Amazon.com's Best of 2001
With all the media hype that dogged the Strokes before the release of their debut album, it's rather apt that they chose the title Is This It. On the strength of just five songs released on two singles, the Strokes were being hailed as everything from the saviors of rock & roll to the Savior himself. Surely, few bands could live up to the impossibly high standards set for this young five-piece, but the band needn't have worried: Is This It is one of the most exciting and energetic debut albums to spring from New York's long-dormant club scene. In fact, the Strokes are a New York City band through and through; like the Velvet Underground, these are a bunch of uptown artsy types elegantly slumming downtown to the tried and tested themes of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Their singer-songwriter, the fantastically named Julian Casablancas, delivers his lyrics with a weary nonchalance that belies his age on songs like the title track, "Soma," "Hard to Explain," and the altogether wonderful "Barely Legal." And the band recalls the likes of Television and the Stooges on "Last Nite" and "The Modern Age." Let's hope this sexy, stylish, and undeniably cool band is the future of rock & roll. --Robert Burrow

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 880 reviews)

Eight years later... by Nate A

4 Stars
October 30, 2009
Yes, 2001 was quite a long time ago, and I almost forgot about all the hype surrounding the Strokes first release. Now that the Strokes are out of the spotlight, I took some time to rediscover this album which used to be one of my favorites. Completely disregarding whether the album was worth all the hype or whether the Strokes were the saviors of rock and roll or just a played up commercial band, I found this to be a very good album that I listened to again and again. With a more critical musical ear than at the time of the release, I found the rhythm and lead guitar blended together quite nicely, and the drum beats, while not very varied and lacking fills, provided a steady foundation and gave a good feel to each song. The bass lines gave another rhythm to mix with the guitars, so overall solid and catchy instrumentation (all the songs are quite fun to play with a band.) The vocals, although kind of repetitive and in the same style, still sounded fresh and interesting. As for lyrics, not too diverse, but still, I like many of the songs. Among my favorites are Barely Legal, The Modern Age, Someday, and When It Started. Overall a cool album, still one of my favorites, even after the Strokes' peak.

I'd say this album is a five!!! by ibuyanything (Glendale, CA)

5 Stars
August 17, 2009
I like to rock out to this album in my brand new car. Buy it!!!

IGNORE ALL THE ONE STAR REVIEWS by John M. Heller

5 Stars
July 12, 2009
Well i've litterally listened to this album over hundreds of times and it never gets old. I think all the people who gave it one star are just butthurt that their favorite bands are labeled as the saviors of rock. or that they hold the fact julien casablancas used something to digitally inhance his voice or sometihng. Well listen to them live there just as good. He doesnt have the best sining voice like lets say Regina Spektor does, but this is a rock band! You don't need the best voice. In my opinion they lived up to all the hype and compared to the killers whos the most popular rock band right now that the strokes are the savoiors of rock. Don't get me wrong the killers are alright but are they really rock n' roll or just another pop band. Also they bag on them for not being telented enough on the guitar???? They came up with some sick guitar solos and the constant strumming of the same few chords is part of their sound! Go listen to weezer and alot of other bands who are like that they are amazing too. I do agree Last Night is the weakest track though, but most bands release a super catchy song to sell the album to lil girls. Atleast it was just one of the 11 tracks. All in all this album is amazing and a breath of fresh air in this day and age. Get this album for sure. Theres no bands that really that make me think damn saviors of rock except for this band, anything on the label park the van, Fleet Foxes, and the Dead Trees (probally left alot out). The Strokes are on par if not better then any of those.

Perfect by MLK

5 Stars
June 24, 2009
Music doesn't get much better than this. Julian's voice is perfect. The guitars are brilliant. Nothing more to say.

As forgettable as they get by mianfei

1 Stars
May 31, 2009
In the early 2000s, many listeners and critics hailed The Strokes as the saviour of rock in the same way they did Nirvana ten years beforehand. Even a critic with the intelligence of Joe S. Harrington dismissed criticism of the Strokes, writing on the webzine Blastitude an article titled "Why Does Everyone Hate the Strokes?". With repeated listening, Nirvana can be shown to be no different from the stadium bands the critics who adored them despised. Unfortunately, the Strokes are absolutely no better in this respect. Indeed, "Is This It" could be viewed as being worse than either Nirvana or preceding stadium bands, for it lacks even the catchy hooks and tunes that makes it at least remotely possible to listen repeatedly. The production and sound on "Is This It" might be designed to ape the great dream pop bands of the 1980s and 1990s, but it has a terrible effect because the Strokes show they simply cannot create the sort of atmosphere to make a record like Treasure or Loveless or Love Agenda. The simple, sparse, un-layered, guitar, bass and drums sound has been done in the same way many times before. More than that, it takes something really special for this type of power pop to attract my attention because it tends to seem either childish or overblown otherwise. Whilst the Strokes are neither childish nor overblown, they certainly are very bland: the volume changes are exactly like a 1980s power ballad admixed with some ordinary alternative rock from that era: a mix that in no way comes close to gelling. More than that, Julian Casablancas' voice is equally bland and unmemorable. Even on the fastest moments he never sings with serious passion, and on the slower songs he seems quite out of place: together it gives the effect of an adult oriented rock album sung by a punk singer. On most choruses Casablancas fails entirely to get enough breath to give any feeling or memory to the listener, who might almost feel desensitised. The hardest and last song here, "Take It or Leave It", is an improvement with real hooks and passionate playing, but the macho aftertaste that tends to repel me so much from the hard end of the rock spectrum is enough to prevent me wanting to put this song on my iPod. The opener, "Is This It", sounds quite like a less tuneful Foreigner ballad, whilst the faster "The Modern World" sounds like too many critically slaved power pop bands to mention. Casablancas' voice becomes particularly grating in the middle of this song. Then "Soma" sounds like many bad 1990s alternative radio bands in its awfully tuneless loud passages that are no better than "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The synsthesised voice of "Barely Legal" is another lowlight. All in all, "Is This It" can be described as a terrible kind of record that apes many styles from 1970s power pop through stadium rock, 1980s alternative and 1990s radio alternative without ever gaining a distinctive touch or, before the last track, a memorable hook. Casablancas' grating voice is a further liability: he sings without ever giving his full power in a voice that is terribly tuneless and would be better suited to much more extreme hard rock.

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