Is This It

Yes, this is it

Great album - I enjoyed revisiting it. I love Julian Casablancas voice and the guitar work on this album is good. This album made a huge impression on me when I was younger and I remember having a physical copy of this cd in the glove box of my first car

One of my favorite albums of all time and the first one I've heard already!

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻✅

So good

Absolutely no skips, made me feel like rebellious teen who is enjoying sneaking out to go skinny dip

One of the best albums from one of the best bands of all time. One of my all-time favorites and I'm glad I got to listen to it again.

Yesssssssss. El mejor disco de la historia. Vale igual me pasé. Pero es que es un disco que marcó muchísimo mi adolescencia y a través del cual hice bonding con mi bestie, y sobre todo este verano tuve momento de volver a escuchar a los Strokes a tope y buf es que increíble me encanta lo es todo. Es increíble que en esos años estuviesen compitiendo en los grammy con peña rollo Korn. Cambiaron el panorama completamente. Sigo sin entender del todo culturalmente lo que supusieron en ese momento. Este disco es todo bangers y es divertidísimo y me encanta. Me gusta más Room on fire tho. Y The New Abnormal me cambió la vida cuando salió. Julian Casablancas te amo.

I went into this only knowing Last Nite, but you know what? Hell yeah.

Love this raw take of the original Strokes. Realised I knew a lot of tracks from the album but not the whole album. Enjoyed the nostalgia from again 15 yo Ninske. Still love this music <3

Perfect garage rock album. Truly defines the early 2000s for me. Standouts: The Modren Age, Someday, Last Night, Hard to Explain

NYC dive bar legend

the goat

One of the best guitar albums of the 2000's to date

It's unfair, this album came out when I was 14 and I was just getting into alt- indie rock. It's still great, but I can't separate myself from the hours of listening to it from my youth to give it an honest downgrade.

Such a great album. Maybe it's nostalgia, but this always reminds me of my early 20's, crashing through relationships, trying to figure it all out. It seemed chaotic and uncomfortable at the time, but looking back at that time, it was fun and exciting. I just didn't know what I had going on. This music reflects what it was like to be that age in the post 9/11, pre-recession world.

Yeaa, one of the first albums that got me “into” music. The strokes. 5/5

Love this album!

This is definitely a top 10 album all time for me, maybe top 5. I have learned every guitar part on this album. This is just a magical record and I didn’t even listen to it until like 2012. The strokes are so locked in creatively that you can overlook the nepotism. Julian’s voice on this record is perfection, the vocal processing they do (keyboard amp mic’d with distortion added) is so sick. Albert and nicks interlocking guitar parts really changed how I approach writing in bands where there’s two guitars, they’re just so tight and similar but so distinguishable at the same time. Hell, I bought a Riviera because it’s what Nick plays, sounds damn good too. That P90 tone on a semi-hollow body matching a strat both with minimal effects is just so tasty. Also a case where the bassist, Nikolai, is really writing some unforgettable, honestly critical to the song bass lines that have such unique groove and melody. Fab can’t be overlooked either on drums even if he is considered the weakest member, he does such cool hi hat and tom work throughout that has definitely been ripped off entirely since. This is definitely my favorite debut album of all time (sorry zeppelin), I can’t fathom getting together for your first go and writing something as strong as this. There’s not a single song on here that I don’t love every second of and it feels silly to go into a play by play because I’m just going to gush over all of it. It is just a perfect album, not a single guitar solo, bass groove, snare hit, or shout is wasted on this thing. If I could vote higher than a 5 I would. I can’t imagine there’s an album on this list that I love more than this one.

Best debut album, probably? A band that delivered on the hype imo and still stands above so many of the other garage rock revival bands. Great songwriting all over this thing and holy shit they have a bass player you can hear. So much of the melody is carried by the bass on this, just listen to when it started. Anyway 5/5 duh

Fuck it. Rules.

Gives me flashbacks.

Ahhh, in many ways this album makes me miss the good old days… someday. I was a too young to catch the hype of this album at the time of its release, but soon caught up in my teenage years and it’s an ‘all timer’ for sure. I wish I could summarise how much love I have for this record, but it’s hard to explain.

An easy 5 stars. Yes, some of the songs sound similar but they just sound so fucking good.

Frábært rokk á tíma þar sem rokkið var í mikilli lægð. Nu rokkið og kid rock. ojj. Strokes eru frábærir og þessi plata er alveg tímalaus. Alltaf hægt að skella henni á.

Frábær plata. Einfaldleikinn í fyrirrúmi, bassi gítar tromma. Vonandi á rokkið svona endurkomu aftur fljótlega.

Good solid rock and roll

I am a sucker for rock bands with a really unique style, and The Strokes are definitely one of those bands. This is basically a perfect album, 35 minutes of non-stop back-to-back bangers. A lot of really great guitar playing, catchy melodies, and great vocals. High 5!!!

Quality throughout. Enjoyed it all

Right up my alley! Så mycket attityd. Dubbla gitarrer, avskalat, tufft. Ok, känd men ingen klassiker? Borde vara?

THis is it! Awesome!

Dank every time

haven’t heard this album for years and it still sounds so good. what a debut

I'm a big fan of The Strokes and this album introduced me to their music. There isn't a song on here that I don't like and at one point in time, I think each one was probably my favorite off the album. The radio hits like Last Nite and Someday are good songs, but I've listened to them too many times at this point.

Absolutely love this album. Feels both incredibly influential and timeless. Love the hooks and the production level here.

always good

I'm a creaky oldster, but this is an album that had the power to break through to me despite all my attempts to be blasé about new music in the early 2000's. Now nearing a quarter century old and still bursting with power and energy. I'm still in love with this whole album.

has been a soundtrack to many trips and was an album that opened to the door for so many mediocre and some great bands

One of my favorites

hashtag loe the strokes alr know this one

It’s hard to imagine my life or modern indie without this album. I’ve listened a ton, and I will continue to listen a ton.

own

Is this the greatest debut album of the 2000s? Probably for a rock band. It's one of those rarities without a single skip song. And it still holds up. Sounds as fun and energetic and fresh as it did the first time I listened to it.

I like the whimsical songs Edit Apr 16 2026: 4 --> 5. I have really been loving this one

Love it

Amazing album, catchy song after catchy song.

Les Strokes me font penser à mon frère. Grande influence sur son jeu de guitare du début des années 2000. Il aurait pu se joindre au band. Je n'ai pas lu le livre de Lizzy Goodman mais j'ai vu le documentaire Meet Me in the Bathroom (2022) de Will Lovelace et Dylan Southern qui est basé sur le livre. Intéressant. The Moldy Peaches, The Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol.

Très agréable de ne pas trop se creuser le coco en ce samedi. Du rock droit au but, dansant, énergique. Une grande influence pour l'alternatif début 2000, ça me replonge dans l'ambiance de mon adolescence, bien que je n'aie pas spécifiquement été fan des Strokes à l'époque ! Leur apport pour des groupes comme Franz Ferdinand et Jet est indéniable.

Je pense que je donne plus 5 étoiles pour ce que l'album représente que pour la musique elle même. Celle-ci est excellente avec des classiques du début du millénaires, mais je la trouve somme toute assez répétitive sur la durée de l'album. J'ai du plaisir mais je n'y reviendrai pas tant. Par contre l'album représente ce retour aux sources du rock début 2000, après le Nu Metal de la fin de millénaire. La scène new yorkaise était foissonante, ce faisant je doit dire préférer Interpol. Justement j'ai hâte à Turn On The Bright Lights, probablement un top 10 all-time personne. Par ailleurs il y un livre qui me semble fort intéressant "Meet me in the bathroom" un récit de cet époque et cette scène. Quand j'aurai le temps de lire un livre (dans quelques années), je m'y attablerai. Longue vie au rock!

Absolute love it since forever

4.5/5

Classic.

One that's actually part of my library already. Possibly because it was the first thing from The Strokes that I heard, but I'm still partial towards First Impressions of Earth instead. However, Is This It is still great and will continue to have a place in my library.

Yeah fair enough is pretty mega. Only criticism is it started to feel a little samey by the time I got to barely legal, however Someday makes up for this and keeps it fresh. Proper no skips album.

4.5 - Great

Banger album, no bad songs

A cultural icon for a reason. The honesty and rawness with which it discusses the unearned challenges faced by millions of Americans every day is sobering. The simple, acoustic accompaniment only goes to highlight Tracy Chapman’s beautiful voice and the message of her songs. Although the musical tone isn’t always my personal style, I can appreciate the artistry and skill behind the execution.

Great album

Their debut album. Rock / Indie. One of the great debut albums and one of the most important of the new millennium. Is This It, The Modern Age and Soma are three brilliant tracks to open with. For me, guitar, Indie music had gotten pretty bland on the whole by the late 90s. The Strokes came along and breathed some fresh air into music. Their energy too. The was a big album by a cool band again. So many good songs on this album in addition to those first three Someday, Alone, Together, Last Nite, Hard To Explain and New York City Cops. Yeah, I love this album.

The Strokes just stroked the fuck out of my ears for 35 minutes JEEEEEZZZZ!

One of my favourites.

This was a fun album that I'd not heard before and it is a proper fun up-beat guitar band collection of songs. I guess I'll give it a 5 as it was overall a pleasant listen for me.

Great cover, hard-hitting, catchy songs with lyrics to scream and riffs to tap your toes to. Sub 40 minutes with no filler. Absolute winner.

LOVE

This is one of my absolute favorite albums growing up. But as a kid, I didn’t know how much I really should have appreciated for what it was for music at the time. After listening to over 400 albums on this list, and far too many post punk 90s album, I can say without a doubt, rock music needed this. Rock music needed a bunch of fuck boy himbos to make rock fun again. There’s just way too much overly thoughty, overly analytical rock music coming out around this time. This is just fun. It sounds awesome. Music doesn’t have to always be more complicated than that.

Great album!

No private session used for this one. I had this on CD when this first came out and this one was in my car so I listened to it a lot. It's one of those albums that definitely takes me back to a specific time in my life, so much so that I don't listen to it much now because I worry that it won't take me back to a specific time in my life. It will lose it's time traveling ability.

Julian Casablancas is the GOAT

This is the type of music you’d hear in a show or movie where things are going perfectly. Everything is going great for the crew and life is pretty good. Immediately following this rise (usually in the form of a “Life is great” compilation), things are about to go terribly, terribly wrong. All that being said, fuck this is some good shit right here. Indie Rock has been a real mixed bag for me so far with this project, but this is some real primo stuff. It’s tighter than the ass on the album cover, there isn’t a single filler song on the entire album, and picking my favorite song in general is a real challenge. This may very well be one of the best Indie albums on the entire list. I am actually quite baffled I haven’t heard any of this before, and if I have, I don’t recognize it. Everyone I talked to today was baffled I had not heard this, as it’s right up my alley. I’ve probably said this before, but you know an album is good when it makes you want to explore the bands entire catalog. Ultimately, my biggest complaint is that occasionally at the end of a song, they’ll have a little riff that absolutely shreds for about 30 seconds, and then leave you wanting more of it. And I do. I want more of it!! Bet these guys kick ass live. The little riff in the middle of “The Modern Age” and towards the end of “Take It Or Leave It” are good examples of this. All of the hits are so good, but I think my favorite song on the album is actually going to have to be “Alone, Together”, which actually has 2 separate moments where they step out a bit more and just shred that shit out. Wish they included the follow up album, as it contains the one song of theirs I actually recognized, “Reptilia”. Man, what a hell of a debut album!! Apparently, the entire band is still together to this day, which is pretty damn cool. Rock on, The Strokes. You’ve gained a fan. Is this It? Nah, I’m not done with you yet.

One of the best indie rock albums

I remember buying this album in Croydon just before a train journey home snd standing listening to it on east croydon station i was genuinely blown away by how good an album this was. Twenty four years later i stand by that view. This is one of the greatest albums released in my lifetime and there’s not a duff track on it. The Strokes managed to build on their musical heritage and produce a punchy fresh sound that unfortunately they struggled to capture again after this album. Tracks like Is this it, someday, Last nite, hard to explain and new york city cops are just truly great, but that probably undervalues the other tracks on this album.

Hipster koningen, prima

The Strokes’ debut is a near-perfect distillation of garage rock revival. With raw guitars, sharp rhythms, and Julian Casablancas’ coolly detached vocals, the album captures both grit and effortless swagger. Every track feels lean, punchy, and timeless, making it a defining record of the early 2000s. Two decades later, it still sounds fresh—proof of its enduring influence.

Perfection - derivative and yet influential perfection

Absolute masterpiece. I had the album when it came out and it was pretty cool but I never really heard all the songs in order. This is top 5 Album of that decade. Their style, delivery, sound all was pretty unique. Absolute banger

Zuhause, Heidenheim, Deutschland. Hit-Feuerwerk!

I really likes this album!! Apparently I like the Strokes. I knew a couple of these songs already but had never listened to the album before. I like that the music has a grungy quality to it but the melodies and harmonies are pleasing. Idk what I mean by that but they're onto something haha. 9/10.

Great album! I wasn’t too familiar with any of their music other than Last Nite. A quick play through of the album was followed immediately by another start from the beginning of the album.

An album that I discovered around 2009 and always wished I had found earlier. This album has such a distinctive sound; cool, gritty with catchy rhythmic riffs, subtle megaphone-esque distortion on the vocals. The energy jumps out of the music. The Strokes sit in a continuum of rock music that goes back to the Beatles and before, but somehow avoid feeling derivative. Simultaneously fresh and timeless. Its a great album that I loved having an excuse to revisit.

The garage rock revival is a treasure trove of great music, this most certainly included. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m at a 5. This is my first time listening to the whole thing, and... I think I get it. I suppose the hype for this album comes mainly in the fact that it had to feel REFRESHINGLY new for 2001, after rock & roll had grunge’d itself into a Nirvana-shaped corner for a while, & once the sort of acoustic alt-rock of the late 90s started to feel overplayed. You can hear the rest of the decade taking shape with this album, and while it doesn’t feel as special now as it probably did back then, given how many bands took this record’s style & adapted it to their strengths, I think there’s still something special here. After all, if you’re the first garage rock band with this style to really hit it big & shift the genre for at least 6 or 7 years at the least, if not all the way through today, you have to make sure you knock it out of the park on a first swing. Weirdly enough, I think the title track that opens the album is a lot more basic than I was expecting, but this album presents itself like a slowly rolling avalanche, so the intensity & all the extra tricks pick up as the album gains momentum. Momentum is genuinely a real thing with an album, and if you can hit on a few great tracks in a row, even the mediocre stuff can feel good in the moment. Thankfully, this album never hits a mediocre spot, and by the time it gets to “Someday”, it just feels like you can’t stop it. At its core, this album is built on really strong basic rock foundations, but it supplements it by giving the guitar & percussion a sort of subtle swing rhythm that meshes with the slightly filtered vocals. Combine that with some good lyricism (or at least, really strong vocal structures) & you end up with a recipe for success. It really is that simple – to quote the man himself though, “work hard and say it's easy”. Julian Casablancas & friends here clearly made sure this thing sounded about as sonically good as it could possibly be, and while it sure sounds like the sort of album you could make with your friends if you practiced enough, there’s a lot of production work under the hood. All in all, it’s just a breezy 36 minutes (or 38 if you went out of your way to play both “New York City Cops” & “When It Started” like I did). I don’t know that I’d say it’s a top all-timer album of the decade/century like that, but I can easily hear the entire decade stemming from this album’s influence, and I think that probably puts it on some sort of well-earned pedestal. Regardless, it’s an easy 5, and well-deserving to be on the list; I really liked it.

Overall: 10/10 This one was a big one for me in my teen years. I've always loved these guys and the style they bring to their music. It's strange, but I find them kind of relaxing to listen to. Julian may be one of the coolest singers to exist. Fav Song: Soma

Absolutely superb album

Good

Good album, sexy album art awoooga

I'll never remember that we got a less risqué album cover and it will always be kinda sad but pretty funny too. This record has quite a few huge songs on it. And they are great songs for sure. And the b side type tracks also are very very good. When I think of the strokes I think of sonic youth. They are almost the coolest than cool of my millennial generation. Julian casablancas is one of the coolest dudes of all time. And his voice or at least the effects on it just excentuate its qualities so well. The kinda old timey radio thing where the lows just buzz in such a pleasing way. And the music itself just works. It fits so well and doesnt take over ever. It just works and thats it. Its kinda hard to say if its a 5 or not but its damn close otherwise. The strokes haven't held the attention the whole tome after or went off into the sunset like sonic youth. That might have been better but that doesnt take awa from how good this is. Its a 5. It has to be

Yeah. I love this one. May be biased since this is right in my wheelhouse but such a strong album. Loved every song. 5 Stars

I’ve listened to this album before. No doubt this album should be an instant classic and A LOT of the songs are always in my rotation. From the guitar tone to the Julian Casablancas sounding like he’s trying to calm me down through a phone call, this album is pleasant through and through. Again, would be a 4.5 but I can’t do have stars. These songs are not super complex in terms of rhythm and time signatures, but the strokes prove that complexity doesn’t always mean that something is good. This album is beautiful and pure in so many ways and reminds me of the best of summer, even though I have no core memories with this album. Fav Track: Last Nite Least Fav: Trying Your Luck

Goated

Good songs good. Welfare mothers was the nader.

YEAH!!! This was incredible. Tens across the board. This album really scratched an itch in me. It's genuinely hard to believe it's a debut. Everything about it felt so cathartic, and the energy flowing from start to finish was alive and breathing. There's a playfulness here that is so enjoyable to be a part of. It made me feel like a teenager again. To capture and recreate such a palpable feeling of freedom in music is a feat. This album is eternal youth stored within 35 minutes. The songwriting is honest and raw. Little vignettes are being painted in each line. That storytelling, paired with genuinely inventive production and music, makes something singular. I feel a new artist obsession brewing within me. The Strokes better watch out because I'm coming for their discography. I've wanted to get into Garage Rock for a while, but so many of the albums I've listened to were slightly different copies of each other. This was the cream of the crop. Excellent album.

This was such an instrumental album in me developing my taste in music as an adolescent. I love it so much. As far as debut albums go, it’s up there with Vampire Weekend self titled as far as number of bangers go. It’s got Last Nite, Soma, Barely Legal, Someday, Hard to Explain.. it’s stacked. The strokes are incredible live and this is an album that holds up very well over two decades (!!) later

I like the album cover (it's a butt). The music strikes a lovely balance between several genres, and ends up being much greater than the sum of its parts. There's heavy punk influence, but also some (classic) rock, alt, and grunge. And it's darn catchy – a key factor I think is absent from a lot of post-70s "music-with-a-message". The riffs, the hooks, the instrument playing, the chord progressions... all of it is simple and effective. The sound (particularly the vocal) has a sort of tired, frustrated energy that's reflected in the repetition-heavy lyrics. And all the instruments are active but not too active. The vocal effect is maybe the only thing that irks me about the Strokes' material. The vocalist sounds like he should be a great singer – so why can't we hear it unfiltered? I get it, it's probably the band's gimmick, but once you key into it, his voice gets very distracting. In terms of specific tracks: The guitar and bass in the title track are instantly recognisable, to the point where I'm a little surprised this isn't one of the Strokes' biggest hits. The song Someday very much resembles Bowie's Sound and Vision, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's heavy influence taken from there. It's a fantastic song, though, and without the weird grainy vocal filter it has potential to be one of my favourite songs of all time. It's delicate, vulnerable, heavy, lively, happy and sorrowful at the same time. That's not an easy feat to achieve. Last Nite is similar to Someday in tempo and texture, with the main difference being the brasher guitar in the right ear and more bouncy melody. Another incredibly strong composition. New York City Cops is an unexpected shift in tone, more aggressively tuning into the band's punk influence with an almost Ramones-esque setup. (That chorus is so Ramonesy, my goodness.) I could go on. Every track here is very good or better. 5/5 Key tracks: Is This It, Someday, Last Nite, Hard To Explain

Good shit!!!

Is This It The Modern Age Someday Last Nite Hard to Explain New York City Cops

Æ vet ikke om æ hadde kommet på å si at det her e et av favorittalbuman mine om noen spurte mæ om favorittalbum, men det e ikke så langt unna å være det, i den grad at æ fra tid til anna spille det fordi æ får så lyst til å høre det – det e ikke så mye anna av musikken æ hørte på på den tida kor det e tilfelle. Men æ like kordan det e smooth, og stilig.

sometimes all you really need is some straightforward rock n roll

This one is from my collection, so I'm biased. Sounds as fresh as it was.

Stone cold classic. Marked the re-birth of rock. Perfection.

One of the albums that started the resurgence of garage rock. Still sounding just as good now as it did when it came out.

Sure, it's super derivative. And they're posh kids playing at being cool. And they got hyped to high heaven when it came out. But they have the tunes and the attitude to get away with it all. A pleasure to listen to...

loves <3

One of my most listened to albums of all time...kind of. The US version of this album was engraved into my bones somewhere around 2005. Every song is a part of me, vibrating at the same frequency as my atoms. I hit New York City Cops and my body freaks out. Imagine my surprise when I discover that there's another version of this album with a butt on the cover and a song I've never heard before. It's like feeling along the contours of your own body and suddenly there's a bizarre new, but not entirely unwelcome, appendage. 5/5 for the US version of Is This It The Sensation of Walking Up a Staircase and Thinking There's One Last Step But You Misjudged and You Just Stepped Into Air/5 for the international version.

I unabashedly love this album. It’s the right combination of upbeat and loud.

I remember when this album came out and the hype around it. It still holds up to me.

Is this it - 8/10 The modern age - 8/10 Soma - 7.5/10 Barely legal - 8/10 Someday - 8/10 Alone, Together - 8.5/10 Last Nite - 8/10 Hard to explain - 8/10 NYC Cops - 8/10 Trying your luck - 8.5/10 Take it or leave it - 9/10 81/100

If Lou Reed and Iggy Pop had a baby at a Velvet Underground party, this would be it. Sucks that they had to change the cover for the US release. Not a bad track on this whole album.

First suggestion I've gotten on here that I was already pretty familiar with, especially "Last Nite" and "Hard to Explain." Nostalgia for my early college years. 😆 Also the most recent, and the shortest one on the list so far - all the others so far have been over an hour. Wondering if that's just because it's newer?

This is it

sounds like me

The Strokes came out swinging on this one. Definitely has some 70s/80s new wave hints dashed on this one which you dont hear much in rock music anymore.

Rock perfection

I love this album

Quite literally one of my favourite albums of all time. Good pick.

another old favorite

My absolute favorite album of all time. A perfect 10/10, absolutely no skippable songs to be seen.

Sie kamen aus dem Nichts - mich haben sie auf nonchalante Art im Sturm erobert. Kürzlich hieß es im Radio, der Anfang von "someday" sei von Tom Petty ausgeliehen ("american girl"). Der freute sich über die Reminiszenz und lud sie zu sich auf die Bühne ein. Meisterwerk.

Repeat listen

GOATED its a toss up between this and there sophmore album as my favalbum of all time. Banger after banger after banger

LOVE the strokes 😍 so many bangers in this album

A great album. In as much as every song my is punchy and takes the total listening to just beyond 35 mins, but also in that it did help revive interest guitar based music in the UK after so many years of pop shite.

Debut album from The Strokes. Great album. Has a driving alt/indie guitar sound and interesting lofi vocal filter. All the songs are good. Enjoyed a straight through listen. Favorite songs The Modern Age, Soma, Barely Legal, Someday, Last Nite, Hard to Explain.

Absolutely incredible (debut) album! Amazing production, songwriting, lyrics, vibe and pacing. Not one bad song. The weakest one is "Trying Your Luck" which contains the best solo of this album. I do wish that "When It Started" was included, but tbf I don't know where I would put it (before "Last Nite" maybe? Or after "Someday? Probably not). Julian with his amazing and kinda cryptic lyrics paints such beautiful pictures of love, envy, anger and "douchebagery". Personally, one of the best albums ever

Exceptional. One of my favourite albums. Incredible stuff.

Guitar classic from the 2000s Favorite track: last nite other picks: the modern age, someday, hard to explain, barely legal

Favorites (nearly the whole album): Is This It The Modern Age Barely Legal Someday (++) Alone, Together Last Nite Hard To Explain New York City Cops Trying Your Luck Iconic album - from the album art story to the crisp 'new rock' sound. 'Someday' is a big favorite. You can hear how modern indie rock has been influenced from this album (speaking on the mic like in the intro to New York City Cops, strong electric guitar hooks throughout with thin drums). Stellar for a debut album!

This album has a special place in my heart - one of my all time faves. One of the first songs I ever tried to record a cover of with all instruments and do all the mixing was "Is This It".

Excellent album. Possibly peak strokes.

🧡

10/10 no Notes Best Song: Take It or Leave it Rating: 10/10 Stars: 5/5

12/08/2025 I knew it liked their famous songs, I didn't know I'd like them this much.

Iconic album of my formative years

Game changer. Wrote the blueprint for rock in the new millennium. And just full of great tunes

Can’t believe I never listened to this before. Instant classic

Absolute classic. Pretty much a no skips. Easy 5 Heard before? Yes Owned: Yes. 4/1001, 4/15 (26%) Will I get? Already have Recommend: Yes

Love it

Modern garage pop rock perfection.

10/10 do that cry queerbaiting nepo baby

PEAK

Easily one of my favorite albums of all time and it's always held a special place in my heart. This influenced so much of my taste growing up. The uniqueness of tonalities in both the vocals and guitars keeps every song, no matter the tempo, feeling energetic. This one's like a time capsule and I just can't get enough. Too many favorites to name.

This is the first album generated where I already own it on vinyl. Needless to say I love this album. I prefer New York City Cops to When It Started. I love the guitar tones, the tight songwriting, the lyrics. It all radiates such youth and energy.

Without a doubt the strokes best work. This album gives me feelings of Nostalgia and I don't know why. The way the two guitars just flow with each other is really amazing

love

What a record.

I love, love, love this album and I’d listened to it in full many times before it was recommended to me.

EASILY a no skip album!! I absolutely loveeee the first song and it completely set me up for no disappointment! It’s hard to really describe but it just sounds amazing? The whole album is just pleasing to the ear! I will probably relisten!

Never listened to The Strokes, only heard Last Nite from them and I liked it kinda. When I landed on this album, I didn't expect anything and I thought the album would be mid, because the album opener wasn't that good, however songs started to get increasingly good and I enjoyed this album so much. It's a 5 for me Best song - NYC Cops Worst song - Is this is

One of the best debuts of all time hands down.

Easily one of my favorite all time albums! This is one that I kinda liked when it came out but over time my appreciation for this one has grown to the point to where I’d place it pretty high on my top 100!

I fucking love the strokes it’s my intro band

Often duplicated, never replicated or whatever the phrase is

Amazing. One of the best albums of all time.

amazing!

Bängää

Not the revival of rock as it once sort of positioned as but catchy as hell!

Rating: 9.5/10 One of the best debuts of all time. Incredibly catchy and fun throughout and some fantastic interplay between the guitars and bass.

Unskippable.

this is what smoking a cigarette and getting a dollar slice in nyc in 2001 probably felt like and i want to be there...this is what mary kate and ashley's new york minute felt like for everyone who couldn't get the simple plan tickets but still had a subway pass and a dream...

One of the best albums ever made. Very very good.

Iconic album that defined a genre for a generation, tight 38 minutes with no skips and catchy songs all throughout. The re-listening experience is laden with nostalgia but there's some real artistry to be found in this album. Songwriting is great, bass lines and riffs are immediate ear-worms, and the up-tempo drums are infectious. This album has energy man.

An easy one for me to rate as it is probably in my top 10 albums of all time. The Strokes just ooze coolness and this album effortlessly combines that raw garage sound with flawless production. The songs are short and snappy with their trademark swagger, punchy guitars and growling vocals. So many good tracks that it is difficult to find an average one. There is a case for any of them to be the lead single. I am aware that there is limited variety in the songs, but what variety combined with the shortness of the songs and album make this the perfect debut album.

Not a bad song on the album really. This hit at a musical peak for me so I’m totally biased but it’s a killer album and still holds up. My faves: “some day”, “take it or leave it”, “New York city cops”, and “last night”.

This album knows what it’s about.

It may be nostalgia that accounts for the fifth star, I can't be sure, but this album is an all-timer. Very of its time, yet the melodies and and hooks are so dialed in, I think it has entered and deserves its place in the rock canon.

Absolutely classic. One of my favorite albums, have spun this hundreds if not thousands of times all the way through. Never gets old for me.

Love this album. I might be biased, but I think it's a perfect alternative album. It has multiple hits: Last Nite, Someday, Hard to Explain, and Soma, and the songs in between are great too. Well produces, great sound all around. Have listened many times before, and it made me want to get back into the Strokes.

Groot fan. Het hele album lang genieten.

Legendary! Modern day classic

Okay not a big fan

Strokin!

They really defined a sound that for years everyone tried (and failed) to follow up on

I am sorry for sleeping on you The Strokes. I had no idea. Please forgive me.

Really enjoying the first few tracks. Never listened before to the whole album. Sounds like Gang of Youths, a favourite.

35m49s of sheer unadulterated joy.

Wiffs of velvet underground and joy division, what an amazing debut album to skyrocket to fame with… Features very highly on “music connoisseurs” list and in many topster but never got further than a few of their hits. Even though the song structure is not always very complex and the album is only 35 mins long, this was an amazing listening experience. The music that “liberated” millenials. Absolute banger 5/5

Did they put an ass on the cover because I the Strokes it to ass

Great album. Have always loved this one.

Always knew about this stud

Like a bleached white roman replica - perfected the form in every way and with greater emotionally resonance highs: hard to explain, soma, take it or leave it lows: mayybee trying your luck?

A great record start to finish

A band that mastered their sound from the first album. Appreciate the conciseness. 11 songs in 35 minutes. The Velvet Underground is always brought up as a major influence on early Strokes, and I would agree with that when it comes to their image and general NYC attitude, but musically they sound much more indebted to New Wave and Post Punk. I honestly hear a lot of the Cars in them.

I feel like I've tried to listen to this album multiple times in the past and could not get into it. And what's weird is I flat out don't remember it sounding like this. Dunno what it was, but I would have given it a 3 back then and just be done with it. But what's nice about doing this project is it allows you to revisit stuff and realize albums you didn't get into before are absolute bangers. For some reason, this album is just hitting hard for me. It's fun, bouncy, sunny, happy. Everything you want in a great album. Honestly, I think the reason I'm able to get into it this time is me gaining a deeper appreciation for post-punk through this 1001 album project. Not that this album necessarily sounds like the other post-punk on this list (maybe closest to New Order, which their album Technique is easily my favorite post-punk record I've discovered on this project), but there's just something there that kinda unlocked my appreciation for this record. Great record. Will have to listen to it more to figure out what to playlist. (Whoever decided the original cover was too risque for the US and made them make a new one needs to be shot, lol)

In theory this should be a nostalgic ride for me, but the album is inherently intertwined with the cultural mess that followed 9/11. It's a really solid album and it's important to realise how unusual this sounded coming along in the midst of all the bright Millennial pop. Sometimes you just need something a bit grimy that sounds like it hasn't slept in days. Alone, Together is the best track.

💯

there are very few albums i love more than this one---enough that it is in my spotify top 5 every single year for the last 10 years. i don't know what it is about this album, ostensibly there's nothing truly magical about it in the same way that other albums are in this list. and yet, and yet, and yet,

Solid uniform sound, everything you want in an indie album

Even better than I remember. Kind of makes you want to get your guitar out and play along.

There’s enough hits on this Strokes album to sustain 4 albums by regular indie bands - and not bad bands either. It could sound like a greatest hits, if it didn’t have such a singular vision. The guitars have an addictive quality. Every song has a strong theme / concept but without sounding gimmicky. A perfect album.

Exactly as good as I remember it being.

Somehow I missed the hype around them when this came out, but it is nice to be able to listen to it quietly. I really like the hit songs, it was fun to watch the videos of them, and want to hear this album more often. Even though the last few songs are a bit less brilliant and repetitive i’ll give them five stars. I just want this album in my top list.

Very enjoyable album, a new favourite, does not feel out of place in this day and can hear how a lot of modern indie rock artists are influenced by this album. Definitely one I’ll be revisiting quite often.

An album that sometimes suffers from the same fate as Seinfeld, of all things, as its impact, while still noted today, has been diminished to the point where I see many state that this is just the same as every other indie rock album from the time, or even that this is lesser than what came before it. I can't see it, this album has too much weight behind what it did for music to the point where, sure, much of the music spawned from it was radio fodder and even a "pleb filter," whatever that means, but this album still is like doing a complete 180 to the music that preceded it. Mainstream rock had only gotten angrier and angrier in a post-Nirvana world, and while there were calmer acts to keep the world at bay, they flew under the radar for most mainstream audiences, and Nu-Metal reigned supreme. Then, this album came along and flipped everything on its head, leading to a musical boom that some may look back as obnoxious, but I for one, quite enjoy, and even if acts like Vampire Weekend, Franz Ferdinand, or even the Killers don't do much for you, I struggle to see how there wouldn't be something to enjoy here. Julian Casablancas, instead of being an idiot hotshot, is a seemingly shy asshole with a lot on his mind, and while some of it may come off as a little whiney, it fits perfectly within the anxieties of the next generation. The world was changing, and no longer was rap rock in-charge, but rather anxiety was at the forefront of society, and this album exemplifies that perfectly. Hell, it even seemed to predict the coming war on terrorism, as the song New York City Cops was replaced by When It Started by the time of its US release for obvious reasons (and honestly, it's for the best, as NYCC is probably the weakest track here, while When It Started may be my favorite) which only proves my point more. This album was the future of indie rock, and while now for some it can come off as tired, at its release there was a reason everyone copied it. For the music, OH MY GOD, IT'S SO GOOD. The Strokes are the masters of the chorus and bridge, nearly every one here is some of the best in its genre. They're catchy, brilliantly condensed, and don't sacrifice any amount of Julian's nonchalant tone to get their feeling across. He knows when to get angry, and he knows when to hold it back to create an incredibly charming experience where there's a satisfying tug-and-pull throughout. The riffs, both guitar and bass, are also superb. It is clear from the first track that the bass playing will always be immaculate, but paying attention to the single but raw guitar allows each song to truly blossom, and matches the deadpan tone perfectly. The whole album can only be described as concise and never a dull moment. You're hopping from one hook to the next, and not a single song suffers from overstaying its welcome. It allows for a constant, albeit subtle, change that is thoroughly great. This may not be my favorite rock album of all time or anything, but it's hard to deny its greatness, even sans context. It deserves its praise, and I only can hope in the next decade or so it will receive the mini-Renaissance it deserves.

I've listened to this album a lot and I still really like it.

perfect

Somebody turned me on to this album a couple years after it came out and I immediately loved every second of it. One of my favorite albums ever and I would recommend this to anybody that hasn't heard it before.

One of my favorites. Been listening to it for 15+ years, and not likely to ever stop. Soma, Someday, Last Nite, all great songs among the rest of the album which are all stellar offerings.

THE indie rock

another masterpiece. This one came out right at the perfect time for me. In college and trying to figure out where I was heading. The video for “last night” played allll the time on mtv2 and I was here for it!

A classic of 2000s indie, which I would maintain is one of the peak decades for the genre. Vivid memories of sweaty dancing on sticky dancefloors to Hard to Explain and Last Nite. 5*

Clearly a very influential album on the world of indie rock. It's minimalist and tight, with simple and effective instrumentation. Fun basslines, catchy guitar riffs, upbeat and basic drums. The vocals have an interesting distortion effect, and the album has a nostalgic feel to it; helped by the lyrics dealing with young adult life, love, and angst. All of the songs are catchy and concise and pleasant to listen to; it's quite repetitive, but since I like the sound of it, and it isn't too long, I enjoy its distinct style. My favourite track varies, but right now, it might be 'Last Nite'.

The Rock Revival

Classic early 00s indie rock. Perfect album that gets in, makes it's point and gets out leaving you wanting repeat listens.

Probably my most-listened album ever. From age 16 to now. One of the best!

AAAH INCREIBLE INCREIBLE

Probably one of the greatest alternative records of all time. I truly am envious of anyone who hasn’t listened to this and gets to listen to it for the first time. From the first notes of the first song, it’s catchy, fun and innovative. Genre defining, era defining.. I don’t have enough praise for this album. Top tracks are Is This It, Soma, Someday, Last Nite and Hard to Explain but truly every single song on here is incredible

Listened before?: Yes! A millennial classic.

This record saved rock & roll. 5 stars.

Best Rock album of its decade

Ferdig snakka

Høsten 2021. Skål og snakkes.

Amazing

I'm so blinded by nostalgia

Titular track is the best on the album and it kinda fades from there but overall good album

Oh come on..... just fucking amazing

This is a great album

Amazing… this is just incredible.

One of the best things on this hearth

One for the ages

This album changed my life in high school. I love the Strokes so much.

i mean its one of my favs of all time

An undoubted classic of the indie rock scene of early 2000s. Simple, catchy and straight to the point, without any pretentiousness or self-indulgence to muddle everything down. The sound of a bunch of blokes messing around and having a good time doing it.

I own a copy of this on vinyl. It's a good listen.

Have loved this album for a long time, still holds up.

5/5 obviously. was one of the albums that founded my music taste when i was a teenager. thanks stern!!

Obviously class

There are very few debut albums that can top this one. One of the most delightful listening experiences you'll find, either in the international release or the American release. I first picked this one up shortly after Mic the Snare's Deep Discog Dive on the Strokes, and it's quickly risen to be one of my favorite albums in general. Tows the line between downer and fun expertly: the lyrics are pretty depressing, but god DAMN if the songs aren't fun to jam to. I really can't express my love for this record in words yet, it's just a really good listen that set the stage for many to follow. No doubts about the score.

Great album.

I be Strokin' my shit to this

Consistently boppable. Catchy guitar melodies. Sort of a consistent style, but I wasn't bored. I didn't like the songs where he sounds like he's singing through a walkie-talkie.

Saw them live on this tour in a small club before they blew up and now I won't shut up about it every time their name comes up. Haven't kept up with them but this album remains tight AF.

One of the best rock albums of the 2000s

Flawless

Really fun and energetic album with really catchy songs. Literally doesn't waste a single second of your time every song is just perfectly made 10/10 Favourite: Take It or Leave It Least Favourite: None

This is #day260 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… "I just wanted to be one of The Strokes," right? This is one of those snapshots of an album whose role in the early '00s post-punk revival is undeniable. There's something peculiar about what you hear on the band's debut. It feels like it's meant to sound vintage. There's this great mix of '70s punk and garage, but with a distinctly modern indie rock twist. Guitar pop begs the description. Sure, you can complain about the production and the buried vocals, but honestly, I don't mind that. In fact, I think that's part of what makes this album. It is what it is, a little rough around the edges. There are so many great tunes here: the title track, "The Modern Age," "Someday," "Last Nite," "Take It Or Leave It," and others. Is this it? Yes. And this is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day261.

Great front to back. All bangers.

I love the minimalism of this album.  This is low-fi at its best.  The two guitar players work so well off of each other.  It still seems fresh and raw after all of these years. Liked Songs Added: Is This It Barely Legal Someday Last Nite Take It Or Leave It

Fantastic album. Hard to believe that this album cover was considered taboo back in 2001, as well as NYC Cops.

Great album, consistent themes in songwriting and tone. I should listen to this at least once per year. It’s against like fine wine

So impressed with this album. These guys are on top of their game. A plus. Incredible music.

Thes guys fuck

Great album from top to bottom. One of my faves!

Me encanta

peak

Phenomenal sound. Heavily addicting. 5 stars. But what are these lyrics?? Still 5 stars.

Loved this album.

Já tenho imenso gosto por esse álbum desde a minha adolescência. Há nele grandes bangers e clássicos que escuto até hoje. Esse disco definiu em muitos sentidos o caminho pelo qual o indie se desenvolveu nos anos seguintes, muito influente e com razão de ser - 10/10

Yeah, I had a Strokes-fangirl moment, is that obvious?

Str8 fire easy to listen to all songs sound similar but unique energy best 35 minutes of my life

Amazing of course

Jävlar vad det svänger! Hade varit klockren femma om Reptilia var med, nu är det gränsfall men känner mig generös. Lyssnade flera gånger.

Still a killer! Hard to believe it came out 24 years ago!

Important to note how much this album helped changed music and aspects of culture. Ushered in a new type of alternative music. Instrumental in creating hipsters and bringing back skinny jeans (for better or worse). It sounds like a lot of music of that time but it was one of the first. Casablancas comments on brunch are pretty funny considering when I think of that time period and the music and culture he helped to usher in. Boozy brunch is one of the things that really pops into my head. Not his fault but yea, this album is exactly of a certain time and maybe type of person. It's great though.

YESSSSSSSSSS FIVE STARS

Pretty damned solid stuff. The last couple of tracks drag a little bit -- but it does what it was meant to do: A shoutout to the music that Julian Casablancas' evil father had on in the 70's in NYC. Straight line from the Velvets to the Strokes.

one of my favourite albums of all time

british “people” strike again

This was like one big song. In a good way of course.

Forever one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite bands. Love this one.

Stone cold classic. Effortlessly cool. Blazed a trail at the beginning of the new millennium without looking like they even cared. Not only the music but suddenly the fashion on the street changed. There was a buzz again about guitar music. Scuzzy, rough and beautiful. One of my top albums

i love this album but gooner cover

Hoy lunes de, en mi caso, volver a la preadolescencia y a la adolescencia de la mano de estos sonidos: las guitarras, la percusión, la voz de Julian Casablancas, fueron como lugares más seguros frente a la revolución interna que implica ser adolescente. Hace mil que no lo escuchaba así que no recordaba lo tremendo de éste álbum debut. Gracias y hasta mañana

indie vibe i dig

Top 10 favourite. 2001, 21 years old at University. It was like this album was made for me - angular guitar underwritten with classic 60s pop sensibilities. I can remember where I was when I 1st heard Last Nite, and that is what your Favourites are all about.

is this the most important record of the early 2000s? it's possible! it spawned so many imitators that it's hard to listen without hearing those (everybody talks by neon trees, a truly terrible song that i completely forgot existed until i heard it on the radio a few days ago, is such a blatant ripoff of the modern age that it's crazy) I hate most of those bands and yet I still love this album. It's just a bunch of unbelievably solid tunes. so good

Personal enjoyment: 5/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5

banger after banger after banger

10/10 hard to explain is one of the best songs oat

Rating: 5/5 | Favorite Track: Take It or Leave It --- One of my all time favorite albums, pretty much as close to perfect as an album can be in my opinion. The best example of the 2000's garage rock revival.

I can’t possibly explain everything this album means to me. It feels weird to even try to talk about how great it is, because it feels like I’m talking about something deeply personal. So whatever, shut up, one of the greatest albums of all time, love you, you deserve a crown. xoxox

Macht mich einfach glücklich

What can I say that hasn’t already been said. The Strokes defined a generation. If someone tells you they don’t like the Strokes, you can’t trust them.

esse aqui mudou vidas viu (literalmente). gosto quando playboys nepobabies ricos se reúnem para fazer boa música ao invés de destruir o mundo por ai!!! uma das maiores (se nao for a maior) influência para o indie rock. eu amo eu.

I LOVE this album and I'm not sure why I never listen to it anymore. Every song is perfect, there's not a single song I skip or dislike even a bit. There are precious few albums I can say that about; not even some of my all-time favourites are front-to-back winners. I was only familiar with the version that had "New York City Cops" on it. Admittedly, I hadn't even heard its replacement "How it Started" until today, nor did I even know about the change until years later. For me, this album harkens back to 2001's early internet era. I distinctly remember using Audiogalaxy to burn a copy of this at my grandparents' house, as they had DSL and a newer computer with a CD burner. If you're under the age of about 30, I'm sorry, but you missed the halcyon days of pirating music online. Of course, now you can listen to whatever you want, whenever you want. Back then, access to music was limited and expensive, unless you were content with the library's catalogue and/or the TV/radio. If you were lucky, a friend would have a CD you wanted, and you'd find a way to burn a copy of it for yourself. Going to a website, typing in what you wanted, and simply clicking "Download" was amazing. I still have so much music from that fleeting, perfect time. Once I had my burned copy of this in hand (which I still have, nearly 24 years later), I listened to it constantly. Even my mom -- who hates everything made after 1975 -- liked it. The Strokes had an official website that sold merch. I REALLY wanted a t-shirt, but online commerce was a new concept at the time, and there was no way my mom would trust putting her credit card number onto the information superhighway. I resorted to buying a blank hoodie and printing The Strokes logo onto iron-on transfer paper. I did a terrible job and could never wear it outside the house. Every time I've seen someone wearing a shirt with The Strokes' logo, the 15 year old in me is still envious. Anyway, back to 2025, this album is still wall to wall bangers and holds up perfectly well. This album became the foundation of my teenage musical taste and would be in the Mount Rushmore of millennials' seminal albums.

What an iconic album cover for such a great album. Rock and roll influencers of the time. So many bangers. Just makes me want to shake my body and let it all out.

Just the album for me, completely iconic, not a wrong note, and honestly reworked my brain back in the day. Feels like the greatest album ever when you’re listening to it

Just one of the best albums ever. It’s kinda truly unreal how good this thing is

I love niche, underground, indie bands

Awesome stuff

Love it x

Das ist ja richtig gut. Wow

Easy 5. Unlocked all my end of middle school, start of high school nostalgia. We'd jam to this driving around aimlessly - a perfect soundtrack to scream-sing in the car. 5/5

Love this album. Nut for the liberal use of radio EQ on Julian Casablanca’s’ vocals

This is actually a flawless album. Not much else to say.

Rely consistently good

Probably in my all time top 10. Didn't even need to listen. A classic.

Biblical

"Make Vintage Rock & Roll Great Again." As a Mexican, I'm terribly sorry for using a variation of the aforementioned fascist campaign slogan, but this is indeed the best description of the effect this album had on rock and indie music. It hasn't aged a bit over these 20 years.

Already knew this album 5/5

From fresh to classic and still blowing everyone else out the water. (Note: this is considering the UK release; the American alternate cover and track listing significantly weakens the package.)

One of my favourite bands of all time. Faultless.

Så jävla nice

They were so cool man. Defined the era.

Awesome the whole way through

I blame the existence of the phrase 'landfill indie' solely on this album. That said, I'd have lapped this up if I were a couple of years older. It just sounds like the 2000s - although I've never understood why the slightly annoying 'Last Nite' was the popular song in the UK, when 'Hard to Explain' is one of the best of the decade.

This is it.

They really could never top this one.

This album is part of my teenage identity. My friend Nayane gave me the CD when we were on foreign exchange back in 2006, and it's still one of my favorites today. "Someday" basically makes me tear up with nostalgia every time it comes on. Thanks Nayane! 6 out of 5 stars. That said, the earlier version of The Modern Age is better than the album version (they slowed it down too much).

This is indeed it - the sound of people who I don't like but wish to be, doing things which I don't approve of but wish I was getting up to. Favourite tracks: Is This It, The Modern Age, Someday, Last Nite, New York City Cops - it's all good!

Excellent! This was cohesive and fun to listen to. Fun instrumentals and vocal work all round. 'Last Nite' is my pick for a fave!

имба.