White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
2001
Album Summary
White Blood Cells is the third studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes, released on July 3, 2001. Recorded in less than one week at Easley-McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by frontman and guitarist Jack White, it was the band's final record released independently on Sympathy for the Record Industry. Bolstered by the hit single "Fell in Love with a Girl", the record propelled the White Stripes into early commercial popularity and critical success. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 497 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
WikipediaPersonally, a classic. So influential was this album to me in high school that Citizen Kane is full of references to The Union Forever, not the other way around.
I usually like the white stripes, but this sounded like it was made by a 13 yr old
2.5 | ¿Qué pasa cuando en un periodo de 3 años sacas 3 discos y 50 canciones? Paja... mucha muchísima paja. Tomando en cuenta que de los primeros tres discos este (merecidamente) es el mejor y el que los hizo famosos es todavía más extraño ver entre canciones brillantes como Hotel Yorba, We're Gonna Be Friends o This Protector tanta... tantísima paja y canciones intercambiables y que suenan 75% iguales entre unas y otras. Creo parte de mi problema es algo que tengo con todo el género, todo ese renacimiento de Rock Garage a inicios de los 2000's, todas esas bandas de The... Strokes, Hives, Vines, White Stripes, Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arctic Monkeys etc etc. Todas tienen el mismo sonido de manera general, regresando sí, a un sonido crudo, de producción simple y poco trabajada, inmediato, "relatable", todas logran sonar "bien"... De hecho en muchas ocasiones sonar "muy bien" pero hasta ahí en mi opinión. Terminan siendo muy intercambiables, con algunas canciones y sencillos muy muy buenos pero como para prestar atención a un disco completo terminan en una nube de rock crudo de buen sonido pero indistinto y con un dejo de sensación de superioridad. Hace bastantes años que no escuchaba este disco y me dejó con la misma sensación que la primera vez... Tiene un par de buenas canciones y lo demás cansa.
White Stripes. So massive, so popular and.................. I never understood it. Bores the pants off me
This is where I came in with them. Saw them on this tour in St Louis. An integral part of the soundtrack to my life and one of those relatively rare instances where the mainstream sucks an indie act into the stratosphere and got it right. Something akin to Nirvana injecting raw energy back into mainstream rock music a decade before.
I'm going to be frank- I hate Jack White's nasally voice. I don't love his composition or guitar skills much more, either. I can't even be very objective about this, but practically everything he touches just irritates the hell out of me, and I had no fun here. At least it's brief- 40 minutes in the CD era is basically EP material. I'll try to meet half way for those who see the appeal and give this an extra star, but it's an F for me, dog.
Look, I think Seven Nation Army is great but there was nothing on this album to get excited about. If some of those noises emanated from your teenage kid's bedroom, you wouldn't be rushing them off to sign a record deal, you'd be asking them to move out. "Little Room" was included just to try my patience.
By the end it was barely listenable. Hated it. I can hear the good intentions and enthusiasm, but they didn't make up for the bad songs, awful and intrusive drumming, grating vocals, overbearing harsh sounding guitar. I appreciate the idea of a 'back to basics' stripped down sound, but get a producer.
I love The White Stripes, I'm happy to see this on the list. This is the least good of their albums and it still kicks the ass of almost anything else. Their music is so simple, yet so different, and they always sound like they're having so much fun. I could listen to them all day and have done so many times. Fun stuff, love it lots.
A perfect album that came out at the right time to prove to the world real rock wasn't dead.
Blues and bangers coupled with some sweet folk noise. It’s bonkers and it’s fun and dark in all the right ways.
Good stuff - gonna listen to this one most of the day. May be biased because of past two days of bleh albums, but 5*
I truly forgot about this album so it felt like rediscovering an old friend
Good record. Out of the context of the time, it doesnt make sense anymore. Not because the record is bad, but because in that moment it was shocking, then everyone else came behind and copied Jack White. It's no longer uncommon to find 100 records that want to be Jack White. But if you can listen with the ears and imagination that this sounds fresh, it's a great listen.
I love the energy Jack Black brings. It always feels a little hillbilly meets hard rock. Sort of carrying the CCR, John Cougar-Melloncamp thread alive.
Not quite avant garde traditionalism, but elevated for sure by its commitment to playing fast and loose with its own fidelity to the blues. Barely any of the songs feel like they've been conceived as songs, but all lined up they definitely sounds like they've been conceived as an album. So okay, maybe avant garde traditionalism after all.
This was a badly needed breath of fresh air when it came out and now I'm pretty tired of breathing it. So stripped down, it brought to mind Billy Bragg and Violent Femmes, at least to me, at least in 2001. Just the way that, without a ton of studio tricks, these songs were compelling. 'Hotel Yorba' is a sentimental favorite and I still like its optimistic view toward relationships. 'I Think I Smell a Rat' is abysmal and I don't want to hear it ever again. That's a big range. A lot of it sounds kind of samesy after a while and fades into the background.
When the White Stripes first appeared in summer 2001, I was initially very keen. However, I quickly found that their songs didn't have staying power - they sound great on first listen, but I don't have a strong urge to revisit. So, this was my first listen to this in nearly 20 years. I haven't really changed my mind - there are some strong singles here, but none that would make my personal playlist, and some of the other songs are one-dimensional. I also particularly dislike his 'proper gentleman' attitude, which I think at the time was mistaken for charmingly retro, but I think in fact is backward chauvanism. Not one I would want to listen to again.
Has the same energy as rice crispies, a static television or a scratched record. Impressive what you can do with just a guitar and drums. Far from virtuosic on either of those instruments but the album has an energy and rawness which you can only admire. I'm a fan of The White Stripes but given a choice of their albums this is not the one I would listen to.
Whilst there are a couple of stand out tracks, this feels more like a collection of songs than a coherent album, so once it finished I was left feeling underwhelmed and unimpressed
I was somewhat surprised that it was rated one of the 1,001 albums I must hear before I die. I suspect I am some sort of musical philistine, because I could not for the life of me understand why it was unique or important. It had me questioning the merit of the selection committee for this project, though I know it is probably me who is the problem. Nevertheless, it was a heap of lightly smouldering trash.
There is so much I could write in detail while actually analyzing my feelings and thoughts and strangely enough - emotions - about each song, each chord change, the arrangements and each note of this record. Instead I'll keep it simple: I unequivocally and wholeheartedly hate everything about this album. 2/10 1 star.
I surprisingly have never listened to the Clash, but I loved this album, it has a good beat. Might have to be one to add to the record collection!
Big record. Reminds me of Ted’s Collision in Toronto and a fantastic time in my life
This was great!! Love the white stripes!!! Many songs I’ve heard before and many that I hadn’t (: 10/10 would listen again
This album is very special to me - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground was one of the first songs I learned on guitar. Little Room is one of my favorite songs ever, not just of the White Stripes. Tons of gems here Hotel Yorba, Fell in Love With a Girl, We're Going to Be Friends. There are a few songs I don't love here but I think it's a fantastic album that still sounds great 20 years in.
9/10. Thought I'd rated this already, but this was an excellent album. Good length, and fun songs that don't drag on.
somehow sounds fresh even in 2021. I Smell A Rat definitely could've been left off. 9/10
Bloody hell this album is good. Not enough white stripes fans these days. Where are my fellow white supremacists at??
The riffs and haunting vocals make this a classic. No wonder Jack White is who he is...
Another one I have heard before but probably not listened to as an album in over 10 years. It holds up. I felt nostalgia for the popular songs and really enjoyed the deeper cuts as well
Reminds me of summers in middle school developing my personal musical tastes. Such a great record and it still holds up today
I don't know if I appreciated this album enough when it debuted. I went through a White Stripes phase, and I bought all their albums. This one, however, I listened to and enjoyed, but now I really appreciate the entirety of it. Meg and Jack create an entire genre of music through drums, guitar, and production. The influences of 90s grunge, 70s funk, Nashville, and their own spin on things is just so refreshing. Not one dud on this album. A truly great record.
A once over rated album and band has grown to be one of my all time favorites. Really love this one.
I played this CD until it no longer functioned. Can’t believe I forgot about all the gems on this album. 100 stars.
Already loved it. Saw them at Glastonbury and it blew my mind how much of a racket 2 people could make, and the stage presence. The Union Forever is a tune.
In my opinion ythe best White Stripes album. Great song after great song. Dead Leaves...is an epic song and what follows is Jack White's best songs in his career. The songwriting is so spot on , the arrangements clean and punchy. 5 stars
Amazing stripped down classic rock album. I think other than Aluminum, the album is strong from start to finish, with varied tempos and delivery. Jack White's voice doesn't sound like a great rock voice, but it is perfect for his music. Very enjoyable album.
The White Stripes are absolutely a back to basics rock band. This album features fairly simple songs with good riffs, memorable songwriting, and great delivery from both Jack and Meg White. But at the end of the day, the White Stripes sound like the White Stripes. They show that back to basics doesn't mean rehashing everything that went before, but doing something new with the fundamentals. Jack White's DIY ethic is important because it democratizes music, something that the rise of home recording has only expanded upon.
I'm familiar with later White Stripes, but not this album. This album rocks! It feels a bit like classic 70s rock to me a lot of the time, which is a good thing. "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" is one of the harder rocking songs. I wouldn't have been surprised to have heard something like this from Bad Company in the 1970s. Great opening to the album! "Hotel Yorba" has a really great jaunty beat and a fantastic chorus. SO so good. One of my favorites. "I'm Finding It Harder To Be a Gentleman" is a slower but still awesome rocker with some great organ. Really great organ. "Fell In Love With A Girl" leans away from 70s hard rock and more towards punk. It's another impressive song and makes me wonder how a single person created such a diversity of songs. There is not a song on this album that I don't like or love. "Expecting" has a very interesting stuttering guitar. "Little Room" brings an intense drumbeat with some incredible vocalizations by Jack White. This guy is amazing. "The Union Forever" is a dark, moody rock song and I love Jack's voice with its incredible intensity especially as it cracks on the choruses. Then suddenly near the end has a vocal solo accompanied by a tapping drumstick before lapsing back into its somber melody. Incredible! "The Same Boy You've Always Known" is one of my absolute favorite songs on this album. Again that strong 70s rock vibe with a beautiful vocal performance. This is a perfect rock song. "We're Going To Be Friends" is a really sweet song that is about a school day in the lives of a couple of kids that perfectly captures that infatuation and joy of a young kid making a new friend. It gave me chills in its ability to take me back to the best times in elementary school. "Offend in Every Way" has really great, interesting guitar work and that strong beat that drives so many of The White Stripes' songs. I can rave about all the rest of the songs. But instead I will just wrap up by noting that this is one hell of an album that offers so much. Rock was alive and well at the turn of the 20th century in this incredible album. There is great variety but the album holds together well. Really liked the piano-driven closing song "This Protector." Meg White joins in to great effect! One of my favorite listens in what has been a journey filled with great listens. This is a great rock album!
I have heard of this group, but I really have never listened to their music before. Although I was not giddy with excitement as I listened, I really did enjoy the album. I will listen again...and again...
In 2004 I bought the soundtrack album of "Napoleon Dynamite" because I loved all the music, but especially for two songs. Those two songs were not on the album. One of them was "We're Going to Be Friends," which remains one of my favorite songs ever (including when sung by Jack Johnson). Had I bought this album for that song (instead of using Limewire—it was 2004 after all) I think I would have been very shocked since I was not, at that time, very familiar with the White Stripes. Oh...this is not an album of such acoustic sweetness. My first listen through was rough. All I heard was harshness—in voice, guitar, and drums. Didn't like. Started over before I finished. "Good lord, look at the praises to this album!" I noted. I'm gonna have to dig deeper and figure this out. I spent more time re-listening and reading about this album than most any I have reviewed. I watched all the videos. (The Lego one!!!) It's kind of amazing when you start to see the light, especially when, just as often, relistening reinforces and deepens your dislike. His crazy voice, the distorted guitar, and heavy percussion are raw and cool! The lyrics! "Little Room!" An homage to "Citizen Kane"! I love "Hotel Yorba." My score might be slightly inflated, just to incorporate the lovely feeling that getting a challenging assignment led to new appreciations this time.
I love The White Stripes. I'm slightly torn here. It's not my favourite of their albums but it's still brilliant. It's only 40 mins long but it's got 16 songs on it, you do the maths.
The bridge to their two greatest albums. I'll never not be utterly fascinated by Meg White. Apparently she started drumming on a whim, yet ended up thundering at times like she's the second coming of John Freaking Bonham. And this is band (fine, duo) without a bassist. I'll always be interested in anything Jack White does for the rest of his musical life, but there's already strong evidence Meg White brought out his best work. Plus her background vocals are always the perfect amount of spice. If you're like me and initially had this somewhere between a 4 and 5, give it the old "3 great songs, no bad songs" test. An apt comparison would be to call this the Stripes' Rubber Soul and Elephant is their Revolver.
Hi: I'm Finding It Harder To Be a Gentleman, Offend In Every Way, I Can't Wait Lo: Little Room, I Think I Smell A Rat The White Stripes minimalist sound is one of their strengths. Every track is well-composed and deliberate in every waveform...White Blood Cells isn't just a call back to classic rock (It has very early Led Zeppelin vibes, with crunchy Robert Plant-like guitars and powerful John Bonham-like pounding drums), it's stripped-down to the essentials. Like a house with the drywall removed, only every stud and beam are level, square, and plumb. It sounds wild, but it's deceptively precise. Having now heard the tracks that weren't in heavy rotation, I have a whole new appreciation and sense of importance about The White Stripes.
Awesome album. Classic. Hotel yorba, fell in love with a girl. Dead leaves and the dirty ground.
Even if I did think that one song was a Jack Johnson song, still a top notch album
7th December 2021 Listened on the record player while working before Kate, Gareth, Ben and Nilisha came round for dinner. Just explodes into your world. Raw, reverential, tender, poetic, sublime.
White Stripes are such a sound. The vocals, guitar and drums are all so recognisable as the White Stripes . I ruddy love it. Jack White is one of the best guitarists.
Iconic white stripes album. love many of the songs and the whole album is on theme.
What a great album. The opening riff hooks you and not a single song lets go. Jack White at some of his creative best.
It's cool to be rough around the edges and imperfect, so long as you do it with a bilge full of panache
Already loved this album. 5/5 I don't know if I can be objective about it. 1. I love all the songs, even the "weird" ones. Little Room, Aluminum, Expecting (less weird, but still) are all great. 2. I think I prefer the back half of the album overall, but that's because those songs are underappreciated. Favorite Songs: Same Boy You've Always Known Offend in Every Way Now Mary This Protector Hotel Yorba Finding It Hard To Be a Gentleman
It’s easy to forget sometimes that there’s only two people on this record
Wow, what an introduction to The White Stripes for me. Don't know how I never listened to them sooner, but it feels criminal. The album just made me smile like I haven't smiled at an album for a long time. It was a warm, comfy rock album, and every song managed to hit all the right notes with me. Super impressed and will be checking out more by The White Stripes.
Fucking hell, what an album this is. Still a regular listen. This album is fairly simplistic and by no means perfect but that is a huge part to why it is so special. if you were to re-record these songs played perfectly and extensively produced it would be a poor album. what we have here is jack white displaying the thing he has that is almost impossible to put a finger on without using the sould destroying phrase X factor.
God damn this album’s sound is something else. And packed with great songs too.
I love the raw energy that the white stripes had on these first few albums.
this album is so good. i will keep listening to it forever and ever. the white stripes are so weird and so good.