The White Stripes

**Intro**This was the first full album that The White Stripes made. Some bands need to make 2-3 albums before they really get good and have their mature, marketable sound. With The White Stripes, I would say that they were excellent right from the start, even though many listeners have not heard the songs on this album since they didn't get much radio play time, and the band wasn't known much outside of Detroit when this album came out. In that way, many listeners will feel like they are tapping secret music by the White Stripes right at their beginning.**The music**Jack White was already super good at playing guitar when they recorded this album. There are trick guitar sounds, lots of deliberate inflections of the tones, and there's a wide variety of timbres including twangy, scratchy, nasal, and percussive. You'll hear Meg White do just a few vocals, as is typical. Meg's drumming is simple, and has slightly imperfect rhythm, just in other White Stripes work. I would say the quality of the songs is pretty uniform - there aren't really duds or shining singles that overshadow the rest. That said, I would particularly recommend "The Big Three Killed My Baby," and "Astro." In all songs, Jack White's scratchy, piercing voice helps to suggest the image of a bourgeois or troubadour.**Lo-Fi**The whole album sounds like Jack White showed up at your garage or basement man-cave on a warm Sunday afternoon, and asked if he could set up a beat up amp and put on a practice session on the spot. This album is the opposite of over-produced, it's minimally produced. This helps also to serve the bourgeois/troubadour personality that it has. Troubadours can't afford recording studios or auto-tune. The recording sounds dry, with little echo. There is some hissing and scratching, like you might expect on a 20 year old vinyl record with a beat up jacket that you found in your basement.**Summary**I recommend this album with no reservations. Buy it if you like The White Stripes or classic rock. It should have been played on the radio more than it was, except the band was still unknown at this point. If you buy this album, you'll learn about "new" White Stripes songs that you didn't know about. Unlike other bands, this early White Stripes album was already very very good.

I don't normally care for "pop" bands but I had to see what all the fuss was about. Well, it was a successful experiment as this is a great record. I was most impressed with the recording, which does not sound like the usual overly-produced crap but rather much more real, raw, analog-ish and with natural ambience and that campy spring reverb sound from an amp-don't hear that very often, so that's cool. I also like how they overdrive the vocals on some tracks, it actually works and doesn't come across as corny, like the phone EQ effect. (don't know if this is an overloaded mic pre or as another poster said, they were sent through a guitar cab) The guitar tones are great too - they sound like amp cabs, not the usual dry, direct-inject sound you usually hear. I downloaded this one from iTunes originally, but let's face it - iTunes is half-arsed. You don't own anything but a bunch of lousy computer files and have no liner notes which might reveal anything slightly interesting about the record. Feh! So I intend to buy the disc anyway.I'm sure you could point to a dozen bands they may or may not sound like but I don't much care about all that. It's just fun, well-executed rock and blues with a proper recording which doesn't make everything sound fake like most pop. That can only be a good thing. I wonder if it is peak-limited though? Hmmmm...

I had only one problem with this CD - I can never turn it up loud enough!!! This is the one you plug in and turn it up and play it as loud as you can because it is that good!!! This is one of those rare albums/groups that truly represent raw power and soul. And yeah, 2 people. This makes me think about how badly most of the trash music out there really is - 4, 5, and 6 people in a group, huh? That is like an orchestra. In fact, if you listen to mumford and sons, your testosterone will decrease so rapidly, you will develop breasts - if you are a guy and then, start liking Ryan Seacrest. God forbid. The WS are rock and roll. Loud, simple, thumping, banging rock. As raw and as pure as it gets. Period. Buy it. Plug it in, turn it. LOUD.

I have to admit, listening to this gem was a bit of a struggle at first, but behold, the white stripes after a couple of listens have a ray of sunlight shine through with their first album (self titled no less).Quite simply, through the noise, the distorted yelping and singing with off key moments, distortion on guitars and what seems to be almost teenage angst, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud.If you have listened to the white stripes prior to this, you will notice that recording is a lot rawer then the past. I call it raw, what i really mean is quite poor quality, but thats because jack white recorded this on a shoe-string budget.Give it a go, even if its to just finish off your collection you will be suprised with this album. two thumbs up, but not the perfect white stripes album, not by a long shot.

The White Stripes' self-titled debut album is purely amazing. Diving straight in with "Jimmy the Exploder", the song is incredibly catchy. The main riff, however simple, is genius, and you won't be able to get it out of your head. Throughout the album, Jack and Meg's souls and energy are poured into the music, and it obvious that so much work was put into the album. However long you've been interested in the Stripes, this album will surely be an amazing complement to the rest of your collection, and after you've listened to the first album, you won't be able to wait to buy the others.

I bought this as a present and I was worried that it came scratched, or it skipped songs, was a poor quality... BUT thankfully this one is in great conditions & the person loved it, I was sooo happy!