White Blood Cells is the third studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes, independently released by the Sympathy for the Record Industry on July 3, 2001. Recording took place in Memphis, Tennessee at Easley-McCain Recording over three days, and was produced by guitarist and lead vocalist Jack White. Production was rushed in order to capture a "real tense feeling" and the band's energy, and was their first album to be mastered in a studio.
Following their success within the Detroit music scene, the White Stripes began to shift from their blues-inspired roots. Musically, White Blood Cells is a garage rock record featuring lyrics about love, hope, betrayal, and paranoia. For promotion, the band performed the album across a trio of shows in Detroit. The tracks "Hotel Yorba", "Fell in Love with a Girl", and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" were also released as singles; "We're Going to Be Friends" was issued to rock radio, but did not receive a commercial single release.
White Blood Cells received widespread acclaim from music critics, and brought the band to the forefront of the 2000s garage rock revival. It peaked at number 61 on the Billboard 200 and became their first album to sell over a million copies, earning platinum certifications from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is considered one of the greatest albums of the 21st century and of all-time, and has been included on several all-time lists.
Background and recording
The White Stripes previously sought success in the Detroit music scene, releasing two albums between 1999 and 2000. In the interim, bandmates Jack and Meg White divorced,[4] however Meg insisted that they continue working together.[5] They then began calling themselves siblings.[6] After rehearsing for a week,[7] The White Stripes recorded White Blood Cells over three days in February 2001, at Easley-McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee.[8][9][10] Meg was initially hesitant about rushing the recording process, believing the songs were "too new" and required more practice.[11] Rushing the record, however, was done in order to keep the album "as unorganized as possible" and get "a real tense" feeling.[12][13]
It was the band's first time recording, mixing and mastering their music in a 24-track recording studio, and Jack asked recording engineer Stuart Sikes more than once "not to make it sound too good."[11][14] According to Stuart Sikes, in order to save money, the first 12 tracks of the tape were used for one song, while on the remaining 12 tracks, another song would be recorded.[15]
The cover art of White Blood Cells depicts Jack and Meg surrounded by people wielding television and video cameras, which was intended to both comment and satirize on the music industry.[13] Jack said in a 2001 interview: "When does music become a business and why do we have to be suckered into it? Why do we have to buy a cell phone, you know what I mean? A lot of that stuff upsets me. It gets annoying."[7] The name for the album was chosen as "this idea of bacteria coming at us, or just foreign things coming at us, or media, or attention on the band".[14]
White Blood Cells was dedicated to Loretta Lynn, creating a friendship between Lynn, Jack and Meg; Jack later produced Lynn's 2004 album Van Lear Rose.[16]
Music and lyrics
"The Union Forever" takes almost all of its lyrics from Jack's favorite film, Citizen Kane (1941).
Continuing the stripped-down garage rock nature of the duo, White Blood Cells features less of the band's blues rock influences, instead displaying a more raw, basic, and primitive rock and roll sound.[18] Shortly before the release of White Blood Cells, Jack asserted that "There's no blues on the new record. We're taking a break from that. There's no slide work, bass, guitar solos, or cover songs. It's just me and Meg, guitar, drums and piano."[7][14] All material on White Blood Cells is original, and is one of two White Stripes albums to not feature any covers.[7]
The lyrics featured in White Blood Cells explore love, hope, betrayal, and paranoia, brought on by the increasing media attention the duo began receiving.[18][19] Some of the songs were written in the band's early years. "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" was written by Jack before the duo released their debut album The White Stripes in 1999; it is speculated to be based on the end of Jack and Meg's marriage, though neither have commented on the matter.[20] Some material for White Blood Cells was also inspired by other side-projects of Jack.[21] Jack said being able to utilize his older works was "cool because a lot of things had been sitting around for a long time, stuff I had written on piano that had been just sitting around not doing anything. And it was good to put them all together at once, put them all in the same box and see what happened."[14]
"Little Room" is "homily", written in response to White's favorite song, "Grinnin' in Your Face" by Son House.[22] "The Union Forever" contains allusions to Citizen Kane (1941), Jack's favorite film, and nearly every line in the song comes from the movie;[17]Warner Bros. was once rumored to be suing the band over copyright infringement for Citizen Kane.[23] "Hotel Yorba" is based on the former hotel of the same name, which was a couple of blocks from Jack's childhood home.[7] Two consecutive tracks described by Stylus Magazine's Andrew Unterberger as engaging filler, "I Think I Smell a Rat" features lines that rhyme with "rat", while "Aluminum" is a heavy metal instrumental that features Jack and Meg screaming wordlessly over a sludgey guitar riff akin to early Nirvana.[24]
White Blood Cells continues to be reissued.[30] In April 2021, on the album's 20th anniversary, Third Man Records released White Blood Cells XX, a companion album that includes home demos, early studio mixes, alternate takes, and a live show from September 6, 2001, at Headliner's in Louisville, Kentucky.[31]
White Blood Cells received widespread acclaim. Review aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalized score of 86 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[43] This makes White Blood Cells the White Stripes' second highest-scoring album on the website as of 2024. It drew praise in the United Kingdom on its initial release, and after its reissue by V2, was acclaimed in the United States;[44][45] outlets of both territories praised the band's "back to basics" approach.[46][47][48]
AllMusic editor Heather Phares wrote: "Jack and Meg White's third effort for Sympathy for the Record Industry wraps their powerful, deceptively simple style around meditations on fame, love, and betrayal... it's precisely this mix of strength and sweetness, among other contrasts, that makes the White Stripes so intriguing. Likewise, White Blood Cells' ability to surprise old fans and win over new ones makes it one of the Stripes' finest albums."[25] Dan Killan and Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork said that "Jack and Meg White summon the Holy Spirit and channel it through 16 perfectly concise songs of longing, with dirty, distorted electric guitar cranked to maximum amplification, crashing, bruised drums, and little else. They don't innovate rock; they embody it."[49]Rolling Stone said that, on White Blood Cells, "Jack's Delta-roadhouse fantasies, Detroit-garage-rock razzle and busted-love lyricism, as well as Meg's toy-thunder drumming all peaked at once."[50] Joe Hagan of The New York Times declared that the White Stripes "have made rock rock again by returning to its origins as a simple, primitive sound full of unfettered zeal."[51]
White Blood Cells brought the band to international fame. Members Jack (left) and Meg White (right) became key figures in the 2000s garage rock revival.
White Blood Cells propelled the band to the forefront of the 2000s garage rock revival,[61] and is considered a defining album of the period.[62][63] It also earned the band their first accolades, including three awards at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards[64] and nominations at the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards,[65] the 2002 MuchMusic Video Awards,[66] and the 2002 Shockwaves NME Awards.[67] Retrospectively, it has been cited one of the band's best albums and of all time.[68][69] Jon Lusk of BBC believed the album solidified their success thanks to "the crunching, insistent simplicity of Meg White's drumming, which sticks like glue to Jack White's intense, rhythmic, blues-based riffing; a broad, knowing sense of pop history, and of course their by now well-established red/white branding imagery."[70] Paul Travers of Louder called it "one of the first great albums of the 21st century" and their best album.[71]
1 2 Wenner, Jann S., ed. (2012). Rolling Stone– Special Collectors Issue– The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. USA: Wenner Media Specials. ISBN978-7-09-893419-6
The White Stripes, De Stijl and Walking with a Ghost: Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: Kristine W – Tammy Wynette". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
↑ Center, Marc (June 13, 2009). "Weather Report"(PDF). Billboard. p.22. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2020– via American Radio History.
↑ Center, Marc (June 13, 2009). "Weather Report"(PDF). Billboard. p.22. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2022– via American Radio History.
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