Is This It | 
 enlarge | Artist: The Strokes
Label: RCA
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy Used: $1.59
You Save: $10.39 (87%)
New (43) Used (66) Collectible (2) from $1.59
Rating:  879 reviews
Sales Rank: 2211
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 68101
UPC: 078636810126
EAN: 0078636810126
ASIN: B00005QIPH
Publication Date: 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Is This It | | • | The Modern Age | | • | Soma | | • | Barely Legal | | • | Someday | | • | Alone, Together | | • | Last Nite | | • | Hard To Explain | | • | When It Started | | • | Trying Your Luck | | • | Take It Or Leave It |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
With all the media hype that dogged the Strokes before the release of their debut album, it's rather apt that they chose the title Is This It. On the strength of just five songs released on two singles, the Strokes were being hailed as everything from the saviors of rock & roll to the Savior himself. Surely, few bands could live up to the impossibly high standards set for this young five-piece, but the band needn't have worried: Is This It is one of the most exciting and energetic debut albums to spring from New York's long-dormant club scene. In fact, the Strokes are a New York City band through and through; like the Velvet Underground, these are a bunch of uptown artsy types elegantly slumming downtown to the tried and tested themes of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Their singer-songwriter, the fantastically named Julian Casablancas, delivers his lyrics with a weary nonchalance that belies his age on songs like the title track, "Soma," "Hard to Explain," and the altogether wonderful "Barely Legal." And the band recalls the likes of Television and the Stooges on "Last Nite" and "The Modern Age." Let's hope this sexy, stylish, and undeniably cool band is the future of rock & roll. --Robert Burrow
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent! September 11, 2008
John B. Goode (Seattle, WA)
Arguing about whether the songs/this album is good or bad is meaningless. Everyone is different and like different things. Whether you like or dislike something is unlikely to sway me. So, all I want to say is I really like the album.
I first heard this band from the video game Rock Band and immediately started looking up their work. I've got this one and Impressions so far.
What stands out about them are the vocals, Casablancas doesn't sing the words, he shouts them into the mic making them slightly distorted, and what I really like are the guitar rhythms and riffs, very catching. Like any composition, it really isn't the individual pieces that sound good, it's the combination of all the pieces of the band that make it sound great. Very catchy. It's a 10/10 for me so far.
 More Boring Than Coldplay, Nickelback, and Linkin Park, COMBINED August 29, 2008
Untitled (nowhere)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This album, it seems, will probably be regarded for a while as being a classic. I stand by my stance that I really don't care for negative reviews as much, because music is enjoyable to other people, that I can understand. But, this?
Only if you were dead or in a coma. This infernal piece of _______ lacks everything that makes up music. Most people could easily just knock them for the fact they are derived, unimaginative music that doesn't have an ounce of creativity. I don't even know WHO influenced these clowns, as the fact they seem to have no inspiration in their music and don't take their influences and make an interesting, or a sound that sounds great and has a value to it. These guys are probably as derivative as you can get, and I'm sure most veteran alternative/punk/indie listeners would have no trouble tearing this band apart and exploiting their influences.
But that's not even the main reason why these guys are _____. Tell me if you hear any resemblence of passion in these songs. I hear a guy moaning, a rhythm section as life-filled as a Korg Metronome. It's literally lifeless, and that's all the rhythm section is, a lifeless pile of some guy using a stick to hit a drum. thanks to the drums and bass, you will feel like sleeping, or hitting your head on the wall, because sleeping is a great cure for the uncontrollable boredom when listening to this.
And the melodies? What ________ melodies?! All I hear is some guy touching the guitar in an organized motion, getting out bland, guitar noises. The guitar might as well be non-existant, and it adds to the monotony, just listen to the laughable notes these idiots play. And the worst part? NO FEELING. Many bands (the Ramones) are as simple and stupid sounding as you can get, but you could tell the moment they started they play they were playing with so much feeling. But this band don't have any feeling. Sluggish, dull, and draining, it's like watching paint dry for the entire run of the album. Actually, I think staring at a wall might be more interesting. Seriously. No ________ joke.
You really can't pick out many awful differences in this album, because every song probably bleeds into one another, resulting in one long boring song, even though there are clearly eleven "different" songs. When it comes to radio rock, this is the absolute nadir. Over hyped overrated ________. In my opinion, this is the most BORING album I have ever heard. Next to this, hardcore techno sounds interesting. Makes me wanna smash the radio.
Yeah, Your not helpful at all, so remember that when you press the button. And also, trying to argue with me about my opinion and debunking it is like trying to destroy a wall with your bare hands.
-/10
 The album title.... August 9, 2008
M. Grisham (Iowa)
...pretty much sums up how I felt when I listened to this album. Yes, I know I'm arriving late to the whole "Strokes" scene. But it was recommended to me by Amazon so I decided to give it a listen.
My first thought was "which song is one I would have heard before?" you know, just to put a sound with the name. So I looked through, trying to recognize a title. Nope. So I played the first 15-20 seconds of each song trying to recognize one. Nope. So I listened to the whole album... and that is when I discovered why I have not heard any of The Strokes' music before: it sounds like countless other bands I've heard. Maybe I HAVE heard them before, but I wouldn't know it, because it doesn't stand out.
I'm not saying that it's not catchy music. It is. Or that it's not fun to listen to. It is. But here's the thing. When I play this album, I know I'm going to need something else to occupy my mind as well. I can't just sit and enjoy the soaring melodies or ponder lyrics or have my emotions spilled by this music, because it's doesn't possess stand-out melodies or lyrics or emotion. The album is kind of a blur of easy beats and simplistic riffs, and yes they are catchy, but after a while I have no idea how many songs into the album I am because I can't differentiate. This is my assessment: it is great background music. I can listen to this when I'm, say...scrapbooking. Or doing homework. I don't know, maybe I could jog to it. Or, like right now, type a review. And sure, my feet might tap and I might bob my head a little. And of course, I am enjoying myself. Don't get me wrong, it's good music. However, when I come across something that has received THIS much critical acclaim, I expect to be blown away. This album does not blow me away. In fact, it makes me think "is this it?"
 Meh June 10, 2008
C. R. Dillon
Not much here. The whole album is very repititous. All in all it's standard, and not much more.
I wouldn't mind the standard chords and rather bland instrumentation if the lyrics were there to back it, but they aren't. As another reviewer said, there's nothing here that's new or innovative. That said it's not horrendous, but also not particularly enjoyable.
Awesome Album; cracked CD case May 19, 2008
Stimpack (Rockville, MD United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The album is great. The product from Amazon came with a crack in the case - not impressed.
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