“All The Time” will debut on Zane Lowe’s program a week from today — it will likely be the Hottest Record in the World on the Feb. 12 program — and RCA has seemingly started sending out the record to publications.
Readers mateja and Acombs1793 tracked down a few of the initial reactions posted on Twitter. They can be read below…
NME editor…
Strokes album is an emotional rollercoaster. Current mood – sounds half like the new Phoenix album, half like the new Strokes album #strokes
— Jenny Stevens (@jenny_stevens) February 4, 2013
Music writer who lives in Minnesota…
What a truly strange record this is–like listening to a succession of different radio stations late at night. #ComedownMachine — Erik Thompson (@eriktmpls) February 5, 2013
Looks like Julian’s falsetto is sadly here to stay for the most part. #ComedownMachine — Erik Thompson (@eriktmpls) February 5, 2013
Editor at ShortList Magazine in London…
Not saying this new Strokes album sounds a bit 80s but a beach volleyball montage just broke out in the office.
— Jimi Famurewa (@Jimfam) February 5, 2013
@tttt9292 Strokesy elements but it’s not like there’s a Last Nite on it. One Way Trigger is a decent clue
— Jimi Famurewa (@Jimfam) February 5, 2013
More…
julian is so debonair and sexy, even the bit that sounds like in for the kill is good and the songs are very attention grabbing
— Ben Homewood (@ben_homewood) February 5, 2013
the last song would sound good if you listened to it while snogging someone, perhaps in a quaint coastal tea room
— Ben Homewood (@ben_homewood) February 5, 2013
it’s really romantic and sounds like the olden days
— Ben Homewood (@ben_homewood) February 5, 2013
{ 148 comments… read them below or add one }
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@biff maybe they cant
@annie, modern age you guys say agree to disagree but the 2 of you troll the comments section on this site and disagree with anyone who does not share your same opinion.
I admit after the Kesha update I stopped checking this site on a daily basis. So I was completely shocked when I read a comment on youtube talking about the Strokes new album- I quickly jumped over to strokes news and behold its true! I cant belive only after 2 years we will have a new album.
My initial reactions are OWT is pretty good def not a greatest hit, have to admit I’m a little dissapointed the band is staying in the direction of Angles and Phrazes. Its sad but I think Alberts and Fabs records were better. Having said that I will preorder Comedown Machine and drive my wife crazy listening to it every time were in the car.
I think there’s a few things everyone should have clear to participate in the discussion and don’t repeat easily refutable arguments:
- CHANGE ≠ EVOLUTION
- And change, doesn’t always has to be radical change. There’s a lot of bands that have progressed through the years keeping themselves in the same musical range but refreshing their sound and being creative and original in that path.
The Strokes have made a drastically turn in their sound? It’s ok. At least with me, I don’t want Is this It 2 or something like Room On Fire. I’m ok with a band exploring new sounds, expanding their musical limits and taking risks. But the more important thing, and I think here is where TS are failling, is the self-awareness of their limitations. OWT is a clear example of a band going too far away from their strenghts. It’s not as bad as it seems when you listen it for the first time, but it stills keep being a pretty weak effort, approaching to bizarre at some points, with big flaws both in the composition and in the mixing. I won’t judge them for that song, I listen records, and I’m waiting for CM, which I will listen without any prejudice. But that song and some of the latest reviews are not the most encouraging clues.
And to that “I want The Strokes to sound like they want to sound” that someone said above, I would like that too, but considering Angles and OWT, I have the feeling that not even them know how they want to sound.
You know when the strokes will stop experimenting and try to create the sound that made them famous? When their in their late 40/50′s and look rediculous on stage…
Considering some of the reviews, I would bet this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk_w-YyJbfY (0:24)
has made the record. Track #5 or #10 maybe.
For those of you who don’t like synths… full guitar cover of OWT. I would say it’s not bad…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WCtQCMDrA0
Someone else compared the last track to a bossa nova track. I’m down with that.
Whenever I see knee-jerk reactions to musical acts changing, I always wonder what it’d be like to take the internet back to the 1970s and see how Bowie’s career would have fared. Seeing as he’s my favorite artist, I’m all for constant change. Who cares what critics think. They all slept on Low and Lodger for decades, too.
@mamas broken dreams, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize wanting to agree to disagree meant that I wasn’t allowed to have an opinion.
@adagio
I am not a big fan of that review at all….especially this:
The Monitors @themonitorscom
Back to the #Strokes new album, and after a brief blip of decent music in the middle, it’s back into the musical sewer.
eeeek. Kind of wish they pulled a Radiohead and just dropped the album without the hype…all these reviews are painting a picture for me before I even hear it (I should probably stop seeking out these reviews…haha).
@mateja
I really hope so. I love that bit at 0:24.
Yo boys&girls
I just saw that the cover of Comedown Machine resume the cover style of ITI (european-version) – if u look at the small sides (left and right) of the cd….the used-red look, black and white style of lettering is very similar
:O
Everything that I’m hearing about this album is making the wait even harder. I’m not put off by anything I’m hearing, just incredibly intrigued. Ben Homewood’s tweets especially.
have any of the critics who listened to the album said anything about the tracklisting yet?
also, I like hearing some negative reviews. history shows the strokes are at their best when they’re a polarizing force.
@Dracula’s Lunch
I find Ben Homewood’s tweets most interesting too. He’s not being negative and is so picturesque. I’m so curious I can hardly bare it…
@LillySu, I know! It’s the worst waiting haha. All The Time will surely be a nice taste but I want the full meal damnit!
If anyone wants some new tunage, Dumbo Gets Mad’s new album is out! Some really nice tunes on it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXpQL669Y2w
Wonder if the single will leak before Tuesday….
@Biff
I feel like it will happen. I’d be pretty surprised if it doesn’t ..
I think Regina Spektor, or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be pretty damn ideal. Or maybe even Vampire Weekend. VW were def one of the best live shows and crowds iv seen in some time! Nothing will ever top the Strokes crowd at The Cosmopolitan in Vegas though! Only time iv ever really feared for my safety at a show. Must have lost 10 pounds that night…
@ Dom
I was there too!!! =D
@Dom
I really wanted to go to that show but decided against it because it would have been expensive to fly out there and I was still assuming they were going to do a proper tour for the album. Now I kick myself for not going.
It looks like there are leaked copies of Comedown Machine floating around out there. I’ve downloaded multiple ones but they are all password protected. Really wish there was a way to get the password…
@A Minor 4-4, & I Can’t Win
Im from Vancouver and had never seen them before (a long story) so I knew I just had to go to that show. I live cheque to cheque so i am not a rich man by any means, but i paid $200 a ticket from StubHub for me and my girlfriend to go (eventhough scalpers were selling them for $60 outside the venue!). Anyway, it was the best concert of my life and i don’t regret the money i spent for a second! I strongly suggest seeing them whenever you can. Get there early and as close to the stage as possible for the best music experience of your life!
@ Anton, for future reference, I think you might want to look up “beyond reproach” before you try using it in a sentence.
Also, you are the worst type of music fan, and are exactly the type of fan I was talking about. Criticism against a band isn’t a bad thing. Or do you just automatically like whatever the Strokes put out simply because they’re the Strokes?
When you listen to a song like “15 Minutes”, does that honestly sound like the band to you? Because it doesn’t to me. It sounds like they wanted to do a song that sounded like the Pogues. And it does. And that’s the problem. It doesn’t sound inspired by the Pogues, it sounds like they’re trying to be the Pogues. And that’s not the only time they’ve done that. In fact, Julian specifically named Thin Lizzy as being a band he wanted the Strokes to sound like on Angles. And you can hear it when you listen to “Gratisfaction”, especially on Julian’s vocals. This is my point on wanting the band to sound like themselves. If I wanted Thin Lizzy, I’d listen to Thin Lizzy, not the Strokes trying to ape them. There comes a point where musical influence starts to overpower the band. Hey, maybe Julian should rap on the next album, because why not? It would just be part of the band’s new “experimental” stage.
HEY GUYS BIG NEWS
I tweeted at the monitorscom, that website that trashed the album and asked how many tracks were on Comedown Machine and they said 11.
I’m pumped for that!
Not bad journalism for an 18 year old college kid huh?
I feel as if I deserve my name in red letters now, no?
@Nickolai Casablanca, Are you sure he didn’t say that that’s what their songs are sounding like and not that he was trying to emulate them. Because I remember him saying it sounds like “futuristic Thin Lizzy”not we’re trying to sound like Thin Lizzy.
@Sean, That’s great news!! And to get your name in red letters you gotta put a website
@Nikolai Casablanca, First of all, I think you’ve proved that with your comments there is no one way The Strokes sound, which I enjoy. I get really bored of bands who sound like themselves, whatever that means, all the time.
Why do you even listen to Is This It if you think a musical influence can overpower a band? Obviously this sound came from somewhere, and seeing as it is a unified album, this sound came from a few bands they liked. So why don’t you go listen to Velvet Underground or The Stooges or Television? And of course if you don’t want them to sound like who they were influenced by, you can go all the way back to blues or field hollers and listen to that.
If you don’t like the way the Strokes are influenced by their influences, if that even makes sense, don’t listen to them. All musicians write songs where they want to sound exactly like their influences. The Stones sound like a Chuck Berry cover band at times.
To be honest, I want to hear a great Strokes record, but if I don’t like it, I can’t do anything about it. I’m sure they want to please their fans, but at the end of the day, if they like it and I don’t, I’m happy for them. I certainly won’t cry about it, I’ll just listen to the Strokes songs I do like, simple as that.
@nickolai casablancas
You’re almost beyond reproach, once again. Look, English isn’t my second language. I have a perfect understanding of what “beyond reproach” means, and how to use it in a sentence. And if you’re questioning me on that, maybe you should go look it up, and then look how it was used in the context I used it, and see if you can make any sense of it. Here, i’ll even give you definition of “reproach” to get you started:
reproach: 1. To express disapproval of, criticism of, or disappointment in (someone).
So beyond reproach would indicate that something is not worth the effort of expressing disapproval, criticism, or disappointment.
So you almost got me on a grammar correction–good job, man.
And I’m not even going to respond to what you said about the Strokes “sound.” It’s that stupid. The Strokes don’t have a sound (unless of course, you want to point to Julian having a unique voice or whatever). Their “sound” on the first two records sounds as much like other bands as 15 minutes does the Pogues or Angles does Thin Lizzy. Every heard of the Velvet Underground? Top Petty? Etc. Etc. Almost every band and every song sounds kind of like something else. I love 15 minutes for what it is–and no I don’t sit there and think how much it sounds like the Pogues anymore than I sit there and think that Last Nite sounds like Tom Petty. I don’t care if you want to criticize the band. I’m just saying get realistic in your expectations and the complaints you throw out in public.
Ata-boy Sean!
I don’t understand these arguments. I still think OWT sounds ‘Strokesy’ in a sense. Not all the songs have the same ‘sound’ per se, but *most* songs give me a certain feeling. One could describe them as ‘butterflies’ or something. All I know is that their music gives me a feeling that no other music has or does!
@Anton
Watch out! You had a typo in Tom Petty; he might swoop in and correct you again!
I don’t mind people debating a point, but when you pick at someone’s grammar… My older sister did that to me when we were kids!
@Sean
That’s cool!
Way to go!
@Sean
Awesome! 11 is a good number!
@Everyone else
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrRbq7ACGoU&feature=related
Let’s just keep it fun, alright? There’s a new motherfucking Strokes album coming out!
@Maya
Never heard of ‘em
So there are three sides to this argument.
1. I want Is This It 2/I do not want a new Strokes.
2. I don’t want Is This It 2, but I don’t want a far off departure.
3. I welcome a departure from Is This It.
I would say I am in group 2. I am for the band evolving and such, but I would like them to return to their roots a bit more. I’m afraid that this album might sound more like their solo projects combined rather than The Strokes. I want them to keep the clashing guitars and to not head too far off into synth-land. The Strokes are The Strokes because of their garage rock roots. Some experimentation is fine, but too much will scare away fans. I also think that this album could possibly sound like an evolved Angles.
Now I’m sure some of the people that sound like they are in group 1 are actually in group 2. They are just a bit extreme. You guys should know that not everyone who is afraid of the band’s possible new sound only want an Is This It 2. They probably just want some form of a return like I do.
Those of you in group 1 (which I think are very few) need to be a bit more open to what the band is doing. Accept that they are maturing as a band (and I know you guys hate this answer but it’s the truth) and may not be capable of creating an Is This It 2. Of course, it his all up to your opinion of what an Is This It 2 would be.
I don’t know what else to say. “I’ll try anything once” or something.
When are we gonna get the tracklisting? I feel like we should have it by now
@Matt
Well said. I think I’m just looking for a bit more “return to form” from them. Both Is this it and Room on Fire played pretty huge roles in my life. Cheesy, but when Is this it came out, I was just graduating highschool, had just left my first long term girlfriend. I listened to that album countless countless times. I used to drive around town, playing it constantly in the car. We’d have house parties, and it was always on. I saw them on tour and was blown away. I saw them again and was blown away. I listened to Is This It over and over until Room on Fire came out. I was so psyched for the release. I downloaded the leak and was blown away again. I remember the day the Reptilia video was to be released on MTV, rushing home from work to see it, and my jaw dropped at it’s awesomeness. I went and saw them again….twice. The momentum kept up, I kept ROF on heavy rotation almost until First Impressions of Earth. Then Arcade Fire’s Funeral dropped in 04, and I fell hard in love. Funeral became my go to album like Is this it and Room on Fire did. But I still kept those records in hard core rotation. Then FIOE dropped, and I didn’t want to admit it, but I was falling out of love a bit. I loved maybe 5-6 songs at most where I adored every tune off of the first 2. They just felt so inspired on the first 2. Than, as the time went by, the musical scope kind of changed for me, Arcade Fire being my go to band (replacing the Strokes), as well as many others in between. Than I got excited to hear they were coming back. Than Phrazes dropped of course, and than Angles. And again I liked them, and I still do, but it was a handful of tracks that I really liked. I never listened to those last 3 albums like their first 2. I don’t know if it’s style, they’ve come across as less inspired, or I feel the song writing isn’t as good, I don’t know. I just don’t like them near as much as those first two. I don’t care what they do to be creative and write songs, I just wish I could get that feeling back that I got from those first 2 albums. It’s not reliving history, it’s being able to fall in love with an album and it have such a great replayability, it sticks with me for years. All three Arcade Fire albums have done that for me, and kind of replaced the Strokes as my go to band since those first two albums. I’m still excited and interested and hopeful, though.
@ Matt
I’m with you
“Track 5 – the mellowest thing they’ve ever done. Track 6 – the punkiest thing they’ve ever done. Both are pretty good actually. #Strokes” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my god. PUNK? SAGGANUTS/RHYTHM SONG!!!
@Matt
well said.
@Mandingo
I agree…I just would like an album I can play from start to finish on repeat (probably a lot to ask haha…but I felt that way with the first three albums!)
I guess what it comes down to is whether or not my “personal taste” has evolved alongside theirs ..and that is TBD.
In any case I’m glad they’re back and seem to be having fun making music
@Mandingo
I like your post #138 and I think you explained nicely why you have that special love for the first two albums and why others are not that good for you: the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Glass of ordinary water tastes fantastic to thirsty person. And as you can’t feel something towards a song just because you know it is expected from you, those five guys can’t make some certain kind of music just because some fans expect it from them. They have to make music which is deeply meaningful to them now. Only in that case they will make objectively good album. And we can take it or leave it.
@Mandingo
I forgot to say that I love Arcade Fire’s all 3 albums, especially first two, and I’m impatiently waiting for their fourth one later this year. Looks like this year will be musically extremely exciting.
@Sean
11 is fantastic! Thanx for info…
@Mandingo
I agree. I don’t mind that they’re venturing onto other avenues [i.e. '80s pop]. I, like you just wish that they will bring back some of that original passion that they brought to the first two records that basically made those records. Because it really doesn’t matter if the songs are more 80s synth instead of 70s garage rock, as long as they share the same feeling as the old records it will hit big, but my hopes are doubtful. It’s just the nature of the game.
@Jerry
How did you find it?
lol if NME gave it such a frustrating interview i dont know
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