Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An oxygen tent of fresh air, September 25, 2001
I read about the White Stripes in the NYtimes and bought White Blood Cells w/o any further provocation. Not long afterwards I had to get my hands on another Stripes album, this being it. This album does pack a lot within its 43 minutes and there seems to be a song here for whatever mood you may be in. The three cover-tunes are worth the price of the album alone with "One More Cup of Coffee" by Bob Dylan, "St. James Infirmary Blues" an old Louie Armstrong standard by J. Primrose, and "Stop Breaking Down" by Robert Johnson. You can hear musical elements of each of these artists within these songs, especially some of Louie Armstrong's trumpet work in the voice of Jack White. My favorite track, and the one that every other reviewer fails to mention is Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down." The slide work is ferocious if not outright feral and JW's vocals are both intense and playful. Meg's drums throughout the album makes you want hammer away on the steering wheel of your car (mental note to be careful while driving and playing the White Stripes). Get your lame self out of your chair and get this record.
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52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
C..L..A..S..S..I..C - What an Incredible Opening!, October 14, 2002
Here is the first effort of the next age in rock, Jack and Meg White push off hard with this effort. You really need to see the progression of greatness in this band, so start here and then go on to De Stijl and Cells and know you are onto something incredible here.One reviewer said "White Stripes' is completely unselfconscious-- it's just two kids honestly following their instincts and influences, yet creating an original." He's right, The Stripes don't sound like anybody else (no matter how hard you try to draw parallels). Jack is brilliant live too.....just yelling out in the middle of a song "Buddy Holly is dead and there is nothing you and I can do about it!" or ranting about an "insane Elvis" leads you to believe it's all stream-of-thought rantings anyway (and that would include the music). Legions of other bands will be compared to them, not the other way around. In Jimmy you honestly think Jack's guitar is going to explode......there just isn't any room for bass and rhythm in this sound.....how can one guy sound like System Of A Down, Metallica, or Rush all by himself? Big Three, Bricks.....there is this incredible run of three killer tracks - Wasting My Life/Cannon/Astro that makes you want to scream how good rock and roll can be......honestly, there is way too much sound here for two people.....it's the sound of an original rock lightning strike......it's rare......there hasn't been a band like this one in 10 years.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
auspicious debut, February 9, 2004
First off, as a new fan who grabbed all four of the White Stripes records within the scope of a week, I would advise anyone who has been weened on 'Elephant' (2003) or 'White Blood Cells' (2001) to get the other LPs first. Their indie debut probably takes the most getting used to.That said, the first two rockers, "Jimmy the Explorer" and a cover of Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down", are like a breath of fresh air. There are other hints of greatness here as well, including the power blues of "Suzy Lee", the acoustic blues of "Sugar Never Tasted So Good" (the latter being a taste of what was to come with the follow-up record, 'De Stijl' (2000)), and the old-school blues (we're talking 1930s here) of "St. James Infirmary Blues". The problem with the record is the one dimensional aspect - by the time you get to the third track, "The Big Three Killed My Baby", the novelty of Jack White running his voice through a guitar amp and the minimalism of Meg White's drumming starts to wear a bit thin. But hey, it was their first record, they would learn . . . For the new listener, I recommend trying out White Stripes in the following order: (1) De Stijl; (2) Elephant; (3) White Blood Cells; and (4) White Stripes.
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by The White Stripes 
