Sound: Their minimalist blues stomp and Jack White’s sold-his-soul-to-Satan howl continue to branch out further beyond the sparse guitar and drums model of old – marimba pops up twice, piano frequents and there’s more country/folk acoustic guitar than ever – leaving behind an album that includes some of their catchiest songs to date with a great balance of raucous, snappy and sedated
Heavy Rotation tracks: “My Doorbell“; “Blue Orchid“; “Little Ghost“; “Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)“; “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet)”
Medium Rotation tracks: “The Denial Twist“; “As Ugly As I Seem“; “White Moon“; “Take, Take, Take”
Recommended: To me, their much-hyped album Elephant was oddly sequenced and imbalanced. Get Behind Me Satan makes a lot more sense and ranks close to their best album, White Blood Cells (my #5 album of 2001). If you only like Jack White’s raw blues, you’ll probably be disappointed here, but Get Behind Me Satan really shows off the range of his talent and songwriting ability.
Grade: A (Strong candidate for the Top 10 Albums of 2005)

(As posted 6/27/05 on davepowersmusic.com)
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