Monday, July 30, 2001

The Strokes released Is This It

Is This It

The Strokes


Released: July 30, 2001


Peak: 33 US, 2 UK, 50 CN, 5 AU


Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK, 2.05 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: garage rock revival


Tracks:

Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Is This It [2:35]
  2. The Modern Age [3:32] (1/29/01, --)
  3. Soma [2:37]
  4. Barely Legal [3:58]
  5. Someday [3:07] (9/14/02, 17 MR, 27 UK)
  6. Alone, Together [3:12]
  7. Last Nite [3:17] (11/10/01, 5 MR, 14 UK, 47 AU)
  8. Hard to Explain [3:47] (6/25/01, 27 MR, 16 UK, 66 AU)
  9. New York City Cops [3:36]
  10. Trying Your Luck [3:27]
  11. Take It or Leave It [3:16]

All songs written by Julian Casablancas.


Total Running Time: 36:28


The Players:

  • Julian Casablancas (vocals)
  • Albert Hammond Jr. (guitar)
  • Nick Valensi (guitar)
  • Nikolai Fraiture (bass)
  • Fabrizio Moretti (drums)

Rating:

4.231 out of 5.00 (average of 25 ratings)


Quotable: “A pop version of the Velvet Underground with totally 21st-century lyrics,” ZS it was “crucial in the development of other alternative bands and of the post-millennial music industry.” – Wikipedia.org


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“If there’s one album…[from the 21st century] you could say ‘saved’ rock and roll, this might be it.” GL “When Y2K arrived, MTV VJs and saccharine-pop enthusiasts told us rock ’n’ roll was dead. But then, out of nowhere, came this back-to-basics guitar-driven record made by five leather-clad hipsters (before that was a thing).” GQ Rolling Stone’s Joe Levy said their debut album was “the stuff of which legends are made” WK while NME’s John Robinson called it “one of the best debut LPs by a guitar band during the past 20 years.” WK

“The Strokes didn’t so much pick it up off the floor but rather thrashed around in the gutter a bit, and aside from the rhythmic brilliance that splashing about in the mire produced, they very importantly made it cool again.” FO “The Strokes took the world by storm with their underground and lo-fi sensibilities, paving the way for bands like The White Stripes and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs to take their similar sounds right to the top of the music world.” GL

“It takes a keen eye on culture and a depth of originality to seize the seething passions of youth, thrives on naïve recklessness, colour it in the sound of the New York rock music that inspired you in the first place, and make the sort of art that usurps the status quo and spawns a new generation of its own.” FO

These “mod ragamuffins” RS “mixed Velvet Underground grime and skinny-tie New Wave jangle” RS with “late-‘70s New York punk.” AMG The music was “sometimes acidic, always full of great melody,” RS and marked by “off-kilter guitar solos,” EW “primitive tom-tom rhythms (shades of the Velvets’ Moe Tucker),” EW and “an insistently chugging backbeat.” AMG On top of it all were the “raw, world-weary” AMG and “half-buried vocals (à la ‘Louie, Louie’)” EW and “attitude-heavy slurring” EW of singer Julian Casablancas.

The Strokes intentionally sought out “the raw, muddy sonics of garage-band 45s.” EW Casablancas said they wanted to sound like “a band from the past that took a time trip into the future to make their record.” WK Electronica duo Daft Punk said the Strokes “followed in the footsteps of the Velvet Underground, Television, Suicide, the Ramones, and Blondie, creating the fresh, distinctive sound we’d been waiting for over a decade.” GQ THe Strokes updated “the propulsion of the Velvet Underground and the jangle of Seventies punk with Casablancas’ acidic dispatches mixed to the fore and ringed with distortion like he was singing from a pay phone.” RS’20 However, “the Strokes don’t rehash the sounds that inspire them,” AMG but “remake them in their own image.” AMG

“They inspired a ragged revolt in Britain, led by the Libertines and Arctic Monkeys.” RS’11 The Strokes became “the most hyped band [in the UK] since Oasis in the mid 1990s,” TB the New Musical Express “placed the Strokes at the head of its ‘new rock revolution.’” TB In response, “haters threw whatever they had at them” SY scoffing that these scruffy posers were actually straight out of “the exclusive Dwight School in Manhattan” TB and decked out in “expensive leather and denim.” SY However, “the Strokes prove to be one of the few groups deserving of their glowing reviews.” AMG This was “the rare case where the advance buzz was warranted.” EB Is This It showcased a band that was more than just a handful of pretty faces and privileged New York City brats.” PM The band’s “daily twelve-hour practices are…blindingly evident” SY on an album marked by “unfussy arrangements and skillful approach to pop songcraft.” PM “As it stands, the hype proved well deserved” PM as the Strokes “surpassed all expectations with the release of this instant garage-rock classic.” EB “The measure of it now is that it’s just about the work of the century where many people listen to the whole album more often than a single song from it.” FO

“Is This It”

The subject matter behind their songs “reflected their own early-twenties lust for life” AMG and made “the timeworn themes of sex, drugs, and rock & roll and the basic guitars-drum-bass lineup seem new and vital again.” AMG The title track “sets the joys of being young, jaded, and yearning to a wonderfully bouncy bassline.” AMG It also “features a simple, metronomic drum line, a recurring feature in the rest of the record. Containing one of the slowest tempos, Is This It is the Strokes attempt at a ballad.” WK

“The Modern Age”

“The band mix swaggering self-assurance with barely concealed insecurity on The Modern Age,” AMG “a rant about the oddness fo modern life.” WK It “includes a prominent guitar riff accompanied by a complementary drum line. Its staccato verse is followed by an upbeat, singalong chorus and a technically difficult guitar solo.” WK

“Barely Legal”

The band “reveal something akin to earnestness on Barely Legal,” AMG which “concerns the subject matter of a girl who has just arrived at the age of consent.” WK It also “containes some of the album’s softer guitar melodies inspired by Britpop as well as drumming patterns that evoke the sound of primitive 1980s drum machines.” WK

“Alone Together” / “Trying Your Luck”

Alone, Together continues the sexual theme by dropping hints about cunnilingus” WK and is “driven by a staccato rhythm, and climaxes first with a guitar solo, then a repeat of the central guitar hook.” WK That song and “Trying Your Luck develop the group's brooding, coming-down side.” AMG The latter is “the album’s mellowest point…and shows more melancholic vocals.” WK

“Last Nite”

Last Nite is another “guitar-driven song, but leans towards pop music influences. At its core, there are reggae-inspired rhythm guitar lines played by Hammond, and studio noise effects. The rhythm section plays simple interlocking notes and beats.” WK

“Hard to Explain” / “Soma”

The Strokes combine “their raw power and infectious melodies on Hard to Explain, arguably the finest song they've written in their career.” AMG “Explain” and Soma both contain “processed drum tracks using dynamic range compression and equalization studio techniques to make them sound like a drum machine.” WK The latter “incorporates jerky rhythms and starts and ends with the same guitar and drum chimes.” WK

“New York City Cops”

“Explain” and New York City Cops incorporate “spliced ad-libbing extras from Casablancas.” WK The latter is a “pastiche of rock band Aerosmith,” WK which also “revamps [Iggy Pop’s] ‘Lust for Life.’” AMG

“Someday” / “Take It or Leave It”

Meanwhile, “Someday “is infused with rockabilly elements and interlocking guitar lines, …a recurrent element of Is This It.” WK That song and “Take It or Leave It capture the Strokes at their most sneeringly exuberant,” AMG both managing to “overcome the muddy, low-budget production.” EW The latter “is the only song in which Hammond used the bridge pickup of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.” WK


Notes: Despite being New York-based, the Strokes’ Is This It was released in the U.K. a month earlier than in the U.S. In between, New York’s World Trade Center towers were destroyed by terrorists and the less than flattering New York City Cops was pulled in favor of B-side When It Started. In addition, the initial cover photograph was deemed too sexualy explicit for the U.S. market and replaced with a “microscopic close-up of particle collisions.” WK

Resources and Related Links:


First posted 3/29/2008; last updated 4/28/2022.

Friday, July 20, 2001

In Concert: Eric Clapton

image from guitardevil.com

Venue: Kemper Arena; Kansas City, MO
Opening Act: Doyle Bramhall II
The Players: Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar), Billy Preston (keyboards), Andy Fairweather-Low (back-up guitarist and vocalist), Nathan East (bass), Steve Gadd (drums)


The Set List:

1. Key to the Highway
2. Reptile
3. Got You on My Mind
4. Tears in Heaven
5. Bell Bottom Blues
6. Change the World
7. My Father’s Eyes
8. River of Tears
9. Going Down Slow
10. She’s Gone
11. I Want a Little Girl
12. Badge
13. Hoochie Coochie Man
14. Five Long Years
15. Cocaine
16. Wonderful Tonight
17. Layla

ENCORE:

18. Will It Go Round in Circles
19. Sunshine of Your Love
20. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Here’s a timeline of when each of the above songs was originally released. It’s interesting that the entire decade of the ‘80s was neglected. He also avoided perhaps his three best-known covers: “After Midnight,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.”

  • 1939: Judy Garland in the movie The Wizard of Oz: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Not featured on any Clapton albums.
  • 1967: Cream’s album Disraeli Gears: “Sunshine of Your Love”
  • 1969: Cream’s album Goodbye: “Badge”
  • 1970: Derek and the Dominoes’ album Layla…and Other Assorted Love Songs: “Key to the Highway,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” “Layla”
  • 1972: Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round in Circles,” a #1 single from Preston’s album Music Is My Life. Not featured on any Clapton albums.
  • 1977: Slow Hand: “Cocaine,” “Wonderful Tonight”
  • 1992: Rush Soundtrack: “Tears in Heaven”
  • 1994: From the Cradle: “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Five Long Years”
  • 1996: Phenomenon Soundtrack: “Change the World”
  • 1998: Pilgrim: “My Father’s Eyes,” “River of Tears,” “Going Down Slow,” “She’s Gone”
  • 2001: Reptile: “Reptile,” “Got You on My Mind,” “I Want a Little Girl”

    Billy Preston is most noted as the only artist to share billing with the Beatles on one of their songs (“Get Back”). Also a successful solo artist; at his peak in the early ‘70s. He was playing keyboards for gospel diva Mahalia Jackson by the age of 10. Andy Fairweather-Low has toured and recorded with Eric Clapton since 1992. He has also worked with George Harrison, Roger Waters, Stevie Nicks, and Kate Bush, among others. In the late ‘60s, Andy was the lead singer of British group Amen Corner. Nathan East has worked with Clapton since 1986. He has also worked with Barry White, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, and Kenny Loggins. He also has been a member of the jazz group Fourplay in the ‘90s. Steve Gadd has worked with Clapton since 1998. Gadd also has worked as a jazz drummer with Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, Bob James, Grover Washington Jr., and David Sanborn. All of the above, including opening act Doyle Bramhall II, were involved in the recording of the Reptile album. Only Dave Sancious, Bruce Springsteen’s keyboardist on his first three albums, was added for the tour. He has also worked as a solo artist, as well as a keyboardist for Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bryan Ferry.

Saturday, July 14, 2001

Alicia Keys debuted at #1 with Songs in A Minor

Songs in A Minor

Alicia Keys


Released: June 5, 2001


Charted: July 14, 2001


Peak: 13 US, 16 RB, 6 UK, 2 CN, 3 AU


Sales (in millions): 6.21 US, 0.9 UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: R&B


Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Piano & I
  2. Girlfriend (with Jermaine Dupri) (5/26/01, 24 UK, 73a RB)
  3. How Come You Don’t Call Me (3/23/02, 58a US, 26 UK, 28 RB)
  4. Fallin’ (5/5/01, 1 US, 3 UK, 1 RB, 24 AC, sales: 0.5 m, air: 0.6 m)
  5. Troubles
  6. Rock Wit’ U
  7. A Woman’s Worth (10/13/01, 6a US, 18 UK, 3 RB)
  8. Jane Doe
  9. Goodbye
  10. The Life
  11. Mr. Man
  12. Never Felt This Way (Interlude)
  13. Butterflyz
  14. Why Do I Feel So Sad?
  15. Caged Bird (Outro)
  16. Lovin’ U


Total Running Time: 63:04

Rating:

4.124 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)


Quotable: Songs in A Minor made a significant impact…catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“She may be beautiful, but Alicia Keys is a musician first and foremost.” AZ “In retrospect, it was the idea of Alicia Keys that was as attractive as the record, since soul fans were hungering for a singer/songwriter who seemed part of the tradition without being as spacy as Macy Gray or as hippie mystic as Erykah Badu while being more reliable than Lauryn Hill.” AMG

Keys had recorded much of the album in a deal with Columbia Records, but they rejected it. WK Clive Davis, formerly of Arista Records but now the label head for J Records, signed her and gave her “great independence in creating the album she wanted to release.” NRR

His instincts proved correct as “Songs in A Minor made a significant impact upon its release in the summer of 2001, catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack.” AMG “Reviewers were quick to point out the sophistication and assurance with which the young Keys realized the sound on this album. Her unaffected vocals were capable of expressing feelings from heartbreak to new love and from righteous women’s empowerment to elegant, stylish yearning.” NRR “Critics and audiences were captivated by a 19-year-old singer whose taste and influences ran back further than her years, encompassing everything from Prince to smooth ‘70s soul, even a little Billie Holiday.” AMG

She “described her influences on the album as a ‘fusion of my classical training, meshed with what I grew up listening to,’ which included the jazz from her mother’s record collection, along with the classic R&B and hip-hop that was prevalent in her New York City neighborhood.” NRR She “plants herself firmly behind the piano keys on her debut, unlike many of the booty-waggin’ junior divas who are crowding the R&B videoscape these days. Though many of the tracks on Songs in A Minor are embellished with adolescent angst, …[her] substantial, gorgeously soul-drenched alto putties the cracks between notes with astonishing ease.” AZ

“She swoops and soars over the spicy, flamenco-fueled melody that opens Mr. Mann, one of the many winning tracks gathered here. And she digs deep into a remake of the beloved Prince B-side, How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? packing more heat into her melismatic wails than most singers twice her age.” AZ

She also “had style to spare – elegant, sexy style accentuated by how she never oversang, giving the music a richer feel.” AMGFallin’, the album’s first single, showcases Keys at her best. She wails plaintively and passionately over rolling blues chords, in the tradition of the greats that this young talent clearly wants to align herself with – Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Aretha Franklin.” AZ

That song also demonstrates how her presentation “was rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing – though it was a big hit, … [it] doesn’t have much body to it – which is a testament to Keys’ skills as a musician.” AMG “And, the fact is, even though there are some slips in the writing, there aren’t many, and the whole thing remains a startling assured, successful debut that deserved its immediate acclaim and is already aging nicely.” AMG

Resources and Related Links:


First posted 3/29/2008; last updated 4/20/2022.

Tuesday, July 3, 2001

The White Stripes White Blood Cells released

White Blood Cells

The White Stripes


Released: July 3, 2001


Peak: 61 US, 55 UK, -- CN, 36 AU


Sales (in millions): 1.11 US, 0.3 UK, 1.41 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: garage rock revival


Tracks:

Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground [3:04] (8/10/02, 19 MR, 25 UK)
  2. Hotel Yorba [2:10] (11/1/01, 26 UK)
  3. I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman [2:54]
  4. Fell in Love with a Girl [1:50] (3/1/02, 12 MR, 21 UK)
  5. Expecting [2:03]
  6. Little Room [0:50]
  7. The Union Forever [3:26]
  8. The Same Boy You’ve Always Known [3:09]
  9. We’re Going to Be Friends [2:22]
  10. Offend in Every Way [3:06]
  11. I Think I Smell a Rat [2:04]
  12. Aluminum [2:19]
  13. I Can’t Wait [3:38]
  14. Now Mary [1:47]
  15. I Can Learn [3:31]
  16. This Protector [2:12]
All songs written by Jack White.


Total Running Time: 40:25


The Players:

  • Jack White (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, songwriting, production)
  • Meg White (drums, tambourine, backing vocals)

Rating:

4.240 out of 5.00 (average of 34 ratings)


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“Despite the seemingly instant attention surrounding them – glowing write-ups in glossy magazines like Rolling Stone and Mojo, guest lists boasting names like Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson, and appearances on national TV – the White Stripes have stayed true to the approach that brought them this success in the first place. White Blood Cells, Jack and Meg White’s third effort for Sympathy for the Record Industry, wraps their powerful, deceptively simple style around meditations on fame, love, and betrayal. As produced by Doug Easley, it sounds exactly how an underground sensation’s breakthrough album should: bigger and tighter than their earlier material, but not so polished that it will scare away longtime fans.” AMG

“Across the board, the album is doused in the kind of powerhouse performance that proved The White Stripes to be the real deal. This album would prove to be a seminal moment for the group and launch their career in earnest. When you add that to the potency of the songs at hand, you have a concoction that could knock over a whole town.” FO

The “cocky opener Dead Leaves and the Dirty GroundAMG illustrates “the band’s unique songwriting talent, then makes way for a charming indie-pop bop that wouldn’t look out of place at a Violent Femmes show. It’s the perfect example of the album’s duality. One side showcases Jack and Meg as lovelorn romantics, trying to make it in a tough world. At the same time, the other side offers glimpses of the duo holding Molotov cocktails and ready to burn this chapel to the ground.” FO

“White’s growth as a songwriter shines through on virtually every track” AMG from “Dirty Ground” “to vicious indictments like The Union Forever and I Think I Smell a Rat. Same Boy You've Always Known and Offend in Every Way are two more quintessential tracks, offering up more of the group's stomping riffs and rhythms and us-against-the-world attitude.” AMG

White Blood Cells lacks some of the White Stripes’ blues influence and urgency, but it perfects the pop skills the duo honed on De Stijl and expands on them. The country-tinged Hotel Yorba and immediate, crazed garage pop of Fell in Love with a Girl define the album's immediacy, along with the folky, McCartney-esque We’re Going to Be Friends, a charming, school-days love song that's among Jack White’s finest work.” AMG

“Few garage rock groups would name one of their most driving numbers I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman, and fewer still would pen lyrics like ‘I'm so tired of acting tough/I'm gonna do what I please/Let’s get married,’ but it's precisely this mix of strength and sweetness, among other contrasts, that makes the White Stripes so intriguing. Likewise, White Blood Cells’ ability to surprise old fans and win over new ones makes it the Stripes’ finest work to date.” AMG

Resources and Related Links:


Other Related DMDB Pages:


First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 5/1/2022.