Strokes, The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth
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CD Details
Artist: Strokes, The StrokesBrand: Columbia
Edition: Music CD
Format: Explicit Lyrics
CD Release Date: 2006-01-03
Model: 00828767317724
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
- You Only Live Once
- Juicebox
- Heart In A Cage
- Razorblade
- On The Other Side
- Vision Of Division
- Ask Me Anything
- Electricityscape
- Killing Lies
- Fear Of Sleep
- 15 Minutes
- Ize Of The World
- Evening Sun
- Red Light
Music reviews of First Impressions of Earth
Music Review: The Strokes make another 11-track masterpiece
Rating: 4 Stars
As I listened to this album with my friend he brought up a good point; The Strokes made another flawless 11-track cd. However, this album has 14 songs. There are, regrettably, some up's and downs in this album. The first 8 tracks are all really solid.
The opener- "You Only Live Once" has the sharp guitars, bouncy basslines, and rat-tat-tat drums that are so undeniably "strokes" and it feels so good. Julian sings better than ever before, in my opinion, and has really grown as a vocalist. When he sings "I can't see the sunshine" you get the feeling you're in for a different experience with this album- it's a good way to adjust the listener from Is This It/Room on Fire into First Impressions.. Baby steps..
Then Juicebox hits and it comes with both guns blazing. This single is no doubt going to sell this record. I could go on about why this song rocks and rocks it hard but I think it's kind of obvious. I'm reminded of Reptilia when I listen to it- only it's a much better song. It's not so far off the mark from the 2 previous albums and I love it. My only regret about this song is that it doesn't fit into the rest of the album. The other albums blended together so nicely and, at times, First Impressions.. feels choppy. They didn't start out with the single as #1 on the tracklisting like Beck's E-Pro on Guero so for that I like them a little more.
Track 3 "Heart In A Cage" The songwriting really gets kicked up a notch here and Julian starts his repeating lyrics with the refrain of "left left left.." I, for one, like the repeated themes and enjoy the scope of this song. It's not as, well, "strokesy" as 'You Only Live Once' but that's because they're ushering you in to the new sound.
The poorly named "Razorblade" comes up next and chills you out to the bone. It's very lounged-out and has perfectly leveled guitars along with some great vocals from Julian as he sings "my feelings are more important than yours"
Yes! Track 5 "On The Other Side" prepare yourself to get your ass bass-guitar'd and drummed off. The rhythm section really shines here and it's clear how much more of an emphasis was put on Nikolai for this album. However, unlike a lot of Strokes songs the bass doesn't follow the vocal part giving this a very different sound. But the best part about this song is how un-strokes it is at one moment but then again it really is very familiar. The muted guitar swipes from Albert and Nick are ever-present just like on any song from Is This It along with a few Hard-To-Explain-ish moments of silence. It feels nice to know our boys from 2001 are still here baried beneath sub-par Pitchfork reviews.
Track 6- Vision of Division has an amazing intro. You'll be hard-pressed not to tap atleast one toe. The rocking drops out but not for long and is soon accompanied by some of the best guitar work on the album. Listen for the 1:50 solo. Kudos you string-jockeys, kudos.
Track 7- my personal favorite "Ask Me Anything" is a guitarless gem. A synth-cello loop and Julian's vocals pour out of my earbuds and I can't stop clicking repeat. His repetition of "I've got nothing to say" gives you chills as you realize this guy actually has a really great voice. It's not hiding behind sound-effected mics or basement recording equipment. It's not garage rock, it's not guitars, it's not the strokes. This is new Strokes and it just goes to show that change isn't bad so long as it's done right. I could take a whole other album of this. The liner notes say this music was arranged by Julian and Nick so when the postal-service-esque side project of Casablancas/Valensi comes out I'll be first in line.
track 8 "ElectricityScape" is undeniably dark and undeniably rock at its finest. Julian's lyrics finally stand up on their own as some of the best writing he's done to date and all the instrumentation fits so tightly it's nigh impossible to skip this. The guitars kick in at 1:30 and you're reminded of why you loved the strokes in the first place. My only problem with this song, and this remains true for other tracks, are the levels. They feel off. Sometimes the sound feels too mushed together and, unlike on other albums, you can't have fun listening for different sections like guitars in your left ear, etc. Think of the guitar-style on 'Someday'-- well this isn't that.
track 9 "Killing Lies" isn't a bad song but it's the first song I find that, after many many listens, still don't find myself loving as much as the top 8 I just discussed. It's unfair to expect every song to be a homerun but when I'm most honest with myself I feel bored around this part of the album. That's not to say that Killing Lies is a boring song- it isn't. It's just that we're past the halfway mark of this 52-minute album and the Stroke's newfound longwindedness might be hampering their ability to keep you drawn in and connected to the entire album.
Luckily, track 10 "Fear Of Sleep" revives the rock senses and the regular Strokes-style returns triumphantly and Julian's yelling of "you're not fun" gets me just as riled up as his first demands to "take it or leave it" When this song fades I'm always left thining it'd be a much better album closer.
But we slip back into this 3/4 album slump with "Evening Sun". The placement of this song might be what makes me feel put off by it. It's got everything a good song needs- the music is lush and the singing is spot on. I'd really like this if it were put into different context but right now it slows down the momentum of this album. As a song on its own, it works wonders but it also plays into the aforementioned problem First Impressions... suffers from which is a choppy feeling. The album overall lacks a feeling of connectivity between songs.
track 12- "Ize of The World"
even the Strokes can write songs that aren't fun to listen to. It feels like this was thrown together using parts from all the songs above. It sounds like a half-baked half-realized concept for a song. Apart from the bad title, the lackluster sensation I get from this song continues the anxiety I get near the end of this album
track 13- "15 Minutes"
despite the fact that the melody in the vocals is strinkingly similar to the chorus of "Modern Age" i still like this song mainly because it showcases the differences the strokes made in this album and proves just how far they've come as songwriters. They've matured from lines like "When we was young ah man did we have fun" to picturesque musical scores that accompany words like "Someday you'll come back and I'll be dreaming of a sundown" and a beautifully sung chorus like "amber evening sun"
track 14- "Red Light"
Though this isn't the most exciting track the Strokes have left off with as an album closer it's still a really well-done track. The guitars flow up and down the scale, the vocals howl away, and the rhythm section moves us along nicely. This song reminds us that by listening to this album we just got a 52-minute vacation.
Again, with the minor exceptions of some songs about 3/4 of the way through their are still without a doubt 11 amazing songs on this album. The Strokes have certainly done something different with their sound and for 4 out of 5 stars of the time they're successful. The only real cons to this album are the omitiing of "Hawaii"- a song off the Juicebox single and a few tracks that speed this thing way down when it could open up so much more.
If I were going to reorder this album my tracklisting would look something like:
1. You Only Live Once
2. Juicebox
3. Heart In A Cage
4. Razorblade
5. On The Other Side
6. Vision of Division
7. Ask Me Anything
8. Electricityscape
9. Hawaii
10.Fear of Sleep
11.15 Minutes
12.Red Light
I'd add one of the best songs they've done, "Hawaii" from the Juicebox single, and take out some of the riff-raff that really bogs this album down into the boring realm 3/4 of the way through.
Description of First Impressions of Earth
Japanese pressing features 14 total tracks. RCA. 2006.Their prospects dangerously over-inflated by pundits who often hailed their debut as nothing short of rock-messianic, New York City's Strokes got a lesson in cynical rock-press dynamics when their biz-troubled, if similarly toned, '03 follow-up was dutifully dismissed as the proverbial sophomore slump. A lesser band might have been chastened by the experience; this one responds with a third album that positively bristles with energetic challenges. Revolving around a loose concept that allows songwriter/frontman Julian Casablancas to adopt a viewpoint that's as detached as it is world-weary and bemused, it's a record that quickly trades the often precious production conceits of its forebears for a muscular confidence that's notable from the infectious, back-to-the-'80s opener "You Only Live Once" to its perfect bookend "Red Light."That often inviting sonic remodeling may come in part from Bangles/Sublime/Sugar Ray producer David Kahne (who replaces previous collaborator Gordon Raphael on all but a handful of cuts), but the band clearly has expansiveness on its mind, from a running length nearly twice its predecessors to such stylistic excursions as the cinematic, back-to-the-future riffing of the single "Juicebox," the spare, electro-baroque moodiness of "Ask Me Anything," and the dense, surprising prog flirtations of "Electrocityscape." "On the Other Side" finds Casablancas convincingly casting himself as the anti-Bono while crooning "I hate them, I hate them all, I hate myself for hating them" before chiding humanity as "seven billion people who've got nothing to say" on the otherwise upbeat closer, "Red Light." Wrapping such cynicism in more populist musical trappings is no mean feat, and the sheer reach of the Strokes' ambitions here insure they occasionally fall short. But it's a consistently intriguing effort, one that seems calculated as much to challenge the faithful as expand the band's own considerable horizons. --Jerry McCulley
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