Best Albums !: The Strokes. First Impressions of Earth (2006)

04 April, 2008

The Strokes. First Impressions of Earth (2006)

First Impressions of Earth is the third album by the American rock band The Strokes. It was released in January 2006, having been preceded by lead hit single "Juicebox" some weeks earlier. It is also the first album by The Strokes to have a Parental Advisory Label.

The album was recorded over a ten-month period. The Strokes initially set out to record it with Gordon Raphael, the producer of their first two albums. Later on, guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. introduced them to Grammy-winning producer David Kahne (Tony Bennett, Sublime, Paul McCartney), who stepped in to collaborate with Raphael. However, the collaboration was not working out and so Raphael stepped down. As a result, the majority of the album was produced by Kahne.

First Impressions of Earth is widely seen as an expansion beyond The Strokes' first two albums, Is This It and Room on Fire. The album received mixed reviews from critics, unlike their previous material which were generally acclaimed. "Heart in a Cage" was the album's second single, followed by "You Only Live Once". NME rated First Impressions of Earth at #8 in its Albums of the Year 2006 list.

First Impressions of Earth entered the UK album chart at #1, The Strokes' first one at the top spot, while it reached #4 in the US, with an entry sales week of 88,000 units, somewhat below expectations. As of October 2006, the album has sold 271,000 units in the US, falling short of gold certification.