The White Stripes - "Get Behind Me Satan"
(V2, 2005) * * * *
While I haven't been a big fan of the White Stripes in the past, I did gain a lot of respect for Jack White over the past year. His work with Loretta Lynn on Van Lear Rose and his original bluegrass compositions for the Cold Mountain soundtrack showed impressive range, and I've been anticipating Get Behind Me Satan primarily because of those side projects. The ones Meg White says keep him sane and ready to record music for the White Stripes in the first place.
What we've got here is an album that takes so many risks (and succeeds on so many levels) that I can't believe I haven't been addicted to their music for years. From the opening bursts of "Blue Orchid" to the marimba-meets-thrashing drums of "The Nurse," I have been hooked. It seems Jack White has taken everything that worked about his roots experiments over the past twelve months and blended it all, forming the rawest garage album to come out this decade. Considering it was all recorded in analog demo quality in a matter of weeks speaks to the immense talent White has, as well as to the ear he's got for ways to take roots music into the new millennium. Like Jack says, every band says their demos were better than their finished albums, mostly because on finished albums no one tells you when to stop. What he's done with Get Behind Me Satan is to skip that future album recording bloat and issued a demo that stands up to any quality standard.
And it's not like he's merely playing to his record collection either. White has the ability to absorb huge quantities of music from across the broad spectrum of roots, blues and Americana, and then twist it all to his whims. "Forever For Her" features plaintive vocals over a guitar marimba and piano base, yet the song has such elemental power to it it's amazing to realize there's not a touch of electric guitar on the entire track! That blew my mind, considering the brutal strength of this album and the fact that White only relies on electric guitar on three tracks. Then there's the eerie track "Passive Manipulation" in which Meg White sings over a piano melody: "Women -- listen to your mothers; don't just succumb to the wishes of your brothers. Take a step back take a look at one another, you need to know the difference between a father and a lover." It's just a thirty second minimalist performance piece, but it made the hair stand up on this reviewer's neck, and that's what great music is all about.
This is the album to listen to if you've never listened to the White Stripes, as well as being the album to listen to if you've been a fan of the band since the beginning. It is the album that's going to prove once and for all that Jack White is one of modern rock's few true creative geniuses. I'd written this group off without giving Jack and Meg White the chance to prove their talent. Get Behind Me Satan proves that you don't need a thirty piece orchestra behind you or a $10 million album budget to record music that is timeless.
Jack may not like the idea that he's responsible for a rock revival, nor for the fact that he's expected to pass that torch on by educating today's ignorant listeners to what roots and Americana music have to offer. He said as much in a recent Newsweek interview. But rest assured, whether he intended to or not, the music on Get Behind Me Satan is likely to live on regardless of what the band does in the future. And future musicians are likely to use it as their own template for keeping this sound alive long after Jack White is done rocking.
That's something worth celebrating.
While I haven't been a big fan of the White Stripes in the past, I did gain a lot of respect for Jack White over the past year. His work with Loretta Lynn on Van Lear Rose and his original bluegrass compositions for the Cold Mountain soundtrack showed impressive range, and I've been anticipating Get Behind Me Satan primarily because of those side projects. The ones Meg White says keep him sane and ready to record music for the White Stripes in the first place.
What we've got here is an album that takes so many risks (and succeeds on so many levels) that I can't believe I haven't been addicted to their music for years. From the opening bursts of "Blue Orchid" to the marimba-meets-thrashing drums of "The Nurse," I have been hooked. It seems Jack White has taken everything that worked about his roots experiments over the past twelve months and blended it all, forming the rawest garage album to come out this decade. Considering it was all recorded in analog demo quality in a matter of weeks speaks to the immense talent White has, as well as to the ear he's got for ways to take roots music into the new millennium. Like Jack says, every band says their demos were better than their finished albums, mostly because on finished albums no one tells you when to stop. What he's done with Get Behind Me Satan is to skip that future album recording bloat and issued a demo that stands up to any quality standard.
And it's not like he's merely playing to his record collection either. White has the ability to absorb huge quantities of music from across the broad spectrum of roots, blues and Americana, and then twist it all to his whims. "Forever For Her" features plaintive vocals over a guitar marimba and piano base, yet the song has such elemental power to it it's amazing to realize there's not a touch of electric guitar on the entire track! That blew my mind, considering the brutal strength of this album and the fact that White only relies on electric guitar on three tracks. Then there's the eerie track "Passive Manipulation" in which Meg White sings over a piano melody: "Women -- listen to your mothers; don't just succumb to the wishes of your brothers. Take a step back take a look at one another, you need to know the difference between a father and a lover." It's just a thirty second minimalist performance piece, but it made the hair stand up on this reviewer's neck, and that's what great music is all about.
This is the album to listen to if you've never listened to the White Stripes, as well as being the album to listen to if you've been a fan of the band since the beginning. It is the album that's going to prove once and for all that Jack White is one of modern rock's few true creative geniuses. I'd written this group off without giving Jack and Meg White the chance to prove their talent. Get Behind Me Satan proves that you don't need a thirty piece orchestra behind you or a $10 million album budget to record music that is timeless.
Jack may not like the idea that he's responsible for a rock revival, nor for the fact that he's expected to pass that torch on by educating today's ignorant listeners to what roots and Americana music have to offer. He said as much in a recent Newsweek interview. But rest assured, whether he intended to or not, the music on Get Behind Me Satan is likely to live on regardless of what the band does in the future. And future musicians are likely to use it as their own template for keeping this sound alive long after Jack White is done rocking.
That's something worth celebrating.
posted by Jonathan Sanders @ 11:13 PM
1 Comments:
Wow. Top-notch review, Jonathan. Definitely some of your best work. I'm glad you've been enjoying the album so much. What's your favorite track? I think without question mine is "Take, Take, Take." COOLEST song ever. (Just a bit of hyperbole there.) And that was all that I needed!
I think one of the real hallmarks of greatness with this album is all the layers of sound. The thing's a frickin' onion. There's just more and more there the more you listen to it.
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