White Stripes

So long, guitar solos; hello, piano and marimba! Not that it makes a difference to Jack White: his role as spastic preacher man is no less explosive. The hard-hitting, piano-driven soul of tracks like "The Denial Twist" and "My Doorbell" propels this album, along with some desolate pop and Zeppelin-style blowouts.

Bad news for satan: Jack White's mama said knock you out. Get Behind Me Satan is a
Biblical reference, plus a possible invitation to back-door action with the Prince of
Darkness. But the music is so wild, it could make you weep over how pitilessly the Stripes
keep crushing the other bands out there. Having clocked all rivals, the Stripes have to
settle for topping their 2003 masterpiece, Elephant, the way Elephant topped W... More >

From Lil Jon to Thom Yorke, pop supports many cooler celebrities than Jack White, and though returning primitivism to the hit parade was a neat trick, his aesthetic ideas are as limited as Meg's drum technique. So rather than carp about his failure to lead us to salvation, perhaps we should content ourselves with the hit parade. White's commercial success has nothing to do with de Stijl or da blooze--just a strong, emotive voice delivering simple yet distinctive songs, which are fairly numerous here. "My Doorbell," for instance, finds a fresh route to the abandonment theme and adds a little twist when his friends stop buzzing too. "Take, Take, Take" is that difficult thing, a smart song about what a drag fans are. You may prefer others, that's part of the charm. And when he sticks to electric guitar he still rocks plenty. (Grade - A-)