They parted ways with Nigel Godrich for this?

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The Strokes' "Room on Fire" may the worst-produced good album since Metallica's ... And Justice For All. Guitars and keys and drums ... too high!! Voice and bass ... too low! What the fuck were they thinking? It distracts mightily from what could have been a really great pop record. Yuck.

― Chris O., Thursday, 30 October 2003 07:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I disagree.

― Sean (Sean), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Get over the oral fixation and womb nostalgia

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:40 (twenty-two years ago)

i like the production but the drumming is thoroughly out of time

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Get over the 'nauralistic fallacy', having to have everything be like a 'heartbeat'!

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:00 (twenty-two years ago)

coming from someone who has made several records with very out-of-time drumming, i can cope with it. but it came as a surprise.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:01 (twenty-two years ago)

(my records, not dave q's, which i assume have superlative percussion)

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:02 (twenty-two years ago)

re 'my' record - (*shudders at memory*) The presence of a click-track worked on the drummer like combination teargas and Thorazine. I wish I'd known that would happen before booking the studio time. (Beats self about head)

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:08 (twenty-two years ago)

anyhoo other than the fact that everything sounds too slow and the record feels like it should be about 10 minutes longer, it's good stuff.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Will someone tape it for me? Cause I really don't want to waste the money on buying it.

But I was shocked into shame to discover that I didn't HATE HATE HATE the single on first listen. OK, my Other Husband was the worst thing about it. If the song had had some bored French chick singing about socialism, it would have been fantastic, but instead there was this mumbling trustafarian.

I need to hear it so that I can know that the rest of it is so totally dull that I can safely hate them again.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 09:46 (twenty-two years ago)

dave q where can i get your record on the net?

― cool kid of death, Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think anywhere anymore, email me if u want one

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:06 (twenty-two years ago)

i like the album, and i like the production. i just didn't expect them to do exactly the same as on the first one. this could have been recorded at the same time (and i still have to decide wether i like it this way or not).

― joan vich (joan vich), Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I might buy this to piss people off, also the single's pretty great

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the guitar lead on the single. I think that's what got me. Shame about the singer, though.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

It's no 'We are all made of stars'. What's this guy whingeing about? Should we care?

― Enrique (Enrique), Thursday, 30 October 2003 10:28 (twenty-two years ago)

kate, email me and I'll burn it for you.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 October 2003 11:31 (twenty-two years ago)

'vocals should be louder' = 'i should stick to acoustic singer-songwriters'!! They are THE STROKES. See the 'S' on the end? Like it's a band, there's five of them and the voice in a band is another 'instrument'. The great thing about studios is you can mix them anyway you want! It's 'The Strokes', not 'Julian Casablancas Recites Poems in Tribute to Elliot Smith'!! I've spent so much time defending this record that I'm almost dreading actually hearing it, but these criticisms are just WEIRD! Like yer grandmother saying "b-b-but [asthmatic whine] I can't make out what he's s-s-saying!!!"

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 11:32 (twenty-two years ago)

See, they were 'tight' w/ the producer, so I assume they had some say in how it sounded. So to say 'I like the Strokes but not the production' makes no sense whatever! The production IS the band! Like saying, "Honey you're beautiful but you really need a fuckin' facelift!"

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 11:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheers, Nick, check yer email!

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 11:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I really really really want to hear the stuff they did with Nigel.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Thursday, 30 October 2003 12:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree with Dave Q about the vocals being just another instrument in this case. It was the same thing with the Feelies on "The Good Earth."
BTW does anyone else see/hear any similarities with the Strokes and the Feelies. I didn't get the connection until I saw them live, but maybe it had more to do with the way they were strumming their guitars. But a friend who's never seen them also made the connection.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Thursday, 30 October 2003 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Re vox - ('Murmur' vs 'Monster') vs ('Exile' vs 'She's the Boss')

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I really like the record's faux-rough sound, esp. on "Reptilia" and the second verse of "The End Has No End".

Meanwhile, Godrich takes on the Betas.

― Simon H., Thursday, 30 October 2003 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

julian's vocals are the best thing about the album: too loud, unintelligible, garbled, thrilling...

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:27 (twenty-two years ago)

You know, if you look up "Stevie Chick's elbow" in the dictionary, there is a picture of an ass.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

zzzzzz

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

(Whether or not it belongs to Julian Casablancas is another story.)

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Julian's the second-ugliest Stroke.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How can you SAY that? I mean, he's no Nigel Spivey, but god, how can he be second ugliest in a band with all those WHITE BOY AFROS?!?!?

The sexual attractiveness of Julian C is the ONLY thing that band had going for them, well, until the Cars-like guitar lead.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Nick, though incredibly dull, has amazing skin, cheekbones & eyes. Albert & Fab have wicked personalities and are good lookers too. Julian looks like a podgy stoner. the bass player looks like a bass player.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Julian looks like a podgy stoner.

This is the appeal, you see!

Oh wait, it's too difficult to explain the complexities of my hate-him-so-much-I-want-him thing with JC. He's not that attractive in person. ESPECIALLY when he was between and the bar at the Mercury Lounge.

I probably am with you, though, in that Nick is the most physically attractive.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

he's the least-interesting though... or the cagiest... i don't know, all the others have a certain charisma to em (especially Fab, he has the temperament of your favourite pet cat/dog), i got the impression he has the sort of cheekbones that mean he doesn't have to try.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not about him, or his looks, or his personality - well, not directly, anyway. Haven't you ever hated someone SO MUCH that you just wanted to sleep with them as sort of a grudge fuck to assert your dominance over them?

OK, I'll shut up now.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Not exactly, but people generally enjoy sleeping with me o i've never really considered it a punishment.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's a girl thing.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

i think you're right; only the most deluded man would consider sleeping with a woman as having some kind of dominance over them, but i think it can definitely be true from the woman's point of view...

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Errrr.... feminist theory of the past 150 years to thread...

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:10 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm talking in terms of merely the act of sex itself

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, oral sex, perhaps. It never fails to amuse me how males actually think this is an act of dominance over a woman when they have no idea what she is thinking, and are seemingly ignorant of her teeth...

BUT!!! This is a digression and I don't really want to go there, especially not on a Strokes thread, because, I'm, like over that.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Kate met him on Monday, her magical bun day...

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe, if he dressed up in an RAF bomber jacket and started talking about the plucky British fighting off Nazis, I might find the time of day for him, but other than that, honestly, he'd have a better chance by putting out a decent album for a change. (Though really I should reserve judgement until I've heard the rest of it.)

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

dominance? i certainly wouldn't want someone to do it to me if they didn't want to... and to be honest, the most exciting times its happened has been when the girl has (pretended perhaps) that they were getting quite hot through the act of doing it...

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but why is she getting hot? Did you ever stop to think about that? ;-)

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha, I'm starting to get really confused between this thread and the Vampire Soul thread.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Picked this up yesterday. First impression is pretty favorable (apart from the album cover art, which is postively Radioheadesque in its utter crapness). I quite like "Reptilia".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but why is she getting hot? Did you ever stop to think about that? ;-)

well, i thought about it, but i certainly didn't stop to do so.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

BTW does anyone else see/hear any similarities with the Strokes and the Feelies.

THANK YOU, JAZZBO! I've been making this argument for years, now! They're totally simillar to the Feelies (at least on record).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Damn, here comes Alex to distract us from talking smut by actually making us talk about the music again. Sigh.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry, Kate. I know, I suck like `dat.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:40 (twenty-two years ago)

But do you enjoy it?

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Har.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:43 (twenty-two years ago)

::wipes tears of laughter from eyes::

(I'd post it on the Excelsior thread, but there's too much back story to it.)

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:43 (twenty-two years ago)

This Feelies comparison is bothering me for some reason.

― scott m (mcd), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Get over the oral fixation and womb nostalgia

-- dave q (scrape10...), October 30th, 2003.

Third post on thread - eerily prescient, n'est-ce pas?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 30 October 2003 16:59 (twenty-two years ago)

That's cause Dave Q is really from the future.

― kate (kate), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

days of future past

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

This Feelies comparison is bothering me for some reason.

...because it's true. (Not that I really care, but they both do have That Sound to them, it's just that the Strokes wisely keep trying to have a drum machine sound. Alas, they keep forgetting they need to fire the human being.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

B-b-b-but I think "That Sound" is the Velvets. You can say that about 100,000 bands.

― scott m (mcd), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, yeah. Same way I can say that about eight million spacerock bands trying to be Spacemen 3.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, the Velvet Crush inspiration is unmistakeable

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

if you want to hear it....

http://www.mtv.com/music/the_leak/the_strokes/room_on_fire/index.jhtml

hmmm... for some reason it seems to be skipping to the next track in mid song now...

they've upped the power pop on this one...
m.

― msp, Thursday, 30 October 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

dave q ist my nu-god

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 30 October 2003 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

How can anyone complain about the production pf ...And Justice for All? It's perfect.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 30 October 2003 20:34 (twenty-two years ago)

How can anyone complain about the production pf ...And Justice for All? It's perfect.

...if you're head's in a toilet while listening.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 21:29 (twenty-two years ago)

...And Justice for All = Have you guys ever heard of a little range of the sonic spectrum called BASS!!?!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 30 October 2003 21:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes. And after listening to the 'Black' album, which was like trying to walk across the bottom of the Atlantic, I never wanted to hear 'bass' again.

― dave q, Thursday, 30 October 2003 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

What the previous three posters said.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 21:44 (twenty-two years ago)

What's up with the uncredited Bruce Hornsby and "Sweet Child o' Mine" covers on Room on Fire?

― NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 30 October 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

????!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

"End of the Innocence"? Fantastic tune.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:03 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not the tunes that are the problems, Ott, it's the production!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I just listened to a few songs on the record just now and the production sounds okay to me. It's not perfect or anything, but I can hear all the instruments just fine, and I don't feel like I'm missing any parts of the arrangements. I'm not the pickiest audiophile, and I'm happy with lots of lo-fi records, and I don't even think this album sounds particularly lo-fi. It's not exactly Vampire On Titus, you know what I mean?

It's a little muddy, but I think that's what they were going for. It worked on the first record, and so they did it again. I'm far less concerned about the recording/mix and more let down by the fact that every song has the same arrangement.

Anyway, maybe it's your speakers. Or maybe it's my speakers.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Wasn't the bass on ...And Justice For All mostly inaudible because they were hazing their new bass player at that point in time? I seem to remember that from the Metallica Behind The Music special.

If that's true, what a bunch of dinks.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Or it could be the sophomore curse: they were so damn huge, that first album got played to death. The next album (this one) was bound to take a beating. Perhaps they will be crawling to Godrich for him to produce the next one.

(And I am not even a fan!)

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:02 (twenty-two years ago)

huge?! I guess just because I'm in the U.S. it bewilders me that they're considered huge--they barely went gold here and they're on the cover of every friggin' magazine--weird. I like them a lot, actually, but...huge? hmmm.

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

also, where is it taking a beating? this is a real question: most of the reviews I've seen have been middling-to-great, nothing really super-derogatory. I'm probably just missing some, though.

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Matos, this time last year, I still couldn't 'get' why they were so great. They sound pretty average to me, though I suppose their looks could have a part to play in their popularity.

By "taking a beating", I only meant that compared to the godlike status of their first, people are bound to be searching for flaws in this album. (Apparently, they aren't hard to find, either)

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Jeez, I think it's awesome. Just got it yesterday and at least four of the songs are stuck in my head in the good way.

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:57 (twenty-two years ago)

As an example of what I mean, check out the relationship between the vocals and the keyboard on 12:51. It'd be nice to actually *hear* Julian under that super-dope Cars thing, now wouldn't it?

BTW: ... And Justice For All is my fave metal album, despite the no-bass, click-clack drum shit. So production isn't everything. It just helps.

― Chris O., Friday, 31 October 2003 00:41 (twenty-two years ago)

IT'S A GUITAR ALBUM IN A GUITAR GENRE. "No bass" is such a cliched, hand-me-down "stance" to take on that record, and the treble kick drum is a staple metal move-- try listening to Morbid Angel, it's like crinkling paper in your ears.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Friday, 31 October 2003 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I wouldn't have ...And Justice for All any other way. It's frozen in my mind sounding the way it sounds, and I absolutely love it. I remember people complaining about it at the time, and I was just like 'whatever', it sounds great, it's part of its appeal.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 31 October 2003 01:47 (twenty-two years ago)

....IN A GUITAR GENRE

Tell that to Lemmy. I dare ya.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 31 October 2003 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

it's a good time album... like a good time date... yeah, we had a [elbow, elbow] good time, but she's dumb as a post. (which is fitting considering their modeling aura.)

― msp, Friday, 31 October 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard the album getting played in HMV thee other night, so I stuck around to listen. Again, I wanted to like it, but it was just too non. I mean unmemorable and stuff. It didn't stick in my memory at all. Oh well. The mutation this thread took is awesome bTw.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 31 October 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

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