WHITE STRIPES REVIEW

WHITE STRIPES
Get Behind Me Satan
(Third Man/ V2) 2005
#1 Blue Orchid
This kicks off with some metal guitars and heavy drums. This isn't quite what I expected, but I really like this. It's a catchy 70's-type rock number with cool lyrics.
#2 The Nurse
This track begins with some xylophone and maracas. The lyrics and production on this are amazing. I really think the guitars add a nice touch too. So far, this album is worth the money.
#3 My Doorbell
I didn't enjoy this one as much as 'Blue Orchid' and 'The Nurse'. The lyrics aren't that great and it relies mostly on the excellent piano and Meg's drumming/percussion. Still, this is still a very strong album from what I've heard so far, and 'My Doorbell' doesn't affect it too much.
#4 Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)
The album prior to this, 'Elephant', had some amazing ballads on it that were unfortunately never issued as singles. This song rminds me of those songs. Everything about this is perfect, and reminds me a little bit of 'I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart' from 'Elephant'. This is one of the best tracks on 'Get Behind Me Satan', and it should definitely be the follow-up single to 'Blue Orchid'. Unfortunately, whenever I like a track this much it usually gets overlooked for another, usually inferior track.
#5 Little Ghost
'Little Ghost' is an entertaining bluegrass track. I was expecting this, as Jack White has been involved with some country/bluegrass projects ('Cold Mountain' and 'Van Leer Rose') since the last album. It's no surprise that this is on here. I was actually expecting 'Blue Orchid' to be the country track, and was pleasntly surprised to discover it was a glam-flavoured rock track instead.
#6 The Denial Twist
This sounds too close to 'My Doorbell'. I'm not a big fan of albums that have too many soundalike tracks. Hopefully the second half is equally as strong as the first.
#7 White Moon
Like most of the tracks on here, this one has good lyrics. Jack White's production skills are amazing. I first noticed this on 'Van Leer Rose'(the album he did with Loretta Lynn).There's nothing slick and over-produced about it at all, it's like listening to a live band play.
#8 Instinct Blues
I was just thinking it would be good if there were more rock-oriented numbers on here, but now that I've heard this, I want more ballads.
#9 Passive Manipulation
Meg White couldn't sing if her life depended on it. She sounds like she's being held at gun point by Jack to sing. This is even worse than 'In The Cold Cold Night' on the last album. Thankfully it's only thirty-five seconds long.
#10 Take, Take, Take
Sounds like #3 and #6 for the first minute or so but kicks into a different beat for the chorus(the tracks best moment)...
#11 As Ugly As I Seem
Boring acoustic number
#12 Red Rain
Really strong rock track with country elements. Initally I thought it was Meg singing again, but fortunately it wasn't. This rescues the weaker second half of the album, especially the 'In The Rain' bit. The bells and shaky vocals add to it too. Very impressive. Everytime I think this album is going to fall apart, something comes along that makes it enjoyable. It helps that Jack and Meg know how to mix different styles of music together and manage to make it stick together. Many bands/ artists don't have that ability.
#13 I'm Lonely(But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)
Is it me, or does the intro to this sound similar to 'Changes' by Black Sabbath? This is a really well written piano ballad. This is one of the few albums I've ever heard that gets away with having more ballads than up-tempo tracks on it.
Verdict
4/5 Some boring bits, and Megs off-key singing(good for a laugh) spoil it a little bit, but other than that the White Stripes are going to be around for a long time. Very cool.

LIGHTS(M.R.) 4/24/05

Lights.
Revolving
Growing misty at a blink of an eye
Blazing, glaring at you in pshychedelic madness
Like a flashy array of neon insanity
Stretching out at you with an extended arm,
Smothering you into a day-glo nightmare
Lights.

Me 

Worst Music

hey...this could be fun...I'll try and keep it going as long as possible. What's your pick for the worst single, album, band, or artists ever? This kind of thing makes me laugh.

Early Synth Music

I re-wrote this from my other blog...enjoy.
I just played 'Popcorn' by Hot Butter and 'Son Of My Father' by Chicory Tip back to back on my computer. Even though these two songs are now 'outdated' (by today's standards anyway) they must have been really innovative when they first came out in 1972. They both did fairly well when first released, as 'Popcorn' was a top 10 hit, and 'Son Of My Father' was the first synthesized UK #1 (Here it was 'Pop Musik' by M seven years later).
Hot Butter was comprised of a moog player named Stan Free. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that he was in a moog group in the late 60's that originally played the song at their shows. This was his only hit. Interestingly he also released a moog version of 'Tequila' (which I'd like to hear sometime) after this.
Chicory Tip, on the other hand, had a couple more big hits in England after 'Son Of My Father', however I only know that one. Unfortunately, 'Son Of My Father' only charted at #91 on Billboard, and was outsold by the original by Giorgio Moroder who later produced Donna Summer and 'Call Me' by Blondie several years later. Chicory Tip were known only as Chicory here. They broke up around 1973 and apparently play live performances once in a while.
Anyway, I'm not big on electronic stuff, even though I do like early 80's stuff like Depeche Mode and Gary Numan. These two tracks definitely influenced that as well as many other recent styles.