Update: Listen to “You’re So Right” here. Updated
I caved and listened to the previews and this is, without a doubt, Strokes 2.0. It’s like nothing we’ve heard.
Via twitter.com/marioticuore
Download the previews here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KIFBXYIN
{ 239 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Hasn’t it dawned on any of you that they are making music for themselves, too?! I find it incredibly selfish of those who are bitching about it, “this is not the strokes, this is a different band,” “why cant they stay the same,” whine whine whine.
At the end of the day, if you don’t like it, then don’t listen to it. They aren’t making music to please individuals. It’s for the fans, yes, but I like to think that they primarily make music because they enjoy creating it. They bloody well aren’t going to make music they can’t stand to play. And lord knows if you wanted me to reprise ITI 10 years later just to please some bitchy fans, then yea, I’d call it a day.
@Em
Sure they can make music for themselves and even depart from previous styles, but this is just not even the same band anymore. Look at FIoE, it is definitely a departure from the previous albums, but it is still good rock. This is some kind of techno hip hop that I think is just tarnishing their name. You say they aren’t doing this for the fans, but I know they want to please their fans and it is a primary reason for making music; they feed those who cherish them like gods.
Overall, people are fine with a departure, but not a complete overhaul. It would be like if Pearl Jam decided to make a rap album. Fans wouldn’t like it.
And you say that they are making it for themselves, but I think Julian is acting as a puppet master here. Taken for a Fool is one of the few previews that sounds good, and, surprise, it is written by Nick and not Julian. He is taking potentially good songs and is infusing them with things from his bad solo album. He can do whatever he wants when he is solo, but don’t ruin the strokes like this. I honestly think that if all effects were to be removed from the songs, I would like 8/10 songs as opposed to the 2 or 3 out of 10 that I like right now.
I want to hear the demos for these songs, they are probably better than the finished versions. And I bet live versions will be better too without all that techno crap.
Also I am disappointed with Julian’s singing in those previews. He sounds like he is just phoning it in, just like in the Making of vids.
I’m sorry to say, but I really think this will be the last Strokes album.
Well chaps, at least we got two great albums out of em. It’s just such a shame that ITI and RoF were such great albums and then they come in with this.
slow down drama queen.
what are people’s favorite songs just judging from the previews? i’m just wondering….i really like it so far, i think it sounds like the strokes, just doing 1980′s instead of 70′s….gratisfaction and taken for a fool seem to stand out to me…what do you all think?
i know it’s a little lame for me to say, but i really am digging all of it so far for completely different reasons. if i had to choose: two kinds of happiness, and the last 4 songs on the album. i think the back it is stronger for me and my tastes than the front half….
While I do agree this is The Strokes 2.0, it sounds so refreshing to me, and even though I’ve only listened to the clips once, I can’t wait to hear the album in it’s entirety. Although I do enjoy the early 2000s Strokes as much as the other Strokes fan, and maybe even more, what they have with their new sound on Angles is something special.
This is brilliant, idk wtf is wrong with jettski. This isn’t a huge departure from the strokes i fell in love with. I like the direction and I feel that they needed something like this. I’m sure they will one day bring back the classics, but for now, this is fucking awesome.
al of you who talkin shit know damn well you gona be listening to these songs 24/7
@epic I couldn’t agree more…they’re trying new things but eventually I also think they will go back to the classics…to keep getting better bands should experiment…I think angles is awesome
I think this album will be great. I love the old strokes but i love the new Strokes too. We have had 3 great albums from them. I think it’s time they changed their sound! I love it alllll
I can’t wait for it to come out and I can already tell Machu Picchu will be my favorite!
@jettski1 dude, you’re 100% right.
I just don’t understand how people can like it as much. I mean, they can, that’s there right… it just amazes me that people who know this band so well can have such massively different point of views.
@Cris
Damn right I will be listening to these 24/7. But I cannot enjoy them. I listen to this, and then I listen to Hard to Explain, or Someday, or I Can’t Win, or You Only Live Once, or Red Light….
And I just wonder what happened. I know they have the potential to make excellent music like this… so why don’t they?
LOOOOOL AT PEOPLE JUDGING WITH 30 SECOND PREVIEWS
And for news, a publicist of the strokes reported: “So, as it stands, the band isn’t playing “Under Cover of Darkness” at SNL on Saturday…they’ve chosen a bit more of a down-tempo song rather than an anthemic and catchy song…I won’t say any more, just that I’m a bit surprised and think they are making the wrong choice…”
evolution…..they can’t stay with the same style forever……it happens to all the good bands don’t worry….wait for the full songs and the 320 quality to judge……………………………………………….”I’ve been all around this town
Everybody’s singing the same song for ten years”
I agree 100% with dsetvriolke!
Evolution is ok. A complete overhaul is not, and it isn’t necessary. This isn’t the strokes anymore.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. For some reason they have been trying to “fix” the amazing music they made on ITI, and their albums have progressively been getting worse, in both critic ratings and fan ratings; album sales have also dropped on every album. Sure there are a few outliers, but 90% of strokes fans think that ITI>RoF>FIoE.
I’m fine with change, but don’t try to make 80s synth pop music and call it the Strokes. Where are our supposed “saviors of rock and roll” now?
@Wilson : Omg I love ” Soma ” so much
Everybody is bitching way, WAY too much. Every iconic band in history has gone through a range of musical styles throughout their career (Queen anyone?). The Strokes can’t stick to the same style forever simply to please you. They would probably shoot themselves in the head out of boredom and then we’d have nothing at all. Think about it. If you did something so infectious that everyone and their mother started copying you, would you still want to be doing the same exact thing for the rest of your career? They’ll probably have a big “return to form” when all the garage rock hype dies down and people stop copying them so damn much.
My thoughts so far is that this is indeed a much more radical departure from their roots than even FIoE was, but at the same time I think it seems (emphasis on the seems. All we have to work with is 30 seconds after all) better executed. FIoE was rife with songs that sounded unfinished, and built up without ever paying off. A lot of the songs here seem a lot more atmospheric, electronic, and strange; meaning they don’t necessarily need a catchy hook to work, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s almost like they’re going for a more MGMT vibe.
And lastly, let us not forget that as much crap as people give them for FIoE, it still got decent reviews, and was still a decent album. I don’t even think it’s possible that this could be anything less than a good album, but let’s all hope for a great one together, mkay?
refer to David, cause he’s right
Also I don’t think it’s very nice for the strokes to judge the album without even having heard it
I kinda agree with both sides; evolution of music is good, but at the same time these songs seem so non strokey? but then again these are 30 second previews so we can’t start legitimately arguing until March 22 (or earlier hopefully!)…
and I’m not sure why so many people don’t like First impressions as much…I was just looking at my itunes library and a good chunk of my top played songs are from that album…though 12:51 has been played 421 times…man I need a life haha.
@ Jettski1 I agree wih you about Taken For A Fool. It sounds so boyish and youthful (or maybe I’m looking too much into it), and it sounds like it was actually fun making it, which is something I associate with the early Strokes. Julian is a genius composer, but he sometimes really takes himself too seriously, which is OK on the Phrazes, but really confusing on this one (or on these previews, actually).
Does anyone else wish the UCoD B-side could have been a Strokes-ified version of PftY’s “Out of the Blue?’ That would have been the most amazing thing ever, unless they finally recorded “Sagganuts,” of course!
why do so many people want the same sound as ITI or ROF? I think we can all agree that those were amazing. Two of the greatest albums of all time. But when people bitch about going in a new direction, they are acting like this album is going to replace those classics. Guess what: we will always have those albums, regardless of what new direction the Strokes take. They will always play Hard to Explain, Modern Age, I Can’t Win, etc, when you see them in concert. The great thing is that now, in addition to them playing their “hits,” you now get to hear a whole new side of the Strokes. I’m sure I would love it if they put out Is This It 2, but I am definitely more excited for a whole new genre of Strokes music to enjoy in the long term.
My two cents: This is intense. The vocals bother me a bit. Lou from shesfixingherhair compared it to River of Brakelights. I see what she’s sayin’ but I think RoB trumps this. But then this is all upon first listen…it always takes some getting used to Strokes songs. I’ll say “You’re So Right” is really interesting. Doesn’t cater to my taste but that hardly means it’s not good.
Whoopsies posted on the wrong one. I’m not listening to the previews. Holdin’ out for the album.
does anyone feel a michael jackson vibe on machu picchu?? Pretty nice tune though!
Don’t think that everything is going to stay the same. That’s impossible.
them new strokes got ya down? hey we can always pretend!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCx5wox6iwY
I think it sounds great…very different from the norm. but we live in an era in which we have no music to call our own…w e have a lot of different varieties of music but none that define our generation, wat the strokes are doing is getting all of the varieties and putting it into one, from hip hop to 80s synth, to 60′s guitar…they are doing it all on angles… I can hear all the different members of the bad influence the music…Two kinds sounds like julan/nikolai…Games sounds like an albert/julian mix…Gratisfaction sounds very fab influenced, metabolism sounds like heart in a cage…and the others sound great…i cant wait for this new album…great job by the strokes!
found these still online for those of you who still want to peep the previews. the more I listen, the better it all sounds.
games sounds like a complete gem.
http://thedailywh.at/2011/02/28/new-music-of-the-day-the-strokes/
@Gabe – Wow, you’re a little up tight, don’t you think? Telling me I’m a clown and telling me to GTFO just because my MUSICAL opinion is different than yours? It’s music, man, just relax. Take a chill pill.
you’re actually variety one particular admin your blogging is wonderful i continually test your web site i’m positive you might be the perfect
Actually necessary article admin great a person i bookmarked your net web page see you in up coming web site put up.
guruisthebomb 571918
← Previous Comments