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Room On Fire - The Strokes
Room On Fire Image
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.4 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 156 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: This eagerly-awaited second LP for the heralded/hyped New York five-piece was produced by Gordon Raphael (who also produced their debut 'Is This It?') after aborted sessions working with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. Q Magazine
    100
    Pretty much everything a second album needs to be, it's like Is This It but more emotional, more colourful, slightly better. [Nov 2003, p.102]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Blender
    60
    The fine distinction between cool and blase, aloof and distant, seems to have eluded them. [Nov 2003, p.106]
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  3. Playlouder
    20
    There's little of the pop sparkle that shone through the likes of 'The Modern Age' and 'Last Nite' even when - as with 'You Talk Way Too Much' - they're rewriting old material, and Julian's vocals are, to be blunt, awful, sounding uncomfortable to record and rather complacently nasal.

See all 30 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 92 out of 108
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 108
  3. Negative: 11 out of 108
  1. SoupRocker
    10
    The album is an amazing follow-up to their groundbreaking album Is This It, and fully lives up to the standard set up by their first album. Julian Casablancas' voice comes out in songs like "Automatic Stop" and blows other singers out of the water.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. rachelz
    5
    yea, i know they're filthy rich kids who got their career moving through daddy's wallet, and, to make matters more annoying, flaunt their hypocritical bohemia more than their musical chops, this album is decent...but by no means great. if they just played the damn songs instead of trying ultra hard to make themselves sound low-fi and "cool", as if there really is some desperation on the line (like these guys couldn't hang back out in their daddies' penthouses on the upper east side if their music didn't work out). the velvets did the low-budget, feedback thang almost 40 years ago--and did it much better and more provocatively. not to mention "psychocadndy" 20 years ago by the jamc. it's time to move on. basically, less thrift store "really, i'm not loaded" juvenile schtick and more production would probably equal more sincerity and honesty, which would help the songs out immensely. and i would probably listen to it again.… Expand
    • 1 of 2 users said yes
  3. OliverP
    3
    The idea is not a bad one, but the same idea is repeated over and over. On 12:51, Julian Casablancas must be the only singer I have ever heard who sounds just like another guitar. One of the most over-rated bands around.… Expand
    • 1 of 2 users said yes

See all 108 User Reviews

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