Jack White's Blunderbuss a Big Success

With Jack White's release of his latest album, Blunderbuss, out yesterday, it can only be expected that there will be mixed reviews. The White Stripes fans will mourn the death of their beloved band, but there will also be some that can embrace the change - because there's definitely some change going on in this album. Maybe Jack parting ways with Meg brought out a different side of his music that hasn't been heard before? The product is certainly a wonderful creation.

Jack has always had this creative take on music that people can seldom achieve without sounding forced. It's almost as though the words just somehow escape from his soul and out of his mouth, forming a genre that is rooted deep in rock but borderlines punk through his searing vocals. If you recall the Blue Orchid days, you can hear his voice strained and high, seemingly as if he's being punched in the gut..but yet the result is this curious, beautiful note.

This, minus the heaving beating drum of Meg and the signature White Stripes guitars, is carried on into the new album, specifically through his first single, Love Interruption. As he sings, “I want love, to roll me over slowly, stick a knife inside me, twist it all around," his words are coated in this layer of pain and desire, something he'd been getting very, very good at for the past decade with Meg. The difference is, this time it seems even more pure and unabashed.
 Even the most guitar and drum-heavy songs on the album seem more purely concentrated and less angry, namely Sixteen Saltines. White is evidently going for a Stripes sound, but without sounding so similar to his former band that people expect only that of him. The most intense songs, like Freedom at 21, also sound Stripes-like, but there is also an original rock, Led Zeppelin intonation.

In actuality, Blunderbuss has songs that range from a twangy, western feel, to a soft blues..with an edge, of course. There are several ballad-like pieces as well, rounding out this track. (Check out Hip Poor Boy and I Guess I Should Go to Sleep.) However, there's always a harsher stroke on the guitar or heavier accent on a particular instrument all throughout the album, that keeps it tuned to his voice. 

Jack even has two bands two play with him, hand picked from the most talented musicians around. Depending on the night of his show, he chooses between his all-female band or his all-male band, to tie together his vocals for that night. Listen to Love Interruption again, and you will find Ruby Amanfu and the squad of musical women complementing him perfectly. If there's one thing this man doesn't lack, it's taste.  

However you view the Stripes, this record is one to look at in an altogether different light - it's fresh, it's inspired, and it's brilliantly done. 

Also, take a look at the RollingStone review at: 

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/blunderbuss-20120424