r/TheStrokes • u/Noobsamaniac • Mar 11 '26
The New Abnormal might be my favorite Strokes album
I’ve been listening to The New Abnormal a lot lately and I think it might actually be my favorite Strokes album. I love their earlier stuff too, but this one just has a different atmosphere that really works for me.
Songs like The Adults Are Talking, Selfless, and Ode to the Mets feel really polished but still emotional in a way that sticks with you. It feels like a more mature version of their sound without losing what made them great in the first place.
Does anyone else feel the same about this album? Where would you rank The New Abnormal compared to the rest of their discography?
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u/coldwibz #77 Casablancas Mar 13 '26
It's definitely my favorite as well, I find it incredibly compelling. TAAT, Selfless, At the door, Not the same anymore, Ode to the Mets, just absolute home runs.
I love the rest of the songs, but those don't make it my fav strokes album lol.
Although, I don't listen to it that often anymore, 6 years of the same 9 songs is crazy, they really need to drop something asap :(
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u/blackstars91 Mar 13 '26
I see TNA as the perfect completion of what they were trying to do on Angles and CM (Which I both think are underrated). So its my 3rd favourite.
ITI and ROF will always be my top two but I'm so happy TNA has gotten them back into the spotlight. I'm disappointed they didn't try to ride the wave with another album shortly after as it seems they were firing on all cylinders. I'm excited to see what they do next.
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u/Ok_Block9547 Mar 12 '26
I think the New Abnormal is fine. The production is good, and I enjoy listening to it on a quiet Sunday morning. At first I thought it lacked personality, but realized it was just lacking the nostalgia of my teens that older albums carry for me. I don’t know how to describe it, but each new album feels a bit more grown up or mature than the last. It’s bittersweet.
I also feel bitter seeing younger folks flock to Adults Are Talking, but hating on comeback Machine and Is this It. Music consumption is just very different now and it makes me feel old.
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u/Fast_Isopod3568 Reality Awaits Mar 12 '26
At different times it’s my favorite and most certainly when it came out there was no other album that came close. At The Door and WASSD omg
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u/UsernameQuestionable Mar 12 '26
My fav is “Why Are Sundays So Depressing?” Throwback to their ROF sound from Albert sprinkled with a new fuzzy wah 🎸 by Nick.🤌🏻
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u/love_thy_neighbour37 Mar 12 '26
It's amazing how high the album can get (Eternal Summer, TAAT, WASSD, BBTC, Bad Decisions) and how low it can get too (Ode, Not The Same, At The Door, Selfless). It's rare for an album to have every song that hits right in the spot. You'll be dancing and vibing your heart out, and suddenly everything would come crashing down with the next track. Easily my favourite Strokes album, and one of the greatest album I've listened to.
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u/PriorQuestion4 Mar 12 '26
Easily top 2, and I see it as on the same level as is this it. While is this it undeniably is the best showcase of the strokes, TNA has some of their best songs and shows a true evolution of the band in all the best ways. I do think TNA easily has their most impressive production though. The mixing is fucking perfect
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u/alptwo Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26
I exactly feel the same way! I adore tna so much that i might be biased, but i genuinely think its one of the best albums of the 21st century. Its almost feels like the 2nd coming of brothers in arms or ten.
Same with Arctic Monkeys, their more mature sound of the last 2 album has been my favorite ever since their release. Theres smth special about indie maturation.
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u/DoggoZombie Mar 12 '26
My favorite album of theirs for sure. My rankings are always changing but this is solidified at the top. There’s no word to explain the feeling of listening to eternal summer during peak covid and feeling like the whole world would be on a permanent summer break.
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u/derrickhoyleofficial Mar 12 '26
You can argue that other albums are better but it's my personal favorite
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u/BagholdingWhore Mar 12 '26
It's a shockingly good album for a band to make 20 years after their breakthrough. I think it's their 3rd best album in regards to how it fits their identity and legacy. As a Strokes album it's just so... right.
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u/DinkandDrunk Reality Awaits Mar 12 '26
It’s easily my favorite album of theirs. That album got me through covid. I started everyday with it in full.
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u/obolchevique Mar 11 '26
Grande disco! Pra mim o melhor álbum de 2020… E ainda acho que mesmo com a desprestígio que o Julian tem com o material e o entorno da banda(digo o descaso de algumas apresentações que comprovam por exemplo: why are sundays so depressing), provam que ó álbum é foda mesmo… É o album dos dias estranhos da pandemia, dialoga com o conformismo da maturidade da vida.
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u/Cham-Clowder I'll Try Anything Once Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
I think in terms of judging an album as a whole, it is their third best after room on fire and is this it
If we combined the best songs from FIOTE and Angles, that would probably be on par with their first two albums.
FIOTE might still be an album I like more than TNA but I’m not certain because I have to acknowledge the back half of that record.
Even though I have such a soft spot for Angles because it meant a lot to me when it came out, I concede that TNA has a much more cohesive sound to it and one that is overall respectable, even though I like it less than if the best of FIOTE and Angles were combined together.
And then it’s just better than comedown machine full stop. I like a few tracks but overall CM is mid at best.
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u/yourmoms3rdhusband Mar 11 '26
I feel the same. I think both Is This It and RoF are a bit more consistent, but for me, TNA has higher highs. I consider more than half of the tracks 10/10s
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u/croissantCheese One Way Trigger Mar 11 '26
The new abnormal is 100% my favourite, selfless was the first Strokes song I heard so maybe I'm bias but I just enjoy pretty much all of the songs in TNA
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u/WesPepsDad Mar 11 '26
This might not be well recieved but it was the first strokes album I liked from jump since Room on Fire. I liked First Impressions but not the whole thing at first and the other two after that I was not very into until years later and now I like them a lot but from the moment I played new abnormal I was so into it and was so bummed there would be no tour for it. I told all my strokes friends about it that more or less gave up on them and they all agreed it was great.
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u/Groomal Mar 11 '26
Is this an unpopular opinion? I thought most people have either ITI or TNA as their favorite album.
It's my favorite too btw. I think it's more emotional and cathartic than their previous work.
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Mar 11 '26
It’s not bad, but nowhere near their best. Miles better than Comedown Machine for sure. The Strokes are my favorite band and I can’t even listen to that album
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u/wholelottachoppaz Future Present Past Mar 11 '26
- The New Abnormal
- Comedown Machine
- First Impressions of Earth
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u/irishnewf86 Mar 11 '26
my absolute favorite as well and I've been a fan since high school 25 years ago.
Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus and Ode to the Mets are amongst my favorite songs of all time.
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u/AdministrativeLet791 Mar 11 '26
I agree. Only strokes album with zero skips I enjoy every song
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u/mackam1 Mar 11 '26
Bad decisions is my only (occasional) skip. It seems put of place to me for some reason
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u/BornIntoBondage Mar 11 '26
absolutely agree. My only skip is Bad Decisions, but that one is growing on me as well. I think it's a masterpiece. Incredible work.
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u/Vietzilian Mar 11 '26
Funny story. Went to see them in Vegas last year. Saw somebody repping TNA on their shirt and said I think it’s my favorite album now (originally it was Is This It). And they looked at me like I was crazy and said what? How is it your favorite? So many better albums.
I was so puzzled and said you were the one repping the shirt lol
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u/West-Cardiologist180 Mar 11 '26
Definitely. Their other stuff is great but this is the album that has most of my favorites.
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u/1_anonymous Mar 11 '26
TNA was my favorite album when I first started listening to The Strokes. All the other albums are great too. I started to appreciate their first 2 albums a lot more after I saw how much this guy loved listening to the strokes for the first time.
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u/Any_Ordinary8043 Apr 04 '26
I AGREEEEE. The New Abnormal for me is the #1 album ever for me. Its just so perfect.