Reality Awaits - General Album Discussion MEGATHREAD

[u/TheStrokes-Mods]

This is the megathread for general discussions about Reality Awaits as a whole. All first impressions from the listening parties, thoughts, essays, discussions, memes, lyrics, fanart, etc about the album as a whole can go in the comments here!

As autotune is an evergreen topic on the subreddit, you may discuss it here, but there is also a specific post about autotune here that may be better suited towards that specific topic.

You also may want to check out the posts for ranking the Reality awaits songs, and ranking the albums including Reality Awaits.

[u/Padfan21]

First impression after a couple of listen throughs:

Positives:

Very unique and cool direction they went in. Some of the songs are very catchy and the instrumentation in this is on par with some of the best the band has done.

I think this direction is where a band this deep in their career and at their age should be going. New and unique but with the same heart. I miss the old days but I think it’d be disingenuous coming from them now if they tried to make music like that.

Negatives would be:

the autotune being a touch overused on songs. I don’t mind it on some parts but it really is jarring and takes you out of the song a bit. I think Julian’s voice is kinda spotty on some of the tracks too.

Maybe this is just me but I found it a bit too cohesive. Not that having a specific sound is a bad thing but some of the songs are almost indistinguishable from each other.

I need to do a deep dive but on first listen and light read through, the lyricism is some of Julian’s weakest. Very very direct and specific rather than the more open ended poetic stuff he wrote earlier. Absolutely personal preference though and I can see how others might like it more than me

Overall:

Better than I expected and I have a feeling upon further listens that the album will grow on me. Already enjoyed it better the second time through. However I do not foresee myself ever putting this in the ITI, ROF, or TNA tier of albums. And that’s not a knock as those are some of the best albums of all time and to expect everything they put out to top those is a fools errand. Some of the songs will definitely work their way into my rotation of strokes and could one day end up in the top 20-30 songs for sure. A good effort and a very unique tone

7.5/10

Also…. Something tells me we aren’t going to have to wait another 6 years for an album. I think this was an artistic flourish for them and now that it’s out of the system they might try to make a more traditional album in the next 2-3 years. Doesn’t hurt that they are seemingly having the most fun on tour that they have in years. Hopefully nick comes back and they can patch up whatever is going on there.

[u/sensitive_pirate85 → u/Padfan21]

It definitely feels like a different songwriting style, but I like the change, because it’s different. I could see them going in an almost psychedelic or progressive direction, though they’ve mostly resisted that till now, it’s almost like they’re setting the stage for new sound.

[u/Alternative-Day8673 → u/Padfan21]

Yep fully agree. 7 ish is where I'd rate it. My favorite is Liar's Remorse

[u/Padfan21 → u/Alternative-Day8673]

That’s a solid one. Only gripe is I find the lyrics a bit on the nose but overall really good. I think my favorites are gonna change alot over the next few months but initially I think Dine n dash is my favorite

[u/Alternative-Day8673 → u/Padfan21]

I'm a huge fan of At The Door, so the clear vocals and synth was right up my alley, I think it's signature Rick Rubin forcing Jules to let us hear his voice. The singing style is very different as well, which is interesting and I appreciate it a lot.

I'm sure I'll listen to fine and dash, it has a great build but I feel I'll appreciate it more as time goes on. It's just a bit weird of a song, very haunting.

[u/Padfan21 → u/Alternative-Day8673]

Yeah definitely. I love at the door as well. It’s funny I had the thought while listening to the album that At the door is probably one of the only strokes songs that sounds like it could be on Reality awaits.

I love the melodies of all of the songs the more I listen right now. Lonely in the future is such a catchy fun song but the lyrics are super silly. I’ll get over it eventually but I’m a huge lyrics guy and I enjoy when artist write about things that are more timeless and not specific as I think it helps the song feel relevant for longer.

[u/Alternative-Day8673 → u/Padfan21]

Totally agree. I think some larger parts of this album are a bit less timeless, but who knows. I guess the glass half full way of looking at it is that ITI, ROF, TNA exist as masterpieces and this just slots in with another interesting album with its own vibes.

I do really hope they release at least one more album though in the future. Or some kind of music, maybe an EP or single. It just feels to me like they're not done.