First impressions of "First Impressions of Earth"

[Randy]

Well the new Strokes record came out today, and it seems they've gone and grown themselves some soul background. The opener, "You Only Live Once" is a dancy garage delight, maybe the best first track they've done. The biggest surprise is the sad drinking song "On the Other Side," perhaps the first Strokes track to actually vocalize any specific emotion, rather than creating a general mood of angst and lamentation like you're used to. Fab Moretti's heavy-but-never-sagging drums provide the biggest breakthrough since "Room on Fire," especially on "Razorblade," where the wild syncopation and backbeats simulated a drum machine.

The lowest points come early in the record, with the "hey I can say 'fuck' on my record" "Heart in a Cage," and the Interpol-covering-Nirvana cover "Juicebox." I don't actually think there's anything particularly wrong with either of those songs, except for the vocal lines. Not necessarily the lyrics, but the music in Casablancas' voice doesn't really fit the music in the rest of the band.

Otherwise, no real complaints as of yet, but it took me a good month before I could get into "Room on Fire."

Anyone else?
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[Frank Stallone]

I heard Juicebox a few months ago when it leaked as a single and it's truly one of the worst songs I've ever heard a good band make. This is their "Beverly Hills" but somehow worse. I'll never buy this CD and most likely never listen to it more than once, out of curiosity.
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I GOT IRATE AND FETCHED MY MAGIC MARKER AND WROTE "WORLDS INCORRECT GRANDMOM" ON ALL HER SUNDAY DRESSES

GATHER ROUND THE GOOD STUFF INDEED

[Rogue]

Really? I liked Juicebox, far moreso than anything else The Strokes have ever put out before. Cuz what I've heard from their first two albums just plain bored me. Last Night was supposed to be this garage-rock revolution, but it was too damn snooze-inducing to be anything but muzak to my ears. At least Juicebox has energy and a catchy melody.

Beverly Hills, on the other hand, is indeed horrid. One of the worst songs I've heard in years.

[Frank Stallone]

I try to respect other peoples' opinions, but no, Juicebox is just terrible. It sounds like a B-side from Wet From Birth.
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I GOT IRATE AND FETCHED MY MAGIC MARKER AND WROTE "WORLDS INCORRECT GRANDMOM" ON ALL HER SUNDAY DRESSES

GATHER ROUND THE GOOD STUFF INDEED

[Randy]

After a series of listens, I've decided that this is the worst Strokes album yet, but not by as much as "Juicebox" would lead you to believe. I think, in the context of their career, this is probably the most important album they've done. Instead of improving on a formula that works, like they did with "Room on Fire," they've tried a lot of different things, specifically garage ballads with lyrics to match. "You Only Live Once," "Razorblade," "On the Ohter Side," "Ask Me Anything," "Killing Lies" and "15 Minutes" rank among their best songs, and the more experimental tracks that don't work as well ("Heart in a Cage" and "Fear of Sleep") show some real promise for the fourth album. Except for "Juicebox," which I suspect is something only they know the reasons behind, all the songs here are distinctly The Strokes, which is, any way you slice it, a good thing.
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[Sally Nevermind]

I was at a party last night, and I was talking to some random guy about music. He told me he'd bought the new Strokes album and that he absolutely hated it. I thought for sure it was the many beers he had consumed and told him to listen to it again, because it probably wouldn't be like the last album, where you listened to it once and were hooked. So I went and bought it today, hoping to be able to disprove the naysayers. I've listened to it 4 times so far. Now I want to go find that guy and apologize.

[Brokenlamp]

Liking the strokes just feels dirty. Granted, they are basically an amalgum of all the hippest rock bands from the 70's and 80's and frankly...they pull it off brilliantly more often then not, but it just seems so unearnest. Because no matter how much you try to forget about it, the fact is their daddys are millionaires in the record business. And these spoiled brats have never had to pay a single due in their entire lives. When B.B. King complains, you know its for real. But when Julian Casablanca cries about his girl problems...theres a part of you that just wants to say "shut up rich boy". Oh well, I still like them.


Juicebox is a sucky song though.

[Kyle]

And this year's Perfectly Articulated My Feelings on the Strokes Award goes to...you guessed it, Brokenlamp.
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WHEN THE AFRICAN LION ATTACKS

[Mike]

Do they still mix that guy's voice like he's singing over the phone? Because fuck that.
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[Arcade Fire]

It has a couple of stand out songs, but it's no where near as good as Is This It.
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She once fell through the street.

[Fugitive]

I thought First Impressions of Earth was better than their last album.

It took me a while to get used to Room on Fire. I had to create a compilation CD where I mixed all the songs from Is This It with Room on Fire. After listening to that comp for a while I really started to like the songs from Room on Fire.

With First Impressions of Earth, it only took me a couple listens to get a feel for the album and enjoy it.

By far Is This It is their best album.

The Strokes is one of my favorite rock bands and I got tickets to see them in April.

[Kyle]

First Impressions of Fugitive:

Jesus, dude, what are you doing? You've made nine posts, and they could have all been consolidated into one. "I bought DCFC's Plans and gave it away, but I like We Are Scientists and the Strokes." And certainly no need to dig up threads that are like half a year old just to tell us these things in yet another thread.
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WHEN THE AFRICAN LION ATTACKS

[Fugitive]

Hahaha! Yeah, you're right.
Just post whoring I guess.
And I was sober while I did it.