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100

Entertainment Weekly

Despite all the distortion and teeth-shivering riffs, Icky Thump rivals White Blood Cells in accessibility. [22 Jun 2007, p.68]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

If nothing else, this record is fun.

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MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

Playing at world, at heavy, at soul, [Jack White] arts it up plenty and protests a little.

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Delusions of Adequacy

With Icky Thump they have proven, yet again, that being musically sound in both songwriting and craftsmanship, while knowing how to exercise instrumentation is key in making a solid album in today’s day and age.

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musicOMH.com

It's eccentric, it's exhilarating, it is, in parts, absolutely insane. Yet it's never less than absolutely compelling, which is what makes The White Stripes one of the greatest bands of modern times.

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Playlouder

As White Stripes albums go, 'Icky Thump' is a goodie, and there's no resting on of laurels either.

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Dot Music

"Icky Thump" is really a very odd record indeed, but then, oddness of a particularly bravura nature comes naturally to them.

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Paste Magazine

Such arty, at times enervating, digressions highlight Icky Thump’s curious weight; whereas Elephant’s dinosaur-rock stomp got cut with fragile acoustic turns, there is little reprieve here.

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Blender

It's the sound of a band not stretching out so much as digging in: burrowing deeper into loamy soil they know well. [Jul 2007, p.109]

New Musical Express

'Icky Thump' is brilliant, there's no way around that.

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Lost At Sea

At 48 minutes, Icky Thump has enough genre-hopping, rip-roaring tunes to get even the 70s rock purist nodding his head again.

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Hartford Courant

They strike a forceful balance between elemental and ornate.

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Amazon.com

Everywhere on Icky giant riffs leap and shout, with Flamenco horns and those eerie bagpipes and rhythmic shifts and Jack's impatient vocal kinetics, marking new territories even as the White Stripes again populate them with vintage ideas.

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Boston Globe

It's fantastic.

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Urb

Icky Thump is a fearless album, braving a bold bunch of weird rock transformations: slick studio radio glam, southern jukebox boogie, Scottish Highlander mandolin jaunts (!!), stuttering mariachi machismo, comedic skits, etc.

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Pitchfork

The highest highs of Icky can't quite reach the altitude of the band's breakthrough singles, but some of that inadequacy is tempered by the group's more robust sound.

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PopMatters

The new album manages to hone the at-points-aimless progressive aspirations of Get Behind Me Satan into sharp, clear-cut musical growth.

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Observer Music Monthly

This is a heavyweight album in every sense of the word.

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Uncut

A compellingly weird experience. [Jul 2007, p.92]

Tiny Mix Tapes

If you’re fond of the curious, Icky Thump is the choice White Stripes album.

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Billboard

The Stripes have never had so much fun. [23 Jun 2007]

Dusted Magazine

They've put out six strong albums, consecutively. And without a pause, they've expanded their range without loosing sight of their limits.

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The Guardian

Icky Thump positively swarms out of the speakers.

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All Music Guide

With its fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy, Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy, album -- and, as is usually the case, it's just great fun to hear the band play.

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Prefix Magazine

Like the White Album, Exile on Mainstreet, or Wowee Zowee, this album's risky lack of sonic cohesion becomes the very through line that binds the work as a whole. Unlike those albums, however, not all of the experiments here are uniformly excellent or thrilling, nor do they all live up to the promise of the wonderful, muted Satan.

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Stylus Magazine

I suspect those left cold by Satan will find Icky Thump a welcome reheating.

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cokemachineglow

The White Stripes, at the same moment they claim to have finally overcome your entanglements, have provided you the ammunition of a hit-or-miss album.

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The New York Times

Its rock is louder, its campiness richer.

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Hot Press

Icky Thump is freighted with moments of frazzled virtuosity yet may prove excessively outre for most palettes.

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Drowned In Sound

This is by far The White Stripes’ most peculiar record.

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Sputnikmusic

Icky Thump, despite the presence of some simply insane over-indulgence, is a great album.

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Under The Radar

There is enough vitality in both composition and instrumentality to suggest that continued praise is warranted for this decade-long duo. [Summer 2007, p.86]

Slant Magazine

Though far from The White Stripes' best work, Icky Thump is still plenty good, brash, and noisy in the way great rock records are supposed to be.

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Rolling Stone

Like his sometime heroes Led Zeppelin, Jack White builds monuments. They're suitable for awestruck visits. But they're no place to settle down.

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Austin Chronicle

The title track erupts like a "Seven Nation Army...." The rest is a mixed bag.

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Spin

A noisy, cranky piece of work. [Jul 2007, p.91]

No Ripcord

Icky Thump is an anti-climatic, vaguely appealing record that unfortunately feels like a retreat from the ballsy piano-based pop eccentricity of Get Behind Me Satan. And that's a shame because going back to basics — at least in this case — feels like surrender.

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NOW Magazine

Most of Icky Thump's songs sound half-assed, with keyboard parts thrown in ad hoc, but at least they had the good sense to trim the piano bar balladry.

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Village Voice

The affecting style that made them the most imaginative revivalists of their generation has been replaced by half-assed and half-hearted prog rock.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 167 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Klaus V gave it a9:
Icky Thump may be the only album with any substance that's come out in recent history - beacuse of the songwriting. While most bands substitute good songs for clean musicianship and flashy reverb-filled solos, The White Stripes somehow have managed to be actual rockn'rollers in this absurd modern age of music.

Jonathan H gave it an8:
Not their best, but damn it all if this album is not proof that throwing the "here, this is how to make an album" mentality out the window is a spectacular thing. There is no concern or worry whether or not mariachi trumpets and bizarro rock bagpipes will fit in the same album (let alone being seperated by one song). Rag and Bone is pure ballsy rock fun, and who else could title a Metallica-esque stomp "Little Cream Soda?" Very, very few people

spencer p gave it a10:
Best of the year...probably. The band's most consistent offering to date and the best guitar work you'll hear this side of LedZep IV. Less favourable reviews in a few places, probably because they've dropped the punk of Elephant in favour of a snarled, mashed up blues that fuses Page/Plant with elements of rap (Icky Thump), Beefhart/Waits(Rag and Bone) and loads more besides. Drop you preconceptions of what the band should be, open your ears, and marvel!

Tyler gave it a10:
Best album I've heard in 2007. Another great album from a great and original band.

Oligami gave it a6:
It's too much of a slightly above-average thing.

Daniel C. gave it a10:
VERY highly recommended.

Marek K gave it a9:
Very good album to me. I'm not a rock fan, like more jazz stuff, but White Stripes' new album is very strong, even after two weeks listening. I also listened their older stuff and maybe I can understand some of negative comments here. This new album is really different sounding (but best album for me), I like how it lives, it rocks (but not in classical way - this is positive aspect for me). And ... this simple drumming and clear quitar playing is exactly how it sounds good. Most 4-8 people rock bands just sound too messy, too oversounding, too nonnaturally ... White Stripes is simple, its streightforward ... but its not bad I think. Catch Hell Blues, Martyr For My Love For You and Rag and Bones are highlights, maybe Bone Broke is the weakest song here, also I think Conquest is halfly done - its not bad, but I feel, its weakly done. I listen very many styles and really think that White Stripes is not overrated. Maybe to serious rock fans it does just too different sounds.

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