ROOM ON FIRE-The Strokes

Room on Fire-
The Strokes
Status-Out as of 2003
Label-RCA
Rating-4 Feathers

With a sudden rise to fame, and a way over-hyped album as their portfolio, they’d probably try to take advantage of their new-found fame, but shockingly they didn’t. ‘Room On Fire’ does sound like The Strokes, but it seems like they’ve developed the passion/feeling that their debut was severely lacking. “Whatever Happened?” fires up the album. It reminds me of winter, like a snowy city. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. The lines ‘But no one comes in and yes you’re alone’ and ‘I’ve got you to let me down’ really do it for me. My only problem with it is that is soundsl ike it should be the ending to the album rather than the beginning. ‘Reptilia’ is the first song I ever heard by The Strokes. It’s full of hooks, very retro guitars, and vocals that already have more ‘feeling’ than any song off of Is This It. ‘Automatic Stop’ offers a much slower, calmer pace than the previous two. Though a little repetitive, it’s still very satisfying. ‘12:51’ is the perfect song for this album. It has just the right pace and it has a guitar effect that makes it innovative enough that it right sucks you in. ‘You Talk Way Too Much’ starts out pretty boring but it really wakes up when the vocals come in. It’s alright, but nothing too memorable. ‘Between Love & Hate’ is not that great. It really hate the drums, I meant it. They sound too much like a drum machine. It sounds like it could’ve easily been on their last album, which isn’t that good of a thing. ‘Meet Me in the Bathroom’ sounds like it could be used at the end of a movie or something. It’s just got that sort of sound and it much more entertaining than the previous song. ‘Under Control’ too sounds like it was off of Is This It, except worse, much worse. It’s the average, non-descript, monotonous sound that got tired real fast. ‘The Way it is’ has the same general gist as ‘Meet Me in the Bathroom’, except it’d be when the character in the movie has a slight epiphany and acts on it. It’s a very nice song. ‘The End Has No End’ starts out loud but gets mellow quickly, but not boring. It has a nice pace and captivating vocals, especially about half way through when it sounds like he’s pouring his soul into the words. ‘I Can’t Win’ has a very retro sound. Like ‘The Way it is’ and ‘Meet Me in the Bathroom’, it sounds like the end of a movie, but this is when the credits are rolling, but it’s not a stupid pop song. It’s a decent ending to a very good album. Though most people and critics may not agree, I think that this album was better and a step up from their first. They seem like they thoroughly care about the music and they don’t repeat the same riff over and over again. They’ve matured quite a bit and if they were able to top their first album, I’ve got a feeling that they’ll only get better.

“And I wish I could write a song where all the parts work. When you hear a song like that, it's like finding a new friend.”-Julian Casablancas

The Strokes Official Website
Note: Sorry for the lack of reviews, but like I said two a week and one Friday Thing from now on. Also, you may notice I don't have a video. I looked on Youtube and all the embedding was disabled for all their songs so I'm kinda peeved. To give the post a bit more life, I made the quote a different color. I hope you enjoy this review and I'll be doing an A Perfect Circle review again this week. Thank you for your comments!