Disco de The White Stripes: “White Blood Cells”

All this [stuff] about indie cred and all that, I personally couldn't care less, a band is what they are, as long as they truly have talent. White Stripes have said talent. I picked up this album on a whim, after all, why not, I found it rather cheap. From the only song I'd heard from them (Fell in love with a girl) I was expecting a fairly average but typically same sounding Punk album, boy was I wrong. In fact, Fell in love is the only song on the album that sounds like that, and that isn't a bad thing.

The songs here are very stylistically varied, especially when their almost all Guitar and drum exclusively. From the second I popped the album in I was shocked. Sure, they've got musical influences, does that really make their music bad. Especially when they take punk, grunge, 60-70's rock, blues, and even some folk and put them into a pot stir it up and actually come out with an album that makes it all gel.

"Dead leaves" is a go stop go stop rocker with Robert-Plantish vocals (as are much of Jack White's vocals.) "Hotel" is the song I get the whole "Folky" thing from, it reminds me of a more rocking something Dylan might have written. "Fell in Love" Again is 100% classic punk sound, period. "Little Room" is an odd 50 second drum and vocals only track, sounding almost like a demo but yet after the initial oddity of it you'll find yourself singing and lalaing along with it every time it comes on (or at least I do). "Union Forever" is Slow Unplugged Nirvana-ish, one of my faves. "Gonna be Friends" is a sweet acoustic song reminiscing about school. "Smell a rat" reminds me much of something Radiohead might have put on Pablo Honey, very odd at first, another one of my faves that gets me singing along. "Aluminum" is a nice dark song, vocal-less except for the odd Aaaaaaahs that go on throughout it, but I could definitely see Ozzy singing something dark over it. It provokes thoughts of a dark evil world leaving your imagination to come up with what it's like there. "My Protector" is a piano and vocals only track reminding me again of Radiohead, specifically their Live version of "Like Spinning Plates". Though not nearly as good as "Plates" live, but still good nonetheless.

Anyways, theres my opinion on the album and select tracks that I felt I had something to say about, the whole album is great, I didn't leave out songs because I thought them bad, I just didn't have much to say about them that I hadn't said for a previous song.

In closing, I suggest anyone who likes any or all of the types of music stated at the top of this review to check out this album, its cheap compared to the other albums currently out there, and is well worth twice the cost. Its the first breath of fresh air I've had in a while, when drowning in a sea of uninspired poprock/raprock and girl-boybands. I'd really begun to think that rock was indeed played out and over with.

I'd like to thank the White Stripes for showing me that there indeed is still great things that can be done with rock, and as long as they're around, I still have hope for the future of music.

So I finally gave in to all the hype and purchased this album from The White Stripes.Since the summer hardly a week has gone by when I haven't read an article stating that this duo were the most exciting group in the world.Some people even stated that the last time they felt this excited about a group was when they first heard Hendrix or The Sex Pistols.After listening to this c.d. for quite a long time I've finally begun to subscribe partially to this theory.Yes the music is very raw and exciting.They do seem to have a very fresh and almost unique approach to some aspects of song writing.An example of this would be the tracks 6 and 7.Track 6 is a short song that has Jack White singing and warbling to the backdrop of Meg White's loud and bombastic drums.Then it breaks into track7-"The Union Forever"-guitar,shimmering organ and drums-but this song gets really interesting about 2 minutes in when we an acapella in a completely different rhtyhm sets in.

My one reservation about the White Stripes-well actually more just this album-is the lack of really memorable tracks.I mean this is a group who have been hyped far beyond any other group in the U.K. this year,and yet this album hasn't really sold much at all.Okay it's alternative rock but still you'd have imagined it may have had similar sales to say The Strokes.I put this down to the lack of really strong tracks.Having said that there are excellent tracks on this c.d.16 tracks in 40 minutes it's all pretty whirlwind stuff.The most obvious track is Hotel Yorba-which they also released as a pretty unsuccessful single-it's a real Alt/Country song-stomping rhtyhm,acoustic guitar,frenzied vocals and a simple chorus to die for.It stands out cos it's so different to any other track on the c.d.Track 8 is excellent-more shimmering organs,pretty raw guitar chords all set in a fairly slow tempo.Track 9-"We Are Going To Be Friends"-is beautiful lyrically,as the singer looks back on his early school days.The way he describes even the simplest and most common experiences are uncanny-you know the theory finding great beauty in everyday things.It's another acoustic track-one man and his guitar.There are some really good fast furious and very loud tracks-track 4 Fell In Love With A Girl is a case in point.The vocals are barely audible behind the thrashing of one very loud guitar-and then when we hit the chorus,a loose description-he sings like some sort of manic animated Hispanic mouse.That's another thing I really like about this album-the song structure is very different.It isn't verse,chorus,bridge,etc-many tracks don't seem to have a chorus at all.Maybe that's why it does take a good few listens to become in any way familiar with this album.

I think track 10 is slightly let down by some pretty weak vocals.The guitar riff is excellent and the piano is a welcome addition.I have heard people who don't like this c.d. pretty much put it down to having reservations about the vocals-and this track may be a good example of this.All is repaired though by track 12-"Aluminum"-it's very much like The Pixies at their loudest and most obscure.Basically it's one loud repeated half scream,half chant against a backdrop of loud guitars and lots of feedback-there is no tune as such,but it's pretty compulsive listening.Track 13 is one of the longer tracks-a marathon 3:38-it's almost got the normal structure.The song is raw and full of emotion from both vocals and guitar-I'd imagine this is a live favourite.

They certainly are an interesting group-you'll either love this or think it's a complete load of ???But with this c.d. The White Stripes have challenged our listening skills and our so-called musical conventions in a fresh and exciting way.Thank God for groups like this!

Here it is! The White Stripes have blossomed into a pair of musicians who care about what matters- the simplicity of life, the magic of music, and the energy of rock 'n' roll. On this album they hit it all, from the simple ("Little Room") to the magic ("This Protector") to the energy ("Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," "I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman," "Fell in Love with a Girl,"...).

The White Stripes are magical in their own way. Their combination of blues and rock is just perfect for the raw energy they deliver. Their music is fascinated with life, and all aspects of it. From the purity of new love ("Fell in Love with a Girl," "Hotel Yorba," "We're Going to be Friends") to the ferocity of a relationship gone bad ("I Can't Wait," "The Union Forever," "The Same Boy You've Always Known") the White Stripes have a knack for understanding the inner workings of how we react to all aspects of love.

As a duo, Jack and Meg White are outstanding. Jack's wails of passion (whether positive or negative) express a devotion not only to the subject of the song, but to the music as a whole. The energy of the lyrics would be dead without the same power in the instrumentation. The White Stripes have it. Jack rips chord after chord out of his unsuspecting victims (guitars) and Meg pounds mercilessly on her drum set. Of course, there are songs where such tenacity is not required ("Hotel Yorba," "We're Going to be Friends," "This Protector"). In these hushed gems, Jack and Meg remain just as superior as musical counterparts. Jack's soothing guitars matched with Meg's tapping beat are just as relaxing as their other songs are electrifying.

So where are the White Stripes going? Hopefully down this road! This album was one of the few exciting albums of 2001, and for that, I congratulate them.

Despite the best efforts of such posers as Creed and Nickelback to kill rock, the genre is not dead quite yet, as the White Stripes prove here. "White Blood Cells" is sixteen tracks of underproduced, unpolished rock that actually sounds like it was recorded in a garage with a tape recorder. In today's radio climate, filled with overproduced studio clones, the White Stripes provide a contrast similar to what I imagine the Ramones provided twenty-five years ago (a little before my time). "Fell in Love with a Girl," the song that prompted me to check this album out, is 109 seconds of uncompromising, unrelenting rock in its purest form. Most of the songs on "White Blood Cells" aren't as fast or visceral as the first single, but there are enough different sounds here to satisfy pretty much everyone. "I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman" boasts a head-bobbin' groove, "Hotel Yorba" has a pleasant folky sound, and album closer "This Protector" even introduces a piano to the mix. Jack White's vocal wail is complemented well by his guitar, which alternates ear-pleasing acoustic strumming with fuzzy stoner-rock riffing. Sister Meg's drumming is certainly far from technical, but on an album where simplicity and authenticity matter more than precision, it fits in perfectly. "White Blood Cells" may go a long way toward brining rock back to its roots, much the way such legendary albums as "Ramones" and "Nevermind" did in their times.

Contrary to popular belief in this morally devoid music culture the power of basic rock music lives on. I was not a fan, nor was I ever akin to the White Stripes before I saw them perform on Saturday Night Live this year. Needless to say I was entralled with their performances and bought their album ASAP. The guitar work by Jack White is at times derivative (think Keith Richards-ish riffs balanced with the hard of edge of Angus Young), but the energy and balance of the music, powered by the the steady beat of Meg White on drums, is always entertaining. I particularly like the yowling, sweet voice Jack sports; he sounds like a Tenor protege of Howlin' Wolf. The simplistic music moves in a well-constructed, yet spastically beautiful sets while the lyrics are expressive and meaningful. The only weak spot on the album could be "The Union Forever" with it's heavy-handed comparison of matrimony to a type of psuedoslavery. Overall a wonderful album. Please buy this instead these cookie-cutter rockbands, and don't get caught up in the W.S.'s hype. Listen to the music and enjoy.