First Impressions Of Earth
by The Strokes
  • Record Label: RCA
  • Release Date: Jan 3, 2006
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 476 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 396 out of 476
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 476
  3. Negative: 34 out of 476

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. MarkK
    Jun 5, 2007
    9
    it´s been a while since this was released and i recently heard it again. My impressions from back then were good , it sounded like a massive improvement in production, and i liked a couple of songs , but i never gave this album the atention i now know it deserved, mainly becuase i got distracted by other releases and frankly i got a little caught up in the critical reception it got it´s been a while since this was released and i recently heard it again. My impressions from back then were good , it sounded like a massive improvement in production, and i liked a couple of songs , but i never gave this album the atention i now know it deserved, mainly becuase i got distracted by other releases and frankly i got a little caught up in the critical reception it got and the overall sentiment that this was a dissapointment. Well , having listened to this again , for numerous times , i can say i LOVE it. IMHO, much better than the first two. It has such great guitar lines, with both sublime melodies and awesome tech.Nick and Albert just sound beautiful here, i´m impressed with these guys. Fab must have taken lessons or something , because he does some great drumming here and plays miles better than his old amateurish stuff. And Julian finally sounds like his singing and trying his best at it . And apart from the total upgrade in overall sound, the songs, while being still catchy and very strokes, are more diverse and interesting. Im not giving this a 10 becuase some songs frankly annoy me or i think are filler, like "Ask Me Anything", "Killing Lies" and "15 minutes" , but for the rest of them , a 9 seems fair enough.… Expand
  2. marcyb
    Jul 2, 2007
    10
    I think that they eally tried to grow on this album. they used a lot of experimental sounds, its great. julian really showed his talent as a singer.
  3. AdamP.
    Apr 3, 2008
    4
    A poor album and a shame after enjoying this is it and room on fire. A shambles.
  4. Jodan
    Jun 30, 2008
    10
    Awesome! Every song is amazing. The strokes kick A**!!!
  5. BurwellW.
    Jul 12, 2008
    7
    While the first two albums were damn near perfect (if not the second then certainly the first with room on fire trailing close by) first impressions of earth slightly misses its mark. The first two albums were filled with nostalgia entangled within the lyrics and the melodies. This is lost. Hopefully with a new album they can get their mojo back.
  6. tiega
    Nov 23, 2006
    10
    rock on.
  7. AddlerS
    Dec 2, 2006
    8
    The instruments sound great! The first half of this album is very good and then it declines, but nonetheless it is a good piece of work from The Strokes and we're interested to hear what's next from them, which will be a critical release.
  8. DylanR
    Feb 25, 2007
    9
    Great album, it's awsome, I listen to it all the time.
  9. Oligami
    Sep 11, 2007
    6
    Uneven. Some of it is more aggressive and in-your-face than their older songs, and some of it is just boring.
  10. FrankieM.
    Jan 18, 2008
    9
    I wasnt going to buy this album due to mixed reviews but then i heard you only live once and i thought why not buy it and now im so happy i did. my faviourite tracks are juicebox,vision of division, ize of the world and you only live once. also impressed by the guitar work the best ive heard from the strokes
  11. DanielB.
    Feb 6, 2008
    7
    Good for most of the album but nothing more than solid and how the hell are the strokes indie rock?
  12. BenF
    Feb 14, 2009
    7
    It is different than their previous two albums but still good. "You live only once" is pretty much my favorite track from this album. The rest are decent but not great.
  13. maria
    Nov 26, 2006
    10
    This album is a-freakin-mazing. And to all the people who say it's crap, they probably don't evn like this kid of music. And hello, do they know anything about anything? It is, in fact, very common to use melodies from past songs for a totally new one. So get a life and go smoke your crack and don't even bother next time you want to say something bad about The Strokes. This album is a-freakin-mazing. And to all the people who say it's crap, they probably don't evn like this kid of music. And hello, do they know anything about anything? It is, in fact, very common to use melodies from past songs for a totally new one. So get a life and go smoke your crack and don't even bother next time you want to say something bad about The Strokes. Other than that I love every song on this album!… Expand
  14. MC
    Dec 16, 2006
    8
    A real grower. So very bold. The guiter riffs are awesome , and the drumming skills of Fab Moretti are really evident here. And only The Strokes could pull off a song like Ize of the World.
  15. NelsonD
    Dec 5, 2006
    0
    SOOOOOO bad !! The Strokes are overrated!
  16. JoeR
    Oct 27, 2006
    10
    truly amazing. the opening five tracks are hands down the best opening five tracks of all time. what else could you want
  17. Precious
    Sep 27, 2006
    10
    The critics who panned this album are closed minded. I don't know how anyone could not love it. The lyrics and music on this album are absolutely stunning. While I didn't like it as much when first purchased, Impressions is now the only album i've got going on a continuous loop in the car and on the iPod. It works its way into your mind and stays there. I'm The critics who panned this album are closed minded. I don't know how anyone could not love it. The lyrics and music on this album are absolutely stunning. While I didn't like it as much when first purchased, Impressions is now the only album i've got going on a continuous loop in the car and on the iPod. It works its way into your mind and stays there. I'm particularly loving Electricityscape and Razorblade.… Expand
  18. williamDOE
    May 28, 2007
    7
    not as bad as most critics will say, but not as good either. granted, their first album was great, so they'll always have to match it. they havent with this album. the album starts off great with their first 4 songs, but the rest just kind of drag on.
  19. daver
    Oct 13, 2009
    9
    Love this cd as much of the other two, i don't care what the "critics" say about it, Their music is something refreshing.
  20. Amelia
    Dec 24, 2006
    9
    I pity those who can't appreciate the brilliance of this album (nelson) and cheers to precious - I too love electricityscape and RED LIGHT is my absolute favourite - listen to that gutiar--- oh my goodness they are brilliant. and strokes lovers check out albert hammond jrs solo album - it is fantastic.
  21. Optimus_Prime
    Dec 13, 2010
    10
    Sure, its not as good as Is This It. But really, this album is incredible in its own right. How can you give an album with such intensity and musical brilliance a 70? Julian clears up his singing, the guitars get more complex solos and clarity to create a stunning album. Can't get enough even 4 years after relese...
  22. SoundSword
    May 19, 2016
    6
    This album is easily the third best Strokes album to date after the directionless Angles and the completely half-hearted, half-assed Comedown Machine. There is quite a bit of filler on this album, however and the claims of the Strokes trying to sound like every other band ring half true with tracks like On the Other Side, Killing Lies, Ask Me Anything, and Vision of Division. TheThis album is easily the third best Strokes album to date after the directionless Angles and the completely half-hearted, half-assed Comedown Machine. There is quite a bit of filler on this album, however and the claims of the Strokes trying to sound like every other band ring half true with tracks like On the Other Side, Killing Lies, Ask Me Anything, and Vision of Division. The shallowness and seamless-- yawning even-- cool of the first two records is seemingly replaced with a hangover-ish mistrust and tired aggravation. But also, great songs. Juicebox and Razorblade take the Strokes classic sound and evolve it with highly inspired rhythm section performances from drummer Fab Moretti and bassist Nikolai Fraiture, who put out their A game on this record, while guitarists Albern Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi make a heavy duty armory out of two guitars creating memorable licks on songs like You Only Live Once, Heart In a Cage, Razorblade (second time being mentioned, huh) and Ize of the World. The album easily has some of the best melodies on a Strokes record hidden between some of the greater and lesser tracks. However one of the biggest pitfalls the Strokes seemed to fall into while making this record is not choosing their best work and not editing the 15 songs they had into a concise statement. One of the best songs of the recording sessions, "Hawaii", is relegated to B-side status. It is breezy and carefree in a way that could almost be used as a breather on the otherwise tense and not very cheerful album. On Ask Me Anything Julian Casablancas admits to not having a thing to say, while the album itself begs to differ. However when Red Light echoes this sentiment while declaring no one else does, it takes all the lyricism about not trusting anything-- including sleep, a motif heavily used on this album (with songs like 15 Minutes, Ize of the World, Evening Sun, and Fear of Sleep describing dreams, mistrust of people, industry, and even said dreams) that if set up correctly could have been lauded as brilliant-- and essentially throws it in the trash. Great songs are placed next to not great tracks (Electricityscape is easily the best song on this album, yet it does not get any play or respect despite being melodically superior and evolving the Strokes sound into the mood and tone of the album best). While many would argue replacing Gordon Raphael with David Kahne was a bad move (it more or less was), his production is not terrible for the time, aside from the audio clipping characteristic of this era of music, and fits the cold, robotic, clockwork mode the band were in at the time. The overall problem, however is merely the Strokes inability to properly self edit. Sacrifice derailing or ridiculous songs like On the Other Side, Ask Me Anything, Killing Lies, and Vision of Division, add fan favorite Hawaii back into the track list and rearrange the songs into a cohesive tale and we'd have a great album. Putting the three singles at the beginning does nothing to make people want to hear the rest of the album, especially with total duds in the fray. Lead single Juicebox is a harder rocking song than most of the Strokes back catalog and even most of the record prior. Why wouldn't it be track 9 of an 11 track album? Why would Red Light get honor of being last track when it could easily serve as a late beginning track right before the middle? Why not take the commentary of the trilogy of 15 Minutes, Ize of the World and Evening Sun and put it dead center, instead of last? With those three sitting center of the album, a buildup song like Fear of Sleep could end the album and the repetitive nature would only solidify the fear of dreaming motif 15 Minutes, Ize of the World and Evening Sun set up better. With that, I give an alternate tracklisting for the album, that I call "Last Impressions of Earth":
    1. You Only Live Once
    2. Hawaii (B-side to Juicebox, a really good track that balances out the mopey tone)
    3. Razorblade
    4. Red Light (another very Stroke-y song that does not work as a closer, but rather the warm up for the middle of the album which would be an improper shift in tone without this gem to toe the line)
    5. 15 Minutes (the beginning of the more emotionally appealing middle)
    6. Ize of the World
    7. Evening Sun (underrated; a beautiful companion piece to the feaster paced Hawaii)
    8. Electricityscape
    9. Juicebox (see? Isn't there more pay off when it is led up to a-la New York City Cops & The Way It Is??)
    10. Heart in a Cage
    11. Fear of Sleep (does not work where it was originally placed, too repetitive and too much build up; works well as a closer)
    Give this rearranged version a try. I find it is more cohesive, less mopey or "evil" and has better peaks, valleys and payoff as both a Strokes album and even just an album on its own. However, the original work could not be said the same of, like a lump of coal showing some diamond beneath, but never fully compressed to reach its shiniest, or best, form    … Expand
  23. abdo9985
    Sep 16, 2018
    10
    i Don't get the hate this is one of the best rock album of the 00s. 10/10 the strokes is love the strokes is life
  24. EveningSun
    Apr 13, 2019
    10
    After years of listening to this album, I’ve decided that it’s my favourite album of all time. It’s supposed to be the listeners’ First Impressions of Earth. The lyrics, instrumentals, themes, and vibes of each song vary from track to track, offering the listener a new experience with each track. You Only Live Once’s somewhat melancholic lyrics with that energetic and upbeat musicAfter years of listening to this album, I’ve decided that it’s my favourite album of all time. It’s supposed to be the listeners’ First Impressions of Earth. The lyrics, instrumentals, themes, and vibes of each song vary from track to track, offering the listener a new experience with each track. You Only Live Once’s somewhat melancholic lyrics with that energetic and upbeat music alongside it really starts it off strong. From there it stays strong with each following track. The edgy Juicebox and Heart in a Cage, and the lovey and somewhat ironic Razorblade all give the album a starting. We have a more political song like Ize of the World, and introspective tracks like On the Otherside, Ask me Anything, and Fear of Sleep. It’s all fantastic, and I can’t get over it.… Expand
next
Page:

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Most Discussed Album of 2006
43
#43 Most Shared Album of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Blender
    70
    Earth is the sound of a band coming to that inevitable realization: five patrician perfectionists who've resolved to sound sloppy, even (or especially) at the risk of fucking up. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.98]
  2. Playlouder
    90
    Turns out what the world was waiting for really was those that saved guitars finally making a record that truly reaped the rewards of their efforts. Is this it? OH GOD YES!
    Read full review
  3. Slant Magazine
    50
    First Impressions introduces some subtle new colors to the band's musical palette... but the pervasive sense of inert boredom, which has been noted as a strength in the past, is difficult to shake.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »