| | Strokes Is This It CD Strokes Discography of CDs
 (19 Customer Reviews)
This limited edition of IS THIS IT contains a bonus DVD with three videos and two un-aired TV performances.
Arriving on a wave of well-earned hype rooted in tight chops and a confident swagger, the Strokes offer a rock & roll antidote to the plague of boy bands, teen divas, and petulant rap-rock outfits. Despite this quintet's prep-school background, their sound comes from the same primordial ooze that spawned Big Apple legends like the New York Dolls and the Velvet Underground.
Clocking in at 36 minutes, IS THIS IT packs its perfect length with stellar songs that draw inspiration from all over the map. Among the many highlights are "Last Nite" with its insistent Motown backbeat and choppy Johnny Thunders-like guitar solo, "Barely Legal," sounding like 1980s-era Cure fronted by a saucy Iggy Pop, and the jangly "Someday" with its hairshirt of vulnerability from a bad break-up. While frontman Julian Casablancas (son of Elite Models founder John) drawls like Lou Reed through a busted intercom, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. do Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd proud as their sinewy chords intertwine to great effect on the angular "The Modern Age" and equally neurotic "Alone, Together." Thanks to the Strokes, rumors of rock & roll's demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
Arriving on a wave of well-earned hype rooted in tight chops and a confident swagger, The Strokes offer a rock & roll antidote to the plague of boy bands, teen divas and petulant rap-rock outfits. Despite this quintet's prep-school background, their sound comes from the same primordial ooze that spawned Big Apple legends like The New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground.
Clocking in at 36 minutes, IS THIS IT packs its perfect length with stellar songs that draw inspiration from all over the map. Among the many highlights are "Last Nite" with its insistent Motown backbeat and choppy Johnny Thunders-like guitar solo, "Barely Legal," sounding like '80s-era Cure fronted by a saucy Iggy Pop, and the jangly "Someday" with its hairshirt of vulnerability from a bad break-up. While frontman Julian Casablancas (son of Elite Models founder John) drawls like Lou Reed through a busted intercom, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. do Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd proud as their sinewy chords intertwine to great effect on the angular "The Modern Age" and equally neurotic "Alone, Together." Thanks to The Strokes, rumors of rock & roll's demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
804861,829636,835688,994126
Recorded at Transporterraum, New York, New York.
Personnel: Julian Casablancas (vocals); Nick Valensi (guitar); Fabrizio Moretti (drums).
Recording information: Transporaterraum, New York, NY; Transporterraum, New York, NY.
The Strokes: Julian Casablancas (vocals); Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond, Jr. (guitar); Nikolai Fraiture (bass); Fab Moretti (drums).
Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) - Ranked #49 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records".
Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119) - Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone's "Top 10 2001".
Rolling Stone (10/11/01, pp.89-90) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Pure New York rock & roll: all gray-pavement aggression wrapped in black-leather cool....The music leaves no doubts - more joyful and intense than anything else...heard this year."
Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) - Ranked #49 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records".
Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119) - Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone's "Top 10 2001".
Rolling Stone (10/11/01, pp.89-90) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Pure New York rock & roll: all gray-pavement aggression wrapped in black-leather cool....The music leaves no doubts - more joyful and intense than anything else...heard this year."
Spin (1/02, p.77) - Ranked #18 in Spin's "Albums of the Year 2001" - "...Super-catchy songs that make you wanna pogo...the male Elastica!"
Spin (1/02, p.77) - Ranked #18 in Spin's "Albums of the Year 2001" - "...Super-catchy songs that make you wanna pogo...the male Elastica!"
Entertainment Weekly (12/28/01, p.136) - Ranked #1 "Album of the Year".
Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) - "...A blur of sooty grit and grind..." - Rating: A-
Entertainment Weekly (12/28/01, p.136) - Ranked #1 "Album of the Year".
Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) - "...A blur of sooty grit and grind..." - Rating: A-
Q (9/01, p.120) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...A breathless, goggle-eyed, assuredly brilliant album...it works wonders."
Q (9/01, p.120) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...A breathless, goggle-eyed, assuredly brilliant album...it works wonders."
Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) - Ranked #25 in AP's "25 Best Albums of 2001".
Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) - Ranked #25 in AP's "25 Best Albums of 2001".
Magnet (12-1/02, p.57) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2001".
Magnet (12-1/02, p.57) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2001".
CMJ (10/15/01, p.6) - "...One big rock'n'roll orgy..."
CMJ (10/15/01, p.6) - "...One big rock'n'roll orgy..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.63) - Ranked #33 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "Rattled together hastily, The Strokes' debut captured the Bowery-basement cool of 'their moment'."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) - Ranked #3 in Mojo's "Best [40] Albums of 2001".
Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.97) - "...A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history...and sound infuriatingly easy to make..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) - Ranked #3 in Mojo's "Best [40] Albums of 2001".
Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.97) - "...A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history...and sound infuriatingly easy to make..."
NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) - Ranked #1 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001".
NME (Magazine) (8/25/01, p.49) - 10 out of 10 - "...Concise and elegant rock music by 5 young men....Indispensable....There's nothing unnecessary here..."
NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) - Ranked #1 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001".
NME (Magazine) (8/25/01, p.49) - 10 out of 10 - "...Concise and elegant rock music by 5 young men....Indispensable....There's nothing unnecessary here..." Is This It Music Review Average Rating: (3.5 out of 5 stars)   List All Reviews SOOO GOOD
I love this album, it's catchy melodies and identifiable lyrics are perect for the freeway ride to and from school and work.
Submitted by nonni1214 (Sherman Oaks, CA. USA) 
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Great beat--you can dance to it
I missed all the hype about The Strokes so didn't have many preconceived notions about this cd. I like it very much. As someone else said, it's a bit repetitive, but it's very catchy and fun, with a couple of songs standing out as very well-crafted.
Submitted by a reviewer (Pacific Northwest)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  wow
This group is so there
Submitted by a reviewer (imperial beach,ca usa)
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earsex
I tried to find something bad about this cd but I just could not. It is good listening.
Submitted by a reviewer (Salt Lake City . UT)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Yes, this is it: NYC Rock
After bouncing around on good college stations for months, the Strokes first full-length finally made it into stores last month. The wait was worth every second of longing, as this NYC band does exactly the way you would if you were young, talented, urban, and funny. The songs give you a skosh of Lou Reed, a bit of the Ramones, but they all seem like anthems to long walks on sunny sidewalks or those days where you picked up a phone number when you weren't looking for one. Julian Casablancas singing is loose energy with plenty of distortion and a funny, cute-boy sorta vibration. The guitars are 70s and they pump out leather-sofa-sticky riffs which repeat and repeat and repeat, but never seem repetitive. It's hard to find a bad song on this cd, and the extra-nice things are there: dreamy head shots of all the guys in the band on the liner notes and most importantly, not as many people as you'd think have heard this record. Get it for yourself and you'll see why those people are out of luck.
Submitted by a reviewer (Sioux Falls, SD)
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