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The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan Released in 2005 8.8/10 Styles Garage Revival Folk Pop Song Highlights My Doorbell The Denial Twist Red Rain |
There were some hints along the way - slight departures from The White Stripes' tried and true formula of minimal-yet-noisy guitar and drum rock - to suggest that Jack and Meg White wanted something more out of their music. Get Behind Me Satan, the duo's fifth album, sees these desires fully realised, with a blatantly experimental change of direction after 2003's critically acclaimed Elephant. The change is impeccably timed - Elephant was certainly an excellent release, but beneath its great-yet-straightforward tracks was the nagging suspicion that The White Stripes were running dangerously close to sounding stale and samey from one album to the next. The first thing you'll notice about Get Behind Me Satan (and you'll notice a lot), is the introduction of several types of previously-unused instrumentation. Not only does the album have generous helpings of instruments as unexpected as the xylophone, banjo and maracas, but the trusty guitar has taken a backseat in the majority of songs, which are now led by Jack White's surprisingly proficient piano-work. Very few of the songs inhabit the Stripes' safety zone of traditional garage-rock, and in its place we're treated to some excellent cuts of pop, soul, folk and even a couple of noise-rock experiments. First single "Blue Orchid" is a great choice for the album's opening track, with its guitar-and-drums backing making it familiar enough to ease you in, while its additional effects, intrumental touches and Jack White's falsetto vocals (ridiculous at first listen, perfect a few listens on) make it entirely clear that these aren't The White Stripes you're used to. This is followed by "The Nurse," which is arguably the most heavily experimental track on Get Behind Me Satan. A combination of xylophone, maracas and distant, booming piano open the track, leading into Jack White's half-whisper of "The nurse should not be the one to rub salt in your wounds." This hint of danger becomes all the more appropriate as unexpected bursts of guitar and cymbal noise begin randomly crashing throughout the song. "My Doorbell" follows, and is possibly the most pleasingly catchy track on the album. However, where "catchy" once meant the rapid-fire guitar assault of "Fell in Love With a Girl," here it consists of a beautifully upbeat piece of soul-pop. Jack White's optimistic hum "I've been thinking 'bout my doorbell / When're you gonna ring it?" makes you wonder if all this time he'd been secretly fantasising about being the sixth member of The Jackson 5. The song is an innocent yet addictive delight, and many listeners will almost certainly regard it as their favourite track on the album. "The Denial Twist" is, as its name would suggest, a dancefloor number. Once again, the piano is allowed to take centre stage, giving the song a fantastic, jivey feel. "Take, Take, Take" recounts one of the strangest cases of celebrity worship ever committed to an album, with Jack White narrating the story of a far-too-zealous Rita Hayworth fan's attempts to get closer to the star, finishing every one of the fan's requests with a snappy "and that was all that I needed!" The chorus is one of Get Behind Me Satan's most intense sections, with the song's title being yelped repeatedly, over a backing of thunderous guitar and piano. The album reaches its darkest moments with "Red Rain," which features a tormented chorus of "If there's a lie / Then there's a liar too / And if there's a sin / Then there's a sinner too," with Jack White's voice being twisted through vocal manipulation into a nightmarish screech. The remainder of the album is almost completely devoid of filler - at worst, "Passive Manipulation" is a 35 second long reminder that Meg shouldn't be allowed near a microphone; at best, tracks like "Little Ghost," "Instinct Blues" and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)" are all great highlights, albeit somewhat less exciting ones than those mentioned above. Perhaps best of all is Jack White's larger-than-life personality, and on Get Behind Me Satan, even moreso than on previous releases, it towers over the album like fifty feet of candy-coloured, rock-star celebrity. It's a presence that makes Get Behind Me Satan feel epic, and finally brings The White Stripes out of their DIY, garage-rockers persona into the realm of full-blown, arena-rock Gods. |