The White Stripes - Icky Thump
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Free Music Notes for Icky Thump
Free Music Review: As awesome as icky ever was
Hit: 5 Stars
Reviewing a White Stripes album is sometimes an exercise in futility: long lauded as saviors of 21st century rock n'roll, even the occasionally experimental moves they've made (see: "Get Behind Me Satan") are overwhelmingly met with hipster back-slapping approval. So in fairness, let's forget for a minute that "Icky Thump", the band's latest offering, is in fact a White Stripes concoction. Imagine, if you will, that this disc, shrink wrapped in all of its red, white, and black color themed glory, was just a release by a band whose lead singer did not carry all the accolades that Jack White can boast. What might the response to such an album be? To invoke Tenacious D: it rocks my socks off.
"Icky Thump" is blues tinged garage rock at its most primal, and if you really want to give in to your instincts and love this disc for what it is (the most satisfying musical experience you're likely to know thus far this calendar year), please drop your indie pretentiousness at the door.
Yes, it's obvious....the two people who make up 99% of this recording are clearly at a level of chemistry that few of us can comprehend. Whatever might be lacking in technical prowess or polished performance is made up for with an emotional intensity that begs to be listened to multiple times. Listen to the cover of Patti Page's "Conquest" or the narrative "Rag & Bone" for definitive evidence. Do you just want infectious pop hooks? Try out "You Don't Know What Love Is". Need some guitar heroics a la Led Zeppelin? Listen repeatedly to "Little Cream Soda". Craving textures that sound like Steve Albini met John Bonham in the afterlife? Give "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" a spin.
Say all you want about Jack's progress as a guitarist and vocalist, or about Meg's ability to furiously bludgeon her drum kit like tomorrow may never come. The bottom line is that "Icky Thump" is a fantastic album, regardless of your thoughts on "De Stijl". Go buy it, and believe again in the redemptive power of rock and roll.
Free Music Review: candycane dreams of white stripes!
Hit: 5 Stars
When I first heard that the latest cd for the White Stripes would be hitting the stores soon, I was excited. As a longtime fan, I own all of their music. Before I could buy the cd the music videos for the songs 'Icky Thump' and 'Conquest' began playing everywhere. Even though I was absolutely sure I would be buying the cd without hearing a song on it, I was pleased to see that the White Stripes sounded better than ever. The music videos caught the attention of my son (age 16) who remembered that I had the older White Stripes cds. He began listening to them back to back. So, when I finally bought the latest cd, he wanted to listen to it also. I started spending the mornings in his room searching for the new cd, while he began spending the afternoons after school searching my room for the new cd. It just goes to show how the sound of the White Stripes is crossing over into several generations. The music of Jack and Meg is across the board, in that, they have a blues song, grass roots song, punk song, rock song, and folk song on the same album. Although,'Icky Thump' and 'Conquest' seem to be the favorites of this new album, I favor the song 'Rag and Bone'.
Much like the music on the cds of the White Stripes, the artwork on the albums are confined within the style that is the Whites! Often a black and white photo with red splashes of color and objects of symbolism always continue to show just how complete their albums are in design and thought. This cd sounds as fun as the cover photos where Meg and Jack are dressed like characters out of a scene from 'Mary Poppins'. In contrast, the photos inside the cd booklet are simple and carefree, while maintaining the expression that Jack and Meg balance each other. I am suggesting the cd 'Icky Thump' to friends and family. As a fan, I often have candycane dreams of White Stripes!
Free Music Review: White Stripes regain their edge with Icky Thump
Hit: 5 Stars
The White Stripes are back! With their latest effort, Icky Thump, Jack and Meg White have returned with the harder edged, garage band sound, to which their fans had grown delightfully accustomed. Some were disappointed with 2005's Get Behind Me Satan and its largely mellow, keyboard heavy offerings, although not a bad disc by any means. But the catchy titled Icky Thump erases any fears that the twosome were slipping into some sort of seasoned lethargy. From sweetly melodic to loud and wonderfully grating, Icky Thump leaves the listener joyfully off balance and highly entertained throughout. Hey...you either get this act or you don't! The disc begins with the creatively rapping title track and then quickly segues into arguably one of their best tunes ever, the lively "You Don't Know What Love Is", followed by another of the stronger cuts, "300 M.P. H. Torrential Outpour Blues". There's a bit of a speed bump in the only Jack White non-original, "Conquest", but we're quickly back to White Stripes' reality with the hard pounding "Bone Broke". "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" and its companion track, "St. Andrew(This Battle is in The Air)" feature a refreshing infusion of bagpipes, adding nicely to the Stripes' trademark unpredictablilty. Jack gets conversational in the decent "Little Cream Soda" and is then playfully joined by Meg in "Rag and Bone". Next up is the strangely likeable, almost otherworldly "I'm Slowly Turning Into You", then another of the better selections, "A Martyr For My Love For You". Jack's guitar dances wildly through "Catch Hell Blues" and finally, you can just visualize Mr. White sitting contently in the corner of some modest, dimly lit venue, happily strumming away on "Effect And Cause". All in all, a fantastic outing by the White Stripes, leaving us to ponder what this talented duo has in store the next time around!Free Music Review: I Rediscovered Music with the White Stripes and I Adore This Album
Hit: 5 Stars
I first heard the WHITE STRIPES when I was in my late 50s. I am now 61 and I still listen to them every day. I also listen to the Raconteurs (also Jack White) and now Dead Weather (ditto). As someone who went to college in the late 1960s, this is the freshest music for me which has come out since that time period. ICKY THUMP is right at the top of all of these albums for me. Expanding their instruments, eerie bagpipes and Flamenco horns are added to this album with great effect. I loved their inclusion. There are many musical influence in this music but garage rock coupled with blues certainly are always at the forefront. Having listened to Jack White now play with other musicians, I must say that his playing with Meg has been consistently underrated. The two of them bring out the best of one another musically. Good as Jack is on his own or with other musicians, when he plays with Meg it as as if he is playing with his soul mate. I usually don't appreciate the instruments as much as the singing on any album but that is not true on these albums. I love the great thought that has gone into the use of each instrument and to the uniqueness of each one and to the softness or hardness of its sound. Jack's vocalizing is terrific and fits seamlessly into every arrangement. My only hope is that this is not the last White Stripes album since Jack now has so many other musical irons in the fire. I don't have the technical expertise to comment on each song as other reviewers here have done. I just know I love the whole album. There is no greater pleasure than driving in my convertible with the top down through the nearby national park and listening to this album during the summer time. This album also won two Grammys.Free Music Review: Great Release
Hit: 5 Stars
For a band that exists based on constrictions, the White Stripes increase their versatility with each album. Yes, there are blues stompers and rockers, but Icky Thump has bagpipes, mariachi trumpets, and an ethereal spoken word number by Meg.
For those looking for traditional White Stripes blues rock, you have Catch Hell Blues, I'm Slowly Turning Into You, and the stand outs Bone Broke and 300 MPH Outpour Blues.
And then there's the title track, which, while rocking, ventures into oddball territory with one of the first synthesizers ever made, with a deep Moog-ish sound, and some politically-minded but slightly inscrutable lyrics.
The bagpipe "suite" Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn/St. Andrew is, according to Jack White, a nod to both Stripes' Scottish heritage, the first which would have been in good company on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, the second a noisy ditty featuring Meg's spoken word, which fortunately improves with multiple listens.
The other standout tracks are Conquest, a Patty Page cover which mixes trumpets with Jack's pounding guitar riffs, Effect and Cause, the fun Loretta Lynnish closer, and Rag and Bone, a blues track that sums up the ideology behind the Stripes and this album in particular- Jack and Meg go searching for other people's junk to "give it a home" and "make something out of it."
For her part, Meg's drumming has never sounded better.
And Jack, in this humble reviewer's opinion, is THE songwriter of our generation. Even some of the lesser tracks are better than almost anything else out these days.
With each listen I'm finding something new to love about Icky Thump, and more to love from my (obviously) favorite band.