On March 22, 2011, The Strokes released their fourth album entitled "Angles". Since downloading my pre-order of the album, I think I have listened to it a good 5 times or more. What I particularly love about this album is the fact that each song is so completely different from the next, which is a different, fresh idea for the Strokes. The album starts off with "Machu Piccu", a song that kicks off with an almost reggae-like guitar sound. Then, two songs later comes "Two Kinds of Happiness" which seriously sounds like it is from the band Duran Duran. After another couple songs comes "Taken for a Fool", a song that is so Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque. The album ends with with "Life is Simple in the Moonlight", a song that seems to be very loyal to the Strokes' past. To me, this eclectic mix of songs is really quite interesting. It is something we have not seen from the band in any previous albums, and I am definitely enjoying this change! After thinking about it, the title of the album really has a say in the album itself. Each song does truly have a different 'angle' to it, and you could tell this was a complete band collaboration rather than being written singlehandedly by Julian Casablancas or one of the other members of the Strokes. To me, the variety of songs seem to have different personalities, and thus can be compared to the characters in Pride and Prejudice. For example, the more up beat and eclectic songs can relate to Elizabeth, the different and independent woman in the story. The safer, less original songs that are very true to the Strokes' past can relate to Jane and the rest of the family, since they had been the most obeying towards societal standards. I think this connection will be really easily seen by many Strokes listeners because it is very obvious that the band is taking a chance with some extremely different songs than they have ever put out, as well as some many safe, true-to-the Strokes songs. Thus, the eclecticness of the album "Angles" can easily be compared to the eclectic characters of Pride and Prejudice. Ultimately, this album has much more experimental, different songs than songs loyal to their past.
Here are many of the songs that show off the new angle that the Strokes took with 'Angles':
For people who are not familiar with the Strokes, here are some of their most popular older songs:
There is a huge similarity between the above three songs. All coming from different albums, they still have the same sound of guitar, similar vocals, etc. This is why the eclecticness of Angles is such a big deal!!!
thanks for this interesting post, Samantha!
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