In honor of the fact that "Under Great White Northern Lights," the new documentary chronicling The White Stripes epic 2007 trek through Canada, is showing at the Varsity tonight (9 p.m., $3), Dive is giving you some special coverage on the band's new CD/DVD. Today we review the live album. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the movie. The two are now available together at most any record store you can think of.
The White Stripes
Under Great White Northern Lights
(Warner Bros.)
Listening to The White Stripes' Under Great White Northern Lights there is one phrase that keeps leaping into my mind: "not for the faint of heart."
Though it's tracklist, a well-sequenced journey through the major highlights of the duo's career, might make it seem useful as an unofficial "Greatest Hits," the reality is far different. These 16 cuts, culled from various dates on the band's 2007 Canadian tour, are riled-up, raucous and blisteringly raw. Jack White's riffs are like exploding bombs, distorted into flaring sonic napalm, with Meg White's simple drumming keeping time amongst the melee.
The incendiary intensity of the Stripes' famous live show is there from the start. The opening version of "Let's Shake Hands" is about as frenetic as the band gets. Between solos that mimic the high-pitched wail of machine work, Jack screams out his come on with a nervously creepy passion. "Say my name! Baby, say my name!" he roars with a fury that suggests violent consequences should he not get his way. It's a charismatic, yet terrifying romp, and it sets the tone for an album that joyfully flaunts the Stripes' most unhinged side.
On every song here excluding the three acoustic cuts, the band pushes everything about as far as it will go. But as Jack White displays again and again, he works best when on the fringe. On "The Union Forever" he rants like a crazed street preacher amongst lumbering riffs that match the hugeness of Led Zeppelin in its prime. With "Icky Thump" he jumps between guitar and zany synthesizer with amazing dexterity, all while laying down solos that prickle with powerful tension. In this improvisational arena he proves again and again that he's one of the most captivating presences in modern rock.
Still, it's not a perfect live album. The songs sometimes don't play together well. They're culled from different performances, and sometimes the attempts at transition don't really work out. But the duo's energy carries through such awkward moments, pushing the listener forward into the next jaw-dropping jam.
Northern Lights is not for the casual White Stripes fan, and that's why it works so well. Every version here is a fresh take on the original with Jack's guitar and voice transforming more polite studio work into rough and rowdy tantrums. It's a reminder of the tremendous passion that underlies the band's consistently great output, and it makes the next Stripes record feel more overdue than it already did.
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