It was so unbelievable, at the very beginning of the awesome night!
Love the guys for this gift!

Albert in Dusseldorf. People in front make the shot awesome :)

It looked like they had discussed it before cause Julian said to Fab “should I sing it wrong I should I wait?” Then he passed the mic to Fab who started singing Bella Ciao and the crowd was lit! They used it as an intro to Lonely In The Future.

Amazing night!

Been a huge strokes fan for a long time, and going to see them next week.
Did anyone else (during COVID19) completely bypass Ode to the Mets as an all timer song? Only in the last 12 months have I started listening to it properly, and now I find myself having an argument in my head that it might be their best ever song…

So I was holding back on this album from long time cuz of some reviews. But i gave it a good listen today and it's actually not that bad. I think guys played a good move by adding more autotune in the intro and outro and less on the other songs. Idk I'm right or not but after the 1st song i.e psycho shit every other song has less autotune except the last one. Do you guys noticed that too? I can't say much about the lyrics it's decent.

There are a couple of things that impressed me about this record and I would like to share them so that maybe someone finds themselves in this experience or can add their thoughts. (Plus, I've just been to my first The Strokes concert and my enthusiasm for the band and the tour is at its peak!!) In any case, my thoughts come from the position of a person who is just a music enjoyer, so don't expect any technical analysis from me (sorry). Instead, if anyone with some knowledge in music theory, recording, production, songwriting etc... wants to contribute, I would really appreciate it!!

Generally speaking, I align with the common opinion that you need to listen to it multiple times to actually appreciate it. Not because I personally went through that phase of hating then loving it, but first because it is a general rule for me that everything - any song or album by any artist - sounds insipid to me at first listen (that is 100% on me). There are rare exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking discovering new music is often a matter of sitting through the first listen and have the willpower to listen again. 

Second, because RA specifically has some elemens that can only be appreciated with time, let's say, by definition.

One being how many details you can discover, such as sounds you didn't notice or isolate - and this can be appreciated much with a series of listens. It is not simply attention to details: when I listen, it gives me the impression that they took a lot of care and put in a lot of work. The instruments and "background" sounds are rich in details. There is always some "tension" that never leaves and it is beautifully layered.

Another is how Julian interprets the lyrics with his voice. I think I've never heard him being that expressive. Not saying that he wasn't in the previous albums, rather that he peaked here! Some expressions also have the opportunity to show also because of the themes present on RA, such as rage (combined with the will to be peaceful). It makes me think of "Did my best" when Julian says that he is "angrier than them" (my interpretation is, he is referring to the younger generations, while he is "on the sidelines" of the rebellious teenage/younger years). Psycho shit and Dine and dash most certainly convey anger so well! There are also examples other than anger/rage, but I could probably dedicate another entire chapter, so I will keep it short.

What really feeds the love I have for this album further is, I particularly like to dig into lyrics meaning of songs on RA. It comes naturally. Sometimes you are just tempted to leave the mistery of criptic lyrics as they are, but with RA I am induced to speculation. The more so because there are words and symbols repeating in different songs on the album. The more you re-listen to the album, the more a new connection clicks. In more than one case I think lyrics are intentionally structured so that they can be interpreted as representing (at least) two different "realities" and consequently have two different interpretations - but both can be simultaneously true and are meant to coexist in the same sentence. (I could write paragraphs on each individual song, so I will keep it short for now 😅)

Do you also have similar experiences? Would you like to share some other factors or elements that make you enjoy Reality Awaits?

I’ve been trying to remember this old song for ages now and I can’t find it anywhere. All I can remember is the chorus kinda follows the same vibe as ize of the world chorus and Julian has some crazy effect on his vocals with lyrics along the lines of “I want to know..”.

Someone please help me I’m losing it! Is it from his solo work or even a daft punk song? I could have sworn it was either comedown machine or TNA.
Thanks so much!

I was wondering, given the excellent quality of the audio video service and instrumentation used on all the tourdates of the RA World Tour... who knows if there will be any chance of seeing anything official or semi-official or otherwise from the Strokes with the best of this world tour.

I would love something like this!

What do you think?

The gift of the going shopping promo cassettes was something wonderful and unique, dear Strokes I know you always read us here, for Christmas under the tree could we have a nice file with the audio mixer recordings of the songs that live you consider most satisfying for you?

For so many of us deeply in love with you, it was truly a hard challenge to find even a single ticket. It would be wonderful.

🎄

Pretty tricky to sing, I messed up several parts

All handmade tees I made for a group of friends attending a concert

At the end of the concert, it was not possible to meet the strokes at the exit. But I identified among the guys who were loading the instruments into hard cases Steve.

When we called him, he was very sweet, he didn't even think we called him.

I expressed my gratitude and congratulations to him for how he plays and for being with the strokes, without him we would not have had all these dozens of dates. He came in and out twice to bring us guitar picks, both to us and to the guys on the other side of the Barricade, the thing that amazed us most is that he spoke and understood Italian perfectly for personal reasons, even knew phrases in Veneto, he was really kind, sweet and affectionate.

As well as all the friends and friends I met, especially Giorgia, Ida, Nino, Vittoria, whom I warmly greet and hope to meet at the next concert!

I'm going to plan to put good quality audio and video and a documented account of many other fun things about the Bologna date.

I had already put the setlist in the Italian megathread, even before the concert.

So is the beautiful poster!

Glory to those who had made a mega billboard "Drums please, Fab" even though security didn't let him in

Ending with Selfless instead of Ode had me ascending 😭

I’ve been so alone for so long. I was pretty isolated in a small town growing up, on top of that I was the introverted weird science kid. I kinda got a late start in the actual living life stage. I’m 26, and was so committed and disciplined to my work that I blocked actual key life experiences out and I was trying to manage a collapsing house. I’m finally in a stable place (have a job I’m very proud of at NASA) and have put so much work into finding that one person to place with me. I’ve just never felt connected to anyone, and I was finally gonna give that life thing a chance.

I started seriously dating two years ago. While I had some bumps and bruises, I finally found this one person that just seemed to get me. We hit it off so well and we’re completing each other’s sentences. Similar music taste, movies, everything. It was so sweet. I finally found a person that seemed to really want to fit into my life. I was so excited. We go on this first date and it’s magical. I finally feel like I had my person.

She stays over at my place for the weekend and lo and behold we have serious communication issues and the whole thing ends before it can even start. This was painful for me. It felt like a 3 month relationship packed into two days and a week of calling on the phone. She left before it even got started. I hurt so bad.

I’m fighting back tears singing this song. Hell, I’m not fighting them back they’re flowing out of me. Specifically him talking about bringing her back to his hometown where he learned to be alone, talking about finally finding some relief, and being in love with a ghost. I didn’t know her, but that connection was just so potent that it felt like I did. Intellectually I know that’s true, but just hearing it spoken has helped me actually process the emotion and not just sit here uselessly reconstructing that night ad nauseam to try to figure out what went wrong. I finally just felt it, and it made it easier.

Just felt I needed to share. Maybe some of yall will think I’m lame, but it’s just how I feel.

KXT in Dallas. They’ve been playing Going Shopping since its release but heard this today when I hopped in the car

Hope it ain't a repost

I don’t know if anyone else sees the vision here

but instead of regina
they should rework the song live
and get a new vocalist

and i see no better match than Hayley Williams…

I think her and Julian would absolutely KILL on this track together

And both of them are some of my favourite artists in general and i would love to see a collab like this happen

Any thoughts on an idea like this?
or another vocalist you see fit?

feeling pretty untouchable managing to snag all of these within the last month of the big ‘26, not gonna lie. and i made a lil unboxing video if you’re interested!