Is This It

I ignored the Strokes for an incredibly stupid reason when this album came out. When I finally gave it time I felt pretty stupid.

It's .... OK.

When I first heard this album, I just came to the States. Their sound had a callback to a yesteryear that I had no lived experience to appreciate. As result, I did not really enjoy them. Fast forward to 20 years later, I can appreciate the complexity quite a bit more. They have become one of my favorite artists, although this is not my favorite album by them. 3/5

This is in fact, it.

irgendwie hat mich das gar nicht - paar banger dabei, aber insgesamt nicht meins, weder klanglich noch v writing

such an important album

Kinda a mix of Gavin and Stacey music with a bit of shouting every now and again

Enjoyment: 8/10 Replayability: 8/10 Cohesion: 9/10 Flow/Pacing: 8/10 Artistic Merit: 9/10 Weighted Average: 8.3/10 Review: This is my first time listening to this entire album, but I did already have two of the tracks on one of my playlists. Now I have to go add more. The Strokes have a unique and enjoyable sound in the sea of indie rock that sound effortlessly cool. Liked Song(s): The Modern Age, Someday, Last Nite, Take It Or Leave It Disliked Song(s): (None) Recommend? Yes Heard Before? Partly

I respect Is This It more than I like it. And I like it just fine. I just do not love it.

the strokes, within my personal music cosmology, are an incredibly ironic band. i grew up listening and loving every band that was influenced by the strokes circa the late aughts early teens, but i never had the impulse to listen to the progenitors themselves (and i mean, why would i? if i'm content with all the great music that had been made and was continuing to be produced). i'm willing to convince myself that i only started reaching back for this genre when it was in it's twilight years: retroactively dubbed "indie sleaze," the moment had passed and we were on to bigger and better things. but i still yearned for rock you could dance to, which led me to read "meet me in the bathroom" by lizzy goodman and discovering the strokes. imagine my surprise when i actually sat down with the strokes, some 25+ years on, and learned THIS is why every band i like sounds the way they do. it's because of the strokes. it's because of this album. it's still banana-pants bonkers to me how this album came from a gaggle of well-to-do teenagers form new york city who would go on to become the last veritable rock band before the digital age took over. as a cultural artifact representing the nascent 21st century, it's endlessly fascinating to me. and, if that wasn't enough, the music isn't half bad either. this user is biased and already held this album in high esteem, but nothing's changed since the last time i listened to this: 5 stars. highlights - the modern age, soma, alone, together, hard to explain, when it started, take it or leave it

so far a nice, not great first song. Some nice pop. Some vocals that I don't like - "Someday" or "Last Nite" hate those songs. Was aiming for a 3 but going to drop to a 2 or 1 just for that song

Cocaine with Kate Moss

Good album, not great at least to my current taste, but the guitar riffs still work.

I wish I hadn't heard any commentary about this album before hearing it for the first time. Any time I've heard someone bring this album up they talk about how good it is. It made me excited when I finally got the album in the generator. However, all that talk definitely overhyped the album for me. Overall I thought the album was just ok. I can appreciate how raw and stripped back the sound is and while I wouldn't put it in my "debut albums that sound like a debut" folder, the songs did get kind of samey as the album went on. Thankfully its a short album so it never truly got boring and I thought there were some catchy songs on it. Shout out to "Someday" for being on the soundtrack to a sports video game I played back in the day. 3/5

Pretty awesome to get one of my favorite bands and albums of all time. Second time this week that’s happened. Will do a re listen but I’ve listened to this album and these songs on playlists regularly for about 20 years now. This is the Strokes at their early garage rock. It’s simpler but it rocks and defines their sound and an entire genre of indie and alt rock that emerged around this time. This album is great. The two guitars, the constant simple drums. Julian Casablanca’s vocal style. To me, this is a classic no skips album. And considering this is 25 years old now, I guess it’s entering “classic rock” for younger generations today. The two notable standouts are Last Nite and Someday, two timeless rock classics. But it’s filled with awesome songs. Hard to Explain, Barely Legal, Soma, Alone Together, Trying Your Luck. It has a distinct defined sound. The songs all go so well together. Everything works. Thematically, it reminds you of being just a young person in your 20s living life. This album never gets old. Always holds up and a comfort listen whenever want something that I know will entertain me. 5/5. 10/10.

Ну хуй знает скучненько+однообразненько

I didn’t listen to the strokes much and after relistening to this I feel the same. It’s not bad, but nothing special either.

The pinnacle of indie-sleaze - it was all down hill from here.

I went into this expecting an overhyped mediocre album. I was wrong. This is fun, witty and quite good. I suspect it suffered under the weight of expectations. Not sure if it will become part of my regular rotation, but very enjoyable 4/5

Очень круто, обожаю такой индирок 2000ых, круто

Really close to giving this 5 stars because I love this album so much. In the end there isn't quite enough diversity or envelope pushing for me to get it there, but an easy 4.5.

Ok, I have to admit that it’s great to have straight forward rock record on here, as this list could use more of them. That said, this record was far from amazing. I tended to focus on the bass a lot throughout this record and found it pretty repetitive. Not that it was horrible, but some of the best parts of this felt similar to some of The Killers debut record (yes, I know, Hot Fuss came later), but that album had two absolute bangers on it in Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me. This record doesn’t have anything that approaches either of those tracks. I see that the ratings on this are pretty high, but I just don’t see (hear) it. It’s solid, but unspectacular.

I like garage rock.

That was much better than I expected. I expected crappy Brit pop.

Pretty incredible debut album. Genre defining.

The first and most iconic Strokes album. All songs are great.

I enjoyed it. Not much good or bad to say.

Banger

Put this on for my listening proj and was like "awww, this takes me back" and my girlfriend said very sweetly, "Oh, did you used to hang out with these guys?" (because I used to hang out with some much much much less famous bands). That got me talking* about how the Strokes could only kind of have existed at their exact moment – when the whole of music was suddenly download-available online but before that reality had got mundane; when we somehow thought we needed a bunch of trust fund kids with overly considered hair to play psychopomp to the whole white boy canon history of music, post-90s version (i.e. reflective of punk and its progeny, more than stoner bands or whatnot), to give it the imprimatur of "right now" and make us feel like we were cool-party-goers and not weedy archivists. The early hipster era, in other words. Soon we would all be weedy archivists, and then we'd stop caring, or realize all our built-up cultural capital was worthless, or just get satiated or whatever, as the streaming era's impoverishment of musical cathexes started to bite. But in the meantime, wasn't this fun, didn't it, for a "New York minute"** or so, sound good? *(Spare a moment to hope our dynamic doesn't slide in the direction of some age-disparate couples, with me smoking my pipe and lecturing her on Joy Division and her rolling her eyes and maybe composing her "I need time to think, I've taken the kids to my parents' to look at memes" note in her head.) **(In honour of the currently (Sept 2026) very recent "Ed Sheeran Macklemore Palestinegate" I looked up the half-remembered "New York City Cops" controversy after 9/11 and was saddened to find the group did not defiantly continue to play the song after the attacks, but meekly dropped it from their setlist "at this sensitive time." One obvious lesson of that backwardlooking, decadent, self-centred musical moment – or dare I say decade, encompassing the later hipster era's Win Butlers and Crystal Castles and other monsters – of course being, don't look to musicians for your politics, if anything the reverse! True now as it was then, but now we squirm corporately and try to hide it, like Ed.)

Fantastic! More like this please.

The guitars sound like they’re wearing headphones on a train. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Someday - Last Nite - Hard to Explain

Good but not inspiring. Someday, alone together, and last nite were favorites

peak debut

Saw this band on Conan and Julian Casablancas was so nauseatingly fuccboi hipster that I just couldn’t even hear the music. Which is a shame, because they have a great rhythm section. The guitarist steals from more than just Tom Petty, and they just sound so…constructed. There are too many great bands out there not being drowned in money to think about this one too much.

Boring brit pop, but nice album cover

This and Room on Fire are brilliant albums. Someday, Hard to Explain, Modern Age.. such a good album. Very good and influential. Good job nepo babies.

Brilliant

Good. Interesting cover switchup

Album #198: The Strokes – Is This It? ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A modern classic that doesn’t feel that old, but actually is up on its 25th birthday. Which is crazy to think. So, it is old, but it still sounds modern. One of the great New York albums, in my opinion, and we know there’s a fuckload of them, so that’s a pretty impressive feat. For me, it’s never been a five-star album. It can be a little bit patchy. There could be a few forgettable tracks on it, like Trying Your Luck and Soma. Really, those two tracks. I probably remember everything else just by looking at the track listing. I think Is This It? is an intentionally weak song at the start because this was such a hyped album when it came out. It’s real tongue-in-cheek. So that definitely gets a pass. I think that’s a pretty genius opener. This lowkey, average, forgettable song, but memorable for the context around it. Look, they’re a great band. They’re a grooves band. They have great riffs, vocals, lyrics and a real swagger to them. They do feel like an important band when you’re listening to them. They’re fun. They’re funny. They’re cool. They’re New York. They feel very New York. I never liked the Television comparison with this band. I don’t hear Television at all, and I hold Television in the highest reverence. They are more akin to The Velvet Underground, with a little bit of the Ramones in there. But to be honest with you, it’s probably a better compliment to say that they’re just their own thing. They really did kind of create their own sound with this. But if I had some reservations, it wouldn’t really be their fault. To me, this album kick-started the noughties indie scene in a way. And I think this was the precursor to indie landfill music. I went to school during this period, through the noughties, and there wasn’t much to do other than watch music channels when you were at home. And the amount of absolutely god-fucking-awful indie music that just came out during this era, I think you can bring it all back to this album. People trying to write Someday by The Strokes, and failing miserably at it. Because the thing about The Strokes is it sounds deceptively simple. Simple kind of rhythms, simple guitar lines, but if you actually listen, this is pretty complicated stuff. And it’s got a swagger. It’s got a sway inside it that most bands can’t manage. They really are a very unique band in that sense. Average musicians can imitate them fairly easily, but you’re going to come up with a pale comparison most every time. And I think a lot of indie bands tried to imitate The Strokes and fell flat on their face. But that didn’t stop them from becoming popular because, at the time, the girls loved indie landfill, young lads loved it too and they wanted to go to the gigs. A lot of shit bands became popular because of this sound that I think The Strokes kind of created at the start of the century. So I do kind of hate this album for that. It’s not really their fault, though, that they made such an influential piece of work. This is miles better than anything that came after it, in my opinion.

Boring and unmemorable.

Is This It The Strokes 2001 Genres: Rock Styles: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock 1. Is This It (★★★★★) -Contexto: Casablancas compuso la canción sin estribillo y lo improvisó al final ("I'll wing it"). Es la balada/tema título del disco: retrata el after de una noche de fiesta, el hastío y la ambivalencia hacia una relación ("Can't you see I'm trying? I don't even like it"). Funciona como resumen tonal de todo el álbum: displicencia, cansancio urbano y una pregunta retórica sobre si "esto es todo lo que hay". 2. The Modern Age (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Según fuentes biográficas del propio proceso de composición, es "un lamento sobre lo extraño de la vida moderna". Tono desconfiado y a la vez con un estribillo coreable; Casablancas mezcla el hastío con energía punk-pop. 3. Soma (★★★★★) -Contexto: Toma su nombre y su idea central de la droga ficticia de la novela "Un mundo feliz" de Aldous Huxley. Casablancas usa la referencia para hablar del consumo de drogas como forma de encajar con "la gente cool", una crítica velada a la presión social y el escapismo. -Fav 4. Barely Legal (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Casablancas mismo reconoció en 2018 que la canción "le da un poco de vergüenza" hoy, calificándola de "sassy and youthful". La letra trata de una chica que acaba de llegar a la edad de consentimiento, con un tono provocador y desafiante ("I just wanna misbehave, I just wanna be your slave"). El baterista Fabrizio Moretti pidió no sobre-interpretarla: "debe tomarse como cada uno la interprete". 5. Someday (★★★★★) -Contexto: Habla de la nostalgia anticipada de la juventud: sabe que un día van a extrañar "los viejos tiempos" aunque los estén viviendo con incertidumbre ahora. Tono agridulce, hecho con aire rockabilly. -Fav -Frisson 6. Alone, Together (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Continúa el costado sexual del disco (con insinuaciones hacia el sexo oral, según reseñas biográficas del álbum). En términos generales retrata una conexión física sin compromiso emocional real, resumida en la frase "Alone we stand, together we fall apart". 7. Last Nite (★★★★★) -Contexto: Narra a un chico que deja a su novia después de que ella le dice que se siente mal porque él no la registra ("it turns me off when I feel left out"); él después empieza a deprimirse y a cuestionar sus propias decisiones. Casablancas reconoció abiertamente que la canción "está basada" en "American Girl" de Tom Petty ("sí, la afanamos"). -Fav 8. Hard to Explain (★★★★☆) -Contexto: El propio título indica el tema: la dificultad de poner en palabras un estado emocional contradictorio, alternando el dirigirse a una pareja y el cuestionarse a sí mismo/al mundo, con frustración y confusión sobre el rumbo de su vida. 9. New York City Cops (★★★★☆) [Nota: reemplazada por "When It Started" en el CD de EE.UU. tras el 11-S; en el vinilo estadounidense y en todas las ediciones internacionales se mantuvo esta versión] -Contexto: Casablancas la describió como "una canción abiertamente política", escrita en reacción al asesinato en 1999 de Amadou Diallo, inmigrante guineano desarmado al que la policía de Nueva York le disparó 41 veces (los oficiales fueron absueltos). El estribillo ("New York City cops, they ain't too smart") es una crítica directa a la brutalidad policial, envuelta en una historia de fondo sobre una chica (Nina) y una noche de comportamiento al límite de lo legal. 10. Trying Your Luck (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Es, según reseñas de la época, el punto "más melancólico" del disco, con una voz más apagada y vulnerable que en el resto del álbum. Sigue la línea de relaciones que no terminan de funcionar, en un tono más resignado que el resto de las canciones. 11. Take It or Leave It (★★★★★) -Contexto: Cierra el disco con una postura de hastío hacia el juego de las relaciones: "Girls lie too much / Boys are too tough / Enough is enough". Casablancas tapa la vulnerabilidad con una fachada de arrogancia (comparada por la crítica con la actitud temprana de Mick Jagger), lamentando vínculos que no llevan a ningún lado pero tampoco se terminan de ir. -Fav -TOTAL = ★★★★⯨ (4,23)

melhor disco da decada

Is This It was a much more enjoyable album than i was expecting. I haven't really heard much of The Strokes outside of one of their newer songs Going Shopping (that song sucks by the way) and it left a bad taste in my mouth with them but after hearing this. I can understand why they are so loved. The musicianship might not seem too special on the surface but for what it is, it is some very good stuff especially when it comes to those guitars. The vocals were also pretty decent but they were not really my favorite vocals. The album was very well paced though and was still more than enjoyable enough to be a 4 star album. Best Song: Alone, Together Worst Song: The Modern Age

I loved this! So much fun to listen to in headphones while out and about. It'll make it onto party mixes, too. Yet another band I had heard of but never got around to listen to. What a treat! (PS: I was glad to see they changed the album cover)

Day978 - twenty-five years later and it still sounds good

Starts off boring and derivative but the singles are really catchy. This was said to be one of the most influential albums ever. I think because lots of people copied a band that made a living out of copying great 1970s bands and that is the definition of post punk revival. To be generous there was probably not a lot else going on musically in early 2000s.

Uzpiso biski kad grynai viskas bent kazkiek distorition turejo, bet vistiek fire, live versijos tuo laikotarpiu labiau patinka tho

Ugh. Classic. The kind of band that makes me wish I was a cooler alt girl.

Some great riffs but vocals are really weak

It’s good, not great. Sure, art-rock fans and critics love it, but it’s just a good commercial rock record, not the "new thing" or anything groundbreaking or innovative. Listening to it again certainly didn’t change my opinion of this record as one of the most overrated debuts ever or the band as just short of Oasis and The Killers as the biggest “critics-choice” shoved down our throats as the next “important” rock band.

I like for albums to sound good. This is a muddy mess with some of the worst drum sounds I've ever heard. Had this album been done by DSardy or Andy Wallace instead of Gordon Raphael it would probably be a classic. Last Nite is such a great track that it slams even though it sounds like your speakers are positioned face down as you play it. 3 stars.

Idk back in the day it hit alot better

HOW is this so old what a bloody dream

Boring and grating.

Classic rock with a modern edge and a strangely raw feeling.

I think, throughout history, there are very few albums that have been as influential as this one. There are more influential artists, no doubt, but as far as a single release that changed the way things are done, this is in a very select club. And sometimes, things are just influential because they did something for the first time (or because they were the first white guys to do a genre of black music), but this is influential cause its just that good. It's not just about the music, though the music is really good, but it was about the way they carried themselves. It's about how cool they were. They made rock that teenagers could put on to upset their parents, and they brought rock back into a place of being genuinely inventive and interesting. Favorites: Is This It, The Modern Age, Hard to Explain

this is it

This was an album that went from downloaded & burned onto a CD to loaded onto the old ipod, and I spent a lot of time with it. Listening after a few decades, I definitely knew all the beats, all the lyrics, and all the little details I liked. I'm still not positive it deserved all the credit it received at the time, but it's definitely a big part of my music listening history.

I got jump scared by the song I recognized but otherwise....fine

It's a good album. It's just not really my style, so I didn't get envolved by it, maybe I'll like it more when I listen to it a few more times.

Buenos temas, no mucho mas que decir, es rhe strokes

Low-end 4. Liked the disaffected vibe for the most part, highest on Hard to Explain and Trying Your Luck

Fantastic album. Concise, catchy, and a sound that’s instantly nostalgic

This album when first released sounded to me like nobody else and everyone else at the same time. Short so it doesn’t outstay its welcome and yet it is long enough to get you going and want to play it again.

I’ve always been a peripheral fan of The Strokes and have never listened to a full length album. I really enjoyed this project. It was an interesting experience for it made me unexpectedly nostalgic. This was not the type of music I listened to in high school yet it brought me back to that period of time into the life of somebody I wasn’t. Haha it made me think of smoking cigarettes with my friend while chilling at the skate park none of which is something I did. Anyway, Julian Casablancas voice is wonderful and fits this genre perfectly. Highly recommend this album to anyone.

A better than just decent album with good songs, angular riffs and a sound that takes you back to the 70s. I had fun.

OK

I got this back to back with the Stooges which makes sense. Loved this album when I found it (a bit late circa 2009) and I still love it today. immediately transported back to my first trip to Amsterdam at age 19

I'm not a fan of The Strokes, the album is ok in my opinion.

The impact of The Strokes' debut cannot be overstated. At the time of its release, this record pretty much killed whatever remained of 90's rock and ushered in a new era of the genre, the Indie Rock boom, more specifically, Garage Rock and Post-Punk revivals. Of course, "indie rock" already existed, it was "invented" by the Velvet Underground back in the 60's, but with The Strokes the concept gained a whole new dimension and popularity. And speaking of the Velvets, they're a clear influence here, maybe not in the music per se, but in The Strokes' whole sunglasses and leather jacked-wearing, 2cool4skool attitude. The music itself is incredible. Not in a technical way, in fact the exact opposite. These are simple songs. They song pretend to be other than simple and straightforward. But in their simplicity lies the genius of such efficient songwriting. The instrumentation is also simple but effective, with repetitive little riffs all over the record. Julian Casablancas's delivery oozes cool and an energy that influenced the entire decade. And then we have the hooks. And there are hooks for days in these songs, which is saying something, considering how short on average they are. Thoroughly recommended. Key tracks: Is This It Soma Barely Legal Someday Alone, Together Last Nite New York City Cops Trying Your Luck Take It or Leave It

Typical early millennial pop rock. Not much to distinguish one track from another, let alone anything that really sets them apart from other bands of the era.

Listening to this album, it seems the tactic they use with “Last Night” (utilizing the intro to “American Girl”) is not an aberration but their formula. Most of these songs sound vaguely, at some point, like some other great tune. Having said that, the songs are catchy and don’t overstay their welcome.

I enjoyed the album for the most part but I’m not a fan of the distorted vocals. My only experience with the band before this was their most popular single on this album. I don’t see myself looking at their other albums unless they pop up as a recommendation

One of my all time favs, straight bangers

I quite enjoyed this album at the time but it all seems pretty unremarkable listening now. They led that skinny-jeaned, tousle-haired, trust-fund, 'indie' scene of the early 2000s but it all feels very contrived and manufactured now. The bass playing remains the real standout feature of their sound and I've just read that the bass player is the only one not to come from a wealthy, privileged background. No, I don't know what my point is either.

Never really got the Strokes. Listening now it's perfectly decent indie guitar pop. It's OK. Not much more really.

An old fav of mine. I must admit, however, it doesn't hold up well in comparison to similarly-genred albums on this list. I think it's because The Strokes are very easy listening. Very inoffensive, blend together, sit in the back ground tracks. Julian has a good voice but it does become quite samesy pretty quickly. There's not much risk taken or much experimenting being done. Couple of classic bangers on this album elevate the rating for me though.

I liked a couple of songs but I have this feeling the music all starts to sound the same

can he please stop screaming and can the bassist start his own band please

uhhh interesting album cover…I have been meaning to listen to the strokes tho I really do not like how the vocals are so muted I can barely hear what he’s saying 😭 ok I really like all the electric guitars especially on the modern age, barely legal, and hard to explain. I would enjoy these songs so much more if it didn’t sound like the recorded the vocals, put it on a cd, put the cd in a barely functioning cd player and then played the cd as everyone played their instruments, recorded that and then used it as the final track Yeah I’m conflicted on this one. On one hand I love the instrumentals of the songs and on the other the vocals bother me so much. I don’t even know if I would want to listen again, maybe I would get used to how his voice sounds after a few listens but idk everything else was great tho 2.51/5

Love this album but Room on Fire does this better for me. Mainly there’s a couple on here that I just think are ok: Alone Together, Trying My Luck, and Take It or Leave It. But given the cultural landscape at the times I can understand this being on here and rated higher and it’s still such a fun album.

Quite dull. Just guitar strumming sounding the exact same all the way through.

Cack

Good album, not my favourite of theirs but still a decent listen.

Own the US version with a different album cover, which used to live in my Jetta's CD changer. It was a gift from Michael Calomino in high school.

This is a good album to get into the Strokes. The music isn't near as crude as the cover.

This run of albums this week is literally giving me life. This was so good, indie rock at its best Playlist add: “Last Nite” because old habits die hard

lo amo

I’ve heard it before! Saw the strokes last weekend so it’s a bit ironic to see this as my first pull. It’s a good album

Last Nite Hard to Explain New York City Cops Take it or Leave It

Is This It Last Nite New York City Cops

meh

Upon my first listen of this album, I was disappointed, it seemed fairly generic and was weaker than some of the bands that they would later inspire. However, now that I have relistened with greater knowledge surrounding The Strokes and their music, it's safe to say that this is one of the greatest albums of the 2000s! My favourite tracks were 'Is This It', 'Someday', 'Last Nite', 'Hard To Explain' and - surprisingly - 'Trying Your Luck'! I remember not particularly enjoying 'The Modern Age', despite it frequently being cited as a highlight from the album, but even on my relisten, I struggled to see the appeal, it was the one of the least interesting on the album! I don't think that there were any tracks that I disliked, but 'New York City Cops' is probably the least brilliant. Sadly, I don't really enjoy any of The Strokes' work after this, I particularly don't love 'Room On Fire' even though it's considered equal or superior to this album.

Nice early 2000's indie rock record. Last Nite is a favorite of mine. Good, catchy rock music.

6 / 10

geit eso

I don't know why but I just don't like The Strokes at all.

Defined the 2000s? Absolute ripper album.

Hadn’t heard this before but it was pretty good! A quality rock album, nice guitar work

Really good. Sparse but so catchy, everything is in the right place.

First half is a 3, second half is a 4.

so ripe for the time. this album is 2001 rock music. it might not sound nearly as fresh and pure as it did back then, but this album laid the groundwork for 2000s cool indie rock music

ik vind het leuk, maar klopt op zich wel dat veel mensen zeggen dat t allemaal op elkaar lijkt. ze hebben een beetje een soort liedje dat wel heel goed werkt, maar blijven het opnieuw doen

Its okay. Is this the start of my white boy era ?

Best Track - "Last Nite"

It’s a nice, fun, energetic album. It’s nothing extraordinary, but it’s not bad either. If you’re in the mood for something upbeat, you’ll probably enjoy it.

really enjoyable, probably my first rock album and its great 4/5

Class

I have heard actually a lot about the strokes. I thought they were a lot older with how much their influence is talked about. Sounds like the killers tbh. Hmm. I don't like this. Boring indie rock. Which is crazy since this is THE boring indie rock but still. Meh. Wait no. Let em get up. This is good. Ok. Wait ok speak on it. God I knew the millennials were salivating at this. Wait today is the 25th anniversary of this album that's crazy. Good. Pivotal. Insufferable. Favourite: Barely Legal Least favourite: Take It Or Leave It

Best so far, great vocals, instrumental and thematic

This is pure NY rock

it was pretty fun oldschool album, i really liked it. this album changed early 2000s indie music

Primer album de ellos que escucho. Que onda las guitaras wtf, sexo. Me gusto mas la primera mitad. 3.5

I love this album. One of my favorite indie rock albums. Just recently saw the Strokes live at Outsidelands in San Francisco and had an amazing time start to finish. Take it or leave it with Charli was the cherry on top of the show. The closest they’ve come to replicating an album as good as this imo is The New Abnormal.

My older sister moved to NYC in 2002, when she was 21 and I was 19. I used to visit her every year until I moved there myself in 2010. She lived in the East Village and later in South Brooklyn, where I lived as well. I had so many great adventures there. This album reminds me of those times.

*all-time.

Oh... it had been a good 7 or 8 years since I last listened to this album. After listening to it today, I understand why: I didn't know how to appreciate it the first time I heard it, back when I was 16 or 17. *Is This It* sounds like everything great the 2000s had to offer, and it’s definitely in the Top 5 best albums of that decade. ***BRAZIL MENTIONED moment*** Fabrizio Moretti, the drummer, is a fellow Brazilian... BRAZIL MENTIONED!!!

como me gusta este album es uno de los que formo mi gusto musicañ además de ser la influencia de muchas bandas que me gustan

sentí q al final el álbum se descoordinó, me encantó tho

Něco mě baví hodně, něco o dost méně. Je to takové hodně repetetivní a asi na to ještě přijde nálada. Je to i dost hitové, ale superlativy bych tomu nedával. Už jsem měl uloženo v knihovně, takže jsem to už kdysi slyšel, ale to že si to nepamatuju jenom potvrzuje můj současný dojem.

Yes, it is. This is it

This is good but not my favorite Strokes album!

this album came out when I was at the end of my twenties and obsessed with '60s garage rock and modern Brit pop. it was fun and kind of bratty and captured perfectly how I felt in that era. I could still happily dance to this entire album.

I cannot not give this album five stars, you have no idea how many times I have listened to it.

Third in a row I’ve liked a lot but feel I need to explore further to fall in love with it. I added “I Can’t Explain” to my playlist.

It's easy to hear why The Strokes burst onto the scene with tunes like this. But it's also hard for me to hear why this got the crazy reception it did. These songs are fun and punchy, with earwormy riffs. They're all also kind of midtempo and similar. The title track is a disappointingly lifeless intro. Things pick up from there, and tracks like "Someday" and "Last Nite" pick up the energy. Casablancas has an undeniably cool voice that injects the album with attitude. But there are too many songs that choose a riff and then stick with it without any surprises. "Alone, Together" starts with a really interesting riff that eventually gives way to more of the same. Count me as part of the group that prefers Room on Fire and finds the title of this one fitting when comparing its quality to its reputation.

Like it

im straight up stroking it to this one

It's quite good and was a lot of fun when it came out. Where's it going though?

It's a good album, but not really anything exceptional. Dozens of other albums by low-fi-ish guitar bands at that time, albeit the others didn't have such a distinctive album cover image.

Banger

The upbeat music really fits the vocal style and is really catchy. Liked the music and lead man’s voice. Really good!

Enjoyed the listen with Zach to SLO

rock great guitars amazing album

One of the big "The" bands of the early 2000s. I was never really a big fan of that scene. This album is fine. Middle of the road for me. 3/5

Not my bag but pretty enjoyable nonetheless. A higher 3.

Barb

Just about enough for a 4. Don't like the way the vocal are recorded.

Salvian

It could have been a 5 just didn't feel like it today

Last Nite is such a bop

This shit sounds like high school for me. So good, so much nostalgia.

4.5!

Dope

This album sounds like what the music the loser main character listens to at the start of the movie does For the period when this came, it wasn't anything special, however in the modern day it stands out pretty well from other simular projects such as idk because I only listen to kanye, 🤩 8/10

Already heard part of it. This is the classic sound of the 00s. Sayint this as a 94 boy, and talking nostalgic about this "modern" rock sound, its wild. I never digged the strokes, I still believe their sound is still a bit otoo similar between songs. Still a classic that reinvented the sound of a decade. and maybe the last "big" rock n roll band.

The epitome of my music taste.

Awesome album

Absolute classic

Always feels like I’m in a pincer movement when I listen to this album. Now I feel very nostalgic about it and that whole era of indie music, but at the time listening to it’s also instilled a strange nostalgia in me for experiences I, as a 15/16 year old, had yet to have. The effect remains pretty potent, even though I never thought the album was as great as others did at the time, and the Strokes’ subsequent career makes it feel like so much squandered promise.

11 songs in 35 minutes. The worst of these ('New York City Cops') is pretty great, and a big part (first five songs plus 'Last Night' and 'Hard to Explain') is as good as it gets. I have loved this album for 25 years now. An obvious 5 stars.

It wasn’t bad there were three songs I liked off the album

Obviously knew the singles from the time. But I enjoyed the album as a whole. Nothing major that makes me want to re listen but I liked it

Basic

A bit repetitive

Great album that I didn’t bother listening to until this year. Not sure it’s the absolute classic they say it is, but you probably had to be there.

Teenage me couldn’t get enough of this. If juice box was on this album it’d get a 5

is this it ? no, not really - didn't hate it but didn't really get much out of it either. couple of bangers but that's only really because even i know them

Full of nostalgia for me. We had some sort of Strokes compilation CD growing up (one of those free ones you used to get with newspapers) and we played it all the time via the PS1 (only CD player in the house for a while!). Lots of the songs are quite samey but they still somehow feel very fresh. Loved listening to this.

8.25/10 - Heavy nostalgia here, but I think it still holds up. The music that shaped my taste (outside of my parents) was the early 2000s Indie Rock. Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, KOL, Arctic Monkeys, interpol, and Cage the Elephant all hold a special place in my heart.

A really great album that was paving the way for Indie/Garage rock in the early 2000's. The only complaint with this album is that it is a little one note, but that's being picky. 8/10

love the guitar but, I was middle of the road on this one.

This might just be how you do it. Catchy pop rock songs that don’t really do anything all that original but that sound good, have hooks for days, and are fun to listen to. Who cares if it’s not really breaking new ground if you are introducing a ton of kids who haven’t necessarily heard the Velvet Underground or Television or Blondie to a sound you love, and doing an excellent job of making that music new? Getting in and out in 35 minutes doesn’t hurt either. This is a really good pop-focused rock album.

Yeah, it still slaps. Better than I remembered even.

Good album for a house party or just to get fucking obliterated

I'm a long time listener of indie music and one of the things this list has taught me is that indie music might be kind of bad. One or two songs from this album is alright, but altogether it's repetitive and whiny. Sorry. I do like Is This It though ngl

They cracked the formula of having catchy songs that age well and don't burn you out.

Great album. Love Last Night, Someday, Soma. Very 2000s.

Banger, j'adore tous leurs albums je suis pas objective

Oui, oui, et oui. Je prends toujours mon temps à les écouter, encore aujourd’hui je n’ai probablement pas tout écouté ! Je les savoure C’est ma période lycée mais c’est surtout ces dernières années que je les écoute ++

Sympa mais sans plus

Better than I remembered. Quintessential apathetic hipster indie. Not really sure it will have staying power long term.

Velmi dober👍🏼

I know this was a pretty big deal but The Strokes never really grabbed me. Listening through this at last and I didn't really get the hype. It's fine but I don't think it's really doing anything that innovative. I think most people just wanted to look cool, fair play.

Maybe I'm just being a grouchy old man yelling at a cloud, but why do all of these early 2000s post-punk bands/albums sound the same? It's like they got the same guy to do all the half-sung vocals, the same musicians to play the repetitive, droning rhythms, the same producer to make everything sound like it's coming through an AM radio receiver. (The bass lines are occasionally interesting, though.) I can't tell the bands or the songs apart, and I honestly don't care enough to try. It sounds like the Strokes were one of the originators of this sound, so maybe it was original at the time? Good for them, I guess.

Music journalist Everett True once said no band improves on their debut album. Room on fire, the Strokes’ second album is better than this. 4/5

There is something really throwbacky about this band. Every time I see them come up on the radio I think they are from the 70s or 80s and I think wow they were somewhat progressive for their time. So one off I really like them. But after a while its just a little too much samey.

I thought I would rock with this more. But beyond the hits, it was just kinda muffly and mediocre.

judging the album by its cover - hot

1 vibe

Love this album

This is the most bog standard album from the 00s, incredibly monotonous and tiresome. Nothing special.

Tror det är så här alla band idag vill låta.

You can really hear why this record prompted the once-a-decade guitar music bounce. Effortless cool.

Still hits hard. Great album

Up there with some of my favourite debut albums. Great catchy songs with a pretty unique (at the time) sound. Great listen.

I really liked it to start, but after Last Nite it kind of tapered off and went from a 4 to a 3

pretty good but I've not seen this cover before. it's better than the other one on Spotify 4/5

Heel leuk, maar.niet memorabel

Breath of fresh air when it landed. Holds up brilliantly well. Great album. For once the trendy & hip "it" band were actually as good as the hype. 4.5

4.35. Liked a lot. Love the influence it gave attic monkeys etc

no skips, short and sweet, i can't see the reason make a fuzz about it being bad.

Trochę monotonna? Równocześnie zbyt intensywna. Ma piosenki, które znam i które mi siedzą, ale inne gdzieś się gubią. Chcę być bardziej obecna, ten album tego nie ułatwił, ale ma spoko okładkę. Lubię ten czerwony tytuł.

I'll always think of Weird Al when I hear LAST NIGHT (wudja do?) - his polka has ruined so much - but honestly reviewing The Strokes, the album is fun, peppy and still a depressing enough tone to be cool. A little one note I might nitpick. I liked When It Started, Someday is the classic go-to I feel like, Barely Legal and Alone, Together were good, Take or Leave it to close was solid

Okay so I've honestly never listened to an entire The Strokes album, and I've also always kinda conflated them with The Shins (and The Smiths, if we're being honest). Maybe one day I'll remember which The S_____s band if which. This album was a lot of fun though. I can't remember which track it was, but there was a riff that was a whole lot like the riff from Reptilia, which I only know from Guitar Hero 2, but apparently that's on their next album. I get why people like them so much; it's a really fun and poppy but with a raw overall tone.

Great album start to finish. Assumed this was a 4 star before starting but found myself enjoying almost every song.

Brilliant album, and very influential.

I get the feeling the Strokes has been overhyped to me prior to listening and that has resulted in this feeling of dissapointment listening to this. I mean, I always heard they were a band on the cutting edge of style and this is just very much ordinary indie rock from the 2000s. I could hear it alongside Peter Bhorn and John on an advert and it wouldn't stand out to me.

Sympathique

Already one of my favorite albums from before I got this generator 🫪 I feel like The Strokes never disappoints with anything they've released.

I like the songs, but the (intentionally) bad production isn't my cup of tea. Especially the vocals are abrasive and I keep asking myself his you can sound so bored while constantly screaming? The bass guitar is really nice, though.

#428/1001. 2nd hyped band in a row (after the Vines). Last Nite is of course a classic, and Hard to Explain especially when mashed up with Genie in a bottle (a Stroke of Genius), but most of the record starts to repeat itself in a way, which gets tedious in a wrong way (nit the Ramones way that is).

Is that it? Take it or leave it? I will leave it thanks

Excellent album, such an iconic sound for the time

classic. can’t say i’ve really kept up with the strokes, but this was a jam.

Боже, как я обожаю этот альбом... До сих пор помню, как впервые его услышал, уже лет 20 назад. Спасибо Guitar Hero и песне Reptilia за то, что я узнал об этой группе и решил скачать все 3 (на тот момент) альбома. И их дебютник произвел на меня сильнейшее впечатление. Вероятно, это был вообще первый инди-альбом, который я услышал. После классик-рока и поп-панка, которые я тогда слушал, это был глоток альтушного воздуха. А какова обложка, как же стилево. Как кайфово, что дали повод переслушать, еще и в пятницу, когда приподнятое настроение. Ну и как не упомянуть влияние этого альбома на индустрию - именно с него началась волна garage rock revival и post-punk revival групп, многие из которых сами по себе стали культовыми и подарили множество незабываемых треков. Перефразируя классика, вся история развития человечества была нужна для того, чтобы Джулиан Касабланкас написал Someday и Last Nite.

Давайте уже устроим флешбом, поставим все 5 и закончим этот челлендж на высокой ноте ахаха

не хватает автотюна, потому - 4

never got into this sound. all sounds pretty samey to me

This is an absolute indie classic with some great tunes, but at the same time it feels quite one note to me and there's a few tracks that don't feel standout. It's a good album, borderline very good, but I'd definitely have a couple of other Strokes albums over this one.

Nothing special but decent listening.

The Strokes are a difficult band for me to write about, not because I can't form an opinion on them, but because everything about them is fairly straightforward, especially on Is This It. Their upbeat, polished style of garage rock is very meat-and-potatoes, and I mean that as a compliment. The hooks are sharp, the guitars are catchy, and the drums are energetic. Julian Casablancas is a very charismatic frontman, and while his sleazily cool persona can sometimes feel like a performance, it's a performance he puts on effectively. If there's one issue I have with this album, it's that the sound is a bit too uniform. Given that it's only 35 minutes, this isn't a massive problem, but it's difficult to pick out standout moments when every song sounds more or less the same. Regardless, it's still a very likeable album, and I'll never complain when it's on.

Some very good songs on here and I like the overall sound of the album. Just a bit too much of the same when you get closer to the end.

Good album, but I'm surprised I liked it less than I thought I would. I usually think of myself as a pretty big The Strokes fan, and this was a pleasant listen, but I can't give it more than four stars. What's wrong with it? It's hard to pin down, not sure I could say. I love the chugging rhythms, the prominent basslines, the confident delivery from Casablancas. I even gave it a second run-through to try and work out what didn't *quite* click. Maybe it's just not quite the sum of its parts. Maybe it's in that awkward space between too punk and not punk enough. I don't know, here we are. Four stars. Fav tracks: Barely Legal, Last Night, Take It Or Leave It,

I dig this. 4/5

Probably should be 4 stars but fond memories of this being daughters first ‘ best record ever’ and seeing them with her in London. Grat show great album

Didn't even need to listen to this bad boy, cause I know like every song by heart. Even just saw them in concert like a month ago. I know this album didn't reinvent rock or anything, but it didn't need to. It's just good music. Will always be one of my fav albums of all time, and is never not the mood. Just so versatile and listenable (and relistenable). Love the minimal production on it, sounds a bit grunge-y in that sense (RIP NYC Cops). No notes, just will be listening to this forever and ever.

It’s good but the songs all sound the same

Absolutely iconic for the age, and whilst often overplayed, I don't tire of hearing this. It's 25 years old this week too!!! Anyway, it's on the shelves. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ ★★★★☆(7/10) Total reviewed : 394 Already owned : 88 Purchased : 21 To buy : 3 Nope : 282

Strum Strum Strum Strum. I like this!

3 1/2

parfait

The Strokes have a nice sound to them. This album portrays it pretty well.

An okay album, I liked Someday and Alone, Together the most.

Only really liked the popular songs like last nite and someday

Pretty catchy! I might have expected more from this because of how well known The Strokes are, but it was only alright. I think the later stuff is probably more my speed.

Good album that set a trend with all the 'The' bands in the 2000s. Overall pleasant listening experience with enough variety, just not enough exclamation marks for the full rating here. 4/5

Day 5: Fire

The band that rescued the guitar, and brought garage, Reed, Iggy and the Stooges to a whole new generation. That alone must be worth 5 stars but then throw well written catchy material and you have a banger

Really liked this. Great groove. Songs are punchy and catchy. Great bass playing, singer has a cool delivery. Could see how it could get repetitive if it were a longer album, but a really great 35 minute listen. 3.9/5.

A record that single-handedly resurrected rock music and brought it back to the mainstream. Key record of the oughties.

Greatest album of the 2000s indie generation.

So I know some people around my age that say this is one of the greatest albums ever and was a game changer when it was released. I on the other hand completely ignored it at the time and, according to stats.fm, have only listened to this once previously back in 2023. It is a really good album and I enjoyed it but it doesn’t knock my socks off or anything. Maybe if I had listened to it when I was 13 I’d have more of a connection with it. Top Track - Someday Edit : I listened to Room On Fire a few hours after this and much preferred it. That would be a definite 5 star

These guys are ultra-nepo-babies and this album is basically funded with Epstein money. But you really can't overstate how much better this album was than basically ALL mainstream rock at that time. Personally, I have a hard time evaluating Is This It because it was so meaningful for me around ages 14-16; and also, I had pretty much disavowed the Strokes by the time I got to college. It's important to remember that in 2001, when this came out, the available rock music on radio/MTV was either nu metal or pop punk with practically zero deviation. The Strokes felt cool and different and even "hip" in a way my friends and I couldn't put words to. The songwriting is really unique, and (despite the fact that they're pretty much churning out eighth notes 99% of the time) the band kinda cooks. I definitely remember learning about Television after reading a music mag that (favorably) compared the Strokes to them. Julian's blase too-cool-for-school thing can be irritating, but he can also belt like a soul singer when he wants. Nevertheless, the "coolness" can be kind of maddening, especially because these guys weren't particularly "underground" in any of the ways they fashioned themselves. Overall, there's about 10 billion reasons I could dismiss this album, but I still like it and it scratches an itch.

For there to be so many hits on this album despite Julian Casablanca’s’ low-energy delivery is such a testament to the orchestration. Very good.

very nice 2000s rock, raw. 3 bangers but the rest is ok. album is short also.

2001 was a hell of a time

Pretty meh

I loved the first and second tracks, but I think I need to give this album a third listen.

Great debut from The Strokes

A very consistent sound despite it being borrowed from a handful of the bands they idolized, I'd personally rather listen to the guys who inspired The Strokes. They may have never made a better album than this, but they have a few better hits at least.

This album is amazing.

My favorites are "Barely Legal", "Hard To Explain" and "Take It Or Leave it" 🖤🖤 Thank you so much. I love it 🤍

I remember hearing Last Nite a lot thee apparatus of mass communication, television, back in the day and finding it somewhat intriguing, but being a young metal teen just about to dive into the world of black metal more deeply at the time, I couldn't really let myself like or look into it too much back then. I've never come across this band ever since until now and this album's pretty alright actually. I guess they were going for a natural, "dirty" production with the album but listening to it today, it still sounds very Pro Toolsy, even though I get what they're after. This makes the album sound somewhat flat though, which sadly was a bit of a curse of all albums at the time. Had this been an actual analog recording with some proper dynamics, it would've only benefitted the album. Now it's just an alright album to me.

me encantan los trokes y tiene de los mejores temas de la banda

It's a solid album that definitely deserves its place here. I don't know that I'd heard it all the way through before. The sound from this album kinda took over the airwaves when it came out. That retro sound that they fit here just worked. I don't know that I'll be seeking it out again, but I'm glad I listened through it.

Не особо. Как-то такой тип рока вообще не оставляет никаких впечатлений у меня. Есть одна песня, которую слышал ранее (sometimes)

Better than expected. Fun album.

Really good. Not my usual style of music — but i dig it and will listen again. A 4.

Solid Standouts: Someday, Last Nite, Hard to Explain 4/5

Really enjoyed this. Was only familiar with Someday & Last Nite but there are a fair few bangers here. I like the gritty sounding vocals and the tempo of the album is great. Standout track - Hard To Explain. 3.5/5.

This was a great listen. Somehow, five guys who look and sound like they'd rather be doing anything else put together a collection of songs that were both laid-back and urgent, with vocals that were both unaffected and also felt like the dude was laying out his soul the best that he could. I think the second half of the record is better than the first, but I found myself listening to it two days in a row, so hey. Probably would give this a 4.5 if I could.

I mean it’s alright - solid but nothing piques my interest incredibly

Is This It" is vintage lo-fi that never shifts volume—just tense or relaxed. The drum and bass lock tight, while the vocal drags behind the beat on purpose. The guitar plays one-note stabs, not solos. It's 11 songs that sound like 1. If that's a vibe, it's genius. If not, it's repetitive. I'm not convinced which.

Great album reflecting the transitional period from the Grunge sound of the 1990s to the Alternative Indie Rock sound of the early 2000s.

Kind of liked this, but I didn’t care for the effect of making some of the vocals sound as if they were being sung into a tin can. Three stars.

I love this album. I am giving it a five.

Easy five stars. To me this album canonically contains "New York City Cops" because it was included on the copy shipped to my college radio station in (hmm) August 2001.

Wat is dit toch een super album! Ik kan hier eindeloos naar luisteren...

Like meeting an old friend for a beer. An album I thoroughly enjoyed when it came out - and revisiting it now after (maybe, at least) 10 years is familiar and fun. It feels as though each song on this compact album could have been a hit until you get to the big hits and you realise they go that 5% harder. Brilliant album that captures a vibe perfectly.

simple, direct, bar chord extravaganza with muted drums, which for it's time was probably insane the vocals are a mixed bag, the riffs really only appear on a few songs the drums really changed the game at the time its a time capsule for skinny tiny shirts and a lot of fucking chainsmoking it doesn't really say much but it feels very youthful the singles do a lot of carrying on this thing though. you don't really hear any riffs until SOMA, and that song has vocal issues imo i always wondered why the shitty "electric guitar" midi VSTs sounded like that shit, and i found the reason, it's the fuckin weird guitar tone on Alone, Together. That's what's to blame lmao. the guitar on the right side sounds like fuckin cheap shit. the solo at the end of that song really sends it home. it would've been a good closer, but instead we get some vocal clipping at the end. after a while, the vocals being run through an amp get a bit tiring, but it's obvious that this album doesn't work without it. Last Nite is an enigma, because people love this song but i really think his vocals on it are insaaaane. They're wonky and very odd. They're almost forced as if he's trying to sing like some old blues dude. But the instrumental palette just carries. People love this shit. I think the best song that encapsulates the strokes is "Hard to Explain", with better guitar tones, a little more electronic drum hits, better melodic vocal phrases, a speedier tempo, and a more solid bass foundation. It's the best song on here imo. on take it or leave it, i'll take the instrumentation and leave his vocals behind. but whatever man at this point you gotta just accept this whole thing as it is, influential? yeah, i guess. please fuck all the way off with the horrible vocal melodic phrasing on "when it started" the way he strains for the high notes on the verses is jokes. i don't think you NEED to listen to this shit before you die. I think it's fine, and while it might've inspired millions afterwards, i think in the grand scheme of music, it's just fine. the time capsule known as the Someday video just wraps up the whole vibe. doesn't it? it's a product of it's time. You just had to fuckin be there. i would be cool with never having to hear this again though.

5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-strokes/is-this-it-9/ Every song great, cover great, band great. Took young me some time to get used to this after getting to know The Strokes via the much more 'overproduced' First Impressions of Earth (I will always be a defender of that album too, by the way). Weird effect over the vocals, much more back to basics sound. But mannnnnn I love it now. Not always sure if I prefer this over its follow-up, but that's just to say they're both near perfect records.

Wn album that defined the sound of it's era. A flawless debut.

When I was a kid I decided it was time to learn about cool music. I went to the library and rented a bunch of random CDs, spanning from Japanese koto to country- basically anything that seemed interesting. Being a kid with the gift of free time, I went home and listened to all of them. This Strokes album was in that pile. Did it flip a light on in my brain? Not really. I remember thinking the vocals sounded muffled and a bit inaccessible. Despite having this on vinyl now and having heard it many times, I still do feel a restraint here despite straining. This is a classic, and an essential album in my personal history, but I’ll admit that in the end, it’s just almost there.

Very pleasant upbeat pop-rock album. The best of the type of music that you'll hear in a morning routine montage of a 2010s romantic comedy.

I liked it more than I disliked it. It didn’t quite rise to the level of four stars.

good but not my fav, too shoegazey

Lovely album. very good for work, good energy level. "tables they turn sometimes" song here! Loved that song for a while already.

Classic post-punk album that everyone should listen to (and probably already has). I really enjoy how energetic the album is even with its simple riffs and lyrics. Favorite Tracks: Is This It ✔ The Modern Age ✔ Soma ✔ Barely Legal ✔ Someday ✔ Alone, Together ✔ Last Nite ✔ Hard to Explain ✔ New York City Cops ✔ Trying Your Luck ✔ Take It or Leave It ✔

Even though it reeks of New York cuntness, I guess this album had its importance by launching a catchy indie pop-tinted post punk music style that sold a gazillion of records and they still sell out big arenas with their concerts 20+ years later. If you care for that sort of thing.

Yes, this is it. This is the album that makes you buy a one way ticket to New York. This is the album that doesn't let you off for a single moment, 35 minutes and 48 seconds of pure foreground music. This is the album that makes you fall in love with garage rock, just to never find something like it ever again, leaving you disappointed, because this is it. This is what a drunk night sounds like when there's no more money and empty bottles, but all the blokes are as high as they can be. This is energetic. This is nostalgic. This is shit. This is fabulous. This is it.

Totally missed this somehow when it came out. I'd have loved it then.

Honestly, pretty overrated. Last Nite and Hard to Explain carry. Fave Tracks: Someday, Last Nite, Hard to Explain, Take It or Leave It 3.7/5

Catchy, already familiar with it.

Someday and Last Nite are classics of this time and sound.

Inspired a million others. Great debut, cool guitar driven indie. Very NYC.

Love that everyone calls this album the savior of garage rock, taking it from the edgy weirdos of grunge and placing it in the hands of its true owners, nepo-babies :) I meeeaaaaaaaaan, it’s an instant 5. This is the second coming of JC, Julian Christ. Casablancas has one of my favorite voices in rock, I adore the textural range he sings with, it’s got growls, it’s got croons, it’s got whines, what more can we ask from a man. He also wrote the entire composition of this album, dude is too powerful. The instrumentals are fucking fire, dueling guitars that never leave a moment of silent, pinpoint precise percussion, and the sweetest lil melodic bass playing. One of the slickest, straight shooting rock records of all time AND it eventually gave us the arctic monkeys, fuck man… I might just shed a tear. Fav tracks: Is This It, Hard to Explain, Trying your Luck 5/5

I've heard "Reptiles" by The Strokes previously, and though it's a later song, the musicality is pretty much the same here. The catchy melodies, the energetic guitars and interesting basslines, Julian Casablancas's voice having some distortion to it. I do like the music for the most part (the fun guitars and it being hooky certainly helps), but there's not much variety.

Liked only a couple of songs

One of the best debuts of all time. One of the best bands of all time.

Ahhhh, the simulacrum of hipster indie music. The meandering, telephone-quality vocals; the twangy, overbearing guitar riffs; the simplistic vocals and drums. It's all just so arbitrarily one-dimensional, self-contained, self-congratulatory, self-gratifying. Pretentious, uncool, simple music by, and for, pretentious, uncool, simple people. I genuinely, passionately, wholeheartedly hate this, what it stands for, and what it has done to my Tidal algorithm. This is the sound of the death of rock 'n roll.

Oh fuck yes The Strokes. I already adore their music but i honestly havent listened to an album front to back. Lets ride The Modern Age!! How have i never heard this song? Ok love/hate Soma into Barely Legal, both songs are good but they sound the same and that transition between the 2 songs doesnt help at all. I think these 2 songs hurt everyone elses review of this album LOL Someday is just the best lets be real Alone together!!!! LAST NITE!!!!! The rest of the album unfort dies off but ggg was fun

I really am trying to separate the album fy hie much of a nazi assaulting fucking rich twat Casablanca is…but also. It’s just boring, pretentious and monotonous…brings nothing new to the table. Sounds like an odor album made with daddy’s money.

Yeah, it's good

This was good. There were some catchy tunes. I wish the vocals were pushed to the front more and not so obscured by the music. Not sure I’m understanding the hype though. I don’t know anything about them, but I feel like this style was so prevalent during the 2000s that maybe it just doesn’t sound as innovative to me.

A progressive collection of upbeat, aggressive rock songs just this side of punk, yet simple in composition. The listen was interesting as a whole but it never really grabbed my attention enough to want to take a return trip.

The Strokes saved Rock and Roll. The least you can do is give them 4 stars…

The rebirth of garage rock. Crunchy guitar with hooks that grab you and a singer that oozes a rock and roll attitude. The only minor complaint is they kinda helped usher in the hipster era, but small price to pay for simple and pure rock energy,

This is the annoying background music in the alternative cafes or restaurants in Berlin, where the service is abysmal as the food.

Save the vocals, I love. Short, sharp rock

6,50/10 Me gusto, tiene buenos temas pero no me volvió loco

3.5/5

I remember when this album came out and how unique the sound was - his voice still stands out

Another album that I spent an obnoxious amount of time listening to. It all started with Last Nite. Actually, it all started with a concert where I saw this band Doves and this band The Strokes opened. I had no idea what I was in for but it was awesome. They ended with The Modern Age, and that performance stuck with me for months until I heard them on the radio. Fast forward to the album and I was hooked with Last Nite. From there it was non-stop listening to this album amidst all the "The" bands that came out. What a time to be alive. This album even among all those others was a standout from beginning to end. Biggest Hit - Someday Biggest Miss (if I had to choose) - When It Started (only where New York City Cops is missing) otherwise - Alone, Together (Not so) hidden gem - The Modern Age

It's okay. It doesn't top Room On Fire, though. That's just my opinion.

I had never heard this album but I was vaguely aware of it and know the big hits which are still played often someday and last nite which i think are my two favorites. I wish I'd listened to this album as a teen it was great and would have been cool to be current. When people talked about the strokes in hs I really was so off in my impression of what music they made lol

Unfortunately I fail to see the hype in this one. Nothing really felt like the praise I’ve heard about this Album and The Strokes in general. 6/10

Strokin it

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C’mon it’s the strokes. Great album