Darko
05-21-2005, 02:17 PM
Here's my review for the new White Stripes album I wrote for a site, but I decided I'd share with you guys too. Yep, it's a little lengthy.
After a pretty big mainstream hit with 'Elephant', the original garage rockers return with...exactly what they had before.
It starts off well enough with 'White Orchid', a quick blast of 70's funk rock. Even 'The Nurse' starts off really well, with a very calyspo-tinged beat. But then Meg jumps in with the most annoying drumming I've heard in the past few years. Seriously, it's bad. 'My Doorbell' sounds old. If you've heard any one of the country-pop songs from the past few albums, you already know how it sounds. Except this one's almost 4 minutes long, and my god, does it drag, especially when it sounds like you've heard it a million times before.
'Forever For Her (Is Over for Me)' is one of the better songs on the album. It actually sounds different, it has a very 70's classic rock feel, and it's a natural progression for the band, which we don't see much of on this CD. 'Little Ghost' is a 2 minute hoedown, sounding like a leftover from the Lorettya Lynn album Jack produced. It's harmless fun, but you'll forget it soon as it's over. 'The Denial Twist' is bland, there's no other way to describe it. It's just Jack White going through the motions. 'White Moon' crawls along at a sludge's pace, with strong lyrics but not else going for it besides that. It doesn't help that Meg White still does not know how to play drums. At all.
'Instinct Blues' starts with an overlong 30 second intro of Jack White playing around with his guitar. Then he finally gets into his blues-rock mode and gets the song going, but he doesn't really get it out of first gear. Remember 'Ball and Biscuit'? Imagine that song with all the good taken out of it. This song barely has a pulse. Then we get 'Passive Manipulation'. Let's get the good thing about the song out of the way: it's got some solid lyrics. That's it. It's 34 seconds long, and consists of Meg singing in her robotic tone about sisters, mothers, and brothers. That's it. If it wasn't for the insanely short length, it'd be painful.
'Take Take Take' finally brings some life back into the album. Seemingly stealing from the Kinks, Jack creates a pretty fun 60's pop/rock ballad. Although once again, Meg's drumming is just...horrible. It detracts from an otherwise solid song. 'As Ugly As I Seem' is another one of Jack's slow accoustic songs. In fact, it sounds an awful lot lot like a sped up version of 'You've Got Her in Your Pocket'. Not bad, but like a lot of stuff on the album, just sounds so familiar. 'Red Rain' is a Zeppelin-esque blues rocker that actually works pretty damn well. With a solid riff, some cool vocal effects, bearable drums, and some weird instrumentation, it's one of the better songs on the album, and doesn't sound like a rehash of an older song. Finally, we've got 'I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)', which is yet another slow Jack White piano ballad. Out of all the slow ballads on the album, this is definetely the best on the CD. A solid way to end an album that's really not all that solid.
And then it's over. And you don't really feel anything. 'Get Behind Me Satan' doesn't pack the punch Elephant had, and it doesn't sound fresh or new like 'De Stijl' and 'White Blood Cells' did. It's just more of the same from The White Stripes. More ballads, more blues, more country, more bad drumming. It's too bad too, they're capable of a lot more than this. Well, Jack is. I'm not so sure about Meg.
6.5/10
After a pretty big mainstream hit with 'Elephant', the original garage rockers return with...exactly what they had before.
It starts off well enough with 'White Orchid', a quick blast of 70's funk rock. Even 'The Nurse' starts off really well, with a very calyspo-tinged beat. But then Meg jumps in with the most annoying drumming I've heard in the past few years. Seriously, it's bad. 'My Doorbell' sounds old. If you've heard any one of the country-pop songs from the past few albums, you already know how it sounds. Except this one's almost 4 minutes long, and my god, does it drag, especially when it sounds like you've heard it a million times before.
'Forever For Her (Is Over for Me)' is one of the better songs on the album. It actually sounds different, it has a very 70's classic rock feel, and it's a natural progression for the band, which we don't see much of on this CD. 'Little Ghost' is a 2 minute hoedown, sounding like a leftover from the Lorettya Lynn album Jack produced. It's harmless fun, but you'll forget it soon as it's over. 'The Denial Twist' is bland, there's no other way to describe it. It's just Jack White going through the motions. 'White Moon' crawls along at a sludge's pace, with strong lyrics but not else going for it besides that. It doesn't help that Meg White still does not know how to play drums. At all.
'Instinct Blues' starts with an overlong 30 second intro of Jack White playing around with his guitar. Then he finally gets into his blues-rock mode and gets the song going, but he doesn't really get it out of first gear. Remember 'Ball and Biscuit'? Imagine that song with all the good taken out of it. This song barely has a pulse. Then we get 'Passive Manipulation'. Let's get the good thing about the song out of the way: it's got some solid lyrics. That's it. It's 34 seconds long, and consists of Meg singing in her robotic tone about sisters, mothers, and brothers. That's it. If it wasn't for the insanely short length, it'd be painful.
'Take Take Take' finally brings some life back into the album. Seemingly stealing from the Kinks, Jack creates a pretty fun 60's pop/rock ballad. Although once again, Meg's drumming is just...horrible. It detracts from an otherwise solid song. 'As Ugly As I Seem' is another one of Jack's slow accoustic songs. In fact, it sounds an awful lot lot like a sped up version of 'You've Got Her in Your Pocket'. Not bad, but like a lot of stuff on the album, just sounds so familiar. 'Red Rain' is a Zeppelin-esque blues rocker that actually works pretty damn well. With a solid riff, some cool vocal effects, bearable drums, and some weird instrumentation, it's one of the better songs on the album, and doesn't sound like a rehash of an older song. Finally, we've got 'I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)', which is yet another slow Jack White piano ballad. Out of all the slow ballads on the album, this is definetely the best on the CD. A solid way to end an album that's really not all that solid.
And then it's over. And you don't really feel anything. 'Get Behind Me Satan' doesn't pack the punch Elephant had, and it doesn't sound fresh or new like 'De Stijl' and 'White Blood Cells' did. It's just more of the same from The White Stripes. More ballads, more blues, more country, more bad drumming. It's too bad too, they're capable of a lot more than this. Well, Jack is. I'm not so sure about Meg.
6.5/10