Elephant
by The White Stripes
  • Record Label: V2
  • Release Date: Apr 1, 2003
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 457 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 406 out of 457
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 457
  3. Negative: 32 out of 457

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  1. JawsPapi87
    Oct 19, 2011
    10
    This album is ridiculous. I'm surprised it didn't start a music revolution like that of Is This It. Jack White is an absolute genius. Unfair album overall. All tracks are PERFECT
  2. SimonB
    Dec 1, 2003
    9
    Best album I've heard all year. The cover of 'Don't Know What to Do With Myself' is a gem and 'Ball and and a Biscuit' is intense. 'Little Acorns' and 'Cold Cold Night' aren't bad but knock off one point
  3. j30
    Sep 22, 2011
    10
    Great album. Nothing groundbreaking, but just a great rock album. This is one of those records you can listen to all the way through repeatedly. It's the 'Nevermind' for a new generation of music. You listen to it and it makes you want to start your own garage band.
  4. catherines
    Apr 1, 2003
    10
    absolutely wonderful.....definitely stands up to s/t, de stijl and wbc
  5. gregs
    Jun 2, 2004
    10
    99.99% pure genius- drums ,vocal,storeytelling a distillation. Shows the heart of rocknrolls still beating.. to use a cliche. Perhaps the people who gave it a zero are into rap or some other genre and are closed minded as their talent at least is undeniable and in your face.
  6. AlexH
    Apr 2, 2003
    10
    best cd I've heard this year. Better than White Blood Cells
  7. CoryB
    Apr 2, 2003
    10
    Words cannot describe this album, but we still try. The guitar solos could make any talented guitarist weep, the lyrics could do the same to anyone. One of he best albums i've bought in the last 4 years, and i've bought more most anyone out there.
  8. ColbyC
    Apr 8, 2003
    10
    You'll find this CD on numerous top-10 lists at the end of the year....probably even #1 on a lot of them....simply amazing.
  9. JenA
    Jun 14, 2003
    10
    THE BEST CD. Great beats and the songs are one of a kind.
  10. NseE
    Jun 30, 2003
    10
    A fab cd with diverse sounds; Dancey (7 nation army), Bluesy (Ball & biscuit), 70s punk rock (Hypnotize), and the tender, lovely, 'In the cold, cold night'. Love it.
  11. howlinpellealmqvistlvr
    Aug 23, 2003
    10
    this is my fav cd out of all the white stripes -anyone who thinks otherwise probably doesnt have good taste in music
  12. RicN.
    Jun 9, 2005
    9
    I once used the track Ball and Biscuit to choreograph a couple performing foreplay on stage. It worked wonderfully well.
  13. AdamCK
    Nov 5, 2003
    9
    This is a great CD, although not as good as their masterpiece, 'White Blood Cells.' There are no songs here as good as 'Hotel Yorba' or 'Fell in Love With a Girl,' but there is still plenty to enjoy. So far this is the record of the year, and if it doesn't exactly progess The White Stripes sound too much, it does at least solidify them as the best band This is a great CD, although not as good as their masterpiece, 'White Blood Cells.' There are no songs here as good as 'Hotel Yorba' or 'Fell in Love With a Girl,' but there is still plenty to enjoy. So far this is the record of the year, and if it doesn't exactly progess The White Stripes sound too much, it does at least solidify them as the best band going right now.… Expand
  14. nikolasvillegas
    Mar 12, 2003
    10
    wonderful album. the white brothers (?), once again, making it simple and beautiful.
  15. JustinH
    Mar 23, 2003
    10
    I love everything about this CD except that opening to "Little Acorns." I love the White Stripes. They are by far the coolest thing in music now!
  16. thesillymofo
    Apr 1, 2003
    10
    oh man. i nearly died on the first listen.
  17. JasonF.
    Apr 1, 2003
    10
    Something different. This album really expanded on their "style" of music. Not at all what I thought it would be. It really ecompases the different types they use; its got some good blues yet still has the punk/garage rock. It seemed so so at first but really grew on me. I give it a 10 just because Seven Nation Army is the greatest song ever!!!
  18. MattL
    Apr 25, 2003
    9
    This is a great album. Period. Unfortunetely a lot of people (especially the goofy zero club) are reacting strongly against the hype rather than the music. It should be noted this album was cut before they became a sensation with their previous album. The White Stripes don't create the hype, folks. They just play great music. I find it better than their last one.
  19. angua___
    Apr 26, 2003
    10
    I bought this 3 days ago, and it's been in my cd player ever since. If you're new to this sort of music, like me, please, please, PLEASE, give it a chance to grow on you. Just a few weeks ago, I was ranting in an online journal about how much the 'new rock' of the White Stripes, Strokes and others sucked. I hated 'Seven Nation Army' the first time I heard it. I bought this 3 days ago, and it's been in my cd player ever since. If you're new to this sort of music, like me, please, please, PLEASE, give it a chance to grow on you. Just a few weeks ago, I was ranting in an online journal about how much the 'new rock' of the White Stripes, Strokes and others sucked. I hated 'Seven Nation Army' the first time I heard it. The damn radio station just kept on playing it, and playing it. Before I knew it i was singing along to the opening riff, exulting in the guitar solo, downloading far more singles than i had intended too, buying 'Elephant' on a whim with my birthday money ... and now I can't get enough. It's not beautiful, or overtly topical, or all the other things I used to value in music. I'd call it insidious, but it's anything but slow and creeping. Put simply, it IS Rock and Roll. Let it take you over.… Expand
  20. JackWhite
    Apr 28, 2003
    10
    Impressive. The proof that you don't need thousands of dollars nor some virtuous guitar and drum player to craft a masterpiece.
  21. RyanM.
    Apr 3, 2003
    9
    A near-perfectl eclectic conglomerate of garage rock and soul.
  22. Jules
    Apr 3, 2003
    10
    This is not just an all-time classic album but a vibrant essential slice of our times - our swaggering, sexed-up 'exile on main street' but with more (white) brain cells firing and a gothic style that befits the darkening of recent times - Jack White knows we can't go back home, Mick Jagger drugged and shagged himself into believing he could - like everyone else back in the This is not just an all-time classic album but a vibrant essential slice of our times - our swaggering, sexed-up 'exile on main street' but with more (white) brain cells firing and a gothic style that befits the darkening of recent times - Jack White knows we can't go back home, Mick Jagger drugged and shagged himself into believing he could - like everyone else back in the seventies! … Expand
  23. BartSimpson
    Apr 3, 2003
    10
    If Nirvana never existed, this would be the greatest album ever.
  24. NicholasB
    Apr 8, 2003
    10
    This record is amazing-it's garage rock but is also a new standard of art rock.
  25. LukeJ
    May 1, 2003
    10
    Quite possibly the best rock since Nirvana. It just feels so good.
  26. BenT
    May 15, 2003
    8
    Amazing sound, amazing songs, amazing record. Easily their best...and chances are they will get better.
  27. Matt
    Feb 16, 2004
    9
    Some people think they know everything, and they don't. The critics are right IMO on this album. The first half is classic, in fact.
  28. ScottC
    Jun 12, 2004
    10
    This was definitely one of the decades best albums. In my opinion it was an instant classic and showcases the talent of the White Stripes and gives the public a look at their wide range of ability.
  29. Stu
    Jul 17, 2004
    10
    Elephant, along with all the other White Stripes albums and wonderful, ingenious, new, and very different from all those other, 10 cents a dozen rock groups that are out now.
  30. JakeC.
    Sep 9, 2004
    10
    What can I say...their 2nd best album (right behind Blood Cells), but still a masterpiece. It introduced me to the bluesy part of TWS. The best band ever? Yes...indeed yes!
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Album of 2003
7
#7 Most Discussed Album of 2003
6
#6 Most Shared Album of 2003

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. Blender
    80
    They break their own rules, even adding expansive guitar solos, to keep themselves interested and fans off-balance. [May 2003, p.123]
  2. Pitchfork
    69
    Therein lies the contradiction of The White Stripes. How do you combine the shit-hot with the "twee?" Elephant's shortcomings suggests the enterprise is futile.
    Read full review
  3. Rolling Stone
    100
    It is a glorious thing to hear. It will be one of the best things you hear all year.
    Read full review
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