Elephant - The White Stripes

Divorced Couple? Brother and Sister? Sonically charged gifted duo The White Stripes tore the world asunder with the release of their 4th album Elephant in 2003 providing them with their first UK Chart Topper. - Just to clear things up they are actually a divorced couple.
Elephant was recorded in two weeks in 2002 in London's Toe Rag Studios. Jack White produced the album with deliberately antiquated equipment, including an eight-track tape machine and pre-1960s recording gear; this is something the band have always done, as recording quickly gives them a live energetic sound.
The album cover had many variations worldwide, all similiar, however Jack and Meg change positions, on the cover featured here, you can see the shape of an elephants head with the duo forming the ears.
The music? Well the big song from this album is now a staple anthem. Seven Nation Army pulverized listeners from the first 6 note’s. For the nerds out there this song is a rare example of the Phrygian Half Cadence in popular music, for the rest of us it simply rocks. The Seven Nation Army referred to in the song is simply the way Jack White pronounced The Salvation Army as a child. The video for this track is fantastic and everyone from Metallica to Jamie Callum done cover versions of the song.
Burt Bacharach makes an appearance their own cover version of I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself, originally a hit for Dusty Springfield in 1966. Sofia Coppola created a sensational video for this which simply had Kate Moss pole dancing.....it doesn’t take much.
The Hardest Button To Button is a song about a child trying to find his place in a dysfunctional family when a new baby comes. It is a catchy song with a driving beat amply provided by Meg. The video was directed by French director Michel Gondry.
One of my personal favourites from the album is There’s No Home For You Here. I don’t think I’m alone when I think there is a Queen type sound in this song, maybe it's the great harmonies?
A dark, paranoid, stunning album that leaves the listener begging for more, from the gentle You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket to the feverish Hypnotize, Elephant is an authentic accomplished album, the influence of which is only beginning to be seen in music today.

Track listing
1. Seven Nation Army
2. Black Math
3. There's No Home For You Here
4. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
5. In The Cold, Cold Night
6. I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart
7. You've Got Her In Your Pocket
8. Ball And Biscuit
9. Hardest Button To Button, The
10. Little Acorns
11. Hypnotise
12. Air Near My Fingers, The
13. Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine
14. Well It's True That We Love One Another