I think I remember a few people being at least minimally interested in the White Stripes...so I went ahead and made a thread for the album...

Well, the album came out today so, I finally got to listen to it, because illegally downloading music is reprehensible, and I would never do such a thing.

Anyway, my thoughts after a "day" of listening to it are that the album is really fun and exciting, but I'm not sure if it will hold up to repeated listens. I'm fairly certain some songs will stand my test of time, but I can't tell which ones at this juncture.

I will say that buzz surrounding the album has been that this is the White Stripes foregoing all of the experimentation and toying with the new instruments Get Behind Me Satan featured. Well, there is a lot more guitar on Icky Thump, but there are still some curveballs thrown into the mix. Bagpipes, trumpets, and new different keyboards (The most conspicuous of which is featured on the title track, and played in sort of an Indian tabla scale)

My early return has the album as being rather backloaded, with nary a miss to be found from tracks 8-13. The first half of the album is nearly as strong, but Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn, and St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air), featuring the aforemention bagpipes, seem to be a little too cute, even by White Stripes standards. I suppose it would be hard to for any rock lover to want to come down to "Hi-dee-hi-dee-hi-o-oooo" after hearing the crunch of a song like Icky Thump and the raucous solo of You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told).

Closing bullets:

-If you're waiting for Meg White to revolutionize the science of percussion, keep waiting. Go listen to your Buddy Rich records.

-This is better out of the gate than Get Behind Me Satan, on par with The White Stripes, White Blood Cells, and De Stijl, and just a bit behind Elephant

-Jack White's slide guitar moments still feel raw and improvised.

-Jack is a bonafide rock star.

I've tried to get into both Get Behind Me Satan and Elephant, and I just couldn't do it. I just find the music so boring, grating, and devoid of anything resembling an interesting or catchy melody. Get Behind Me Satan in particular was difficult for me to sit all the way through even once.

My first exposure to them was seeing them live a while back now, and Meg couldn't even drum in time to the most simplistic of 4/4 beats on stage, consistently slipping out of time and then speeding up again, and I think the experience of that terrible performance hasn't helped my efforts of trying to see what the fuss is all about.

I've tried to get into both Get Behind Me Satan and Elephant, and I just couldn't do it. I just find the music so boring, grating, and devoid of anything resembling an interesting or catchy melody. Get Behind Me Satan in particular was difficult for me to sit all the way through even once.

My first exposure to them was seeing them live a while back now, and Meg couldn't even drum in time to the most simplistic of 4/4 beats on stage, consistently slipping out of time and then speeding up again, and I think the experience of that terrible performance hasn't helped my efforts of trying to see what the fuss is all about.

Yeah, I've heard this before.....is it that you find the music grating? I think what made me fall in love with the White Stripes was that I first heard them at a time when I was...oh..I guess 18 or so, and I was just getting into rock music, and moreso that I hadn't been introduced to the blues before. Hearing covers of Son House and Robert Johnson, but with added energy and angst, really struck a chord with me. Maybe that's why it hit me moreso than some others.

I was a couple of years older than 18, but yeah, I think you've probably hit the nail on the head, as I was already pretty familiar with many blues music and artists, so to me the White Stripes have always sounded something like a kind of garage-blues band, but without the licks or song writing skills to pull it off and make it interesting.

What has always puzzled me is that a good number of people I know who have very similar tastes in music as me are White Stripes fanatics, which is why I've given the music so many chances.

I haven't listened to them much, but what I've heard of them they sound like a really bad Led Zeppelin cover duo with horrible drumming. And honestly, the whole shtick about whether they are brother/sister or (ex) husband/wife when they first came out instantly turned me off as an attempt to get noticed for something other than the music.

I have to run out and get Icky Thump! I consider 'Elephant' to be one of the greatest albums of the decade so far. I really liked the stripped down minimalistic garage blues-rock sound of the self-titled album, White Blood Cells, etc. And I also like the fact that they've been trying wierd new things since.

And yeah, Jack White is the genius here. Meg is just along for the ride, and it has always showed.

I've listened to it once so far. Like what I heard, but it'll take multiple listenings to form a true opinion.

It does sound more like their older stuff, compared to Get Behind Me Satan.

Can't wait to see them live on July 2nd. :D

It took me a while to appreciate them but now they're one of my faves. They're headlining the second day at Austin City Limits festival which I'll be at so I'm looking forward to that.....

This CD rocks, haven't listened to it multiple times yet, but I liked it. although there was maybe a moment or two when I thought they were covering a Bad Company song.

So if I liked all their albums other than Get Behind Me Satan, this sounds like an album worth purchasing? Good to hear.