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The White Stripes
Elephant

Released in 2003

8.2/10

Styles
Blues Revival
Garage Revival
Minimalist Rock

Song Highlights
There's No Home For You Here
You've Got Her in Your Pocket
The Hardest Button to Button

The White Stripes fourth album, Elephant, is a darker and more challenging listen that it's predecessor, White Blood Cells, the album which turned the White Stripes into international superstars.

There's little here that's as sweet and optimistic as "Hotel Yorba" or "Fell in Love With a Girl." Jack White does have a couple of lighter moments on the album, such as the well meaning "I Want to be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart" and the great closer "It's True that we Love One Another," but most of the album sees him at his angriest ever. This gives way to some of the most razor sharp lyrics he's written yet - on "The Hardest Button to Button" he growls "Now we're a family / And we're alright now / We got money / And a little place to fight now." From track to track Jack's lyrical style alternates, from the jarring 2-4 rhythm of "Black Math" to the quiet, saddening "You've Got Her in Your Pocket," which shows a man blurring the line between love and possession.

One of the big winning factors in Elephant is in the production. The album still feels as raw and unpolished as anything the Stripes have recorded before (due largely to their "no modification using computers" policy), but the band's sound has still improved. The guitar riffs are more technical, while still completely rocking. Meg's drumming sounds fantastic, with her minimalist style being streched to the limit, sounding more varied than one could think possible. It's a very satisfying listen for longtime fans; discovering that success has seen the group move forward musically, white staying in the same place stylistically.

Overall, a fantastic album. It might contain little that's as immediately pleasing as anything on White Blood Cells, but with every listen it shows itself to be a superior album. Very highly reccomended.