Rock Fans Weigh In: The White Stripes? You've gotta be kidding me!

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http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/10/wkd.whitestripes.ap/index.html

Don't get me wrong here. I like the White Stripes. Their music isn't bad, and I thought their video for "Fell in Love with a Girl," the one done entirely in Legos, was awesome. They seem to be the antithesis of the boy/girl-band crap that appears to be on its way out. But I think some people, particularly the music "establishment," using the term very loosely, are going WAAAY overboard in praising them, seemingly for that reason alone. IMO, anyone who honestly thinks the White Stripes are the greatest rock band in the world needs to get kicked in the nuts. With a golf shoe. Twice.

Jack White (singer/guitarist/songwriter) is talented, there's no question about it. But he's no John Lennon, or Eric Clapton, or Jimmy Hendrix. Hell, he's barely a poor man's Kurt Cobain, and that's even stretching it. Meg White (the drummer) however is another story. As a drummer myself who's been playing rock in various bands since I was 12, I can tell you with certainty that as a drummer, she sucks. No technical skill at all. She makes the Energizer Bunny look like John Bonham.

Now just to clarify, I'm all for the underdog having his day. I love the fact that the music scene is slowly getting back to a more serious scene, and bubblegum pop is in regression. I have a whole theory about the shift in pop music trends, but that's a topic I'll start later. Basically, I don't want this to be an "I think the White Stripes SUCK!!" thread, because it isn't. There are acts out there who's music I can't stand, yet still recognize their talent and merit (Santana is one).

I'd just like to hear other people's thoughts on them. I think the White Stripes are incredibly over-rated, and that rock critics and MTV alike are putting them on a pedistal because all things "indie" are what seem to be the cool thing at the moment, nothing more.

Thoughts?

(ps - Please don't respond with "I don't know why you have to bash them, I think they're good!" You can if you want I guess, but you'd be missing the point.)

 

I have White Blood Cells. It's rough and unolished, but it still have an interesting sound to it. I like them too, but greatest Rock and roll band?

Sorry. THey're not even close. You don't even rank until you have proven staying power, like Zeppelin, Beatles, the Doors, Van Halen, and their ilk.

If I'm still listening to Elephant and WBC in 10 years, maybe they'll rank as "great!" Right now...They just have potential.

 

I liked them for about a week, now I can't stand them. They are overplayed, and WAY over-rated here in SLC. You can hear "7 Nation Army" at lease 2-3 time a day on each of the 3 good rock stations here.

IMO they're just another "1 hit wonder" band that will always be around to annoy us.

 

The Late-Night Song-by-Song Musical Review (TM):

1. Seven Nation Army: By far my favorite song on the album. Very neutral sound. Great lyrics. Definitely derivative of Ozzy and all those Black Mass bad-boys. As I listen to it now I am again impressed by the lyrics. Very male.

2. Black Math: I like this song. Gritty. Simplistic. However, I couldn't imagine listening to it with anyone else around.

3. There's No Home For You Here: This song does nothing for me. Very simple melody. The theme of the song is essentially a woman who likes you but won't go away. Sorry Jack, we are not all music stars and given to women stalking us. I just can't relate (unfortunatly).

4. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself: Uggh. "Like a summer rose needs a summer rain..." Need I say more. Lame. The song is almost abrasive.

5. In The Cold, Cold, Night: Again a very simple melody. The first few times I listened to the song I liked it, however, it does not age well. "You make me feel a little older, Like a full grown woman might." That is somewhat arousing , but the song is just too simple.

6. I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart: This song I can relate to. As a guy, we have all met a girl's parents. The song is written from a teenagers perspective, however, I can still relate somewhat. I can take it or leave it...so so.

7. You've Got Her In Your Pocket: Acoustic. Vocally driven. One of my favorites on the album. Great lyrics. How many of us feel we have trick women into loving us? I can relate. Deep down you know you need her more than she needs you, yet you can't show that or she will leave. Deep stuff and again, very male.

8. Ball And Biscuit: Bluesy. Sexual song. Ehh...lyrics fall flat for me. I like the beat though.

9. The Hardest Button To Button: Great song. Driven by the drums. Great lyrics. This song reminds me of two friends of mine who decided to have a child at nine-teen and twenty respectively. Small town people, small town mindset and small life's goals seem to be the theme of this song.

10. Little Acorns: Great documentary-voice intro. The theme is essentially insurmountable problems in our lives and how we try to tackle them indirectly. "Cut your hair, straighten your curls, well, your problems hide in your curls."
Cascading guitar driven waves of analogous defeat. Depressing, but artistic.

11. Hypnotize: The theme is again pulling the wool over a woman's eyes. I'm luke-warm to this one.

12. The Air Near My Fingers: I am not sure what to make of this song. I think this song is about the pitfalls of a mucical success versus the simple love of a mother. Hard for me to relate.

13. Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine: A feel good song. No heavy message despite the title and the lyrics, this song is more about the joy of music. Just feel it and move.

14. Well It's True That We Love One Another: Funny ending to the CD. Goofy. Sing-along appeal to it however.


The Late-Night Album Review (TM):

This album is definitely worth the price of admission. Best rock album of all time...umm, hardly. There are some real duds on this one. I just don't know what to do with myself is the dud of all duds. This album also suffers from a chaotic sense of maturity. One song speaks of the sicker side of love in a very mature way and then another song sounds as if it was written for teenagers. Musically speaking it is also very simple. While simple music can also lend itself to great power, it can be heavily dependant on lyrics. With the hit-or-miss lyrics of this album the simple melodies and beats unfortunatly leave some songs to obscurity.

These two need to mature. They need to mature technically as well as song writers. The possibility is there, however, it is not realized in this album.

 

I'm not familiar with em, I don't listen to the radio very often so it's not surprising.

I was just going to say that I don't think there is going to be a regression of bubble gum boy band pop etc. I once read something where someone was bemoaning the 'fall of music' and how when he was younger there was Nirvana, Pearl Jam etc. My response was to just go to the archived history of the top hits of the time and while Nirvana was at its height the hits were by Paula Abdul or had names like "When I think About you I touch Myself."

Point is, pop is pop for a reason, it's popular. I think it will continue.

Hell, even go back and look at the days of Led Zeppelin and look at the charts. As for the Beatles, well, early Beatles at leas WAS bubble gum pop.

 

@ Laches

I agree. That's why I said regression, not extinction. If you'll remember, a few years before Nirvana came out, the charts were riddled with hits by New Kids of the Block, Color Me Badd, Debbie Gibson, etc. Popular music runs in cycles. Something is popular for awhile, until the airwaves get so saturated with it that an inevitable backlash will occur. The natural result is that it's antithesis becomes popular.

Around that same time, hair bands like Poison were also the standard, and quickly losing their luster. The cure for it was the gritty, grungy, brutally honest Seattle music scene that effectively killed it. Seattle rode it's wave until people got sick of it, and the antidote for that? The Backstreet Boys. Not because it was incredible music, just something different and refreshing. Soon after, a million copycats rose up to ride the wave and thus ushered in the return of bubblegum pop. People are again sick of that, and now the White Stripes seem to be the new Nirvana; the poster kids for all that is seemingly original, honest, and non-commercial. In about 5 years, something else will come around to blow that out of the water too...

It's a vicious cycle.

 

Yeah, I just mean that even at its height the Seattle rock wasn't as popular as the bubble gum pop -- at least according to the charts. Nirvana at its most popular was beat out by the Debbie Gibsons of the world. The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania were doing their bubble gum routine. "She loves me yeah, yeah, yeah, she loves me yeah, yeah, yeah..."