Room On Fire  by The Strokes

From January to September 2003, The Strokes were preparing and recording their second studio album. The album was released in October of the same year, titled Room On Fire. The album was recorded under the pressure of the success of their debut.

The producer of Room On Fire was Gordon Raphael, who had also undertaken their first album (Is This It). Initially, the band hired Nigel Godrich (producer of Radiohead), but the collaboration was terminated as they felt that his sound was "soulless" and overly "polished" for their style. The musical style of the second album remains true to garage rock revival, but with a more clean and "smooth" production. However, it incorporates strong new wave elements and influences from the 1980s (e.g., The Cure, The Cars), while more effects were used on guitars and vocals. Casablancas' lyrics mainly focus on personal relationships and life in New York. The cover art is a painting by pop art artist Peter Phillips, titled "War/Game".

The most well-known songs from the album are 12:51, Reptilia, and The End Has No End, which also stood out as singles. The album reached No. 4 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart, while it became gold in the USA (over 500,000 sales) and platinum in the UK and Australia.