| | Full Review | Ratings (209) |
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| 3.0 good | PuddlesPuddles | November 3rd 09 |
Casablancas proves himself the safest Stroke soloist to count on.
The most refreshing thing about Phrazes for the Young is that it sounds exactly the
way it should. It's a light-on-its-feet fuzz pop collection showing off Julian's beaming
vocals through electric ruffles in a good amount of catches and hooks.
There's a satisfying amount of New York rock/punk what have you mixed with the shiny girth
of melody.
Phrazes is a great bridge between The Strokes' First Impressions and their
next project announced to be in the workings. But more importantly, it shows Casablancas'
hopefully growing ability to give us what we like about The Strokes by himself. Because with
tensions in the band escalating, who knows how long we have with the guys as a group?
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Fugue | November 1st 09 |
Casablancas has always been the only truly irreplaceable member of The Strokes line up, valued as much for his aptitude for song writing as his vocal ability. If there were any lingering doubts that this was the case then Phrazes For The Young all but annuls them. Throughout the record Casablancas employs a wide range of instruments to create a diverse set of songs that are strung together by his best vocal performance since Is This It. Although ambition intermittently gets in the way of functionality the songs are remarkably consistent and work just as well individually as they do in a set. The bloated middle section suffers from his tendency to let songs meander for a little too long and where cutting thirty seconds or so would be the best course of action it seems he is reluctant to waste any material. However this is a minor flaw in an otherwise watertight record that serves to remind us all why The Strokes fourth album is so highly anticipated. Of course, if one component of the machine can release an album of this quality then surely a newly oiled, reinvigorated Strokes can produce something to match their seminal Is This It. Oh well, heres to hoping.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | chis08 | October 31st 09 |
julian casablancas is awesome. phrazes for the young is such a fresh outlook on him it works great!
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | zoso33 | January 16th 15 |
I've changed my mind about this record a dozen times and, at last, have come to the conclusion that this is just pure pop-ecstacy.
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| 1.5 very poor | SalteyBacon | October 26th 14 |
Very disappointed. As a strokes fan, I understand this was a solo effort. He needs to stick to four minutes songs or less- anything more is overkill. The pacing of the album too is off, the first three songs go off great then it just goes downhill from there. I want to like this album, but besides '11th Demention' and 'I Wish It Was Christmas Today', the album just stinks.
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| 3.0 good | Casablanca | January 6th 12 |
Nothing on this album is close to the epicness of "Boom Box", NOTHING!
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Tiberone | April 21st 10 |
From the man behind one of the most fabled bands of the past decade comes a puzzlingly uneven release that certainly has its moments. Unfortunately you'll be hard-pressed to remember those moments after the 8 songs span a whopping 40 minutes. 'Phrazes for the Young' starts off strong with three straight upbeat, catchy tunes. From there, however, things start to get messy. "4 Chords..." would be a pretty good song if it wasn't somehow stretched out over 5 minutes. Actually, the same goes for the next four songs as well. Let's put it this way: if you're still awake by the end of the dreary closer "Tourist," you'll wish you weren't. Casablancas deserves credit for being boldly experimental with his solo effort, but overall it's almost unbearably lethargic.
Standout tracks: Out of the Blue, Left & Right In The Dark, River of Brakelights
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| 4.5 superb | imnotthere420 | November 4th 09 |
this one's really a grower. listen to it through a nice pair of headphones, lots of really subtle guitar and bass underneath the wall of synths.
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| 3.5 great | ilia | August 20th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Mojito | April 18th 20 |
| 3.0 good | voff3 | March 25th 20 |
| 5.0 classic | degina | February 29th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Enhelm | March 19th 17 |
| 3.5 great | heylyla | September 25th 16 |
| 3.5 great | A.R.O. STAFF | July 14th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | hordan | September 29th 15 |
| 3.5 great | teahead | September 23rd 15 |
| 3.5 great | Kontos | September 27th 14 |
| 3.0 good | jmh886 | August 21st 14 |
| 3.5 great | Digis | January 19th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Matski | September 22nd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ulshad | July 3rd 13 |
| 2.5 average | Henzin | June 5th 13 |
| 4.5 superb | tewil | November 10th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | msm008 | November 5th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Stelson | September 10th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | wilko56 | September 8th 11 |
| 2.5 average | djejew | July 31st 11 |
| 3.0 good | Hro | March 18th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Hilty | August 23rd 10 |
| 2.5 average | mppwns | June 11th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Sconza | March 16th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Smevin | February 7th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | armfarm | January 17th 10 |
| 3.5 great | DhA | January 8th 10 |
| 3.5 great | ECRbubs | November 22nd 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | ncherf | November 18th 09 |
| 3.0 good | JoRos | November 15th 09 |
| 2.5 average | jpm224 | November 12th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | vaquero | November 7th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hiyruu | November 6th 09 |
| 3.0 good | mx STAFF | November 5th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | palabra | October 31st 09 |
| 3.0 good | iganja | October 29th 09 |
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