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Elephant

 
Album Review: Elephant
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Elephant

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  • Artist: The White Stripes
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: April 01, 2003
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

White Blood Cells may have been a reaction to the amount of fame the White Stripes had received up to the point of its release, but, paradoxically, it made full-fledged rock stars out of Jack and Meg White and sold over half a million copies in the process. Despite the White Stripes' ambivalence, fame nevertheless seems to suit them: They just become more accomplished as the attention paid to them increases. Elephant captures this contradiction within the Stripes and their music; it's the first album they've recorded for a major label, and it sounds even more pissed-off, paranoid, and stunning than its predecessor. Darker and more difficult than White Blood Cells, the album offers nothing as immediately crowd-pleasing or sweet as "Fell in Love With a Girl" or "We're Going to Be Friends," but it's more consistent, exploring disillusionment and rejection with razor-sharp focus. Chip-on-the-shoulder anthems like the breathtaking opener, "Seven Nation Army," which is driven by Meg White's explosively minimal drumming, and "The Hardest Button to Button," in which Jack White snarls "Now we're a family!" -- one of the best oblique threats since Black Francis sneered "It's educational!" all those years ago -- deliver some of the fiercest blues-punk of the White Stripes' career. "There's No Home for You Here" sets a girl's walking papers to a melody reminiscent of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" (though the result is more sequel than rehash), driving the point home with a wall of layered, Queen-ly harmonies and piercing guitars, while the inspired version of "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" goes from plaintive to angry in just over a minute, though the charging guitars at the end sound perversely triumphant. At its bruised heart, Elephant portrays love as a power struggle, with chivalry and innocence usually losing out to the power of seduction. "I Want to Be the Boy" tries, unsuccessfully, to charm a girl's mother; "You've Got Her in Your Pocket," a deceptively gentle ballad, reveals the darker side of the Stripes' vulnerability, blurring the line between caring for someone and owning them with some fittingly fluid songwriting.

The battle for control reaches a fever pitch on the "Fell in Love With a Girl"-esque "Hypnotize," which suggests some slightly underhanded ways of winning a girl over before settling for just holding her hand, and on the show-stopping "Ball and Biscuit," seven flat-out seductive minutes of preening, boasting, and amazing guitar prowess that ranks as one the band's most traditionally bluesy (not to mention sexy) songs. Interestingly, Meg's star turn, "In the Cold, Cold Night," is the closest Elephant comes to a truce in this struggle, her kitten-ish voice balancing the song's slinky words and music. While the album is often dark, it's never despairing; moments of wry humor pop up throughout, particularly toward the end. "Little Acorns" begins with a sound clip of Detroit newscaster Mort Crim's Second Thoughts radio show, adding an authentic, if unusual, Motor City feel. It also suggests that Jack White is one of the few vocalists who could make a lyric like "Be like the squirrel" sound cool and even inspiring. Likewise, the showy "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine" -- on which White resembles a garage rock snake-oil salesman -- is probably the only song featuring the word "acetaminophen" in its chorus. "It's True That We Love One Another," which features vocals from Holly Golightly as well as Meg White, continues the Stripes' tradition of closing their albums on a lighthearted note. Almost as much fun to analyze as it is to listen to, Elephant overflows with quality -- it's full of tight songwriting, sharp, witty lyrics, and judiciously used basses and tumbling keyboard melodies that enhance the band's powerful simplicity (and the excellent "The Air Near My Fingers" features all of these). Crucially, the White Stripes know the difference between fame and success; while they may not be entirely comfortable with their fame, they've succeeded at mixing blues, punk, and garage rock in an electrifying and unique way ever since they were strictly a Detroit phenomenon. On these terms, Elephant is a phenomenal success. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Seven Nation Army Jack White The White Stripes (3:51)
Black Math Jack White The White Stripes (3:03)
There's No Home for You Here Jack White The White Stripes (3:43)
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself (Lyrics) Burt Bacharach, Hal David The White Stripes (2:46)
In the Cold, Cold Night Jack White The White Stripes (2:58)
I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart Jack White The White Stripes (3:20)
You've Got Her in Your Pocket Jack White The White Stripes (3:39)
Ball and Biscuit Jack White The White Stripes (7:19)
The Hardest Button to Button Jack White The White Stripes (3:32)
Little Acorns Jack White, Mort Crim The White Stripes (4:09)
Hypnotize Jack White The White Stripes (1:48)
The Air Near My Fingers Jack White The White Stripes (3:40)
Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine Jack White The White Stripes (3:17)
It's True That We Love One Another Jack White The White Stripes (2:42)

Credits

K. Johnson (Author), Patrick Pantano (Photography), Miti (Engineer), Holly Golightly (Vocals), Bruce Brand (Layout Design), Liam Watson (Engineer), Liam Watson (Mixing), Noel Summerville (Mastering), The White Stripes (Main Performer), Meg White (Drums), Meg White (Vocals), Jack White (Guitar), Jack White (Piano), Jack White (Vocals), Jack White (Producer), Jack White (Mixing), Ian Montone (Navigator), Mort Crim (Commentary)
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Wikipedia: Elephant (album)
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Elephant
Studio album by The White Stripes
Released April 1, 2003
Recorded November 2001, April 2002 at Toe-Rag Studios and BBC Maida Vale Studio, London, England
Genre Alternative rock, garage rock
Length 49:56
Label V2 (US)
XL (Europe)
Producer Jack White, Liam Watson
Professional reviews
The White Stripes chronology
White Blood Cells
(2001)		 Elephant
(2003)		 Get Behind Me Satan
(2005)
Singles from Elephant
  1. "Seven Nation Army"
    Released: April 21, 2003
  2. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"
    Released: September, 2003
  3. "The Hardest Button to Button"
    Released: December 3, 2003
  4. "There's No Home for You Here"
    Released: March 15, 2004

Elephant is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, the album marks the band's major label debut. Despite this change, Heather Phares of Allmusic believed the album "sounds even more pissed-off, paranoid, and stunning than its predecessor…Darker and more difficult than White Blood Cells."[1] The record garnered much critical acclaim upon its release,[2] and went on to win a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 2004.

Contents

Background and production

Album

Elephant was recorded in two weeks during 2002 in London's Toe Rag Studios. Jack White produced the album with antiquated equipment, including an eight-track tape machine and pre-1960s recording gear.[3]

Cover art

The album has been released with at least six different versions of the front cover—different covers for the CD and LP editions in the US, the UK and elsewhere.[4] To give an example, on the US CD edition Meg White is sitting on the left of a circus travel trunk and Jack is sitting on the right holding a cricket bat over the ground, while on the UK CD edition the cricket bat touches the ground and the image is mirrored so that their positions on the amplifier are reversed. The cryptic symbolism of the album art includes a skull sitting on the floor in the background, as well as peanuts and peanut shells in the foreground, and on the circus travel trunk appears the mark "III," Jack White's signature. Jack White is also displaying a mano cornuta, while Meg White appears to be barefoot and crying, with a rope tied around her ankle and leading out of frame. Both have small white ribbons tied to their fingers.

In an interview with Q Magazine in 2007, Jack White said, "If you study the picture carefully, Meg and I are elephant ears in a head-on elephant. But it's a side view of an elephant, too, with the tusks leading off either side." He went on to say, "I wanted people to be staring at this album cover and then maybe two years later, having stared at it for the 500th time, to say, 'Hey, it's an elephant!'"

Reception

The White Stripes were gaining momentum with their previous three albums and were generally lauded in critical circles. Upon its release, critical response to this album was overwhelmingly positive, and many critics hailed it as the one of the defining events of the 2000s garage rock revival.[3] Uncut magazine remarked that "Elephant is where the tabloid phenomenon of summer 2001 prove they are no flash in the pan by making a truly phenomenal record."[5] David Fricke (with Rolling Stone) called it "a work of pulverizing perfection," adding, "It will be one of the best things you hear all year."[3] and Allmusic said the album "overflows with quality".[6] Critics also commented on the development of the band. NME noted that "The eloquence, barbarism, tenderness and sweat-drenched vitality of Elephant make it the most fully-realised White Stripes album yet."[7] PopMatters said the album cemented "their evolution from Blind Willie McTell cover band with a pop sensibility to full-fledged, honest-to-goodness rock 'n' roll gods."[8] The album enjoys a metacritic rating of 92.[9] Negative critique, though rare, was centered around the "gimmicks" that surround the music, most notably, the White Stripes' insistence on being called siblings. "So maybe it's time to drop the enigmatic charade," Lorraine Ali (with Newsweek) pleaded, although she concluded, "Elephant still sounds great."[10]

The album debuted at number one in the United Kingdom and reached number six on the Billboard 200 in the US. The album won Grammys for Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Song ("Seven Nation Army"). In 2003, the album was ranked number 390 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was also placed thirty-ninth in Channel 4's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of all time.[11] In December 2003, NME made it their Album of the Year.

Track listing

All songs written by Jack White, except where noted.

  1. "Seven Nation Army" – 3:51
  2. "Black Math" – 3:03
  3. "There's No Home for You Here" – 3:43
  4. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:46
  5. "In the Cold, Cold Night" – 2:58
  6. "I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart" – 3:20
  7. "You've Got Her in Your Pocket" – 3:39
  8. "Ball and Biscuit" – 7:19
  9. "The Hardest Button to Button" – 3:32
  10. "Little Acorns" (Mort Crim, J. White) – 4:09
  11. "Hypnotize" – 1:48
  12. "The Air Near My Fingers" – 3:40
  13. "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine" – 3:17
  14. "Well It's True That We Love One Another" – 2:42
  • Some versions split the LP into four sides over two records
  • Track 5, "In The Cold, Cold Night" features drummer Meg White singing lead.

Personnel

The White Stripes
Guest personnel
Additional personnel

Chart history and certification

Album
Chart (2006)[12] Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart 4
Belgian Albums Chart 3
Canadian Albums Chart[13] 5
Dutch Albums Chart 1
French Albums Chart[14] 3
Irish Albums Chart 1
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart 2
Norwegian Albums Chart 1
Swedish Albums Chart 1
UK Albums Chart 1
U.S. Billboard 200[13] 6
Certification
Country Provider(s) Certification Sales/shipments
Australia[15] ARIA Platinum 70,000+
Canada[16] CRIA 2× Platinum 200,000+
Europe[17] IFPI Platinum 2 million+
France[14] SNEP/IFOP n/a 300,000+[14]
Germany[18] IFPI Gold 500,000+
Netherlands[19] NVPI Gold 35,000+
New Zealand[20] RIANZ Platinum 15,000+
Sweden[21] IFPI Gold 300,000+
UK[22] BPI 2× Platinum 600,000+
U.S.[23] RIAA Platinum 1.9 million+[24]
Singles
Single information
"Seven Nation Army"
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"
"The Hardest Button to Button"
"There's No Home for You Here"
  • Released: 2004
  • Chart positions:
    • none
Chart procession and succession
Preceded by
Meteora by Linkin Park		 UK number one album
April 12, 2003 – April 25, 2003		 Succeeded by
A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay

References

  1. ^ allmusic ((( Elephant > Overview )))
  2. ^ allmusic ((( The White Stripes > Biography )))
  3. ^ a b c Fridge, David (April 17, 2003), "Living Color". Rolling Stone. (920): 102
  4. ^ The White Stripes official website, index to album artwork including covers, page 1 of 3. Page retrieved June 21 2007.
  5. ^ Byline unknown (May 2003), "Elephant". Uncut. volume unknown: 94
  6. ^ Phares, Heather (2003)."Review" AllMusic.com. Retrieved September 11, [2007]
  7. ^ Author unknown (2003). Elephant MetaCritic.com. Retrieved September 11, 2007
  8. ^ Alves, Tim (April 4, 2003). The White Stripes: Elephant" PopMatters.com. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  9. ^ Elephant Metacritic.com. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  10. ^ Ali, Lorraine (April 14, 2003), "The Second Coming". Newsweek. 141 (15):57
  11. ^ (2003). 100 Greatest Albums. Channel 4. Retrieved September 11, 2007
  12. ^ aCharts.us Elephant chart positions Retrieved on January 17, 2008.
  13. ^ a b "The White Stripes: Charts and Awards". Billboard. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=THE. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  14. ^ a b c French sales and certification FanOfMusic.Free.fr "Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
  15. ^ Australia. "ARIA Charts — Accreditations — 2003 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2003.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  16. ^ Canada. "CRIA". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/0104_g.php. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  17. ^ Europe. Europe IFPI Platinum Awards IFPI. Retrieved on December 2007
  18. ^ Germany. IFPI Retrieved on January 18, 2008
  19. ^ "Dutch Certification (IFPI)". IFPI. http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60461#resultaat. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  20. ^ New Zealand. "RIANZ". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  21. ^ Sweden. "IFPI". IFPI. http://www.ifpi.se/goldplatinum.aspx. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  22. ^ United Kingdom. "BPI". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/index.asp?Page=stats/content_file_118.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  23. ^ United States. RIAA Recording Industry Association of America.
  24. ^ Billboard editors. Coldplay Earns First Billboard 200 No. 1 Billboard magazine Retrieved on January 17, 2008

External links

v • d • e
The White Stripes
Jack White · Meg White
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
DVDs
Candy Coloured Blues (unofficial) · Under Blackpool Lights · Under Great White Northern Lights
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