The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
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Free Music Notes for Get Behind Me Satan
Free Music Review: Awesome new stuff from the White Stripes!
Hit: 5 Stars
It was about a couple years ago that I started listening to the White Stripes, and they have never disappointed me. The White Stripes, De Stijl, White Blood Cells, Elephant, and finally, Get Behind Me Satan, are all such great albums.
When I got this CD, I wasn't expecting anything like what it is. I listened to it, and I thought that maybe the White Stripes were going downhill. But as I listened to it more and more, the whole album grew on me. It it a much more artsy album. It has marimba, mandolin, and piano more than electric guitar. I really like what the White Stripes did with this album. Here is a little review of each song.
1. Blue Orchid (5/5) -- This song is absolutely awesome. It has pounding drums and an amazing guitar riff. Jack's high pitch singing is perfect.
2. The Nurse (4/5) -- Probably the weirdest song on the album. It has marimba instead of guitar, along with a few other random instruments. At first, I didn't like this song. Then I realized it has a very catchy-ish chorus, and from then on it grew on me.
3. My Doorbell (5/5) -- My Doorbell is a great song with a good beat and vocals. There's not much else to say about it other than I LOVE IT!
4.Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) (5/5) -- Another song with marimba (or xylophone... something like that). At first it starts out with a kind of boring sound, but then it gets better and better. Not one of the best on the album, but definitely very good and a bit relaxing.
5.Little Ghost (3/5) -- Country/Bluegrass isn't my favorite type of music. But this song is a pretty good song. It's not great, but not bad. It has a nice mandolin riff.
6. The Denial Twist (5/5) -- This is one of the most awesome songs by the White Stripes! It has piano and a bit of electric guitar, and they go together perfectly! Jack sings so well on this song, and the lyrics are really cool. I love this song!
7. White Moon (4/5) -- A lot of people might think that this song is boring, but I think it is cool. Another one with piano. it is slow and calm, but it's chorus is awesome and it is very well written.
8. Instinct Blues (5/5) -- Another blues song by the white stripes with awesome guitar. Jack's high wails are so awesome. This song is one of the ones that made me realize that Get Behind Me Satan was better than I thought.
9.Passive Mainpulation (4/5) -- Not really a song, since it is only 30 or so seconds, but its words mean a lot. Nothing else to say. It was a bit short, though. It is sung by Meg, and I think she has a good voice.
10.Take, Take, Take (5/5) -- This album would not be complete without this song about Rita Hayward. It has weird, mixed vocals and cool acoustic guitar. In the middle of the song it changes tempo and starts the chorus which it does a couple times, and I think that's pretty cool. I like this song a lot.
11. As Ugly As I Seem (5/5) -- This is a slow, quiet song with acoustic guitar and soft drumming. Inbetween each verse is a cool, interesting guitar thing. This is one of those songs that really has to grow on you before you like it.
12. Red Rain (5/5) -- OH MY GOD!! I think this is the best song on the CD. One of the weirdest, I must admit, but so cool just the same! It is so unpredictable and AWESOME! The riffs and the distortions are awesome! It has loud, crazy electric guitar that is so great and so ingenious. This one is my favorite.
13. I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet) (4/5) -- This song is okay. I think it's kind of boring, but I like it some. It is slow and played with short, choppy piano. Not the best ending for the CD. It is pretty good though.
Well, that's the review of the album's songs. I HIGHLY recommend it, but only to people who can really appreciate the White Stripes for what they are. They aren't posers, I'll tell you that. They don't play their music really to impress and make big bucks.They don't make all these poppy riffs and vocals that sound like all mainstream pop/rock bands out there. They make stuff that is awesome and cool and interesting, but still has it's own edge to it. No White Stripes song sounds similar. And no White Stripes song sound like anything else, (unless it is a cover song).
You really should be a big fan before you get this CD. And give it some time. Listen to the songs again. They'll grow on you a lot. They did that for me. And all of the great songs would be a 6/5 or even 7/5, if I could do that. That's why I give Get Behind Me Satan 5 stars.
That's my review!
Free Music Review: "Get Behind Me Satan" is totally different than anything Jack and Meg have ever done; it is also their best album
Hit: 5 Stars
Yeah, you heard me. I love "Elephant." You can read my 5-star review if you like. "Get Behind Me Satan" just barely tops it, but it still tops it.
I'm not even gonna go into detail about all of the people who hate it because it's different. I think if they can't handle The White Stripes like this, then they can just go listen to "Elephant" again.
This album shows so much maturity. Jack White is a musical genius. He can write and play any form of music he wants. There is rock, blues, ballads, bluegrass, even a form of dance on this album alone. And then there is "The Nurse," which is totally in a world of its own. Let's go through the songs.
"Blue Orchid" - One of two songs on this album that sound like "Elephant" White Stripes. It seems that a lot of people who don't like this album overall do like this song just because it sounds similar. I think it's a great song. Jack singing in falsetto sounds great, and the fuzzed guitar sounds awesome. The music video is creepy as hell.
"The Nurse" - This song is just in a world of its own. There is no way to classify this song. The marimba is probably one of the most unlikely instruments ever used to base a song around, but it really works. The random bursts of guitar and drum are kinda weird, but add a cool touch.
"My Doorbell" - I just frickin' love this song. I love everything about it. I love the pounding piano. I love the drums. I love Jack's singing. I love the lyrics. I love the catchiness to it. This is my favorite song on the album, and I will never ever get sick of it. I feel like listening to this song just talking about it.
"Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)" - An excellent song with very good lyrics. The piano and marimba blend really well.
"Little Ghost" - My second favorite song on the album, and without a doubt the most underrated. Yes, I like bluegrass music, which is probably why I like it in the first place, but there is just something great about this song. The lyrics are really good for this type of song, and the harmonies between Jack, Meg, and...Jack again are great. There's definitely a Loretta Lynn touch in here.
"The Denial Twist" - Another infectious song. The fast singing fits in perfectly. And if you ever take time to look them up, the lyrics are awesome. The piano and minimal guitar (you have to listen closely for it) go really good together.
"White Moon" - One of the best ballads The White Stripes have ever done. Amazing heartfelt words and awesome piano playing.
"Instinct Blues" - This song is sort of like a second coming of "Ball and Biscuit." No, it doesn't have 4 guitar solos, but it is really heavy and bluesy. The lyrics are interesting to say the least, and it is a great song to jam out to.
"Passive Manipulation" - A nice little 35 second ditty sang by Meg. While not as good as "In the Cold, Cold Night," it's still a pretty good song.
"Take, Take, Take" - This is another really good song. There is an awesome blend of piano and acoustic guitar. The lyrics are repetitive at times, but I don't mind too much. The second song concerning Rita Hayworth ("White Moon" is the first).
"As Ugly As I Seem" - My third favorite song on the album. This contains some of the best guitar playing Jack has ever done, acoustic or electric (this song is acoustic). The bongos add a really nice touch, and the lyrics are incredible. This almost sounds like a long-lost Bob Dylan song.
"Red Rain" - The second song that wouldn't sound out of place on "Elephant." The lyrics don't matter in this one. The guitar playing is phenomenal, and Meg's drums are explosive as ever.
"I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)" - This song does what "Well It's True That We Love One Another" couldn't: it closes out the album perfectly. The lyrics are really good and the piano has a nice country touch to it.
Overall, this album rocks. I don't care who you are, this album is amazing. The White Stripes have matured so much musically that you can't help but admire them. They continue to break new ground with every album, and I already consider them one of the best and most influential bands of all time.
Free Music Review: Excellent return to form
Hit: 5 Stars
The White Stripes are one of the most promising acts in recent history. I got into them shortly after their debut, which still ranks high among my favorite debut albums. De Stijl, for its many charms, seemed disjointed and uneven by comparison. White Blood Cells did everything right and remains my favorite by them by a hair. Elephant was a step in the wrong direction, a contrived and awkward album cursed by novelty tunes (good novelty tunes though they may be).
So it was with trepidation that I awaited the release of Get Behind Me Satan. Sure, "Blue Orchid" was a great refreshing song and great to hear the radio, but "Seven Nation Army" was and remains one of their best songs. There was nothing in "Blue Orchid" to suggest that the sound of the new album would diverge too much from Elephant. Good or bad, though, I figured I'd give it a try...
Thankfully, everything on Get Behind Me Satan works -- it's the most effective tracklist besides White Blood Cells, feels all of a piece, and is blessedly free of the novelties that made Elephant a bit of a freak show. Sure, the instruments being used are slightly, uh, different: piano, marimbas, bass. The songcraft of Mr. Gillis is as strong as ever, though, and the band manages to create some really dynamic sound structures.
"Blue Orchid" kicks things off with a bang, combining garage-rock vigor with Talking Heads-ish tension. Notably more produced than most Elephant tracks. The song suddenly stops and marimbas take over -- truly a bizarre shift, but an effective one, as a tale of trust and betrayal unfolds in "The Nurse." The emergence of the chorus's backing guitar and drums over the course of the song seems odd at first, but after two listens sounds natural. Down tempo gives way to up tempo with "My Doorbell," an incredibly catchy (and funky!) song reminiscent in concept of Neil Young's "Walk On." A very strong candidate for single release.
The second part of the album is equally strong. "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)" is a simple but lyrically deft breakup/new love ballad equal to or better than Elephant's excellent "You've Got Her In Your Pocket." It gives way to the bluegrass dustup "Little Ghost," possibly a tribute to Rita Hayworth or the new Mrs. White -- a cute, fun ditty most reminiscent of WBC's "Hotel Yorba." Lyrics are pleasingly clever: "The first time that I met her, I did not expect a specter" really rolls off the tongue. Back to rocking for "The Denial Twist," a driven ode to jealousy and suspicion. "White Moon" is a rather surrealistic piano meditation on death, abandonment, and lovely Rita -- certainly the oddest track on here.
"Instinct Blues" is somewhat long and somewhat repetitive but introduces frustration, tension, and unhappiness in place of "Ball and Biscuit's" braggadocio and is much the better for it. It's a great song to crank up on the highway with the windows down. "Passive Manipulation" is the closest thing to a novelty, a thirty-second meditation by Meg on obedience to significant others and female independence. Maybe, uh, some other issues as well, but I'm not speculating there. Another highlight follows in the form of "Take Take Take," yet another Rita song. It describes interactions between the actress and the equivalent of a groupie, with the tense and heavily tracked vocals on the chorus simply repeating the title.
"As Ugly As I Seem" is one of the more surprising tracks on here; it sounds like an acoustic Smashing Pumpkins outtake more than anything else. I haven't fully gotten my head around "Red Rain" yet, but it's catchy and surprising. "I'm Lonely" ends the album on a wry but laid-back and familiar note, as the narrator contemplates family, romance, and suicide.
While the album may seem a "mishmash," as Amazon's review called it, it's in practice a very coherent and unified album. The Whites are in fine form and Jack's voice in particular is great. If you've liked their work in their past, particularly their first album, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try. The best album of the year to date.
Highlights: Blue Orchid, The Nurse, My Doorbell, Take Take Take (and many of the rest :)
Free Music Review: The Best Bands Don't Sit Still
Hit: 5 Stars
As other people have said, you *have got* to listen to this more than once. The first spin or two are to absorb your shock at the change in their style from Elephant. After that you can appreciate the music for what it is. I freely admit: I listened the first time and skipped through most of the songs after maybe a minute each, listening for the huge instant hit. At the end, I felt disappointed. Now I've been listening to the CD for a few weeks straight (early preview); my favorite song has changed like 4 times, always a good sign. I initially really didn't like Blue Orchid -- processed guitars, no breakdown, etc.... but now I like it quite a bit.
Bob Dylan switched from acoustic to electric, and his style varied widely as it was. The Kinks recorded a bluegrass album. Zeppelin had III, a divergence from the rest of their catalog. The Stones were all over the map. If you listen to Seven Nation Army and Black Jack Davey (the Stripes' exceptional SNA B-side) at volume 10 and amp yourself up for more blistering guitar rock, and then throw GBMS in the player, you're going to be let down -- but by your expectations, not the music. The very same principle applied for Dylan and Zeppelin. This album is different from the other four Stripes albums, and many of the songs differ from each other. It's experimental, it's creative, it's completely unexpected -- and it's awesome stuff.
If you're too narrowly focused in your music -- if you can't appreciate Zeppelin, Little Feat, Buckwheat Zydeco, Van Morrison, Love, Burning Spear, Loretta Lynn, the Byrds, and O Brother Where Art Thou stuff depending on your mood -- then don't get it. But if you can throw the disc on, sit back and let yourself get rocked from genre to genre, you're in for a huge treat. These guys are the best out there right now, and they're outright trashing all the hashed-out, over-polished, been-there-done-that nonsense hanging around in the charts.
You may have heard that Jack White traded his guitar for a piano on this outing, and that's pretty accurate. Piano underlies most of the songs here, but with very different effect. Some are slow piano ballads, and lots are up-tempo, foot-stomping tunes. Hard guitar is limited to 3 songs (Blue Orchid, Red Rain, and Instinct Blues), but they're good.
Red Rain is, hands-down, their most Led Zeppelin-sounding song yet. Close your eyes through most parts in the song, and you can believe it's a lost track from Led Zeppelin I. My Doorbell is insanely addictive. Little Ghost is a great little bluegrass number with cool lyrics. The Denial Twist is, I think, one of their better songs ever. Take, Take, Take, Blue Orchid, and Forever For Her are also terrific, catchy songs.
I'll say this for the benefit those of you who think Plant and Page would immolate themselves at being compared to the WS. Pay a little visit to jimmypageonline.com and hit the links page. Uh-oh, what's that? WhiteStripes.com is the very first non-Zeppelin related link there? Interesting. Page says, "I tapped into the same energy in the 1950s when I heard people such as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. And I hear it now in the White Stripes." Bob Dylan also personally sent word to the Stripes about how much he likes them. None of this means anything, of course -- the music stands on its own. Stop assuming that people with vastly greater musical exposure and appreciation would share your narrow-minded knee-jerk reactions. (And for the Coldplay shills in here, get lost. The White Stripes make a piano-driven track like The Denial Twist sound like 5 times the rock than anything in Coldplay's catalog of whiny drivel. I'm almost surprised that anyone's willing to categorize Coldplay as rock, period. A good amount of GBMS wouldn't be filed as rock, either, but then, it's not trying to be.)
The Stripes are revered these days for saving modern rock by reintroducing the greatness of its powerful core elements and combining them with excellent songwriting. They may get back to that full-force after this album, but for now they're taking a detour that's lending their saving powers to more than just rock.
Free Music Review: Get Behind It (Or Some Other Clever Pun)
Hit: 5 Stars
Look, first things first. I am not a music reviewer. In fact, when presented with the "So, what kind of music do you listen to?" question at parties, I won't even discuss it. I find it very difficult to talk about music without being at least somewhat self-conscious of what an a**hole I sound like.
But after reading 50 or so of the some-odd 200 reviews written here so far, I feel like I want to chime in. I just listened to "Get Behind Me Satan," and am following it with a sturdy listening of "De Stijl," because this is the album that hooked me on the Stripes...indeed, hooked me on the very concept of a rock n' roll resurgence. Every time I listen to it, I think of my dad's first reaction: "The thing is, he's just such an incredible musician." And that's what I keep coming back to, over and over. He's just such an incredible musician. Okay okay okay, his guitar playing is sloppy. There are missed notes. His voice isn't perfect. Meg doesn't drum well. Okay, I get it. The White Stripes, though, have never been about producing a technically perfect album (I'm looking at you, Zepp).
What they HAVE been about is nodding to the past, soaking up shredding guitars, blues, country, and bluegrass, and propelling it ever forward. The best review on here so far has nodded to the apparent arrogance of this album, saying that Jack simply takes every conceivable style of music, and uses it to his own devices. And friends, that is spot on.
So enough already with the reviews that start by saying, "I am the biggest hardcore White Stripes fan of all time," but go on to completely slag this album off. That just doesn't make any sense. You're not a White Stripes fan. You're a "Seven Nation Army" fan.
Here's my track list:
Blue Orchid: Incredible, but misleading. A lighthearted slap in the face to anyone who thinks they know what they can expect, especially when followed by...
The Nurse: Say what you will, they're taking chances and pulling it off.
My Doorbell: Gimmee a little "Hotel Yorba," and make sure that something sticks in my head for days.
Forever for Her: Some of Jack's hookiest songwriting to date.
Little Ghost: This is where the casual fan drops off. I would love to hear an entire album that sounds exactly like this.
The Denial Twist: Some reviewers have called this rapping? I'm not seeing it. Here, people put off by the piano should start to get on board.
White Moon: Another reviewer envisioned sitting in an empty bar while listening to this. I like the visual, I like the song. Haunting, Jack's quiet best.
Instinct Blues: I have to admit, there were points in the album where I was wishing for a little rockin' out. Just when you're wishing that, this song delivers. Blues? Guitars? No one does it better.
Passive Manipulation: Awe, Meg, you adorable little so-and-so. You really do try your hardest don't you? In spite of some vocal cracks, incredible lyrics make this more than a cast-off.
Take, Take, Take: I hate Renee Zellweger too.
As Ugly as I Seem: More lullabye greatness, with beautiful acoustic songwriting.
Red Rain: You've read it already. Whining guitars, crashing drums. This is the Stripes you're used to.
I'm Lonely: A beautiful finish to a complicated album.
So I am on listen number 10 or so of this album, the point at which I am supposed to "get it." And I completely do. Is this the album to start with? Maybe not. You really need to be able to chart the progression, from the raw, unpolished, 90 second majesty of their self-titled debut, to the show of range and bluesmanship on "De Stijl," to the commercial success of "White Blood Cells," to the perfection-of-the-model with "Elephant." But I keep coming back to the same thought: "He's just such an incredible musician." For that reason, I will continue listening, even if the material is challenging at first. The potential rewards are too great to miss.