Horehound

The Dead Weather | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: July 14, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: WEA/Reprise
• ASIN: B0028SVXPS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,687 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #29 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Garage Bands

Editorial Reviews

The Dead Weather is fronted by Alison Mosshart (known to music fans as one half of London-based rock outfit The Kills) and includes The Raconteurs' Jack Lawrence on bass, Queens Of The Stone Age member Dean Fertita on guitar and Jack White on drums and vocals. White produced Horehound, which was recorded in just three weeks at the newly constructed Third Man Studio, also designed from the ground up by Jack White.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why am I surprised?, July 16, 2009

By 

Van Heezy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horehound (Audio CD)

There were a few reasons I wasn't expecting much from the Dead Weather. For one, the Raconteurs, while no doubt their own separate thing from the White Stripes, still have a pretty strong resemblance to each member's earlier work. I figured the last thing we needed was another band from Jack with the same sound. I also don't care for the Kills much, so with that, and all the exposure this new band was getting before anyone heard much from them, I was bracing myself the worst. Boy can you imagine my surprise as soon as I finally put this CD in.

While you can tell with the Raconteurs who wrote each song just by listening and comparing to each persons older work, the Dead Weather have a sound that is completely their own. It's murky, fuzzy, aggressive, bluesy, Southern goth-y, and sometimes brooding. It's a sound that they maintain perfectly throughout the whole album. Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence compliment each other very well, and together, they manufacture some absolutely hair-raising sounds throughout Horehound. Allison Mosshart is perfect for this band, and puts in a great performance. Jack White plays behind the kit in the same way he plays guitar: steady, straight-forward, dynamically, and skillfully while always putting the good of the song ahead of showing off. He also has a few vocal spots and delivers pretty well.

I don't want to compare the Dead Weather with any of White's other band's anymore. The White Stripe comparisons have dogged the Raconteurs to the point where I wonder how much longer they will be around. The Dead Weather are their own band and deserve to be looked at as their own band, not just the sum of their parts. Horehound is an album that grabs you by the throat from the start, rocking hard from "Hang You From the Heavens" to "Bone House", with some outstanding, if more laid back tracks at the beginning and end. The only aspect that needs a little more work in the future (I say while hoping this isn't just a one-off) is in the lyrics. Too many songs rely on repeating lines, not particularly great ones either. That isn't to say they're delivered poorly, Mosshart does a great job and her back-and-forth's with White on a few songs are outstanding, I just think there could have been a little more thought put into the lyrics.

This has been one of my favorite albums this year. It is well-worth getting. Every track is great, "I Cut Like a Buffalo" didn't hit as well as I would have liked but it's already starting to grow on me, and they all sound better when played together. That said, my favorite tracks have to be "60 Feet Tall", "So Far From Your Weapon", "Treat Me Like Your Mother", "No Hassle Night", and "Will There Be Enough Water?"

P.S. Check out the live version of "Will There Be Enough Water?" on youtube. It has an unbelievable solo by White that I was very disappointed to see not make the album.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful LP, July 14, 2009

By 

Mike D. "Spitjames" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Horehound (Audio CD)

Wow -- The Dead Weather nail it with a great, hard-edged LP that is steeped in the blues and heavy, heavy rock. It's a combination of late 70's Zeppelin, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (sans the comedy), a bit of early Dead Meadow, with a dash of NIN's. It's essentially its own genre. And, it sounds awesome live.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy vinyl from Amazon!, August 21, 2009

By 

James Paul Harless (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Horehound [Vinyl] (Vinyl)

All the hype is well deserved. The Dead Weather may turn out to be a one-off, but they sure don't sound like it. You'd swear they had been together for years, not months. I won't compare them to their members' other bands, or any other bands for that matter, because their sound is their own. This one's essential.

However, I regret buying the vinyl version of this album from Amazon. Here's why: some, if not all, of Amazon's fulfillment centers do not have album shipping boxes. Instead, they throw them in a general-purpose box that is too large. Unless you like your album jackets dog-eared or bent, you'll do better by purchasing it from a dealer who knows how to ship vinyl.