Customer Reviews

Horehound

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I can see why some people might not dig Horehound but... I got the cd today and blasted it start to finish three times on a road trip today and liked it better each time. When i first heard some of the songs a few weeks ago on youtube and crap speakers i wasn't crazy about them. But on CD through a loud system with good bass - oh my god. the guitar solo on Bone House alone was worth the money.

Sleazy loud nasty fuzzy crunchy and organic if thats what you're into. this is not formula radio 'rock.'

Hey My Lords and Ladies, Droogies, and all critters of the animal kingdom. Let me punch you in the face about something.
I know I shouldn't drink and critique' music, but I'm all excited about something.
Just heard the album, "Horehound" by the DEAD WEATHER.
It rocks harder than anything for like the last 20 years....
I know I'm 55 yrs. old, but this CD makes me wanna gobble halucinogens, Have sex in a strangers car. Set it on fire, then run into the woods laughing.
Just like Sister Ray said. Goo goo goo goo goodbye.
5 STARZ

This album is classic, yet modern and innovative. I will enjoy it for years to come regardless if this band continues to make music. I bought it because I am a big Jack White fan probably like a lot of people. But the whole band is good, especially the singer Alison; she belts it. Like much of Jack's music, it is hard driving blues-rock. Jack pounds on the drums and has simple yet catchy drum patterns, the guitars are loud and tonal without excessive soloing, some bass highlights, the keys/synth are phenomenal (one of my favorite parts of their live performance). Jack sings a few songs, Allison does the majority of the singing. Alison rocks.

It's fast, dark, loud. It's part 60s garage, part 70s hard rock, part eerie folk right out of Marcus's "Old Weird America." Add a dash of 80s glam and new orleans jazz, and shine it up with a fuzzy over-saturated sound that could only come from Jack White's magical 8-track.

Alison Mosshart's passionate, angry, caustic singing blends perfectly with Fertita's cutting, overdriving guitar. Oh Alison Mosshart, brutal slayer of our hearts. She's like if Robert Plant and Janis Joplin had a daughter who died and was reincarnated into the dark angel of blues. Mosshart's lyrics are characteristically dark, banshee temper tantrum ballads. Her style is somewhat similar to her previous work with The Kills, but she seems more wild and unhinged with The Dead Weather.

And as other reviewers have noted, even though this is a rock super-group, the sound is entirely new, entirely their own. But a few things are familiar: the raw but pure sound of Jack White's recording process, and his tradition of ending an album with a simple, enigmatic, low-fi folk song.

This is not a half witted attempt at another Jack White collaboration. The album is full of variety and gut punching rock. This is one of the best rock albums to come out this year, by far. Definitely going to be in my top 10 for the year. I highly recommend.

This album is great...should check out Dean Fertita's solo album under the moniker Hello=Fire as well :-)

Leave it up to one man from one of the most hip hop influenced cities in the world to save American Rock N' Roll as we know it. Without Jack White a lot of children would grow up without knowing what a guitar is. In the age of the ringtone, Soulja Boy, and fewer musical programs in schools kids only know what true musical ability and creativty is through such artists.