Pros: "Blue Orchid", "Take Take Take", "Little Ghost", "My Doorbell"
Cons: "White Moon", "Instinct Blues", "As Ugly as I Seem"
The Bottom Line: The Stripes wisely expand beyond the elecric guitar and drums formula on this one, which makes for a sonically intriguing album from a weird but gifted band.
jlr29's Full Review: Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
Who is Jack White? The blue-collar Joe from Detroit who worked as an upholsterer and considered joining the marines? Or the pretentious hipster who name-checks the Dutch ‘De Stijl’ minimalist art movement? The con man who lied to the press about his relationship with Meg (for the record, she’s his ex-wife, not his sister as he originally claimed)? Or the devout Catholic kid who almost became a priest? The indie-rock guy so, uh, sensitive that he took Meg’s last name when he married her? Or the tough city boy who beat the living crap out of a member of a rival band? Or the country boy at heart who worships Loretta Lynn and dabbles in old-timey music? An arrogant, overrated hack whose retreads of old blues & rock templates only get attention due to his band’s schtick? Or an uncompromising creative genius who has found innovative methods of updating classic forms?
The debate continues, which shows that Jack White has successfully kept an air of mystery (not to mention weirdness) around his band. One will find few answers in the liner notes to “Get Behind Me Satan,” which features bizarre, vaguely creepy stylized photos and an incoherent, rambling manifesto rife with pointless rhetorical questions (examples include “You ride the bus, don’t you?” and “Do yourself a favor and breathe real, get it?” and “Where’s a Starbucks when you need one?”).
And what’s with the album’s ‘Satanic’ title? It can be taken in two ways – asking Satan to join your side or ordering him to get outta town (as in the original Biblical usage). In one of the liner note photos, Jack is pictured with a religious statue (of the Virgin Mary or some other female saint). He faces away from her, clad all in black, wearing an old-fashioned black hat. With his pale skin and ebony moustache he looks the part of a stereotypical cartoon villain. He glares off into the distance, appearing as evil as possible. One is inclined to think: perhaps he really has gone over to Old Scratch’s side. But then, in his acknowledgements, he begins by thanking “God, family, and truth.” He goes on to thank three saints (though I do not know if they are actual saints or ones Jack invented). The contradictions and the mystery remain.
“GBMS” is a better album than “White Blood Cells,” which I reviewed overly harshly a couple of years ago. Back then I thought The White Stripes were basically charlatans; they’ve since gone up in my estimation. Meg is a much better drummer than she was back then, that much is for sure. One of the biggest improvements is the increase of sonic diversity, the willingness to finally expand out of the restrictive ‘electric guitar & drums only’ formula. “GBMS” features more than two instruments on several songs. Piano, marimba, and acoustic guitar create a greater spectrum of sounds than the Stripes have offered in the past. “My Doorbell” even includes a bass guitar! I never thought we’d live to see the day Jack White picked up a bass, but thankfully I was wrong.
The first six tracks on “GBMS” are especially strong. After that the energy of the album lags due to the presence of mediocre slow & introspective songs such as “White Moon” and “As Ugly as I Seem.” The best new element to the Stripes’ arsenal is a bouncy, catchy, percussive sound prominent in material like “My Doorbell,” “The Denial Twist,” and “Take, Take, Take.” Piano works quite well with Jack White’s style of songwriting.
Distorted electric guitar, once the band’s forte, is notably absent here, except on three tracks: the groovy, falsetto-driven “Blue Orchid” (a worthy successor to “Fell in Love With a Girl”), the Zeppelinesque “Red Rain,” and the grunge-meets-blues crap of “Instinct Blues.”
Meg gets her 30 seconds in the spotlight on “Passive Manipulation,” a track which only demonstrates that there’s a very good reason she isn’t the band’s regular lead singer. “Little Ghost” is an unusual track, done in the hillbilly, old-timey style that Jack experimented with on the “Cold Mountain” soundtrack. It’s actually one of my favorites on the album; I’d like to see the Stripes do more stuff in a similar vein.
Pardon me if I lack depth, but I like clarity in lyrics. I think the pseudo-Dylanesque abstract images Jack uses on “White Moon” are a bunch of nonsense. I mean, “Protosocial’s the word, and the word is the bird, that flew through the herd in the snow”? Give me a break. A much better effort is “Take, Take, Take,” which allows for actual straightforward storytelling. Jack tells it from the perspective of an obnoxious fan bothering classic movie star Rita Hayworth. The twist is, he has no perception of what a jerk he’s being. I assume that it is informed by Jack’s own experiences being hounded by fans. Its lyrics are engaging and amusing. It is also musically appealing, thanks to its swaggering rhythm.
The Stripes are hit-and-miss. They have moments of brilliance, but some of their eccentricities can drive you up the wall. At the end of the day they’re just too weird for me to consider them one of my favorite bands. I can’t really understand where they’re coming from. But who can? They have intentionally cultivated a sense of mystery that renders them interesting and highly appreciated, but to me, difficult to embrace. After all, it’s hard to embrace what you don’t understand.
The White Stripes fifth studio album, Get Behind Me Satan, is their most anticipated to date. The album was recorded in Detroit, mixed in Memphis and ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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