De Stijl

Jack and Meg may not make great lovers anymore, but the certainly make great music. This is maybe my favorite album by the White Stripes; just showing off just how versatile they are as a team. It's actually somewhat incredible. "Death Letter" is a perfect blues ballad; "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?", while 100% Jack White, is almost Rolling Stones in tone. On the other hand, "Your Southern Can is Mine" is pure country and "A Boy's Best Friend" is straightforward folk.Get it. You won't regret it.

"De Stijl" is a stunning album that yanks the listener back to the roots of rock and a simpler era when guitar gods walked the Earth. It is to the genre what a backyard barbeque is to cuisine: a back-to-basics affair whose simplicity in no way diminishes its exquisiteness.Throughout the album, Jack White dishes up drippy slide guitar like stacks of smoked ribs, while drummer Meg White hammers out beats like bite-sized sides of coleslaw or potato salad.The album pays direct homage to a couple of blues greats - Blind Willie McTell and Son House, whose Delta classic "Death Letter" is reworked here in one of the best blues covers by a rock band since Led Zeppelin.Zep's influence can also be detected when Jack breaks out his ferocious slide on tracks like "Hello Operator" and "Little Bird", where the string-bending hits a level of intensity rarely seen since Jimmy Page tore it up on 1975's "In My Time of Dying".The influence of stripped-down classic rock permeates other songs as well. "Apple Blossom" recalls The Beatles. "Sister Do You Know My Name" and "A Boy's Best Friend" evokes The Rolling Stones circa the "Beggar's Banquet" era. "Let's Build a Home" and "Jumble Jumble" remind me of The Kinks. Other listeners will doubtless pick up many more references. The album's closing tune, "Your Southern Can Is Mine" pays homage to the bluegrass and roots elements of blues-driven rock.Of course, saying that "De Stijl" simply borrows from the past diminishes the album's significance and the talent of its creators. The genius of The White Stripes has been to dismantle rock down to its fundamental constituents and then bolt together something completely fresh and timeless.

If my Dutch is not bailing out on me, that's what I think it means. And what better title than the one given to this album. Style indeed. To skeptics...this is one of the best real-rock hard-core, rockers with brains band in the last few years. If you don't like garage-sounding, grounge-sounding music then of course you might not like this CD or else you're such an outcast that you can't see quality in someone else's music and lyrics. Buy this CD, it's amonst that handful of CD's that are actually worth your pennies.

Great pressing, sound is really good. Great one to own on vinyl.

My personal favorite is their self titled, but this is a great CD. I just recently discovered it and my boys and I love it!! I love that their language isn't harsh on the kids, it's hard to find music I can share with my boys that is t all radio

I was aware of the White Stripes, but had never picked up any of their music.I don't know what it was that kept me away, but I finally decided to pick upthis CD. I am now a big fan and think they are very unique in their delivery ofmusic. This CD has no "flow" to it, but that really does not matter. The songsare so good you do not care after awhile. This is a great listening experience.This CD will stay in my collection forever.

This is my favorite album from The White Stripes. Almost every song has excellent melody underlying subtlety excellent guitar and drum work. There isn't a bad track in the bunch. This is either No 1 or No 2 in my all-time albums, and I listen through the whole thing once a week or so.

Kickass