Comedown Machine

Comedown Machine
Studio album by The Strokes
Released March 26, 2013
Recorded July – November 2012 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City;
One Way Studios in Upstate New York
Genre Indie rock, indie pop, new wave, synthpop
Length 39:55
Label RCA
Producer Gus Oberg
The Strokes chronology

Angles
(2011)		 Comedown Machine
(2013)
Singles from Comedown Machine
  1. "All the Time"
    Released: February 19, 2013

Comedown Machine is the fifth studio album by the American indie rock band The Strokes. It was released on March 26, 2013 in the US, and on March 25 in the UK.[1] Comedown Machine was the final release in fulfilling the band's contract agreement with longtime label RCA Records. The band decided to pull a media blackout with the album: no promotion in the form of TV appearances, interviews, photos, shows, or tours.

The vinyl LP version of the record was pressed by United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN.

Comedown Machine received mostly positive reviews and was ranked number 41 in NME's 50 Best Albums of 2013.

Packaging

The album is designed to resemble an old RCA tape reel box.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 68/100[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [3]
The A.V. Club B[4]
BBC Music favorable[5]
Billboard 68%[6]
Consequence of Sound [7]
Entertainment Weekly C-[8]
The Guardian [9]
The Independent [10]
NME 8/10[11]
Pitchfork 6.1/10[12]
PopMatters [13]
Rolling Stone [14]
Spin [15]

Critical

Media response to Comedown Machine was generally favorable; the aggregating website Metacritic reports a weighted average rating of 68%, based on 44 reviews.[2] "Whether you're in an Is This It vortex or not, this is The Strokes and they've returned with their most thought-provoking, strange and sexiest record yet," said Kieran Mayall of Clash magazine.[16] James Skinner of BBC Music added, "Although plenty of the group’s signature sounds are present and correct, they form the backdrop to an unexpectedly wide range of styles and approaches."[5] In contrast, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone questioned why the album was "an official Strokes album instead of another Casablancas solo album."[14]

Commercial

Without much promotional effort, Comedown Machine entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 10 and became the band's first album not to debut within the top three. The album did, however, give the band their fifth consecutive appearance in the top ten.[17] Likewise, it reached No.10 in the US with an entry sales week of 41,000 units, the band's weakest performance since Is This It in 2001.[18]

Chart performance

Chart (2013) Peak
position		 No. of weeks
on chart
Australian Albums Chart[19] 7 3
Austrian Albums Chart 21 2
Belgian Flanders Albums Chart 31 15
Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart[20] 49 8
Chinese Albums Chart 16 4
Danish Albums Chart 27 1
Dutch Albums Chart 42 2
Finnish Albums Chart 48 1
French Albums Chart 17 7
German Albums Chart 50 2
Irish Albums Chart 9 5
Italian Albums Chart 31 4
Japanese Albums Chart[21] 9 13
Mexican Albums Chart 10 2
New Zealand Albums Chart 18 2
Norwegian Albums Chart 10 1
Portuguese Albums Chart 18 3
Spanish Albums Chart 16 6
Swedish Albums Chart 28 1
Swiss Albums Chart 16 4
UK Albums Chart 10 3
US Billboard 200[18] 10 5

Singles

"All the Time", premiered on Zane Lowe on February 14, 2013, and was made available for download on February 19. The 7" was officially released on April 1, 2013 and contained "Fast Animals" as the B-side.[22]

Information
"All the Time"

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by The Strokes.

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Tap Out"    3:42
2. "All the Time"  Julian Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture[23] 3:01
3. "One Way Trigger"  Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond, Jr.[24] 4:02
4. "Welcome to Japan"  Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond, Jr., Nick Valensi[25] 3:50
5. "80's Comedown Machine"  Julian Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture, Albert Hammond, Jr., Fabrizio Moretti, Nick Valensi[26] 4:58
6. "50/50"    2:42
7. "Slow Animals"  Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi [27] 4:20
8. "Partners in Crime"  Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond, Jr., Nick Valensi[28] 3:21
9. "Chances"  Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond, Jr., Fabrizio Moretti[29] 3:36
10. "Happy Ending"    2:52
11. "Call It Fate, Call It Karma"  Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond, Jr., Nick Valensi[30] 3:24
Total length:
 39:55

Personnel

The Strokes

Production

Design

References

  1. ↑ "The Strokes Announce Fifth Studio Album, 'Comedown Machine'". Billboard. January 30, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Comedown Machine by The Strokes". Metacritic.com. March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  3. ↑ Phares, Heather (March 25, 2013). "Comedown Machine - The Strokes". AllMusic. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  4. ↑ Modell, Josh (March 26, 2012). "The Strokes: Comedown Machine". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 James Skinner (March 19, 2013). "The Strokes Comedown Machine Review". BBC Music. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  6. ↑ Payne, Chris (March 25, 2013). "The Strokes, 'Comedown Machine': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  7. ↑ Roffman, Michael (March 25, 2013). "Album Review: The Strokes – Comedown Machine". Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Kyle (March 20, 2013). "Comedown Machine Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  9. ↑ Nicholson, Rebecca (March 21, 2013). "The Strokes: Comedown Machine – review". The Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  10. ↑ Gill, Andy (March 22, 2013). "Album review: The Strokes, Comedown Machine (Rough Trade)". The Independent. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  11. ↑ Stubbs, Dan (March 25, 2013). "The Strokes - 'Comedown Machine'". NME. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  12. ↑ Cohen, Ian (March 25, 2013). "The Strokes - Comedown Machine". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  13. ↑ Faulkner, Brent (March 25, 2013). "The Strokes: Comedown Machine". PopMatters. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Sheffield, Rob (March 18, 2013). "The Strokes". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  15. ↑ Harris, Keith (March 25, 2013). "The Strokes, ‘Comedown Machine’". Spin. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  16. ↑ Mayall, Kieran (March 18, 2013). "Strokes - Comedown Machine". Clash Magazine. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  17. ↑ "PJ & Duncan top the Official UK Singles Chart with 'Let's Get Ready To Rhumble'". NME. March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Caulfield, Keith (April 3, 2013). "Justin Timberlake's '20/20' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  19. ↑ "The Strokes - Comedown Machine - Music Charts". Acharts.us. March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  20. ↑ "The Strokes - Comedown Machine". Ultratop. April 1, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  21. ↑ "The Strokes - Comedown Machine". Oricon. April 4, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "The Strokes reveal new single B-side 'Fast Animals' - listen". NME. March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
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