This is the White Stripe's 5th Album to date. Their previous albums include: The White Stripes (1999), De Stijl (2000), White Blood Cells (2001), and Elephant (2003). They are known for their Red, White, and Black peppermint logo and for their raw, live sound with raunchy guitar and simple thumping drums. However, in their latest album, Get Behind Me Satan (2005), the duo from Detroit experiment with new sounds, instruments, and styles. Some fans may be turned off by their new sound, while others that used to not be fans of The White Stripes will like this album. Overall, this album is a very strong effort, filled with a variety of genres, and some of The White Stripes best songs yet.
Individual Track Rating:
Track 1: Blue Orchid - This was the first song released as a single from this album. It seems to serve as a transition between the band's old music and their new music, as it contains the raunchy rock with Jack White's driving guitar riffs from Elephant and White Blood Cells, yet at the same time, conains several anbient noises overlapped throughout the song, as well as the odd falsetto vocals, giving us a preview of what is to come from this album. Overall, one of the best tracks on the album.
(10/10)
Track 2: The Nurse - This song is by far the strangest on the album. For the first time, we hear Jack White on MARIMBA. Jack White is singing innocently, but this song is not innocent, as deafening guitar chords and huge cymbals break the peaceful sound at seemingly random moments. Later in the song, there are also some random runs on the piano that create an incredibly scary effect. Many people that listen to this song will think it is an absolute fiasco, however, I think it is incredibly creative and perfectly depicts the message of fear and paranoia. (8/10)
Track 3: My Doorbell - This was the second single off the album. It is one of the first rock style songs that Jack White shows us in which the main instrument is piano. It creates an incredibly catchy effect. Whether or not you like the song, it will be stuck in your head for weeks. Overall, it is one of the better songs on the album (8/10)
Track 4: Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) - This song contains marimba, as The Nurse did. However, this song is not nearly as odd as the second track. Jack's raw vocals in the chorus that seem to be half singing, half crying make the song what it is. Also, towards the end of the song, Jack goes crazy on the marimba. Overall a good song. (7/10)
Track 5: Little Ghost - This song is one of the band's few folk/country songs, along with The Same Boy You've Always Known, and We're Going To Be Friends, among others. This song is more upbeat than the other two I mentioned, and it has a more bluegrass feel to it. Personally, I don't really care for the song, but some people who are fans of The White Stripe's country songs would think it's great. (5/10)
Track 6: The Denial Twist - This was the third song released as a single. This song has a similar feel to My Doorbell, as it is piano based rock. However, there is also an addition of bass guitar in this song. This song is absolutely amazing, as it is incredibly driving and bloody catchy. By far the best song on the album (11/10)
Track 7: White Moon - This song is a slow ballad on piano. It is one of two songs on the album that was written as a tribute to Rita Hayworth. Lyrically, it is extremely well written. However, it is generally somewhat boring. Not a bad song, just not one of the best. (5/10)
Track 8: Instinct Blues - On this song, The White Stripes return to their old style of rauchy blues rock on edgy guitar. This song is similar to Ball and Biscuit from Elephant, but it is not as good. While the main theme of the song is incredibly driving, Jack White decides to make the intro, and solo very sloppy, kind of like what he did with the intro of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." I dont really like the slopiness, but the good heavily outweighs the bad. (8/10)
Track 9: Passive Manipulation - This song features Meg on vocals. It is only 35 seconds long, and is the weakest track on the album (2/10)
Track 10: Take, Take, Take - This is the second song that is a tribute to Rita Hayworth. This song is much beter than the first song for Rita. This song is broken up into two distinct parts. The first is as catchy and driving as "The Denial Twist" because of Jack's awesome raw and edgy vocals. The second part is somewhat odd, as it has a completely different feel, with Jack chanting "Take Take Take etc." The second part is not as good as the first, but it is still pretty good. Overall this is one of the strongest songs on the album (9/10)
Track 11: As Ugly As I Seem - This song is the only acoustic ballad on the entire cd. there isnt a whole lot to say about this song, except that it feels very honest and real. A very good song (8/10)
Track 12: Red Rain - This song is another song that has the feeling of being on one of The White Stripes earlier albums. It is very heavy, and it is pretty good. (7/10)
Track 13: Im Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet) - At first, I didn't really like this song, as it was a somewhat slow song on piano. However, the more I listened to it, the more I found that it was incedibly well written and the perfect song for Jack White to sing. I feel like people will be singing this song 100 years from now. (10/10)
Overall, this CD kind of serves the White Stripes' White Album. While the style of music of this CD has completely changed and has become more versitale, and while most of the edgy signature guitar riffs have been replaced by piano and marimba, the core of The White Stripes great fusion rock, blues, and country remains, making this an amazing album to listen to. Ultimately, in my opinion, it is their second best album, after Elephant(2003).
