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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
White Blood Cells
EMAILPRINTby The White Stripes
Universal acclaim
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 68 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sympathy For The Record Industry / V2
Release Date: 03 July 2001
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The Detroit-based "brother-sister" (or, if you don't believe everything you read, ex husband and wife) indie duo of Jack (guitars) and Meg (drums) White continue their stripped-down sound on this, their third full-length.
Also By This Artist: Elephant Get Behind Me Satan Icky Thump
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: The Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site Tour Dates
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
PopMatters
This fine, fine album (quite possibly the finest of year) signals that the White Stripes have arrived. Hype or no hype, this is a band of significance...
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
White Blood Cells doesn't veer far from the formula of past White Stripes records; all are tense, sparse and jagged. But it's here that they've finally come into their own, where Jack and Meg White finally seem not only comfortable with the path they've chosen, but practiced, precise and able to convey the deepest sentiment in a single bound.
Read Full Review >HOB.com
The White Stripes' songs are so strong, so deliciously simple, it's genius.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
It sounds exactly how an underground sensation's breakthrough album should: bigger and tighter than their earlier material, but not so polished that it will scare away longtime fans.
Read Full Review >Splendid
Make no mistake about it, The White Stripes are the real deal, and if they can continue to kick out the jams as they do on White Blood Cells, everyone else would be well advised to get the fuck out of their way.
Read Full Review >Nude As The News
The White Stripes are a great rock and roll band, and White Blood Cells a suitable coming-out party.
Read Full Review >Billboard
It trades in the Robert Johnson and Dolly Parton covers that go over so well live for more of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Jack White's hard-blues, garage-rock originals.
Read Full Review >Mojo
The Detroit duo spin sordid tales and lovelorn drama with just the right amount of restrained percussion, blooze picking and screaming confessionals. [Sep 2001, p.93]
Q Magazine
Their sonic ingenuity enhances even the most basic garage-rock templates. [Sep 2001, p.122]
Alternative Press
The only twang on the record is the sound of strings breaking as Jack attacks his guitar. [Sep 2001, p.104]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The White Stripes can create an ungodly amount of noise, and it opens White Blood Cells by doing just that. But it makes some of the most memorably melodic ungodly noise on the market.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Few other performers have electrified country blues to such plaintive and non-parodic effect since the heyday of Led Zeppelin. [Sep 2001, p.100]
Austin Chronicle
While a few songs aren't quite as fleshed out as others, nearly every selection on White Blood Cells provides the sort of bluesy good-time kicks otherwise unavailable in today's pop marketplace.
Read Full Review >Spin Cycle
By delivering pert '60s-esue pop numbers with a twangy drawl, and by playing rockabilly riffs on torchy blues odes, Jack and Meg balance their divergent influences well.
Read Full Review >CDNow
Though nothing new -- instrument-wise -- is added to the mix of drums, guitar, and piano, the White Stripes' recipe cooks up heavier overall on White Blood Cells, while still retaining some of the cheeky, barroom brashness that has become their stock in trade.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
Their worst album so far.... Too much of the album ("Expecting," "Aluminum," "I Can't Wait," "I Can Learn") wallows in an odd, crusty hard-rock haze.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 68 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
antonio q gave it a9:
It's a really good album once you get rid of preconceptions. "Every band needs a bassist" or "more drumming is better drumming", for instance. Music is, after all, what it is, not what it should be, and you can't fault "Hotel Yorba" (for example) for not rocking enough when it's a great -folky- song. Really strong record.
richard h gave it a9:
The best white stripes album. and elephant is far over rated. i think that djs play elephant cuz i they it makes them cool. for shame - this album is so much better.
s r gave it a5:
Check out chris thile's version of dead leaves and the dirty ground on google video.
Mike H gave it a10:
This is quite possibly my favorite album of theirs. I love the diversity of rock in this album...the country-rock in "Hotel Yorba", the Detroit rock in "Expecting", the punk in "Fell in Love With a Girl". And the lyrics are the best part...just read over "I'm Finding it Harder to Be a Gentleman". Jack is a genius.
nasha crablegs gave it a10:
jack white is a genius
white stripes! fav band! gave it a10:
pretty darn good, but not as good as "elephant". i love the white stripes and always will. grade: 9.6... i rounded up, kuz they rock! :-)
the god of rock and roll howard gave it a10:
outstanding. one of the best albums i have ever heard, even if meg cant drum.
