Pretty much everything a second album needs to be, it's like Is This It but more emotional, more colourful, slightly better.
Room's similarity to its predecessor ultimately bespeaks a purity of vision, not a dearth of new ideas.
A triumph of excellent songwriting and fabulously co-dependant musicianship, ‘Room On Fire’ is the perfect second album: it builds on their early promise whilst developing at a steady enough pace to suggest that they could still get better.
Room on Fire isn't a huge progression from Is This It?, but it stands as a more polished version of the style that the Strokes have always employed.
Room on Fire ultimately proves itself a worthy successor and by far one of the year's best pop-rock albums.
Some may gripe that it's never as good as the first time, but Room on Fire shows that even after all that happened to the Strokes, they can still surprise.
They may not be able to get away with milking this formula for many more albums, but for now, Room on Fire's eleven songs find them drowsily getting away with what they do best.
His remarkable performance enlivens even the album's most underwhelming passages.
The Strokes come across as a world-sized band that's tethering itself ... Nonetheless, this record is good.
If you bought the first album and loved it, you'll probably love Room On Fire just as much.
The too-obvious (and too constricted) influences discernible on The Strokes' debut have been smoothed and moulded here into something more uniquely theirs, while the comparatively tight focus of Julian Casablancas's lyrical concerns confirms the initial impression that this albums is a more homogenous offering than Is This It.
He builds atmosphere out of evocative lyrics and emotional scenery, and he does it without leaning on linear narrative or songs with singular interpretations.
Anyone who invested anything in ”Is This It” is destined to walk away from ”Room on Fire” a little disappointed.
A roaring opener, a trio of great potential singles and a remarkable slow number successfully divert attention from the fact that half of Room on Fire is uninspired filler.
The only gripe I have with this record are the long silent sequences between songs.
This album has some great tracks on it. I love the first 2 and last 2, but everything in the middle is extremely forgettable. While this album is very short, the mid section ruined it for me, making it feel way longer than it should have
i like this album, not very memorable tho except some iconic Strokes songs which i come back to such as What Ever Happened?, Reptilia and 12:51. it's nothing too special for me and like i said the songs are very forgettable and ordinary.
A formidable follow up to Is This It, with some questionable mixing, some strong tracks, and a few weaker ones as well. This record is good but nothing too special.
1 | What Ever Happened? 2:49 | 91 |
2 | Reptilia 3:39 | 96 |
3 | Automatic Stop 3:27 | 88 |
4 | 12:51 2:33 | 88 |
5 | You Talk Way Too Much 3:06 | 84 |
6 | Between Love & Hate 3:16 | 81 |
7 | Meet Me In the Bathroom 2:56 | 84 |
8 | Under Control 3:07 | 86 |
9 | The Way It Is 2:21 | 78 |
10 | The End Has No End 3:05 | 89 |
11 | I Can't Win 2:42 | 88 |