Album #3

Album: White Blood Cells
Artist: The White Stripes
Released: 2001
Label: Sympathy for the Record Industry 
Genre: Garage rock

This album gave me whiplash. I've known of the combo of Jack White and Meg White for years. Knew a bunch of their more popular songs. Enjoyed 'em even ("Icky Thump" is a personal favorite)! So I thought this album was going to be a slam dunk. Then I started listening. 

Okay, lead off with "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground". Not bad. "Hotel Yorba"? Seems we've pegged our style of a stripped down, basic musical approach. Not that I expected much different (like I said, I knew the White Stripes' music going into this one), but it felt very... one note. Took until "Fell in Love with a Girl" to slough off that mantle, before exploding into a rollicking album that gained back at least half a star rating. 

I'll be the first person to tell you my opinion on music is heavily affected by how I'm feeling at the time. Am I grumpy? I probably don't want a bubblegum pop mix. Am I in an unusually peppy mood? Not the best time to bust out OK Computer. This album broke that mold. I'm not going to sit here and repeat what we all know: that Meg White is not a flashy drummer. First couple tracks, I admit I was frustrated by that fact. I wanted something more. But I persisted through and was blasted with a much higher energy sound than the initial tracks would let on. 

As a garage band sound, it's wild to see how the album was blocked off: sort of a unified sound at the front then an increasingly frantic second half punctuated with lighter songs like "We're Going to Be Friends" and the Camille Yarbrough adjacent closer in "The Protector". Fascinating choice and honestly, I think it paid off in the end. Was the album completely consistent? Not really. But in the end, I think it worked out pretty well. 

Rating: 3.6 stars