Let's get icky with the White Stripes

Hopefully its better then their last album. Who am I kidding? I'm buying it.

What's wrong with Get Behind Me Satan?

I liked it much more than ELEPHANT.

Can someone fill me in on their favorite White Stripes stuff? I was going to ask: What is essential White Stripes? But once I start to delve deeper into a band, I become at least a half-completist, so I might be interested in a little more than what their best albums are. I would like to know about your favorite albums, but I also want to know which b-sides, live recordings (audio boots?), collaborations, etc are worth checking out.

As of right now, all that I own by them is their last 2 albums: Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan. I've always kind of dug the band since Elephant came out, but lately I'm liking them more than ever for some reason. I guess sometimes it just takes me a while to fully realize how I feel about an artist/band. But once I'm on board, I tend to stick with them long after most everyone else stops caring (see: Pearl Jam, Fishbone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Meat Puppets, etc).

White Blood Cells is my personal favorite, but it's all good. Really, with only 5 albums, it's not hard to be a White Stripes completist.

Their self-titled first album is sweet because of how raw and loud it is, the key tracks being Screwdriver, The Big Three Killed my Baby, Broken Bricks and St. James Infirmary.

Their second album, De Stilji is softer, and a bit more eclectic, but it doesn't rock quite as hard. Still some great songs like Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?, Apple Blossom, Let's Build a Home, You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl) and their cover of Blind Willie McTell's Your Southern Can is Mine, one of the most hilariously mysoginist blues song ever.

White Blood Cells, they hit critical mass, and it's their most rocking, least bluesy album. Pretty much the entirety of this album is great, from Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground to This Protector, with very little filler.

I'm a big fan of their music, but I really think you need to catch a live performance to really get their greatness. Here's my favorite.

Also, be sure to check out Jack White's work on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, if you're at all interested in American roots music.

Patrick, I appreciate the feedback. Based on your comments, I'm thinking I'll work backwards by starting with either the Cold Mountain ST (thanks, I might not have thought of that) or White Blood Cells, find some good quality live boots and b-sides, and pick up their self-titled debut last. And I'm definitely getting Icky Thump as soon as it comes out.

They do a pretty good cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene"

I kinda think that Cold Mountain is more of a product of T-Bone Burnett thank White. His influences are felt, but it's definitely more of Burnett's body of work with ocassional White contributions (I doubt White was responsible for that Sting song). Though if you liked the "O Brother" soundtrack from Burnett, "Cold Mountain" gives you crisper stuff in that same vein, so I'd recommend it.

Thanks! Sounds great. Pretty Zeppelinish and Sabbathish. Can't freakin' wait for the album to come out. The more White Stripes I hear, the more I dig them.

Thanks Ray Abed...

RyanC as It was already mentioned you should pick White Blood Cells and there's a good discussion about Get Behind Me around this forum. I think GBMe is where Meg is at her best.

Nice thread guys.

This WS thread is lack of Meg photos...

I agree; instead of just bashing away, there is some nuance going on - not a lot, but some.

Definite improvement on her end from when I saw them touring behind WBC to when I saw them on the GBMS tour.


Oh, and that tune is all kinds of fucking awesome.

Every single White Stripes albums is a worthwhile listen...

The only downside is that Jack White does tend to use the same old riffs and chords again and again, but them's the blues...

And all you've really got to do is see them live and they'll blow you a 2nd asshole (I know I needed one)...

This showed up on the radio today and I almost wet myself.

Me and a couple of guys got presale tickets to the July 30th show in Birmingham at some place called Sloss Furnaces. There was no scheduled Atlanta date, so this was the closest show we could find. But I can't find any concert setup info about this venue anywhere. Does anyone know if there is seating there or is the whole place just standing room only? All is said on the WS site at checkout was "General Admission". In any case, this will be my first Stripes show and I'm really looking forward to it.

Nevermind.

Note: the whole "blowing a 2nd asshole" is hyperbole. I've seen them live twice and have a mere one asshole even yet. More's the pity.

I know, I was joking. Lamely. Actually, I deleted my comment before you were done replying to it.

Now my joke is less funny. I hate you.

The White Stripes were a charming live act each of the 3 times I've seen them perform. Might be that the 3rd time is the 2nd asshole inducing charm.

I've been a Stripes fan since White Blood Cells, but now find that the album is one of my least favorite (possibly because I listened to it far too much). Their first two albums, The White Stripes and De Stijil are probably my favorite of the studio albums, followed by Get Behind Me Satan, White Blood Cells, and lastly Elephant. If you can find the mp3's for the Under Blackpool Lights DVD you should listen to them. I enjoy those more than any of the albums. There's a couple great covers on the disc, including the aforementioned "Jolene" which is one of my favorites. The DVD is really nice as well, but I've only watched it once. I just downloaded about 40 live tracks from Vancouver, Paris, a BBC radio show, and some random other shows, but I've only skimmed through them. Not much of an opinion yet.

I haven't listened to the Cold Mountain OST much, but I have listened to the Lorreta Lynn album Van Lear Rose, which Jack White produced, many times and love it. If you like old country or alt-country you should check out that as well. He's left a mark on it for sure.

The Raconteurs album was nice, but the recording and writing was very rushed and done at various times whenever Jack and Brendan could find time in their schedules. There's a noticeable difference in the first tracks they recorded, like the very pop sounding "Steady As She Goes", and the last and more bluesier songs to make the cut. Seeing them in concert at the Tabernacle was wonderful though. They polished up the songs a lot by then. "Blue Vein", which was already my favorite of the album, was turned into a 10 minute epic live. I'd do just about anything to hear it again as it was performed.

I'm going to try and get tix for the Birmingham show tomorrow when they go on sale. Does anyone know anything about the "Sloss Furnaces" in birmingham? It doesn't look like they have many concerts there so I can't find much info. Their site says it's a 2,500 capacity Amphitheater, but I'd really like to know if it's General Admission or assigned seating. I loathe seating...

Wow, I know you're just voicing an opinion, but I still love the hell out of Elephant for the same reasons I did when I first heard it. It's probably the most accessible Stripes album(?), but accessibility doesn't always equal less powerful or memorable to me. On the other hand, I do enjoy Led Zeppelin I and II a lot more than IV after hearing most of the tracks from the latter album on classic rock radio stations for the better part of my life. Every now and then, overplay taints my feeling about an album forever, to some degree. So maybe that's what made Elephant your least favorite. It's kind of odd for me to even comment this way about someone else's ranking in the first place. But that album is a bona fide classic, chock-full of highly listenable tracks. And, while I've dug a lot of new music in recent years, there haven't been that many albums that I can think of since Elephant came out that have so effectively rocked my face off in such a direct way. I don't yet know what my favorite White Stripes album is (maybe Icky Thump will be!), but the more I listen to Get Behind Me Satan, the more I like it. As for "Blackpool Lights", I just got that DVD last week and it's an outstanding concert. It says something that I was even able to watch the entire thing in one sitting. I tend to get restless watching concerts on DVD, even of my favorite artists/bands. And yeah, I'm defnitely going to try to track down those Blackpool mp3s that you mentioned.

I asked some of these questions earlier in this thread because me and a couple of friends have tickets to the Birmingham show. I visited the venues site and couldn't find info about seating/concert-setup. I'm actually hoping for a seat, though.

I just ranked based upon how much I find myself wanting to listen to them again. I liked Elephant a lot, but if I'm in the mood for Stripes I normally want to listen to the other albums.

Just got my tickets. It is general admission and no seating. Although, since it's an amphitheater there is probably some kind of stadium or concrete seating towards the back or something.

The venue is the same capacity as The Tabernacle, so it should be a nice show. Nothing like the parking lot festival I saw them at before x_x
It was not the best of places to see the stripes.

Video's up:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mak7VtgNZHE

Meg is SEX-AY!

Well this is out there now..what do you guys think?

loving it a hell of a lot more than i thought i would.

im now hoping and praying every night that they play Catch Hell Blues when I see them next month. i'd even settle for Rag & Bone.

I don't know why, but the name of the title song and this lyric gets the fuck under my skin:

Well, Americans:
What, nothin' better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out?
You're an immigrant too.

About those lyrics - do you have any Native American ancestors? I do.

So my family says. But every family says that. It's probably white guilt.


But that lyric..... still bothers me.



*I should note that I like the White Stripes, and this song overall.

Conquest is the best song I've heard this year.

The album as a whole is steadily growing on me. I like that they've remained weird as hell and unpredictable despite all their success. I also continue to be amazed at their mainstream acceptance. I mean, of all my favorite bands, the White Stripes are by far the most well-known, and yet seem to me to be the least likely major label signee. Sometimes, mainstream audience, you have good taste.

Oh, and only the cool bands continue to put out vinyl.

Alright, I really like this record. It's easily my favorite of theirs since De Stijl, and the first one since White Blood Cells that has the potential to be in the rotation throughout the summer. It's varied and interesting but never seems ti disappear up it's own asshole, and I love the production. (Meg's kick drum is a little overtly thumpy, but given the album title that's the point, I guess.)

Damnit, I need this thing on my iPod. I've been ok waiting for most albums this year, but I need to hear this thing NOW. I haven't bought many albums recently, but I'm going to pick up Battles Mirrored on the way home tonight. Hopefully that will tide me over until June 19th. Nah, I'll like that one too, but I still won't be totally satisfied until I've heard Icky Thump from beginning to end. My impatience for good new music is ridiculous. I'm just one more guy who's been spoiled by The Digital Music Revolution.

Doorbell from SATAN is great. I'm also a fan of The Raconteurs.

Cool, but Doorbell from Satan and The Raconteurs aren't tracks from the new album, right?

I kind of always dig Stripes cds when they come out and then forget about them, so time will tell how much this lasts, but I'm liking most of it so far. I'll have to disagree with the above poster on Conquest though, it's the only track I skip consistently. Rag and Bone is probably my favorite track right now. The cd comes at an unfortunate time as it will soon be competing with Queens, Smashing Pumpkins, and even the new Turbonegro from time to time.

Don't know about Turbonegro, but I'm pretty confident that the new Stripes will wipe its icky ass with Queens and Pumpkins. Those two bands have produced greatness before, but it's been a while.

I haven't heard the Pumpkins yet and I'm as skeptical as anyone, but I think I've been going to Queens more often than the Stripes so far. Full disclosure though, I've never been a huge Stripes fan.

Listened to Icky Thump today. The only one that jumps out at me is, "You Don't know what love is."

I'm sure it will grow on me.

I'm going off-topic for a minute, but wanted to say that I haven't made up my mind about the new Queens yet (only heard it twice so far). As for the Pumpkins, they've made some great music ("Gish" is my favorite), but I've always felt that they lost something after "Siamese Dream". And "Tarantula" isn't restoring my faith. But you never know, maybe "Zeitgeist" will prove me wrong and be good. Or maybe Billy should play it safe and record instrumental-only tracks with Jimmy C and band.

Back to the Stripes, it's been very difficult, but I've resisted downloading or listening to "Icky Thump" (the album) yet. Partly because I want that disc in my hands and will settle for nothing less than CD quality sound. On another note, I went out and bought "Get Behind Me Satan" last night. Damn, what a great album. Before that, I had only borrowed someone else's copy of it (along with "White Blood Cells"). If "Icky Thump" is as good as any of their past three albums, I'll be happy (I'm not that familiar with their first two). If it's even better, it will be one of my favorite albums in years.

I hope you will enjoy this shit as much as I did. (read the comments of course) Why didn't Fricke get this review?

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/...307/icky_thump

That guy is a perfect example of the worst kind of critic. The type that desperately tries to denounce something without providing an intelligible explanation for his condescending position on the subject. And the way he turns his nose up at Jack's eagerness to try different things to expand the sound of his music is cheerless and pitiful. I haven't heard the entire album yet, so I can't defend it. But Robert Christgau needs to remove his head from his ass if he wants to be taken seriously.

Rag & Bone may be my favorite Stripes song yet.

This album is shit-hot.

"Little Cream Soda"...is amazing...just amazing.