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Brianstorm

2007 single by Arctic Monkeys

Summary

2007 single by Arctic Monkeys

Field	Value
name	Brianstorm
cover	Brianstorm.jpg
type	single
artist	Arctic Monkeys
album	Favourite Worst Nightmare
B-side	* "If You Found This It's Probably Too Late"
released
recorded	December 2006
genre
* Surf rock<ref>{{cite web	url	http://www.prefixmag.com/news/video-arctic-monkeys-brianstorm-on-conan/10216/	title=Video - Arctic Monkeys, "Brianstorm" on Conan - Prefixmag.com	last=broctoon	access-date=11 August 2015	archive-date=13 August 2016	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813182916/http://www.prefixmag.com/news/video-arctic-monkeys-brianstorm-on-conan/10216/	url-status=dead}}
* garage rock<ref>{{cite web	url	https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/arctic-monkeys/40-greatest-arctic-monkeys-songs	title=The 40 Greatest Arctic Monkeys Songs	last=Mitchell	first=Matt	access-date=6 July 2024	archive-date=24 April 2024	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424090519/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/arctic-monkeys/40-greatest-arctic-monkeys-songs	url-status=live}}
length
label	Domino
composer	* Jamie Cook
* Alex Turner<ref name	linernotes
lyricist	Alex Turner
producer	* Mike Crossey
prev_title	Leave Before the Lights Come On
prev_year	2006
next_title	Matador" / "Da Frame 2R
next_year	2007
misc	{{External music video
type	single
header	Music video
1

| B-side = * "If You Found This It's Probably Too Late"

"Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend"
"What If You Were Right The First Time?"
Surf rock
garage rock
Matt Helders
Nick O'Malley
Alex Turner
James Ford

"Brianstorm" is a song by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 2 April 2007 as the lead single from their second studio album, Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007). The song was initially released as a digital download, before being released to physical formats on 16 April 2007.

The song was noticeably louder and heavier than previous efforts, marking the band's evolved sound. The song prominently features 'thundering drums' and surf-rock tremolo guitars. The song is also well known for its intricate and rapid drum track, which was voted the tenth best drum track of the millennium on MusicRadar.

"Brianstorm" was a commercial success, debuting at number 21 in the UK Singles Chart via downloads alone. Following its physical release, it peaked at number two, behind Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar". In Scotland, the song became the band's fourth consecutive number-one single on the Scottish Singles Chart. "Brianstorm" is one of the band's most successful singles worldwide, reaching number four in Denmark, number seven in Ireland, and number 10 in Spain. It came in at number 62 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007.

Background and recording

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. The single marks a noticeable change in the 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"." 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."

When asked to say a little about the song's protagonist, Alex Turner replied, "I can't remember Brian now... I don't know if he were in my imagination or what... it's a blank spot in my brain... I think that's what he [Brian] wanted." 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."

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 14 February 2007, the same day as the 2007 Brit Awards, leading to them missing the ceremony and instead sending two video acceptance messages where they dressed as The Wizard of Oz characters and the Village People. The video premiered on MTV2 on 17 March 2007.

In popular culture

"Brianstorm" gained notoriety in the United States after being played during a three-way brawl between talk show hosts Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart on the February 4, 2008 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (during the final weeks of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike), as well as being featured in the rhythm video game Guitar Hero 5, in which it is considered to be one of the hardest tracks on drums due to its sporadic tom-tom beats.

Track listings

Turner
Dizzee Rascal
Turner
Dizzee Rascal

Personnel

Personnel taken from Favourite Worst Nightmare liner notes.

Arctic Monkeys

Alex Turner
Jamie Cook
Nick O'Malley
Matt Helders

Technical personnel

Mike Crossey – production
James Ford – production
Alan Moulder – mixing
George Marino – mastering

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2007)	Peak
position	Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)
8

Year-end charts

Chart (2007)	Position	UK Singles (OCC)
76

Certifications

References

broctoon. "Video - Arctic Monkeys, "Brianstorm" on Conan - Prefixmag.com".
Mitchell, Matt. "The 40 Greatest Arctic Monkeys Songs".
(2007). "Favourite Worst Nightmare". [[Domino Recording Company]].
(30 July 2009). "Arctic Monkeys - Humbug".
(30 July 2013). "The top 20 greatest drum beats of the millennium".
"UK Music Charts - The Official UK Top 75 Singles: Week of Mon 16 Apr - Yahoo! Music UK". UK Singles Chart.
[[MTV Networks Asia. MTV Asia]]. [http://www.mtvasia.com/Funstuff/Contests/MTVTop100Hits2007/top100.html "Top 100 Hits List"]. Retrieved 27 December 2007 {{webarchive. link. (22 December 2007)
(13 April 2007). "Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm (Domino)". [[Manchester Evening News]].
(1 March 2007). "Brianstorm: what it sounds like, in words". [[The Guardian]].
(19 March 2007). "Arctic Monkeys, Brianstorm Video". [[Filter (magazine).
(6 March 2007). "Alex Turner speaks! We say 'Pardon?!'". [[NME]].
(20 April 2007). "Arctic Monkeys reveal story behind Brian". [[NME]].
(9 February 2007). "Arctic Monkeys Too Busy For Brits". Clickmusic.
Joystiq staff. (8 July 2009). "The complete Guitar Hero 5 track list".
(2021-05-07). "Five Arctic Monkeys songs that prove Matt Helders' genius".
(2007). "Brianstorm". [[Domino Recording Company]].
(2007). "Brianstorm". Domino Recording Company.
(2007). "Brianstorm". Domino Recording Company.
(5 May 2007). "Hits of the World – Eurocharts".
"End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007". [[Official Charts Company]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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