This time I created a ranking of the White Stripes.
They were very unique.
They were a two-piece band, but they played garage punk.
Their obsession with image colors.
The fact that they are brother and sister even though they were formerly married.
Although they were only active for less than ten years, they entertained us well.
Please enjoy their good rock and roll.
This blog is an automatic translation of a Japanese blog into English.
Please understand that it may be difficult to read.
- 1 No.1「Hotel Yorba」(Album:White Blood Cells)
- 2 No.2「Seven Nation Army」(Album:Elephant)
- 3 No.3「Stop Breaking Down」(Album:The White Stripes)
- 4 No.4「Little Room」(Album:White Blood Cells)
- 5 No.5「Hypnotize」(Album:Elephant)
- 6 No.6「Blue Orchid」(Album:Get Behind Me Satan)
- 7 No.7「Icky Thump」(Album:Icky Thump)
- 8 No.8「I’m Bound to Pack It Up」(Album:De Stijl)
- 9 No.9「You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)」(Album:De Stijl)
- 10 No.10「You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You’re Told)」(Album:Icky Thump)
No.1「Hotel Yorba」(Album:White Blood Cells)
■Song Title：Hotel Yorba
■Album Name：White Blood Cells
■Video link：「Hotel Yorba」
They were not selling well at all in the beginning.
Probably only a minority of people heard their first album in real time.
It is said that they got their break with “Seven Nation Army”.
But before that, this song reached #26 on the US singles chart.
They went on to become a Grammy Award-winning band with that hit.
Now this song “Hotel Yorba” is about a real hotel in Detroit.
According to Jack, there is a rumor that the Beatles once stayed there.
No.2「Seven Nation Army」(Album:Elephant)
■Song Title：Seven Nation Army
■Album Name：Elephant
■Video link：「Seven Nation Army」
The album reached number one on the U.S. Album chart, and this song also reached number seven on the singles chart.
Jack’s guitar is the highlight of this song.
The guitar at the 51 second mark is the highlight of the song.
It sounds like a typical band sound, but there are only two members.
Jack White: guitar
Meg White: drums
In other words, they are bass-less, but when you listen to their songs, you don’t feel the absence of the bass.
In this song, the guitars are double-recorded.
Jack is so creative that you don’t feel the absence of the bass.
No.3「Stop Breaking Down」(Album:The White Stripes)
■Song Title：Stop Breaking Down
■Album Name：The White Stripes
■Video link：「Stop Breaking Down」
Their first two albums have a lot of bluesy songs, especially.
Here is a list of blues musicians they covered.
Robert Johnson
Son House
Blind Willie McTell
Aside from Blind Willie McTell, the other two are Delta Blues musicians, and this song is a cover of Robert Johnson’s.
Delta blues is also known as Mississippi blues, and is often played only by narrators.
But with the variety of guitar playing, you don’t feel like you’re missing an instrument even though you’re playing along.
Their methodology may have been inspired by the Delta Blues.
No.4「Little Room」(Album:White Blood Cells)
■Song Title：Little Room
■Album Name：White Blood Cells
■Video link：「Little Room」
They are influenced by garage punk, and Iggy Pop is a particular favorite of theirs.
He is a particular fan of Iggy Pop, and calls the Stooges’ album “Funhouse” “the best rock album ever made”.
Garage punk is some amateur rock bands from the mid-1960s onward, and is said to be the origin of punk.
If you listen to the album “Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968” edited by LennyKaye, you will understand what kind of music it is.
It’s pure rock with an emphasis on the initial impulse.
This song is very short (50 seconds), but I think this is what garage punk is all about.
No.5「Hypnotize」(Album:Elephant)
■Song Title：Hypnotize
■Album Name：Elephant
■Video link：「Hypnotize」
Probably if you were to ask me what their best work is, most people would name “White Blood Cells” or this Album.
Both are not only high quality songs, but also well played and sung.
Jack is highly regarded as a guitarist, but I also find him attractive as a vocalist.
If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a lot of variation in Jack’s vocals.
In this song, he sings in a slightly different way.
Jack is an excellent vocalist.
No.6「Blue Orchid」(Album:Get Behind Me Satan)
■Song Title：Blue Orchid
■Album Name：Get Behind Me Satan
■Video link：「Blue Orchid」
I’m not sure what to make of Meg White’s drumming.
I don’t think she’s a technical type.
I don’t think she’s the technical type, but I found this description on Wikipedia.
In contrast to Jack, Meg’s drumming style is very simple.
While some people are skeptical about her abilities as a drummer, such as the fact that she was used as a story in the movie “School of Rock”, Dave Grohl paid her the biggest compliment as “the best drummer ever”[7].
Also, Joe Chiccarelli, who mixed the Album “Icky Thump” said, “Jack doesn’t sound like The White Stripes when he plays with other drummers. She’s more than half the sound of the band.”[8]
To be honest, I don’t know what they appreciate about her performance.
I don’t know what they appreciate about her performance, to be honest, I don’t think she’s that attractive on her own.
But I think her drumming shines in combination with Jack’s guitar.
No.7「Icky Thump」(Album:Icky Thump)
■Song Title：Icky Thump
■Album Name：Icky Thump
■Video link：「Icky Thump」
I think their music in the latter half of their career has become similar to Led Zeppelin.
This song is one of them.
First of all, Jack’s vocals sound a bit like Robert Plant.
The guitar is a bit metallic, and the keyboards at 2:15 sound a bit like John Paul Jones.
But it’s not just imitating old school rock.
The use of guitars at 3:12 gives it a modern touch.
No.8「I’m Bound to Pack It Up」(Album:De Stijl)
■Song Title：I’m Bound to Pack It Up
■Album Name：De Stijl
■Video link：「I’m Bound to Pack It Up」
They are a duo of a man and a woman, and some of you may be wondering what their relationship is.
Officially, they are sisters, with Jack as the older brother and Meg as the younger sister.
But in reality, they were formerly married and divorced a short time after their debut.
Here is a quote about their relationship since then.
She was definitely not the type to be happy with me no matter what I accomplished.
She always looked at me like, ‘Okay, okay, what about it? What about it? Every moment in the White Stripes era was really like that.
Like, we’d be in the studio recording and I’d be like, ‘Oh my God! We’ve just opened up a new world! Meg would just sit there in silence.
Just to add, that doesn’t mean that Jack is denying Meg.
He says that she was a source of inspiration.
Maybe it’s a mysterious relationship that only the people involved can understand.
No.9「You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)」(Album:De Stijl)
■Song Title：You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)
■Album Name：De Stijl
■Video link：「You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)」
They were very particular about their image.
First of all, the album jackets all use three colors: red, black and white.
They also debuted as brother and sister, despite the fact that they were married.
Even after it turned out that this was not the case, they still gave interviews as brother and sister.
Musically, they were particular about using old vintage equipment and didn’t spend much time in the studio to record.
Incidentally, their reasons for breaking up are as follows.
On February 2, 2011, they announced their dissolution on their website. The reason for the breakup was “to leave behind the music and art we have built up so far in the best possible form.
There was a sense of mission accomplished.
No.10「You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You’re Told)」(Album:Icky Thump)
■Song Title：You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You’re Told)
■Album Name：Icky Thump
■Video link：「You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You’re Told)」
This album is their last album.
After this, they released a live album called “Under Great White Northern Lights” and broke up the following year.
Icky Thump” was released in 2007, and the following year Jack released his solo single “Another Way to Die”.
Here’s a link to it.
Alicia Keys & Jack White – Another Way To Die
It’s a totally different type of song from the White Stripes.
The Raconteurs, which Jack started after the breakup, was a different type of band, just like the solo single I mentioned earlier.
I guess if you do different music, you have to have a different band name.
I am very happy that they maintained their stylish image until the end.
