Room on Fire

The Strokes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B0000C9ZLD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (397 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,091 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #32 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Garage Bands

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An acclaimed debut prompts one of two kinds of follow-ups: either the band strives to broaden their palate or they attempt to deepen the colors they splashed all over that heralded first effort. The Strokes' second outing falls in the latter camp. In the tradition of the Ramones' Leave Home and Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory, the Strokes largely stay the course with their second full-length release, producing an album that won't cause the stir that its predecessor did, but has a sneaky appeal all its own. Thanks to the quintet's Lower East Side roots, Velvet Underground and Television references abound with these guys, but Boston new wavers the Cars, and in particular their hit-heavy second album, 1979's Candy-O, provide a more suitable point of reference for Room on Fire. As with Ric Ocasek and company, Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas and his cohorts have a Cars-like knack for sly riffs that creep deeper into ones consciousness with each listen. Not much longer than a half hour from start to finish, this 11-song is modest in intent and execution, and succeeds quite nicely on its own terms. --Steven Stolder

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 114 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No sophomore jinx for these guys January 24, 2004

By Robert Moore HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Look, I saw Television live in the seventies (as well as the nineties and in 2001), caught Iggy Pop, the Buzzcocks, the Feelies, Eleventh Dream Day, the Mekons, the Replacements, the Pixies, the dB's, Pere Ubu, Yo La Tenga, and a host of other indie, alternative, and punk acts at their peak. Although I didn't catch them live, I discovered Big Star a lot earlier than most, and the same with Richard Thompson (who I have seen often in the past twenty years). I think my indie credibility is intact. I am baffled by the negative reactions that these guys inexplicably generate. I personally consider them to be the best band to come out of New York since Television (qualification: on record; though they weren't a good studio band, the Feelies were as good live as anyone I have ever seen). No, they aren't as good and are definitely not as brilliant as Tom Verlaine and Co., but they are still one of the most gripping new bands of the past few years in my opinion.

So why do so many people hate the Strokes? I think the explanation is simple: they were overhyped. Or if not overhyped, hyped to a degree that many people found objectionable. I only gave their first album a listen after being put off by the absurd overreaction to their debut. Once I gave them a try, however, I was stunned and delighted at what a delightful and exciting band they were.

I liked this second album an awful lot even on first listen, but upon repeated listenings, I have come to like it as much as the first album. It starts off great with some enormously catchy songs in "What Ever Happened?" and "Reptilia," but then does something extraordinary: it gets better! "12:51" and "You Talk Way Too Much" are among the best songs they have ever done, and "Under Control" (with its Television-like guitar lines) and "The End Has No End" later on are just as good. I love the tightness of the band, and the delightful guitar work that adorns each cut. I have never seen the Strokes live, so I don't know who of the two guitarists is responsible for what, but there is some truly superb guitar work on this album, with the guitars often playing their own gorgeous melodies in contrast to the central vocals. No, the guitar work isn't as breathtaking as when Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd would battle it out in Television, but it is still quite superb.

I think it is great to be discriminating. And it is important to resist mere record company hype. But it is also important to give a band its due, and this is a crackerjack band, with great songs and tight musicianship. And now, after a great sophomore effort, I'm definitely looking forward to their third album.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely superior September 7, 2005

By Audiophile LA

Format:Audio CD

It makes me want to rip my hair out when this album is referred to as either a disappointment or not as good as their debut. "Room on Fire" is superior, in every imaginable way possible, to "Is This It?" Here's an overlong, irrefragable, and completely accurate explanation why:

To begin with, one needs to remember the musical landscape into which the Strokes' debut album was released. The years 1999, 2000 and 2001 comprise the absolute nadir for rock music in America in my lifetime, and quite possibly since the invention of rock itself. Too grand of a statement? Feel free to head over to rocklists.com and compare the year-end hit lists of KROQ, the nation's most powerful alternative/modern rock station, from these three years to ANY other year listed. (To save you a trip: the top three songs in 2000 were by Papa Roach, Incubus and Three Doors Down.) If you're older than 22, you'll probably remember these as the years your friends claimed they could no longer listen to the radio. It was into this post-apocalyptic rape-rock landscape that the Strokes' debut album was released. "Is This It?" sounds great on its own; against a backdrop of Limp Bizkit it sounded like manna from heaven. This is the reason the Strokes were the single most hyped indie band since, like, ever. You know how they claim there can never be another Beatles because there's simply too much music out there for any one band to dominate it so thoroughly? A slightly shifted analogy applies to the Strokes: there can never be another band as hyped because music will probably never be that bad again. And why did music get good again? Why are indie bands going platinum and dominating the airwaves? Because the Strokes made it that way. No, not on their own, but their importance in saving rock radio cannot be overstated. They, alongside the White Stripes, comprised the bulk of hope for fans of non-horrible rock only four years ago.

There were two things you could guarantee people would say about the new album when it came out: one was that it would not be considered as good as the debut. You could have bet the farm on that one. Hipsters tend to get embarrassed when anyone agrees with them, and the universal acclaim for "Is This It?" insured that the same people who loved it would over-correct for accidentally enjoying something that everyone else did by immediately turning their back on a band they championed as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The second criticism you knew would be levied against the follow-up was that it was too similar to its predecessor. If "Room on Fire" were free-form jazz produced by Aphex Twin, people would be complaining that the Strokes had simply copied the first album instead of writing a new one.

Let me refute both points. I have listened to "Is This It"? at least 200 times, and the most obvious criticism of the album is that it is divided into good and great songs. No one ever mentioned this when it came out because they were overjoyed to have anything good at all in their CD player and didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it's true. The great songs are "Is This It?," "The Modern Age," "Someday," "Last Night," "Hard to Explain," "Trying Your Luck," and "New York City Cops." Unfortunately, that last track was excised from the American version in favor of "When It Started," which is simply very good, alongside the remaining four songs. This does not mean "Is This It?" is only a half-good album. It means that "Is This It?" is a half very good, half truly great album. Most masterpiece albums follow similar divisions. This is one of them. It is still a masterpiece.

"Room on Fire" contains nine absolute gems and two songs that are slightly less so. Those songs are "Meet Me in the Bathroom" and "The Way It Is." Like their counterparts on the previous album, they are very good. The other nine songs - no need to type them all out - are all perfect. Any one of them could have functioned as a lead single. There's not much more to say beyond that. It will simply turn into effusive babbling. And as for the criticism of repeating themselves: anyone who says this has not listened to the very album they're criticizing. How can an album that contains "Reptilia" be accused of ripping off "Is This It?" The breadth of styles, complexity of guitar interplay, and quality of hook on any random song on this album outshines that of any on the first. Julian Casablancas once stated that the criterion for a song's admission into the Strokes' playlist was that it had to be better than anything they had previously written. That's exactly what these songs are. The Strokes grew immensely from the first album to the second. Growing isn't copying.

A lot of Amazon reviews end with "If you like ______ , then get _______." I'll do that right now. If you like good songs, get "Room on Fire." You will get an album of exactly that. Better yet, you won't get any bad songs. Even better that than, the good songs aren't the type of good song that only has a "good part" - the whole song itself is the "good part." If it were possible, I would get even less articulate to make this point. Perhaps you can picture me pointing at the album and smiling.

Get "Room on Fire."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as good as IS THIS IT and better than FIRST IMPRESSIONS July 22, 2006

By Roxanne Jorgensen

Format:Audio CD

I'm not going to tell you how much I loved the song Reptilia because a lot of people have already done that, even know it's a great song. I have had this CD for a long time, infact this was my first Strokes CD. Now that I have listened to FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EARTH and IS THIS IT a whole bunch, I find myself going back and listening to this one the most even know I own all three.

I absolutely love the part in Between Love & Hate when "Never needed anybody" is sung along with catchy yet mellow twang guitar follow through.
12:51 is one of the most styled songs on this CD. I wish the strokes would go back to writing a couple more songs that sound more similar to 12:51.
This CD makes me look forward to the next Strokes album more than any of the others.