Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 5

Number 5

The Strokes

"Is This It"

Released: July 30th 2001

Key Tracks: "The Modern Age" / "Last Nite" / "Hard to Explain"

"Is This It" is one of the most important albums released in the last ten years. It spearheaded the garage rock revival - admittedly short lived - but also paved the way for scores of bands to make the big time. Can you imagine Kings of Leon, The Vines, The White Stripes etc having the amount of exposure they have without The Strokes? It wouldn't have happened.

And the beauty behind "Is This It" is that it's so simple. Two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. No tricks, no gimmicks, no frills, just straight up rock music. The way it should be. Eleven tracks, thirty six minutes of pure rock music. And the songs were brilliant. The false ending in "Hard to Explain" still brings a smile to my face, "Last Nite" pretty much soundtracked the autumn of 2001 and "The Modern Age" is one of my personal favourite songs.

"Is This It" was, and still is a truly magnificent album, one of the best of the decade, and one of the best ever made.

The Strokes - The Modern Age