[13] Also the three other tracks from this single charted in the UK single chart on 28 April 2007. "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend" was number 77, "What If You Were Right the First Time?" was number 114 and "If You Found This It's Probably Too Late" was number 124.

[edit] References

  1. ^ UK Music Charts - The Official UK Top 75 Singles: Week of Mon 16 Apr - Yahoo! Music UK. UK Singles Chart. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  2. ^ a b Arctic Monkeys miss chart top spot. NME (2007-04-22). Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
  3. ^ "Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm (Domino)", Manchester Evening News, 2007-04-13. Retrieved on 2007-04-13. 
  4. ^ "Brianstorm: what it sounds like, in words", Guardian Unlimited, 2007-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-03-03. 
  5. ^ "Arctic Monkeys, Brianstorm Video", Filter Magazine, 2007-03-19. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  6. ^ "Alex Turner speaks! We say 'Pardon?!'", NME, 2007-03-06. Retrieved on 2007-03-07. 
  7. ^ "Arctic Monkeys reveal story behind Brian", NME, 20 April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-23. 
  8. ^ MTV Asia. "Top 100 Hits List". Retrieved 2007-12-27
  9. ^ FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!
  10. ^ Brianstorm Mediabase 24/7
  11. ^ "Arctic Monkeys Too Busy For Brits", Clickmusic, 2007-02-09. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. 
  12. ^ Turkish Airplay Chart
  13. ^ Board Message

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"Don't Matter" by Akon		 Canadian number-one single
April 26, 2007 (1 week)		 Succeeded by
"Survivalism" by Nine Inch Nails
v • d • e
Arctic Monkeys
Alex Turner · Matt Helders · Jamie Cook · Nick O'Malley
Andy Nicholson · Glyn Jones
Studio albums
Demos & EPs
Singles
Limited edition &
radio only singles
Films
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