trying ur luck
― Monday Nite Tranny Party (The Brainwasher), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 06:28 (fourteen years ago) link
this is literally impossible for me
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 02:54 (5 hours ago) Bookmark
^^^this.
― Samuel (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 07:34 (fourteen years ago) link
'the modern age' for the guitar solo
― vain_bowers, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 07:43 (fourteen years ago) link
I like the strokes in theory but can't listen to them anymore, partly because they remind me of freshman year of hs
^this is pretty much why i still love them
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 07:47 (fourteen years ago) link
julians writing is amazing on this album - even on room on fire he kind of started dabbling in incomprehensible pseudo social commentary (whatever happened? and the end has no end being prime examples - both songs are still amazing but the lyrics are kind of out there and bad) and on first impressions he's just totes awful at lyrics
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 07:52 (fourteen years ago) link
voted 'hard to explain' cos of the xtina mashup, but ROOM ON FIRE is def the superior alb - i like the transition from youthful vim and vigour on the first rec to the worldweary disillusionment of the second
― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 08:18 (fourteen years ago) link
― Samuel (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 07:34 (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― My Slow Descent into Assholism (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 08:22 (fourteen years ago) link
Just listened to this and have been able to work out "songs I love but not as much as the others" that I won't be voting for:
Is This It?The Modern AgeSomaBarely LegalSomedayAlone, TogetherLast NiteHard To ExplainNew York City CopsTrying Your LuckTake It Or Leave It
So hard.
― Samuel (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 08:33 (fourteen years ago) link
I'll have a 'Trying Your Luck', please.
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 10:44 (fourteen years ago) link
It's thought to be one of the best rock albums from the 2000's
rip rock music
― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 10:52 (fourteen years ago) link
Doesn't "Barely Legal" sound rather similar to "Cherry Chapstick" by Yo La Tengo?
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 16:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Hard to Explain, BTW
The Strokes: Is This It Shit poll
Ah... that's more like it.
Not voting as, for my ears' sake, I dare not attempt to remember any of these songs.
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:02 (fourteen years ago) link
In retrospect, the crossover success of the Strokes and their sort of bland rock music pretty much set the stage for Kings of Leon's similar success in recent years. Massive dud, this band.
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:06 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean, "Sex on Fire" is totally a Strokes song in disguise.
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:07 (fourteen years ago) link
Without the hooks, muffled vocals, and awesomeness.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:11 (fourteen years ago) link
It is impossible for me as well, as I believe I've only ever heard "Last Nite", and that maybe only twice.
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:18 (fourteen years ago) link
Funny, I was just about to say "Sex on Fire" is a Strokes song + a good hook.
The Strokes are possibly the most one-dimensional band of the decade, with each song being a slight variation on the song that came directly before it. Plus shitty sounding drums and a singer who sings every song like a dirge regardless of its tempo.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:20 (fourteen years ago) link
They are this generation's "The Knack"?
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
the tunes on this album are good though. i once towed the standard contrarian line about how this was soulless hype, but it convinced me otherwise-- unlike forgettable "critic's choice" bullshit like, oh, let's say Burial, Shearwater, MIA, Dizzee Rascal, Fleet Foxes... oh god-- I could go on all day.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
"last nite," but four or five songs are v v close (someday, is this it, modern age, NYC cops)
i wanna see these voting results disaggregated by voter-nationality. british people just cannot shut up about "hard to explain," which i think is relatively boring.
― 69, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:27 (fourteen years ago) link
Which is why they've made only three albums.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
"hard to explain," which i think is relatively boring.
― 69, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 12:27 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark
i love every song on this album but this is probably my least favorite - never got the hype at all
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
there are soooo many bands this decade who are totally one-dimensional with each song being a slight variation on the song that came directly before it. i can actually tell the songs on this record from each other, which is more than i can say for a lot of those other bands.
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Is This It completely and totally destroys any other rock album made this decade. People always talk about Loveless being the death knell of rock, but I nominate Is This It. When it was released, everybody was all like, "Awesome! Rock is back! The Strokes are gonna save rock and roll!" but it just didn't happen. For one thing, the album couldn't have been promoted any worse. It wasn't just the "NYC Cops" thing; the import was released like six months before the U.S. version, so everybody pretty much already got ahold of it before then, so it entered the charts at like number 75 or something like that and in next few weeks it couldn't meander any higher than I think 33. And instead The Vines (ugh) got all the hype and the "Rock Is Back!" Rolling Stone cover, but they fucking suck, so nobody cared. Then two years later, the Strokes themselves came back with Room on Fire, which if you ask me is right up there with Second Coming and La Cucaracha in the "Awesome! My favorite band just made a new album....... wait a minute! This sucks!" category. The end. Goodnight rock and roll!
Favorite song? I'd have to go with "Someday," because it's my preferred Is This It song to play to neophytes, who then get this odd look on their faces like, "You mean there actually IS some good new rock music out there??"
And please do not compare this fine album to the wretched Kings of Leon, whom I detest very much.
― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
and tbh they switched up the sounds on some songs pretty successfully on 'room on fire' - 1251, under control, end is no end, the way it is - so i dont think it really matters that everything on 'is this it' sounds the same - it's their first album! - that's what it's supposed to sound like, basically
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:34 (fourteen years ago) link
new entry in the snrub canon
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link
what they really needed on subsequent albums was a new producer. Ric Ocasek might have been a good choice. I wonder what Steve Albini would have done to their sound.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link
How do people feel about Strokes v. Exploding Hearts?
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link
Even in 2001, I didn't get what was such a revelation about this record (why it was "saving" rock). It's undynamic in every way, flat and lifeless and just a drag to listen to.
And the first two Kings of Leon albums are the same way, but I'll actually rep for the third and fourth ones. They're a much better band now than they were at the beginning.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:37 (fourteen years ago) link
this cover really is so fucked up, never saw this before
http://www.heavenly100.com/images/artists/the%20vines/rolling%20stone%20cover%20jpg
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Strokes v. Exploding Hearts
Exploding Hearts by a bajillion light years!
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:38 (fourteen years ago) link
they switched up the sounds on some songs pretty successfully on 'room on fire' - 1251, under control, end is no end, the way it is
I'll agree with this somewhat. Room on Fire is the best of their three albums fo sho.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:40 (fourteen years ago) link
BOUND, GAGGED and LOVING ITThe People Who Pay To Be Kidnapped
― velko, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:41 (fourteen years ago) link
bound gagged and loving it hahaha xp
― 69, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:42 (fourteen years ago) link
bound>>gagged>>>kidnapped>>>>>>>>>>is this it
― velko, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:44 (fourteen years ago) link
I love the Exploding Hearts; they were full of great songs, lots of dynamic range, and fun teenage energy. RIP!The Strokes are kind of a different band though; they are more understated and controlled. Certainly, this can be seen as a bad thing, but I choose to see it as music for a different mood.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Even in 2001, I didn't get what was such a revelation about this record (why it was "saving" rock)
Nobody said this seriously besides the crackhead designers of rock mag covers.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Also, WTF was up with the Television and Velvet Underground comparisons when The Strokes first popped on the scene? Couldn't be more rong
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:49 (fourteen years ago) link
People always talk about Loveless being the death knell of rock
The kind of death knells that knock over straw men.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:49 (fourteen years ago) link
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 7:23 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
they wish
Bee OK, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 2:18 AM (17 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban PermalinkOther messages have been posted since you last looked... Please review and if you want to change your message, do so before posting.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 7:49 PM (29 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
ummmm because they sound a lot like television, i guess.
― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:50 (fourteen years ago) link
i didn't understand the VU thing at all until i heard the pre-album version of "Modern Age" with the super Lou Reedalike vox, but the album itself not so much
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:52 (fourteen years ago) link
I don't hear it at all. Television is really wiry, and The Strokes have all the nuance of a cinder block.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:53 (fourteen years ago) link
A collection of fan responses to Is This It would make a dandy addendum to this thread:
Poll: Bandwagonesque v. Nevermind v. Loveless
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:53 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah "the modern age" kinda has that muffled, methodical chug of early VU songs
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:54 (fourteen years ago) link
they sound absolutely nothing like VU though; that comparison always seemed really lazy and misguided ('they're from NEW YORK!!!'), and i think it made people have wrong expectations about them. i don't remember ever hearing the strokes champion themselves as saviors of rock or whatever, but all the hype made us hate them all the more when they didn't do it-- even though they never claimed they were on such a mission. that's why it was hard for some of us to swallow "Is This It" without having some cultural prejudice about it, or want to hate it out of instinct.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:54 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah but, like i said, their first singles that got them all the early press had SUPER lou reed-y vocals, it's not some shock that set the tone for a lot of their coverage.
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:55 (fourteen years ago) link
my local alt-rock station always plays the pre-Is This It version of "Last Night" and I just HATE the way it's sung on that version -- not real into Casablancas but he definitely toned down his worst tendencies by the time they cut the LP.
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:56 (fourteen years ago) link
what does "lou reed-y vocals" mean? tuneless?
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:57 (fourteen years ago) link
I was 27 when ITI was released and I liked it a lot – it made my top ten, and "Someday" and "The Modern Age" were always played at a Miami club called Revolver. I knew it was an accident: that they were a really good minor band with one more album left in them. Rooms On Fire turned out to be their Candy-O: they had their shit down. I don't want to hear them again but they summon good times.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Soma is one of their songs where I really don't get what is rhythm guitar and what is lead guitar
― Frederik B, Monday, 24 July 2017 14:10 (six years ago) link
Is "Sweet child o'mine"'s lead guitar line a riff for you ?
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 24 July 2017 14:36 (six years ago) link
i love that Hard To Explain gets away with only a single chord in the chorus
― ufo, Monday, 24 July 2017 14:43 (six years ago) link
uh ? nah there are like 3 chords in there iirc.
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 24 July 2017 14:50 (six years ago) link
But the rhythm guitar plays one chord only. Good trick. They do the same in Barely Legal opening riff, that stays the same though chords change around it.
Yeah, I'd say Sweet Child of Mine is a riff, and a kinda Strokes'y one at that, no? 12:51 especially sounds a lot like it. But it has that precise inhuman nature as well.
― Frederik B, Monday, 24 July 2017 15:00 (six years ago) link
yeah it's only the bass that changes and it's relatively low in the mix,
there are a lot of strokes riffs/parts that sound very like sweet child o mine, but always in a much tenser context
― ufo, Monday, 24 July 2017 15:05 (six years ago) link
yeah, they did that trick a lot. it's a good one to create some harmonic tension (and it was fun watching Albert Hammond Jr strumming his guitar like a maniac on these parts).
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 24 July 2017 15:06 (six years ago) link
The whole thing is really just a G-chord, though, you're right it's true, with Julian traveling from D to H to G.
― Frederik B, Monday, 24 July 2017 15:27 (six years ago) link
love them H chords
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 24 July 2017 15:30 (six years ago) link
Oh, right, it's different in England and US. B, not H.
― Frederik B, Monday, 24 July 2017 15:33 (six years ago) link
I've been laughing my tits off at the idea of a riff without any rhythm in it for the last half an hour... I assume Frederik drinks water without the h2o in it, too...
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Monday, 24 July 2017 16:04 (six years ago) link
Well, I'd wish you'd laugh a while longer, but it was nice to have a cordial enriching discussion while you weren't here.
― Frederik B, Monday, 24 July 2017 16:16 (six years ago) link
It was fun learning Last Night with my band and realizing that I just play one chord during the intro and chorus. The parts of that song sound very weird individually
xp
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 01:41 (six years ago) link
omg the riff debate is back!! yesssss
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 02:55 (six years ago) link
yeah the "one chord" thing is everywhere on their first lp (I don't remember for the following ones).like on "hard to explain" alone they use it during the pre-chorus AND the chorus !
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 08:19 (six years ago) link
someday
― k3vin k., Sunday, 8 July 2018 06:05 (five years ago) link
used to hate Last Nite when it was ubiquitous, now I love it and would probably be my vote
― flappy bird, Sunday, 8 July 2018 06:20 (five years ago) link
if only for the chorus
it's a fucking incredible song
honestly embarrassed to say I finally heard the album for the first time a couple of weeks ago. its good
― k3vin k., Sunday, 8 July 2018 06:23 (five years ago) link
+1 love this record
― rap is dad (it's a boy!), Monday, 9 July 2018 02:11 (five years ago) link
room on fire is good too. would have taken 10 more records in this same vein
― rap is dad (it's a boy!), Monday, 9 July 2018 02:12 (five years ago) link
first track got robbed. that sick bass line.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 9 July 2018 23:16 (five years ago) link