Someone said a few days ago that they were thinking about some sort of album discussion group, and it got me thinking about album reviews. I may never do another one, but I was just listening to Is This It and it occurred to me that what I was thinking could be written down.
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Is This It was a cultural phenomenon, a clarion call signaling the ascendancy of a new (old) genre, but that's not why I like it. It's supposedly the album that reminded rock what rock was and ushered in a new generation of Jack Whites and bus-stop hipsters, but that's not why I like it either.
I love it because the moment Julian Casablancas starts singing, I'm not sitting in an office or a bedroom anymore. Suddenly, it's 3:30 AM in a bad neighborhood of an unnamed city, and I'm the hoodie-clad, dirty-gray jeans wearing bum-by-choice that parents in the '50s subconciously pictured and feared the moment they heard Elvis croon or Little Richard wail. I walk along a dark street; head down and hands in pockets. I've got some secrets that will make you stay -- Julian says so. There's never been an album more equipped to make you feel cooler, in a sick sort of way, and living vicariously through a singer has never been so tragically easy. This is intentional; but it's masterfully done and so immersive that you don't notice.
I've never encountered an album that drew you in, that built a story, quite like this one. Other records (Stay Positive comes to mind) can build a narrative -- but Is This It doesn't even need to do that. It builds instead a lifestyle, conjures it out of thin air and adds a dash of film noir. It has that special cohesion -- 11 tracks that may as well be 1 -- which allows an album to be more than just a series of songs.
I could say more; I could talk about the album's perfect title, the irony of the instant, blinding fame that fell on the Strokes within days of its release. I could go on at length about how, because of the finality and overwhelming depression of Is This It, I wish they had never made another album, even though Angles was great and Room on Fire was better, but that's not the message to take away. Is This It is about living in the moment, however shitty that moment is. And when I listen to Is This It I'm still a twenty-something and I still have no idea -- but thank god, neither do the Strokes.
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Here is Someday.
Excellent review of one of my favorite albums. To me, "Is This It" is the perfect early antidote to a world that is just on the verge of being flooded with autotune sugar-coated garbage. So simple. They're like what the Beatles would've sounded like if they had the chance to be influenced by Punk before forming.
For me, The Wall holds the same value. It's a brilliant story, with the depth of one of the great literary works and an emotive value I can't find the equivalent of. Every time I listen, I find something new, relevant to my mood and situation. The Wall has yet to be beaten as best album ever for me. I wish I could explain it in better sentences like yours!I've never encountered an album that drew you in, that built a story, quite like this one.
The Wall is in that sense one of the five most influential albums ever made. (Or Piper at the Gates of Dawn is, White Light/White Heat, Pet Sounds, or etc.) Depends how far back you want to go, how loosely you want to define "concept albums" and story albums. It would make a great masters thesis or something if I was majoring in what I enjoyed, which I'm not, so fuck me.
Learning to write can help develop what is there. Some people have (much) more capacity than others. Taking time to develop that strength can be worthwhile, especially if one has the capacity. Talent can be similar to intelligence in many ways, in that a person may do well with their natural capacity, but if no steps are taken to explore the limits of their talent or intelligence, a given person may find that others of lower natural capacity have surpassed them.
I read your other comment about NY. Maybe you can use finance to pursue a different goal? Working solely for the money doesn't appeal me at all, but if you can make some nice cash, you could work less hours and spend those pursuing other goals. A stable income is worth a lot in these times of massive youth unemployment. And I won't tell her! Goals can be reached from multiple ways, with or without education.