When the White Stripes exploded onto the scene with “Fell in Love with a Girl” in 2002, they essentially took over the music world. The video for that song was quite unique; Jack White and Meg White were portrayed by LEGO portraits playing their instruments. I subsequently saw them on the MTV Movie Awards and became more aware of them. For some reason or another, though, I didn’t check out their CDs until a few years later (I was in college and just trying to finish at that point).
The White Stripes had released two other records prior to the record that “Fell in Love with a Girl” was on (White Blood Cells, which I’ll be discussing), The White Stripes and De Stijl. Jack White is the focus here, being the primary songwriter, guitarist, and instrumentalist, while Meg played drums. Rumors abound about their relationship outside of the band, but I’m not going to focus on that. Jack is an amazing talent who has played with numerous other bands during his lifetime, serving as drummer in some, lead guitarist in others, etc. He and Meg formed the White Stripes in 1997 and began performing in Detroit, Michigan.
White Blood Cells propelled them to superstardom and fueled the do-it-yourself movement to further heights (the DIY movement had a resurgence in the 1990s with the explosion of grunge and modern rock and bands looking to release their music). The White Stripes’ minimalist approach of just drums, guitars, and vocals was a refreshing tactic noted by critics; their songs were catchy yet sharp-witted, which helped get the music to the buying public. From White Blood Cells they recorded three other studio albums before ultimately breaking up earlier this year.
# 141 – The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (Metascore = 86)
The album opens with one of my favorite songs of theirs, “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”. The song opens with White plugging his guitar into his amplifier and letting the feedback soar into the speakers. Once the song kicks into gear, you get a fuller sound of multiple guitars layered in over the drums. “Dead Leaves” is followed by the folkier “Hotel Yorba”, an acoustic jam that has Jack reminiscing about an old hotel near his neighborhood where he and friends used to goof off. “Yorba” is followed by “I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman”, a bluesy jaunt on the complications of trying to be the person he was before love and trouble found him. “Gentleman” is followed by the uber-popular “Fell in Love with a Girl”.
The opening four tracks set the tone for the rest of the album. Every musical element/genre is represented there and further represented on the remaining tracks. The majority of the album’s songs refer to love and relationships, the emotions around these. “The Union Forever” is the song of a man who is regretting this love union he’s in, saying “’cause it can’t be love/for there is no true love”. “We’re Going to Be Friends” is a sweet song about friendship; the video that accompanies this song is also very sweet.
The thing about this record that impresses me to this day is the musicianship of Jack White. Too often showmen of Jack’s type tend to make things more difficult than they really should be, but he doesn’t do this. This is not to say the music is simple; I think Jack White knows what a song needs and at what point that sound is needed. When he produces the sound, he doesn’t make it sound like Eddie Van Halen finger-tapping up the fret board; the solos fit the song exactly as they should. The organ blasts occur at the moment you would think an organ blast is necessary. Meg’s drumming is not complicated; this is a known fact. But what she does and when she plays is just as key, and she does a fantastic job here.
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