The Strokes Juicebox
Value For Money
The Strokes Juicebox
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User Reviews
Value For Money
Juicebox Rocks. I Don't Know What Everyone Has B
Juicebox rocks. I don't know what everyone has but The Strokes always come out with a fast paced in your face single that's totally different from the rest of the cd. This songs got style, edge, and sack. It seems like with each cd The Strokes manage to trim away more and more fair weather fans with each release and from the response (albeit ridiculously early) to their new stuff this trend may continue. Well if you guys read this those of us with style, edge, and sack are still with you. As for the haters, go listen to Juicebox a few more times. It might help you score.
Value For Money
The Strokes First Album Was 30 Minutes Of Perfecti
The Strokes first album was 30 minutes of perfection. Every moment of every song was perfectly constructed. There was so much promise in those 5 New Yorkers. They wrote instant melodies, they had great lyrics, they had style, and man could they put on a live show. Then success happened, and a rather ropey second album. But second albums are often ropey, a band is still finding their feet. They have less time to write the songs. They have all the pressure of living up to expectations. But The Strokes seemed more intent on partying than music, and the live shows surrounding the second album certainly proved that. Drunk and stumbling around a stage does not make a good show, nor does it reveal any new hidden depths to boring songs.
Then comes the third album. The band no longer have such expectations around them, so they go away and take some time to produce a third record. They decide it's time to venture away from the formula to try and recreate the energy they had a few years ago. Sometimes it works. This time, well, I don't know what they've been listening to since Room on Fire, but it sounds like it's probably a lot of dodgy heavy metal and 1990's grunge.
"Juicebox" is the lead single from their third album and, quite frankly, it's awful. It does vaguely sound like The Strokes. Julian still sings like Julian, and the last minute descends into reasonably catchy indie-garage rock. But for most of the track it's like listening to a bad attempt at recreating fast-paced grunge metal. Like the band can't decide whether to be the White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains or themselves. It doesn't suit them and it doesn't work.
The best things about The Strokes have always been the immediacy of their songs, and the catchy melodies and super-cool attitude. "Juicebox" however has, as it's main riff, what sounds like a complete rip off of the Peter Gunn theme song. And some feedback and screeching, and Julian mumbling. It's not immediate, unless you mean immediately off-putting, and there's nothing cool about it.
Here's hoping this is the worst thing on the new album, because if it's the best then it's probably the last you'll hear of this lot.
A couple of things:
1) How is my opinion any less valid if it's a negative one? The whole point of writing a review is to explain what was good or bad about something. Other users can then look at what I said, look at other things I like or dislike and decide if they're likely to agree with me before making a purchase they may love or they may hate.
2) I really wanted to like this song. The Strokes first album is one of my favourite albums. My record collection numbers in the thousands of albums, so that is no idle praise. I genuinely, after 15 or 20 listens, still thought it was garbage.
3) Based on what you've just said I have a sneaking suspicion that you're very much a casual music fan who thinks that any music with guitars is indie and that bands like The Stereophonics and Hard-Fi are "cutting edge." This would suggest that as you wouldn't know musical innovation if it knocked you down and force-fed you chocolate bars, your assessment of the Strokes is hardly critical and you'd probably say you liked their new album if it consisted of Julian making rude bodily noises over the sound of accordians and kazoos (which would, quite frankly, be more interesting and cutting edge than "Juicebox").
4 years ago the strokes seemed to grab the music industry by the delicates and shape it into their own incredible sound! To say it was a breathe of fresh air is an understatement. To say that Juice Box is awful borders on insanity, unless you don't like The Strokes anyway, you shouldn't be the one reviewing it!
At first I have to admit that the sound of the new single is new and takes some getting used to. However, it wont be long (say, 3 or 4 listens) before you realise that this band can do whatever they want. The pressure is off, Is This It and Room On Fire being the best rock/punk/whatever you wanna call them albums since the genre was created and now the band have produced yet another sound that will no doubt have as much impact as the first album. The Strokes, I salute you, don't ever stop the good work!
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