White Stripes Officially split

s8n

Hardly a surprise at this stage. Hopefully it means we'll see a new Raconteurs album this year....

http://www.nme.com/news/the-white-stripes/54804

KeanSeenan

Of his three projects, this was the only of White's that I liked. It's a shame and all, but makes no difference as they haven't done much in years.

rcaz

Maybe Jack White will have time to learn some new scales now.

Dan_Solo

El Pr0n wrote: »

Maybe Jack White will have time to learn some new scales now.

Or hire a bass player.:D

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

A lot of respect for this band, the way they recorded music on old equipment, no need for elaborate live setups or expensive instruments, their general simplified way of doing things. Have to admit though their last couple of albums kind of lost the appeal for me, but White Blood Cells and anything before that were brilliant raw rock.

And ****ing hell...what a guitar player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC4PZEaLVvw

Dan_Solo

niallo24 wrote: »

And ****ing hell...what a guitar player.

He's alright, but then again I'm used to listening to metal guitarists.:D

rcaz

niallo24 wrote: »

A lot of respect for this band, the way they recorded music on old equipment, no need for elaborate live setups or expensive instruments, their general simplified way of doing things. Have to admit though their last couple of albums kind of lost the appeal for me, but White Blood Cells and anything before that were brilliant raw rock.

I never really got their whole idea and why it was so great... They were constantly looking backwards, to old equipment, old set ups, old scales, old progressions, old ways of presenting their whole act, old music... You don't make great music by looking backwards. Who cares whether or not the music was recorded onto 2 inch tape or hard disk? The music is still stale, regardless of how you record it. And if they really wanted to have some 'vintage mojo' or whatever, they should have just hooked the mixer up to the lathe and recorded straight to the master.

niallo24 wrote: »

And ****ing hell...what a guitar player.

He's alright, he just plays minor pentatonic scales and makes them sound exciting with fuzz and pitch-shifting pedals. It's basic stuff, played decently, but he never takes it past "bluesy rock 101" or whatever.

coconut5

I like the White Stripes, but oh God. This means we're in for another week of 'Seven Nation Army' being played everywhere.

KnifeWRENCH

Never got to see them live. Hope they reunite at some point.

smokedeels

poor man's Gun Club imo

Up-n-atom!

I'd say they'll be back at some point - sometimes bands are more likely to play together when they 'split' rather than when they just don't announce that they're never get together again...they can have the whole 'big come-back' thing and all (well, here's to hoping!)

Thundercats Ho

It's a shame, given the soundings about a new album there last year.

Hopefully Jack can get the Raconteurs guys to knock out another album now.

emo72

ah i think a few people are been a bit too harsh on him. i know it was basic and backward looking. not the typical direction to go in. but i thought the results were deadly.

first 3 or 4 albums were great and he was on top of the world. its easy with hindsight to break it all down and say, "oh, all hes doing is cheap bluesy numbers with some effects pedals". if it was that easy how come no one else done it? or how come no one else had the type of success he did?

as with many things in life, "for the best results, keep it simple".

rcaz

emo72 wrote: »

ah i think a few people are been a bit too harsh on him. i know it was basic and backward looking. not the typical direction to go in. but i thought the results were deadly.

That's a taste thing, can't argue with that! They had some great songs, but for me, they were very much the minority. Little Acorns, There's No Home For You Here, Girl and Astro spring to mind.

emo72 wrote: »

first 3 or 4 albums were great and he was on top of the world. its easy with hindsight to break it all down and say, "oh, all hes doing is cheap bluesy numbers with some effects pedals". if it was that easy how come no one else done it? or how come no one else had the type of success he did?

I'd argue that far too many people do it, they just don't get to his level. It's what Hendrix did, except when he did it it was groundbreaking, but Jack White's playing doesn't carry that significance now. It's the kind of lead guitar playing that's been all over average rock music for the last 40 years or so. As for people getting success, I don't think that's really a fair measure in arguments like this, it's been shown time and time again that success is just the chance of a big marketing machine picking a band up. And the White Stripes were perfect for that kind of marketing, with their weird outfits and ambiguous relationship and rumours and all. You don't need good music to get famous.

emo72 wrote: »

as with many things in life, "for the best results, keep it simple".

Again taste, can't argue!

emo72

hey el pron! the truth be told i grew tired of them in the end. the "get behind me satan"
album and i cant remember if there was another one (think there was) were not great.

i havent really listened to them in years, but listened to the first album the other day, and i really enjoyed it. i suppose like lots of people i was sucked in by 7 nation army but on reflection its the first 2 albums that does it for me now.

no doubt when hes in his fifties they will do an epic reunion tour.

ordinary_girl

I really like the White Stripes, and I've liked every album they've released so far so I guess I'm kind of glad that they split up - it means they can't release any bad songs/ruin the band!

Sinfonia

El Pr0n wrote: »

I never really got their whole idea and why it was so great... They were constantly looking backwards, to old equipment, old set ups, old scales, old progressions, old ways of presenting their whole act, old music... You don't make great music by looking backwards. Who cares whether or not the music was recorded onto 2 inch tape or hard disk? The music is still stale, regardless of how you record it. And if they really wanted to have some 'vintage mojo' or whatever, they should have just hooked the mixer up to the lathe and recorded straight to the master.



He's alright, he just plays minor pentatonic scales and makes them sound exciting with fuzz and pitch-shifting pedals. It's basic stuff, played decently, but he never takes it past "bluesy rock 101" or whatever.

Can't fault this one bit.
However, I don't think the White Stripes ever pretended to be more than they were. I agree that there was no real groundbreaking material, and that there was certainly nothing that will contribute (directly, anyway) to further development of the art, but they obviously held a different cultural ideal, and I assume that was to revive or evoke the past, and produce quick, simple songs, which I thought they did quite well, and although I didn't like everything they produced, when the songs were good they were damn good for what they were.
I think there'll always be a demand for music that looks backwards, because many people will have missed out on the full live experience the first time around.
Also, no matter what time or place, Hendrix was a better guitarist than Jack White, by intuition alone.. I'd sooner draw a comparison to Clapton.

Dan_Solo

I've got to stop reading this thread now... people are comparing Jack White to Hendrix and Clapton. Eek!