OK, so who bought Elephant today?

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I'm at track 8 and GODDAMN I hate to hype but this is one fucking amazing album so far.

Althought someone should tell him there is no 'Queen of England'. A 'Queen of Britain' yes, but not of England.

― Calum, Monday, 31 March 2003 14:44 (twenty-three years ago)

I skipped it. I bought Matt Pond PA and Nada Surf. Both are far superior.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:47 (twenty-three years ago)

it's probably my favorite record of the year so far, but with how weak this first quarter has been, that's not saying much, really.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Heard it played through on XFM last week and think I may be about to buy my first new rock album in 10 years...

― Jacob (Jacob), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:50 (twenty-three years ago)

who is the Queen of Australia?

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:50 (twenty-three years ago)

She's the Queen of Canada, no?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:51 (twenty-three years ago)

ACCORDING TO THE CORRS THERE IS A QUEEN OF HOLLYWOOD. GOOD TRACK TOO.

― , Monday, 31 March 2003 14:52 (twenty-three years ago)

and, uh, I think the formal title is probably something like HRH Regina Q. E. 2 of Britannia the Good and Those Paltry Enclaves of White People Who Stole Land in Her Forebearers' Names.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:53 (twenty-three years ago)

it's pretty good. I've had it for a while now. That last song with Holly Golightly, the sort of updated "Creque Alley" is really nice and I like "There's No Home For You Here" and "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" (apologies if these are the wrong titles, I don't have it in front of me). But PLEASE, before I have to start a thread complaining about it, will you all stop throwing words like 'amazing,' 'genius,' and 'masterpiece' for every fucking record that comes along? There's nothing 'amazing' about this record. Save the praise for records that transcend mere 'rock and roll.' I think it's been so long since you all heard good rock music (Nevermind to thread) that every time someone yells over bar chords yall get in a tizzy.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Monday, 31 March 2003 15:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Somebody locked my Hucknall thread. Too close to the truth for some no doubt...

― Calum, Monday, 31 March 2003 16:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Robert Hilburn said they were riding the crest of the new wave in the Sunday LA Times.

― Arthur (Arthur), Monday, 31 March 2003 16:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes, but how well or badly is their boogie board taped together?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 31 March 2003 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)

That 'BREASTS OF MEG WHITE' thread actually got me interested in this band. The music, not just the breasts. Think I'll check this out.

BTW I think she is the Queen of England, among other things.

― mei (mei), Monday, 31 March 2003 16:55 (twenty-three years ago)

sucks

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 31 March 2003 17:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought she was the Queen of England too.

― Carey (Carey), Monday, 31 March 2003 17:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Love Meg singing, love the covers. I got a copy a couple months ago. Now I have to relisten to it.

― Carey (Carey), Monday, 31 March 2003 17:59 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought it came out April 1?? Anyway, I've had the MP3s for a while, but yeah I'm going to buy it.

― Sean (Sean), Monday, 31 March 2003 18:27 (twenty-three years ago)

i just bought it but haven't listened to it yet.. will report back

(i bought a feeder album too hem hem)

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 04:28 (twenty-three years ago)

I bought Manitoba and Futureshock and Cure For Pain by Morphine arrived too, so I feel no need whatsoever for The White Stripes. But then again I never have.

Here's an interesting observance though;

The Sunday Express has two supplements, one geared for men (it has scantily clad wimmen and alo cars on the front, generally), and one for women (it has inspirational female soap stars on the cover, generally). Anyway, each Sunday the women's supplement pick one book, one cinema film, one DVD film, one CD and one other thing (god know's what, I can't remember, maybe a breed of dog) that they recommend their readers buy. This week the DVD film was Donnie Darko (because it's weird! and also, presmably, because it's not out for another fucking two months yet), which was surprising. But not as surprising as them picking Elephant for the CD! WOW! Word to mother! Sunday Express reading femmes are into authentic incestual Detroit blues-roots-rock! WOW! Each choice (CD, DVD, etcetera) gets written up in about 40 words, across various categories ('who?', 'what?', etcetera), the final one being the odd and slightly suspicious 'best for?'??!! Anyway, Elephant, according to The Sunday Express women's supplement, Elephant is 'best for?' "covering all musical bases in your record collection." Hoo-fucking-ray. Not listening to, or dancing to, or fucking to, but "covering all bases in your record collection." Exceptional. I hereby decare Elephant a "12-CD-a-year" purchase. Meh. Rot in hell, White Stripes; The Sunday Express uses you as a badge of eclecticism; it is time to die.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 06:29 (twenty-three years ago)

surely they'll shudder at your criticism!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 06:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Damn right!

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 06:36 (twenty-three years ago)

i could never really get into the white stripes. theirs is a sound that makes me switch off. people say to me "they improve with each record!" and i've no doubt its true, but it doesn't matter. a white stripes record is a white stripes record, and i can't get into it.

hard to figure how they'd cover all bases, too. did they mean that the album was suited to many moods? or were they suggesting that the whole musical spectrum is within elephant?

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 06:47 (twenty-three years ago)

that covering all bases comment really doesn't make sense

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 06:50 (twenty-three years ago)

I cannot think of an album I would be less likely to buy. Honestly. I have not read a single word about me to convince me that it is even worth the time to look at the cover. Both Bang and Ucunt and the rest of the Hornsby Brigade gave it five stars. Thanks, I'll pass.

Manitoba, however, actually has me curious...

― kate, Tuesday, 1 April 2003 06:55 (twenty-three years ago)

No no no nono! What The Sunday Express mean is that The White Stripes are "this year's rock record, Peter, look, it's good to have something rocking, isn't it?", so Elephant covers the whole spectrum of rock, and, presumably, David Gray covers singer/songwriter and Ms Dynamite covers urban and Moby covers dance, innit?

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 07:06 (twenty-three years ago)

i see. i liked that song "fell in love with a girl" but everything else is just...ploddy.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 07:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Ditto. And I only liked Fell In Love With A Girl cos I was sure it was some early-90s thing that I recognised from being young, and that wicked snotty bit when he goes "I said it once before but it bears repeating now".

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 07:17 (twenty-three years ago)

nick you should post that review!

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 08:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Also, Nada Surf sucks.

― David Allen, Tuesday, 1 April 2003 11:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey, I like Nada Surf. I certainly like 'em better than Weezer.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 12:04 (twenty-three years ago)

"Popular" was shite, but this album is fantastic.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 12:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Kind of interesting- The White Stripes will be on Conan for four nights April 22 - 25.

― Carey (Carey), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 13:38 (twenty-three years ago)

The only thing I like about the Stripes is Jack's fondness for Arthur Lee.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 13:38 (twenty-three years ago)

i got sent a vinyl promo copy a couple of weeks ago. haven't really listened to it properly yet, though.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 1 April 2003 15:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I agree with Kilian except that even "Fell In Love With A Girl" turned me off. To the Strokes I say yay, to the White Stripes no way.-

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 15:49 (twenty-three years ago)

that new single's pretty crappy.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 16:02 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked the first three albums, but I'm halfway through this one (at Meg's song) and it's not doing much for me, aside from "Seven Nation Army" and this one.

"Ploddy" is a good word to describe it.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 20:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I dig it.
But, then, that's just me.
I dig a lot of things. I have no critical faculty.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 20:46 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm still compelled to listen to it almost daily despite the fact that i can play it and realize that there's nothing really all that great or even good about it; he's a decent songwriter, somewhat hemmed in by his format. and that's what this is, at the end of the day, an indie record - a guy writing songs in his bedroom for other people to listen to in their bedrooms, albeit one informed more by queen and zep and ac/dc than the velvets or big star, and in 2003 i think that's enough.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 20:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Shouldn't it be called eLEDphant?

i hear rob and i hear jim.

turn the page. been there.

― a, Tuesday, 1 April 2003 21:13 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm with Jess, PLUS they look cute. Yes, that's enough.

― Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I like it a lot but I prefer White Blood Cells. For some reason the songs don't seem to breathe as much.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 21:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I bought it!

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 00:53 (twenty-three years ago)

for some reason I've got some random white stripes song (one of the first ones on DeStijl I think) mixed with "Rhymin' And Stealin'" in my head. So when Jack White drops out and there's just drumming I hear the boys going "ali baba and the forty thieves, ali baba and the forty thieves" over it.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I bought it today. Like-not-love on first listen, but it took me a while to get into the last one, too.

― Douglas (Douglas), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:11 (twenty-three years ago)

~~Led Zeppelin~~ Yardbirds

(It works because they had the same guitarist, plus Jack isn't all foppish like Plant; imagine him singing "Trampled Under Foot" vs. "Over Under Sideways Down")

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 01:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone who downloaded the album and liked it should really buy it. All of the mp3s that have gone around sound absolutely horrible compared to the real deal. THe weirdest thing about the mp3s (all of which were presumably ripped from vinyl) is that it seems the record was spinning a little to fast when they made them, so listening to the actual album now, everything is slightly slower and deeper. IT's really obvious on "seven nation army".

― gonzo morning, Wednesday, 2 April 2003 02:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Agreed; the CD sounds better than the MP3s. I'm glad I spent the money.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 03:14 (twenty-three years ago)

"a guy writing songs in his bedroom for other people to listen to in their bedrooms"

Is their any thing wrong with that? And also, how do other people write songs?

― David Allen, Wednesday, 2 April 2003 04:42 (twenty-three years ago)

in the kitchen

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 04:45 (twenty-three years ago)

"a guy writing songs in his bedroom for other people to listen to in their bedrooms"

Or, a house band at a house party. And no, there's nothing wrong with that. There's everything right with that.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 05:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Led Zeppelin
Yardbirds
Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac

Listen to "Ball and Biscuit." That's soooo Live '69.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 05:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Here's The Sunday Express' Sunday Women's Supplement Review!!!

Elephant
The White Stripes

What's the story?
The fourth album from mysterious Detroit duo Jack and Meg White (no one is sure if they're married or related [Nick's aside - isn't being married related?!]), this is a beguiling mix of punk, nu-metal, blues and folk.

What's the best bit?
The six different covers - together they hold the key to the cult computer game Zelda.

Ideal CD for covering all musical bases.

Star rating ***

[I think you will all agree, this is the best review EVAH!]

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 08:48 (twenty-three years ago)

hands down

― willem (willem), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 09:05 (twenty-three years ago)

The thing is, I didn't make that up either. Not even the bit about Zelda. I don't even understand that bit. It's amazing.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 09:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Zelda, "cult"? Everyone who owned an NES played it!

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I didn't, and I never will.

The "new rock" is just as derivative as Britpop. And, unlike Britpop, it is derived from the wrong kind of music.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:08 (twenty-three years ago)

wrong kind of music?

― willem (willem), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:11 (twenty-three years ago)

i.e. Not Genesis

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Also, damn

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:12 (twenty-three years ago)

i.e. Stooges rather than Beatles.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:13 (twenty-three years ago)

The wrong kind of music. Heil.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 10:16 (twenty-three years ago)

b-but, compared to Iggy & co., the Beatles are the Four Stooges!

― willem (willem), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

from Rolling Stone:
White Stripes May Face Suit

Band could pay for "Citizen Kane"-inspired song

No true love

The White Stripes could face a copyright-infringement suit over "The Union Forever," which borrows liberally from Citizen Kane. The song, from the band's 2001 White Blood Cells, takes its title and most of its lyrics from the 1941 Orson Welles film. A spokesperson for Warner Bros., which owns the distribution rights to Citizen Kane, told Rolling Stone that the company is "reviewing the matter."
White Blood Cells has moved more than 650,000 copies to date in the U.S. alone, according to SoundScan. That could make a lawsuit worth serious money.

"I believe that Warner Bros. has a reasonable case against the White Stripes," says copyright attorney Sam Ibrahim. "In the event that a court found infringement, Warner Bros. could get an injunction to stop future sales. The band could be found liable for millions of dollars in damages, and to keep selling [the album] they would have to pay a royalty. It could be in excess of three or four million dollars."

The Stripes don't mention the film in the album's credits, which read "All songs written and performed by the White Stripes," but Jack White has been open about "The Union Forever"'s roots in Citizen Kane. "There's a song in the film 'It Can't Be Love, Because There Is No True Love' at a party they have in the Everglades," he told Rolling Stone just before Cells' release. "I was trying to play it on guitar, and I went through the film and started writing down things that might rhyme and make sense together."

Copyright attorney Laurence Pulgram explains that White's patchwork writing method could actually be the band's primary defense. "The White Stripes would argue that its use is transformative," he says, "in that it does not merely copy the film in a film, but takes bits and pieces of the film and transforms them into a song; and that this will not reduce sales or otherwise affect the 'market' for the film."

A spokesperson for the White Stripes had no comment by press time.

COLIN DEVENISH
(April 1, 2003)

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 12:13 (twenty-three years ago)

The urgent and key bit in that article is, I feel, the "April 1st" bit, Fritz.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 12:46 (twenty-three years ago)

"It's True That We Love One Another" = absolutely fuckin' classic!

― dave q, Wednesday, 2 April 2003 12:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Damn that Brent review is fucking great.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 16:15 (twenty-three years ago)

pitchfork are such self-haters

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 16:22 (twenty-three years ago)

is that story a prank, do you think? it's all over the place.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 16:23 (twenty-three years ago)

I saw the story first on Ebert-- it's real.

― David Allen, Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I bough the previous White Stripes album yesterday.

I've found my finger now where's the pulse?

― mei (mei), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:21 (twenty-three years ago)

What about Son House (another avowed inspiration)? Wait, I bet Geir will have an opinion on him too. Here it is:

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:34 (twenty-three years ago)

oh and Dave is OTM about "It's True" -- such a fucking great mindfuck of a song.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 17:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I love the idea that The Union Forever might somehow reduce the sales of Citizen Kane DVDs--"I got 'Touch of Evil,' 'The Magnificent Ambersons,' 'The Lady From Shanghai,' and 'White Blood Cells.'"

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 2 April 2003 19:42 (twenty-three years ago)

I watched Citizen Kane again yesterday, and was surprised to discover that almost every single lyric in "The Union Forever" is directly from the movie (including the title, which is something the young Kane yells out while playing in the snow). I doubt there's a lawsuit there, though.

Meanwhile, I have officially weighed in on Elephant:

http://www.artandlies.com/analog_roam/archives/000277.html#000277

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 7 April 2003 03:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Kenan, I'd just like to take this opportunity to tell you that that was a beautiful Maxinquaye review. I read it in the dark while playing "Suffocated Love" and it made me feel special. Really well done.

Could someone please tell me which album is the White Stripes' song "Red Bowling Ball Ruth" from ? I tried looking this up at AMG, but to no success. Maybe I should just start a thread asking this, since that way my kwesteeon will get more attenteeon.

― Vic, Monday, 7 April 2003 04:22 (twenty-three years ago)

it's the b-side of "big three killed my baby"

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 7 April 2003 04:26 (twenty-three years ago)

jim speaks the truth

sftri 578

― ron (ron), Monday, 7 April 2003 04:33 (twenty-three years ago)

cool thank u

― Vic, Monday, 7 April 2003 05:15 (twenty-three years ago)

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