The Strokes return to Earth
The Strokes third album, First Impressions of Earth has a pretty broad sound. The raging first single, Juicebox sounds like it could be the sequel to Weezer’s, Hash pipe. The song Razorblade has a very unique sound and an almost vintage sounding harmony. The album was recorded in Manhattan with production from David (Sugar Ray, Fishbone & Paul McCartney) Kahne and some help from the bands previous producer, Gordon Raphael. The album cover and cd booklet artwork are great. It is nice to see artists pay attention to every detail of their album.
The band recorded this album in nine months and tried to show off their musicianship with it. The change in producers has really given the album a more polished sound. The band seemed really hungry to prove their detractors wrong with a solid comeback after their last album Room on Fire. Kahne really made sure the band fine tuned their sound before finishing each song. It is a good producers job, to make sure that the musicians don’t settle on the first thing they come up with.
The albums release to the public took an interesting turn when an unfinished version of the song Juicebox was leaked to the public, via the internet. The overwhelming response to the song turned it in to the first single and video. Juicebox also became a number 1 hit on radio it’s first official week out, after a finished version of the song went out to radio stations in October.
The band has recently played some festival dates in South America. Currently the band is preparing to embark on a US tour in support of the album before heading to the UK at the end of January.
Tracklisting
You Only Live Once
Juicebox
Heart in a Cage
Razorblade
On the Other Side
Vision of Division
Ask Me Anything
Electricityscape
Killing Lies
Fear of Sleep
15 Minutes
Ize of the World
Evening Sun
Red Light
Ahmad T. Childress
