Which of The Stripes' six albums is the greatest and why?

Poll inbound.

None of the above.



Yes, I invited myself into this thread about an overrated shit band.

What exactly is your idea of good music?

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Elephant, it was just a great mixture of genres. From the garage rock of "Black Math", to jazz/blues-ish "In the cold cold night"; just a great album all around. I don't think they'll ever top it.

De Stijl is sonically one of the best records I've heard in the last 10 years. Absolutely perfect recording, and exceptionally well produced. It's perfect. Except for one thing.



That chick can't fucking play drums. At all. It sure is a nice recording though.

I liked 'Seven Nation Army' at first when it came out. It's still not bad. But anything else I've ever heard by them is very, very lame.





 

Really? Give it another listen man...

In a Rolling Stone interview Slash said Jack White is the greatest actively playing rock guitarist.



Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Really? Give it another listen man...

In a Rolling Stone interview Slash said Jack White is the greatest actively playing rock guitarist.



Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Anything I've ever heard Jack White play has been extremely simple.





I would say Chris Broderick or Chris Storey are leaps and bounds above Jack White. But then again, I've never heard anything but Jack White's elementary guitar playing.





 

Elephant, but you have to give Icky Thump credit for You Don't Know What Love Is and 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues.

Meg's got some tig 'ole bitties.  

I believe that she has a sex tape on the net. I don't know for sure, but I heard someone talking about it.

Whites guitar isn't so technical as it is full of pure feel.

Listen to Ball and Biscuit or watch live performances of Death Letter on YouTube

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Awesome. One of my favorite bands.












 

<––––––––––––––––––––––- this song is prophecy.

Yeah, she is pretty lame.

I never noticed until somebody mentioned it either - now it's all I can think of when I listen to them.

Not her.



 

Her inability to play the drums is why Jack White has her as a drummer. He explained it in his interview on Charlie Rose.  They were goofing off and he liked how childlike her drumming sounded.  When you watch the footage of them playing you can almost see her as another instrument that Jack is playing. She tends to be fixated on him getting her cues from him.  

Meh.

Its never really bothered me much, yes she's terrible, but Jack White makes up for it big time.

On another note. I'm allways interested in listening to new music, and since most people who see this thread probably have a decent taste in music; what have you guys been listening to lately?

Myself, I cant stop listening to MGMT, Ratatat, and Of montreal.  

 

De Stijl  was the best.

Everything since Elephant has been sub-par at best. I really appreciated the striped down garage rock quality of the first few albums.

+1

Not bad. Sounds like a cross between the Arcade Fire and the Dead Kennedys.

Elephant: Black Math.



The End.

Huh, that was actually pretty badass. I might have to check them out in more depth rather than dismissing them on the basis of that terrible 7nation army song...

Have you seen the performance from at Blackpool in 2004?

The Black Math performance fucking owns.

EXACTLY.

If Jack were paired up with Neil Peart or John Bonham...it wouldn't work. Jack White just needed a kit with simple 1s and 3s to make it legit. He's that good.

Shit if he wanted a better drummer...he could have recorded it all himself. He IS the drummer for The Dead Weather

All i can say is......

Meg is what she is.

She provides nothing more, and nothing less than what Jack needs.

Ive read interviews with Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick and he explains drumming pretty darn well... you are there to support the music. By lashing out sonically on the drums you can really harm the music and the flow, or you can do your job and be the strong guide for the band.

Jack doesnt need or want anything but that core simplicity, and she does just fine in that role.

Face it guys, most talented drummers ( any great musician really ) have too much ego to play metronome for Jack White. Any real drummer would likely flat out bail after filling in for her. They would go crazy likely.

Meg is really in tune with Jack and what hes trying to do and it just plain flat out works for them.

Personally to poop on Megs playing really doesnt do her justice.. she does her job and does it to Jacks spec's.. no more.. no less.

Fuck them.

Zen, that verse is a character in the story, the prostitue robbing the white tourist, justifying her actions.

Excellent synopsis

I like White Blood cells the best. I am trying to remember which is the last one of their albums I have. I know I don't have the newest.

Dead Leaves, Fell In love with a Girl - both great  - the whole album is.

I LOVE Little Ghost on their 2nd album.

Like it or not - Jack White is a very talented guy with lots of roots in blues and early rock.

Uh, nope.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1562916/20070620/white_stripes.jhtml

One snippet.



My opinion stands.

a fan? I grew up six blocks from the Yorba muth******er!!

I do not know how that tidbit changes the fact that that verse is a line told by a character in a story. Nor does your exerpt somehow cast any dispursions on Americans or even what side of the debate he is on. He is saying that the subject is brought up to cover up other issues. "Economy sucks, blame the Irish, Chinese, or Italians. " is a common theme throughout our history. So hemis saying it is not as big an issue as it is made out to be. Crucify him I guess.

I never really cared too much for them.

To each his own.

Or...you could just recognize great rock when you hear it.

Do you watch TV? Rent or go to the movies?

Chances are you're soliciting liberals somewhere.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

The White Stripes are a great band, The Raconteurs are a great band.

Jack White is a great musician.

He can say whatever he wants. You'd think the last name of White would keep the 88's happy.  I guess there is just no pleasing them since the Russians raped all the Nazis.

Elephant...

White Blood Cells is very solid, but I really like Elephant. "Ball and biscuit" FTW. IIRC it was recorded where many great British blues acts recorded their albums in the 60s, and it has that vibe about it.

If only Meg could drum better. Her drums do not match the near-virtuosity of Jack's guitar, signing and songwriting.

edit: I still consider "...And every breath that is in your lungs is a tiny little gift to me..." to be one of the most heartfelt, poetic bits of lyric writing ever... (I know that's from "Dead Leaves..." but it just goes to show that Jack is a well-rounded artist...)

I dig De Stijl.

I humbly disagree. Note that I'm referring to the De Stijl album, here.



If you've ever had the opportunity to browse through my massive music collection, you'd note that a great deal of it was recorded in the late 60's and early to mid 70's. The reason for this is that I've always preferred the *sound* of the recordings made during that period. The music itself is incidental - pretty much any album representing any genre during this time sounded great (or was at least listenable). The reason I've had such a difficult time listening to modern rock music often has almost nothing to do with musicianship. There is no lack of seriously good musicians making records these days. What makes them unlistenable (to my ears - it's all subjective, you understand) is the manner in which they are recorded.



For years, I've subjected interested parties to hours of choice cuts from my collection, directing them to listen to the *sound* of the recording - not what's actually being played - in hopes that they would say "Oh, I see" and suggest additional albums I may not have heard. The result of this, is the realization that most people are functionally deaf. I can find no other reason for the artist and album suggestions they tend to give me. It's like they weren't even listening.



So a few years ago, a friend of mine that isn't deaf suggested that I listen to De Stijl. And it seemed that I had found the Holy Grail of somewhat recent recordings. I absolutely love how this album was recorded. If I had a band, this is how I would insist our recordings were done. I would be proud to attach my name to something like that. But here's the thing.



There are places where Meg is flat out not IN TIME on this album. It's that bad. And the notion that a drummer (whomever he or she might be) needs to serve as nothing more than a metronome for Jack White is silly. I listen to recordings as a whole, not individual musicians. While there's no need to find a superb jazz drummer, there's a certain fundamental competence assumed for anyone who professes to be a professional musician. I mean, this is your craft. This is what you do for a living. This is ALL you do - you don't have a day job that divides your attention and time. A drummer *is* there to support the music (I agree with Bun E. Carlos 100%), but it's also true that he (or she) is not there to drag it down, either. You'll never hear me (or anyone) complain about poor drumming on a Cheap Trick album.



There's providing a core simplicity (which is fine - I love it), and there's dismal playing. Meg is the latter. Examples of elegant simplicity in drumming abound in popular music. When you listen to a Stevie Ray Vaughn album, your jaw isn't laying on the floor due to virtuoso-like drumming. And yet, the drumming is just fine (I don't care for the recorded sound on many albums, but that's for another thread). It works. When you listen to Beatles recordings, nobody marvels at Ringo's ability. But they don't complain about it, either. It works. When I listen to De Stijl, the drumming is so terrible that it's a distraction. It's so incredibly frustrating to me too, because her drum *sound* on that album is nothing less than audio ecstasy. It is a fine example of how drum kits should be miked, mixed and recorded. I can't tell you how much I love that sound. "So close, yet so far" comes to mind, because the playing is so terrible that it becomes a distraction. It's like serving up the finest steak dinner, prepared by the finest executive chef in the country, in the best atmosphere imaginable, and bringing it to you on a garbage can lid. All he had to do is serve it on a simple, non-pretentious white ceramic plate, and it'd be just fine. But for reasons unknown, he chose a garbage can lid. It ruins the meal, and there's no reason for it.



If she's really a great drummer and Jack is insisting that she play like a grade-school student, then the fault lies with him. Regardless of where the blame lies, the problem still remains - I can't listen to it. And man, I really, really want to. There is so much potential here, and it frustrates the hell out of me to see it unrealized, because the guitar player insists on coming up with ever more creative euphemisms for shitty drumming.



The irony is, Jack White isn't a technically masterful guitar player. He's no SRV, or Frank Zappa, or Eric Clapton, or Steve Vai, or (you get the idea). But at the same time, he doesn't absolutely suck either. He plays just fine, and he has a wonderful ear. His recorded tone is perfect, and compliments his style of playing masterfully - this is the "feel" many people ascribe to his playing. His sound has more to do with it than people realize. And that's great! That's what we all want!  And you know what else I want? A reasonably competent drummer to go with it. No more, no less. What we have now is less.



A competent drummer could make him sound better than he already is.



 

I like the White Stripes, but I fucking love the Raconteurs.

what....wait?......

I'm going to have to look these guys up.



 

dude...right on.

did you know most of the early White Stripes albums were recorded in Jack's living room in Detroit?

I couldn't agree more...I HATE polished sounding records.

How do you feel about Hendrix's Voodoo Child recording? THAT'S how a guitar should sound IMO.

Regarding what is highlighted above: I agree that he isn't a Clapton or SRV...but he IS a master at what he does do. He is being lumped in with greats such as Paige and The Edge in the new documentary called "It Might Get Loud." Trailer here.

I have also noticed that Meg can be downright off-time at certain times. VERY annoying (I am a drummer).

I agree with other posters though that Jack didn't want the drums to be any more than enough percussion to constitute rock and roll...and he did just that. And now he's a guitar god for it.

for people looking for new great music...you need to check out The Dead Weather. The lineup is:

Alison Mosshart (The Kills): Singer, Guitar
Dean Ferita (Queens of the Stone Age): Guitar, Keys
Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs): Bass
Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs): Drums

Now that you mention it, that happens to be one of my favorite recordings (not songs...recordings). And while I love the guitar tone (who wouldn't?) it's the drum sound that makes it, at least for me.