is this it

you know what i learned lately? it's that if you reach transcendent greatness--you'll never be forgotten. it's this logic that has has people drop Pacino's name everytime we talking about great actors even though he has had a string of crap movies. but hey--he once made an offer you couldn't refuse and that was that. pacino's forever a legend.

the same logic applies to the strokes. now the strokes haven't fallen off in quality the way pacino's movies have, mind you. but there is this general thinking among music publications that their second and third albums weren't that good. especially when compared to their genre-altering, trendsetting debut album Is This It.

i don't agree at all. i think sophmore effort Room On Fire was almost as good as Is This It (think Magic to Bird almost-as-good) and third album First Impressions Of Earth was very good as well (You Only Live Once and Razorblade stood out especially)

but it's not about what i think--the general consensus is that they have lost relevance since breaking down the walls of crappy late 90s music with Is This It. the critics LOVED them--i remember one british journo dubbed the strokes and white stripes "the beatles and stones of our generation" (hyperbole, of course, but i can see the somewhat comparison). and for the most part the strokes were largely forgotten from 2006 on.

but then now, as the decade is coming to a close, and everyone is compiling their greatest albums list, it becomes clear that Is This It stood the test of time. 8 years after its post-9/11 release, the album is ranked near the top of every "greatest albums of the decade" list. a great feat considering the british and american lists are drastically different--meaning the same artists that top all the british lists doesn't sniff the top of the american list and vice versa.

perhaps people are now reminded how great the strokes are. suddenly there seems to be a surge in strokes talk, not just in what i read but in my life. the other day i had a chat with a friend's sister's bf. he saw me in my strokes shirt and we started talking about it. thing is when Is This It came out, he was probably like, 12.

im listening to espn sports writer bill simmons' podcast right now. he's interviewing chuck klosterman. i'm listening expecting them to talk ball and tiger. instead they're going on about how great the strokes' album was and how they were blown away in 2001 when they heard it.

then at work, i was asked by the music editor to list my top ten albums of the year--as a throwaway pick i mentioned strokes lead singer julian casablancas' solo album just so i can throw a mention to the strokes. the feature is made up of lists from five other people--i was the only one to mention casablancas. meanwhile, yeah yeah yeahs and fever ray topped just about everyone's lists.

but yet when the layout was designed by the designer/illustrator, there was a picture of the strokes frontman, smack dab in the middle of the layout--while yeah yeah yeahs were nowhere to be found.

i was scratching my head at the logic. "julian is in 1% of this feature, yeah yeah yeahs is in 20%, so why is julian the main layout picture?"

then the next day, during coffee break, i saw the designer/illustrator walk by.

she was wearing a strokes shirt.

she a fan. the decision to put julian front and center was out of personal preference.

but hey, id do the same. the strokes' is this it is the best album of this decade.

this is a collection of quotes about the album from wikipedia:

Gary Mulholland of considers the release of a "world-changing moment" and notes that its impact was "immediate and dramatic" on both music and attire. [63 ] BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe suggests that the album moved popular opinion from DJs and pop music to " skinny jeans and guitars", "the template for rock 'n' roll in the modern day". [64 ] Tam Gunn of agrees and explains that it "caused a sea change" in mainstream music in the U.S. and the UK, [65 ] while Anthony Miccio of Stylus points out that The Strokes' success created the commercial context for "other new-wavers" to flourish. [66 ] writes that inspired "a ragged revolt" in Britain, led by The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys, and continued its influence in the U.S. on the success of bands like Kings of Leon. [67 ] shares a similar view and concludes that "a fine brood of heirs", like The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand, would not have existed and been successful if The Strokes had not reinvigorated "rock's obsession with having a good time". [68 ] Jared Followill of Kings of Leon notes that the album was one of the main reasons that he wanted to get into a band; he states, "The title track was one of the first basslines I learned ... I was just 15 at the time." [69 ]

and.... the greatest performance ive ever seen on letterman (that aint saying much though. letterman sucks. i watched conan and leno over him)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csD4ZgMPgvg