Review Summary: A good album, minus the scottish crap. Still need to go back to their roots, but they're getting closer.
When I first heard that the White Stripes were making a new album, I just thought it was going to be another failure. Then I heard Icky Thump, and I was amazed. A little overdone guitar, but nonetheless a good song, which got me pumped up for the CD of the same name.
The first track like I said before is a good song, but has overused guitar. It has great lyrics, telling a story, with a little politics added in it has my favorite line,”White Americans, what nothing better to do? Why don’t you kick yourself out, you’re an immigrant to:. A nice little joke about the Mexico situation . But in my opinion they should of cut out the synthesizer solo, because the track is a little to long, but would be a lot better without it. Up next is the catchy You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told). Like Iai said, it is very Raconteurishy. The song has a rhythm from Meg White. Once again Jack delivers with the lyrics. When I got this far into the album I was so excited because it was exceeding my expectations by a lot!
300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues starts out with an acoustic guitar, and 15 seconds into Meg comes in. Then Jack starts to sing and it goes slow, then builds up, then goes back slow. It keeps up that pattern for a while. The drums seem out of place on this song, too much cymbals use. Then randomly comes a crappy solo that is extremely out of place. Good thing it is short.
Then comes the Patti Page cover, Conquest. It starts out not to bad after then comes The singing. The singing is horrible, it doesn’t really match the music. The lyrics aren’t very good, like an amateur could’ve written them. They could of picked a better song to cover if you ask me. Then there is the horns section, which bothers me out of my mind. They completely ruin this song. Then comes Bone Broke, which starts out with a good bluesy guitar riff, which leads right into the singing. This reminds me a lot more of Elephant, and White Blood Cells. This is definitely a classic on this album. As every other song except for conquest, good lyrics (Even though they could be better) Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn, is a down right ugly song. I have no clue at all how they went from a gem like Bone Broke, to this. It has a weird folk guitar, repeating a Scottish, I think, phrase. Then a bagpipe solo comes in. Then I normally just skip ahead to St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air), and then more crap comes into my ear. It starts out with irritating music, and Meg White telling a story. I wish they would of only of put these on the Scottish version of this otherwise pretty good album. Meg White really isn’t even singing, it’s more like talking.
Little Cream Soda finally comes in saving my ears from the crappy two previous tracks. Now, this song definitely isn’t a classic, but better than the last two. It has pretty good guitar, but Jack White talks like Meg White did on the previous track. Jack starts off talking about how it keeps getting worse, and harder than he thought. The drums and guitar really save this track. Then comes the second single off of the CD, Rag And Bone. It starts out with Jack White and Meg White talking about poor people having nothing while rich people have everything they want. Pretty sloppy song, but I still like it. It has a lot of talking though. Could be better.
I'm Slowly Turning Into You is the next track. It reminds me of Get Behind me Satan, but in a good way. It has an addicting beat, and some of the better lyrics on the album. This is probably the 4th best track on the CD. . A Martyr For My Love For You starts out with a piano/keyboard and Meg bashing on her cymbals, then goes into a slow acoustic guitar. Jack White’s melodic voice sounds good on this, it fits with the lyrics pretty well. It is about a girl that Jack White likes but is scared to kiss, and wants to get married to her. It starts to pick up pace at the 2:00 mark, but that quickly dies in 15 seconds. It is still a little bit faster, but it still slowed down. Then it goes back to how it was in the beginning, A lot of tempo changes in those 45 seconds. Catch Hell Blues is obviously a blues song, that starts off with Jack talking in the background. It starts to pick up at the 1:20 mark. This song should have better singing, and at least a little bit more complicated lyrics. Unfortunately it doesn’t. Pretty soon the guitar gets better, and the song picks up. This song is one of the better on the album.
Effect and Cause is the last track. It starts out with the acoustic guitar, then Jack comes in singing (his voice sounds pretty good on this track). The song is all about what happens if you do something. Not a bad track, but they could of ended it with a better bang.
Overall this is a good album overall, but it has some extreme lows, and some pretty good high’s. I still wish they would go back to full garage rock though.
RECOMMENDED DOWNLOADS:"
Icky Thump
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
Bone Broke
Rag And Bone
