Was That It? - The Pressure Behind the Strokes

[@Jeff.mp3]

I know when you found that clip at 15:38 you were like “I HAVE to include this,” and then the “albums are cousins” quote came up and you were like “YES”

[@MarcButEvil]

This is exactly what happened

[@jester333]

immediately followed up by "He mentions in basically every interview from this era..."

[@susragejr477]

Julian getting a lesson from Courtney Love about managing fame and ego is like getting a lesson from Mr. Krabs on managing money and greed

[@MapleMilk]

Well, they know ball They just can't play

[@Channel199dn]

@@MapleMilknice

[@marianat1393]

@@MapleMilk the coach doesn't play

[@lawjef]

She may have had some good insights from her experience - no one questions her intelligence - even if she is totally incapable of following her own advice. The two things don’t always overlap

[@DungeonTV100]

​@@lawjef Kurt got whacked. She done it.

[@mrsneedy1034]

Can’t wait for the “Strokes lore” playlist

[@susragejr477]

Stroking lore

[@FarizArditiyo]

The death of Margaret Thatcher

[@FoxkøøStudios77]

@@susragejr477marry me

[@RuralProgressive]

*buddy holy riff*

[@FoxkøøStudios77]

@@RuralProgressive ☝️🤓 WEEZER MOMENT

[@joeanthony7759]

All things considered, “Room On Fire” is a solid album; I like it as much as the first.

[@Durrantula]

I like it a 🤏 more than their first. Mostly bc of "Under Control" Such a marvelous tune.. Both albums are great, tho. IMO

[@moog5260]

I like it more

[@indigo5577]

Used to put that on and think of my crush in high school 😢

[@crisscorreag]

@@Durrantula man, Under Control is my fav

[@j_soo]

I completely I agree I think I like it a little more actually. Then again I personally love each of their albums

[@8thFurno]

It’s Strokin’ time…

[@VatrogasacMI]

Strokinnnnnnn timeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@dangrel]

No, dad, no!

[@judasthepious1499]

please use lubes

[@yshml]

I'm over here strokin my casablancas I got lotion on my casablancas rn just strokin my shit. I'm Abnormal as fuck I'm an angle like fr.

[@scienceseason7059]

I love the part is Is This It where the Strokes say 'It's Strokin' time' and start Strokin' all over the place

[@maxresdefault_]

"Your next album has to be Nevermind" is a hell of a thing to live up to

[@snorky222222]

Territorial pissings and a catchy single. The rest is whatever. Strokes blew nirvana out of the water.

[@PastPerspectives11]

@@snorky222222LOL

[@jimjiminy5836]

@@snorky222222lol..nope

[@snorky222222]

@@jimjiminy5836 actually never mind is crap. Never listen to it. Over catchy pop and a few boring numbers.

[@Mcnutty924]

​@PastPerspectives3 Idk if the strokes are better than nirvana or not. But when you dig deeper into music and find bands like the doors, talking heads, modest mouse, etc. You find there's so much better music than Nirvana. Nirvanas great but they're definitely on the lower teir of iconic bands.

[@coryphillips7945]

I played their first album so many times my girlfriend at the time broke up with me. As soon as she moved out, i played the album again, even louder.

[@goopaf3952]

amen

[@DungeonTV100]

😂 I bet she went on to greatness.. 😁I always thought they were so fake, NME darlings . Remember 'Gay Dad'? 😂😂 NME died in about 1997😢

[@g21g28]

their best album for me. the media hyped them up so insanely and then wanted to knock them down but the music in those first three albums (coincidentally the ones julian casablancas wrote near-singlehandedly) is almost flawless

[@brittanygonzo5686]

Same!

[@ihatezoofy]

5:11 you really thought you could hide that huh

[@enshen2190]

But he didn’t hide 0:04 🤭

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

Lucky me. Caught them in NYC live at Roseland Ballroom or maybe the Bowery in 2001/2, before the explosion…one of most memorable rock shows I’ve seen. Rinsed those early tunes for months. Thanks for the back story friend 🤙🏽😎🖤

[@kkorova]

Growing up I was OBSESSED with the Strokes and how dreamy Julian was ☠️ I continue listening to him through the Voidz. Did I also fell in love with Albert Hammond Jr’s solo work? Absolutely. And who could forget Fabrizio Moretti’s lovely work with Little Joy. These guys were (and still are) incredibly talented, authentic, and the definition of “cool” during the post punk revival era. What a great time to be an adolescent. Kids these days will never know!

[@99fxr68]

While I didn’t crush on the dudes…the “indie” bands of NY were awesome! Interpol, the Strokes, The Rapture..etc (I know they’re from SF, when they went DFA, they were in NY) and LCD..so many great bands in the 00s! Definitely a kick as time in music

[@nickparton5663]

Yes, they will. They have their own heroes

[@brittanygonzo5686]

I was obsessed. Little Joy ❤ om i miss them

[@kkorova]

@@99fxr68 agree! And just to clarify, I had no other crush but Julian 😂. But yes, they paved the way along with other awesome bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Libertines… Arctic Monkeys.

[@danmiller5869]

Impressive work. I've watched a lot of Strokes docs and videos and you taught me a few new things. Well done!

[@morganmensa5129]

I was 18 when Room On Fire came out. The album is a masterpiece. It's my favourite album from them. Such fashion icons.

[@SteveDC101]

For a rushed record it's on fire 🔥🤟. I'm a new strokes fan since December of last year.

[@jukeboxvertigo7946]

Ahhhhh!! Not cool man!! I need a part 2! Angles is my fav album from them and you set it up so well. Looking forward to it

[@georgeviney9360]

0:37 that line is both menacing and very dreadful at the same time

[@tonytoneguitar]

id simply retire

[@rofflesvanwagon]

Imagine worrying about what courtney love has to say 🤣

[@moroseloki1912]

Like most Lines

[@oh_why_her]

I collected all their albums back in high school. I bonded with my aunt and mom through the Strokes. Awesome video! 🤍

[@paulicervetti3151]

I am soooo interested in the strokes. I literally found one of my new favorite bands bc of this channel! Please keep making this amazing, enterteining, informative videos!!! Love from Argentina ❤🇦🇷

[@RoseanneSeason7]

Check out the garden

[@gavinzvideodump3083]

BABE WAKE UP NEW MARCBUTEVIL

[@fisherkhongmaly9893]

You know its a good day when @MarcButEvil posts a video about the strokes

[@NotErik144]

hell yeah more strokes content

[@bloodborneonpc7]

I’ve literally never heard of the Courtney Love thing wtf

[@yungcee321]

It's what inspired the song "meet me in the bathroom" his response to her song after they met

[@bloodborneonpc7]

@@yungcee321 that’s just a fan theory and there’s barely any evidence supporting it. People just get confused because Courtney says “meet me in the bedroom” in her song

[@wyethmiller281]

The real ones have always known this was the better album. I learned so much from this video. It was cool to see the order in which some of these songs were written, I had no idea.

[@datdude3327]

15:37 what made bro say this

[@David_prod-eNGee]

alcohol? in part maybe frig who knows, wild tho

[@outriggerunderground]

I saw the Strokes play at Soma in San Diego. Right after the 2nd album released. Julian was sick and sat on a stool for the whole show. Somehow it was still the most entertaining show I’d ever been to. He rocked the house and barely moved

[@arunca190]

The hunger to do better is not as strong as the hunger to fit in/make it. There is nothing more confident than a 20 year old as far as creativity. After that, doubt and second guessing mess it up.

[@AnAbsurdExistence]

Excellent research, excellent video, well done Marc

[@ChordyRingler]

“Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak almost certainly inspired the album title and “Reptilia.” The melody of “the world was on fire” and “the room is on fire” is identical.

[@dmaster5556]

I go back and forth between Is This It and Room on Fire as being my favorite Strokes album. Kinda just depends on my mood any particular day lol.

[@betweenlemontrees826]

Really engaging work! This captures the self-seriousness of many bands and fans in the early-2000s music scene. It's a phenomenon brought into greater relief - and even made poignant - by the decline of music as a signaling tool for young people (Gen Z) to indicate their tastes and group memberships (cf. Rick Beato's commentary: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioacZ6p5ea16ga8). Remember how John Cusack's character in the movie High Fidelity talks about his "desert island" songs/albums? Most young people today would probably not even know what the phrase "desert island" means in the context of music. And among those who do, the idea probably doesn't resonate as well because it hinges on an assumption of scarcity: Gen X and older generations remember what it was like for music to be out of reach (e.g., waiting for a song to be played on the radio, hoping an album will be on the shelf in Tower Records). The Strokes may be kind, well-meaning people in real life, but that doesn't take away from the silliness we can see in this old footage now: trust-fund hipsters bogged down by seriousness in their intention to made records that would do little more than retread classic rock sounds from the '70s more than 20 years later. I remember seeing the Strokes perform at a club in 2000/2001. They got to their single, "Last Nite," and it sounded to me like a cut-time shuffle suspiciously similar to Tom Petty's "American Girl." I liked it, but I didn't think a straight-faced advertisement of taste amounted to something culturally important in itself. Now nearly 25 years later, it's fun to remember when music still meant so much to young people. It meant much to me, but by seeing the old footage here, I'm reminded that it's okay for some sacred cows to die.

[@fogpumas]

1:10 they were Nepo babies. Never a part of any kind of underground. Their parents’ connections got them signed. Great band, no doubt, but no one would have ever heard of them had they not come into the business with these connections. It was the main point of criticism by most everyone at the time.

[@jorden9821]

Wow, do you mean like pretty much all significant people throughout all of history?

[@jorden9821]

Nietzsche would love The Strokes

[@Aramisbyjoe]

@@jorden9821why?

[@invisibot6]

Yeah everyone I ever encountered who felt this way was always an oblivious douche with bad taste.

[@endlessnameless6494]

It wasn't the nepo thing, IMO. Most hipsters I hung out with in 2000 were richy-rich suburbanites, anyways. It was the fact that 1. ) they were being hailed as the Second Coming of Christ and 2.) you ended up with a CD that sounded like an "edgy" Tom Petty out take. Let's just be real, this band is good, but not mind blowing. Spike Jonez, "Lost In Translation" etc was all nepo baby stuff, and nobody dogged on it that hard. This band is simply "ehh". Not bad but not great.

[@Dabel111]

I discovered this band last December. They are now tied with Weezer for my favorite band. And right as I started to get really interested with them you made the Is This It video. And now we have a sequel. I am excited for the strokes lore videos.

[@J-MOGES]

If you haven’t, listen to Arctic Monkeys debut. Very much influenced by the Strokes and its an absolute class record

[@attamusk]

Strokes > Weezer and Arctic Monkeys. Easily.

[@Andyanddiana467]

Platinum and Gold records are not necessarily awarded for sales - contrary to popular belief, they're awarded after an album SHIPS, the thinking being that shipments will eventually equal sales (which hardly turns out that way, given how the record industry still accepts returns).

[@Durrantula]

🤔

[@GLD516]

The Strokes only have six albums, and not one of them is bad. I love them all.

[@cosmo.curtis]

They only have 4 that should be mentioned, the two and a half after are shades of bad. I don't expect things to get better since Julian seems to be having a cringe midlife crisis and looks unbathed so I have put them to rest in my mind. I had hope for Albert but I couldn't make it a full song on whatever he released semi recently.

[@GLD516]

@@cosmo.curtis Haha I can find some gems here and there. I catch myself humming some Albert tunes, but he's certainly no Julian. That said, I'd buy tickets if he ever comes through NYC again!

[@_solange]

I had already forgotten about some of these quotes, facts and you put them all together really well.

[@Paul-dw2cl]

Haha, I cracked up at that photo at 0:04

[@Paul-dw2cl]

where was Nick, under the table? just playin, yo

[@siddharthsingh3249]

Room on Fire is their best album by far, they bat out their issues from Is This It

[@publicjeremynumberone]

Saw them several times playing in bars before they blew up. Totally great songs and shows and deserved all the success

[@ZEN_Ivan]

another local legend video drop

[@danieldrkness7489]

I will always love The Strokes. Its only band that I seem to only really remember the words too. That says a lot after 20 yrs

[@Bball2]

thanks for putting the sources, pretty helpful. great video! :)

[@kusfhizjingjiongia4564]

CHAOS AND CREATION MENTIONED!!!!

[@MarcButEvil]

BANGERBANGERBANGER

[@maxssister1985]

Is this it changed my life when i was 10. Still my favorite album.

[@steven_uk]

I saw The Strokes on the Is This It album tour and then on the Room On Fire album tour. The difference between the shows was stark. Is This It was a new band with confidence and swagger in a small venue. Room On Fire was a tired, unsure band in a massive conference hall. I've seen them live a couple of times since, and they have always been disappointing when compared to the first time. Julian's detached aloofness did not age well.

[@RoseanneSeason7]

You remember a band that opened for the strokes on their first tour called Long wave?

[@EandQproductions21]

Highly recommend Gordon Raphael’s book where he recounts working on Is This It and Room On Fire with The Strokes, absolutely crazy seeing a first hand account on the matter

[@paradigm_conjecture]

Every song on their second album is a banger. Back when a whole album was a thing.

[@backpack_buddies93]

I was waiting for this video. I love this band 👌

[@tannerdodge6029]

First song I ever heard from the Strokes was Reptilia and from there I was hooked, by that point they'd already broken up, but I still had what they'd made to enjoy. Then the New Abnormal came out and it made me happy that they came together again and made that all that time later

[@AllanZi]

For someone who wasn't living the hype at the time, living in Brazil, Room on Fire was the sound that got me first and got me good. Apart from Last Night, it was only then I turned to Is This It and, of course, loved it.

[@aprendizdecapivara2841]

The The New abnormal video is gonna be fire, I just know it

[@nmg_official]

We need the rest of the discography!!!!!!! Please!🙏

[@_demagistre]

ICONIC video. Need part 2!!

[@MarcButEvil]

For the first time EVER... I will be PINNING my FAVORITE comment in ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! (please clap)

[@Articinvolved]

I wanna marry julian casablancas, I'm not gay right?

[@fisherkhongmaly9893]

@Articinvolved Nah fam your good

[@ayaanhussein1157]

Yay

[@Manniy-gf8pb]

That is so gay

[@VatrogasacMI]

I clap

[@tripleg724]

Despite Room on fire not being the next is this it it's still a good album imo

[@timhall3575]

I was Rough Trade's Label Manager at their distribution co. in the UK. Vital Distribution back in 2000/2001. Hearing the Modern Age at Rough Trades offices for the first time, seeing their first UK shows in 2001, the release of subsequent singles and the finally the release of the Is This It album was a really exciting time . I have a platinum disc for x 300'000 UK sales. I don't think I've ever listened to Room On Fire or any of their other albums all the way through. Never saw them live again aside from one encounter at the recording of a live spot on the Later: With Jools Holland TV show where the atmosphere around the band (and crew) was pretty grim. Fun while it lasted though!

[@boonesboroughbeachboy9341]

I love that picture of all of them,after recording is this it, with the giant mixing board.I was such a fan when it came out and I was so happy they just keep on getting better. ❤❤

[@ZenDragonYoutubeChannel]

Room On Fire was awesome.

[@indigo5577]

My favorite Strokes song, 12:51, is off this album. It gets me excited for the weekend every time I hear it, killer music video too. Julian once said in an interview that it describes "the feeling when you know you're about to fuck".

[@josephmilia9533]

The sophomore record is my favorite of their discography. I might get shade for this take but it’s so consistent in its tone and so minimalist

[@99problemstoysaint1]

I remember the day room on fire dropped and going to buy the cd later that evening. I kept listening to it on repeat as I loved the off beat songs and still love it to this day!!

[@betulceyhan8519]

I’m so mad at the crown they placed on their heads when the band didn’t want it, saviours of rock’n roll etc. Yes it’s a very much needed and loved sound but the expectations alone doomed the band to stay between the line of something old and something new. If this wasn’t their origin story maybe specially Julian would’ve loved the band much more and put out more stuff. I feel like even with The New Abnormal’s success the guy wants to get away as much as possible from the name the Strokes. Well as an epitome of fear of failure i respect that they’ve managed to handle all of that. I’ve stopped studying after getting in to med school and also stopped writing after an editor proposed to publish a poem of mine. You just don’t want to try anymore once you are admired if you’re a perfectionist.

[@joeland87]

I love Room on Fire. I agree with later Julian. It’s like Is This It? Part II. And I love it.

[@ambientbluntsmoke]

is this it changed my life

[@stomachpop5971]

I was at art college in the UK in 2001 and it seemed like everyone around me had the first Strokes album, they were so hyped, I remember seeing them at a festival where they were headliners and they didn’t even have a full hour of material. The Pixies played beneath them!!!

[@ebu888]

You deserve my subscribe. cant wait for more videos about the strokes

[@mintreading]

What Ever Happened is still my favourite one, it gets me every time 🖤

[@destroso]

Green Day sold more than the Ramones, album sales mean nothing. Also, Bleach wasn’t a quarter of the success is this it was, Courtney being a manipulative witch is all that was.

[@herecomeseveryone7562]

She was warning that as big as they are to avoid being a flash in the pan or that they are truly a worthy band, they would have to follow it up & be able to maintain. Green Day is Still a massive band. They never dropped off. Green Day also had Kerplunk which also wasn't a quarter of 'is this it'. I think a large part of it though is that Doomie & Nevermind were the first Major label releases for each respective band & they had a lot of money backing them going into those albums that they hadn't had previously. Still I don't think Courtney is totally without merit, she may have just been trying to knock them down a peg but the stress of 2nd album follow up is a known thing.

[@destroso]

@@herecomeseveryone7562 what would Courtney know? She is famous for marrying a successful musician and all her hits were written by either Cobain or Corgan. You missed the point though. Green Day is an unoriginal band who churned out a palatable version of punk to the masses, they sold millions more records than the Ramones who were trendsetters and actually broke through with a new sound. Courtney is even worse because at least BJ wrote the music. And don’t forget BJ was brought up in musical theater. So, again, record sales mean nothing. Also, a better comparison would be In Utero as Nirvana wasn’t famous until Nevermind.

[@herecomeseveryone7562]

@@destroso I didn't miss your point I understood it, but I don't think it has much context to anything that was discussed within the video. The vid made it clear Julian was stressed over the success of their follow up album, which is what Courtney warned of & the strokes never really reached the heights of their first LP again. I've been a punk for over 30 years. I don't care about green day but they have become one of the biggest rock bands over the last few decades, without a doubt. Discharge has probably played a larger musical influence overall but to speak of them isn't really relevant to what's discussed in this video. In the video the have direct quotes from Julian about his stress of the 2nd album, how can you not understand what Courtney said was relevant? I don't even know what you're referring to with "BJ" I never cared for the strokes, green day, nivana, hole, or the smashing pumpkins. I'm just speaking what I know & what's in the video You're missing the entire point of the video being the stress of a major followup.

[@destroso]

@@herecomeseveryone7562 let me say it again because you missed the point again. Record sales aren’t a measure of how good your album is. Courtney was being a self important, manipulative bitch, and Room on fire was not their Nevermind because they were already famous. She was just piling on stress for no reason. It’s very simple.

[@momsbluedress]

@@herecomeseveryone7562Courtney’s like Yoko Ono, people just needlessly go into a blind rage whenever those two names are invoked or quoted, regardless of their merits.

[@wadepitre579]

Lots of great songs still to this day

[@nolagospeltracts8264]

Great narration. You're very good at putting life into all those quotes.

[@TheLobster99]

Please make a video on the recording of First Impressions of Earth! I’m loving these strokes videos, man. Thank you.

[@DazGuardado]

I didn't know anything about the strokes before. Now I do, thanks Marc

[@andresmoralesish]

Please keep going with their story this was great! 👍🏽

[@Stevewebstermusic]

After the required amount of the strokes I go to sleep

[@rerun84x]

Great video man, i can't get enough of your content. You're doing great work; excited to watch you grow

[@haydenhartranft1524]

I can’t believe pitchfork would give TNA a 5.7

[@gotgot131313]

Lol i really think that Pitchfork don’t know a lot about music .. they’re just a bunch of hipsters who believe that modern rock music begin with Radiohead 😂 .. If you’re not arty like they love you’re nothing/no one .. I remember when they discovered Deerhunter,it was like God was born again .. The New Abnormal is a true good record,the cover,the songs,the band himself is really really good but it’s not a « Is This It » perfect album so PitchFuckFork give it a 5,7 instead 9 🤷🏻‍♂️ ..

[@sukiyaLocal]

Nevermind and Room on Fire, these are the only albums where I like every song.

[@kianbarker6781]

You should check out Guided By Voices! They're a great band who were a huge influence on the Strokes! They're even in the Someday music vid!!

[@RoseanneSeason7]

Great comment

[@Rrodfer]

Your channel is amazing! Thats for the great content

[@cristian.ilie.018]

"Strokes - Machu Picchu" is one of the greatest songs I've ever heard...Hands-Down !

[@roebuckmckinney]

I hate to be that guy, but I was there in the summer and fall of 2001. I got the EP in July and I got the British import of the album because I wanted to hear it so bad (because I loved the EP). And then I saw them twice in the fall. And I don't want to say they sucked, but they weren't great. They only had an hour's worth of material, and they just played a passable version of what you heard on the album. They didn't seem like they had the chops that some of my friends' bands had. By the time the second record came out, I didn't really care any more. I'd moved on to the White Stripes, and then to The Mooney Suzuki. When I saw the Mooneys open up for the Strokes in 2003, they blew the Strokes off the stage, and they clearly didn't care what the Strokes might have thought about it.

[@bobthegrinch]

I always loved Room On Fire. Never understood people comparing it negatively to the first album. I think it sounds different enough without sounding too different. I still listen to both. The only song I skip is Reptilla. Not because I think it's a bad song, I just heard it soooooo much in the years around it's release that I got tired of it.

[@nickpower3185]

Yes we like you!!! The New Abnormal is cool definitely worth hearing!

[@zxn666]

14:01 the reason why this happens, is the label has to file paperwork for the artist to get the thing certified officially and all of that stuff. It happens to many artists with them either not having the right plaques on the site or it’s outdated from years ago.

[@john1120]

Sorry folks, nothing compares to the first album. I remember hearing room on fire in 2003, me and my friend. We were pretty disappointed by the album. Makes sense though only two weeks to make it and people still bought it. Huge fan of this group, but I slowly watched the decline of the strokes all the way to "juicebox." I think they suffered like alien ant farm great start, but slow fizz to burn.

[@BrynDonovanWriter]

I'm working on a sequel to a book right now on a tight deadline, and I totally get this stress.

[@Mcnutty924]

That debut was something else. That's probably my most listened to album. There are much better bands than the Strokes, but that debut is a top 10 album all time for me.

[@radioheadfanuk1252]

Love your videos, especially your Weezer and Strokes videos, would love to see similar videos about Radiohead too.

[@oscarballesteros225]

I like Room On Fire better than Is This It. It’s a more mature album.

[@Khesedlive]

I love your videos best album reviewer ever

[@Boywhocriedrainbow]

R.I.P Marc Spitz. The book Poseur was great!

[@Blarg]

Thank you for this video.. nice ANGLES on this bands story.

[@brunolevi2661]

Wow this video is amazing. Watched until the last second. Would love similar ones to all follow up albums. Specially now that they seem to not be on good grounds with Julian talking shit about the band

[@THE-CRT]

Nigel Godrich also composed the Scott pilgrim VS the world sound track.

[@UrbanSLUG]

Ending on a cliffhanger, I hope you make more

[@_Majunior]

Your editing and story telling is getting better

[@joelyoung3092]

Am i the only one who (at the time) thought Room On Fire sounded very different to Is This It? It's less retro and more new wave and brighter sounding and the songs and arrangements are very different. Most band's first 2 albums sounded similar pre 2001..

[@RodmanTackleAdvisor]

Courtney wrote half of Nevermind. She wasn't credited. She was right about what she said. They needed to become the new Nirvana. They needed to break out. They did. Just not in a good way.

[@marcandris3367]

Outstanding segment

[@mj.l]

it's not strange at all for US bands to be bigger in the UK. countless examples.

[@mjh5437]

Jimi Hendrix and Blondie and The Ramones being prime examples

[@jasonjerusalem]

2:35 NYC rock has always been very welcome in the UK. America's realy sceptic and slow about new cool and New York bands are all about new and cool.