Get Behind Me Satan

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2008 reissue of Get Behind Me Satan. More acoustic and less electric, with more piano and less guitar than previous albums, this 2005 album charted #3, won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and its 'My Doorbell' was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. On the Modern Rock chart, 'Blue Orchid' hit #1, 'The Denial Twist' #5 and 'My Doorbell' #13.Their fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan is the strangest and least focused effort by these unlikely garage rock superstars to date.

It's also their finest, an Exile on Main Street-ish mish-mash where the sum is greater than the parts. In a market increasingly driven by singles and downloads, it's nice to be reminded how exciting an album can be, especially one where you really don't know what to expect next. There are a lot fewer pounding guitars on this album.

They've largely been replaced by pounding pianos. Most songs sound like rough mixes at first; almost every song has something exceptionally loud in the mix--the guitar solo in "The Nurse," the drums in "Doorbell," everything in "Blue Orchid." After a few listens, however, it becomes clear that the group is not using the studio as an instrument so much as exposing the nuts and bolts in the process along the way. There are some duds; the wanky blooze-rawk number "Instinct Blues" goes on way too long and it would be nice if "The Nurse" had a real chorus.

Whether "Passive Manipulation" is about the wife-or-sister schtick, if the cover artwork indeed has Jack and Meg calling each other devils, and which scripture is referred to by the album's title (Matthew, Mark or Luke?): none of that matters so much as the fact that this album is strangely sprawling and obliquely ass-kicking at the same time. "Orchid" is a rockdisko sonic smash that shows how to really get rock kids on the dancefloor. Meanwhile, "Doorbell" sounds enough like the Jackson Five to totally rule, and "Forever for Her" is the best ballad Jack's written in years.

The fact that some marimbas provide the driving force to "Forever" makes it all the better. --Mike McGonigal

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- - Hot!
    
    Kilgore Trout liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    What most fans refer to as "the anti-Elephant". People who love Elephant, hate this and vice versa and don't you dare put a fan of this and a fan of Elephant in the same room.
    
    What I have not... more
    
    What most fans refer to as "the anti-Elephant". People who love Elephant, hate this and vice versa and don't you dare put a fan of this and a fan of Elephant in the same room.
    
    What I have not come across is a person, such as myself who enjoys both albums and sees them as two sides of the same coin, of a sort.
    
    Get Behind Me Satan is about truth, which brings up all sorts of interesting questions, such as: Why is this the only White Stripes album to not be put on vinyl? Why aren't there any lyrics in the booklet? Why did they keep the take of White Moon where a high hat falls over in the middle of it? And if it was added afterward, why? What is the importance of the alarm clock in Take, Take, Take? Why did Jack pick this album to dawn his Captain Beefheart gear?
    
    While, no, Get Behind Me Satan is not Elephant, Icky Thump is not De Stijl. But it is a good album none the less. It has a great sound and is more interactive than their other albums, in as much as it gets you thin...
    
    5 months
    
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    Wilhelmena Foil liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    awesome for this white halloween.
    
    8 months
    
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    Esse Putogringo liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    Great album don't think they could do any wrong!
    
    1 year
    
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    Christopher Medak liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    old school ;-)
    
    1 year
    
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    Anthony Naret liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    One of the best albums of the 2000s**
    
    1 year
    
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    John Werry liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    The CD doesn't feel unified behind a particular sound, but showcases a wider variety of songs than Jack White had shown before, opening the flood gates for all his future sounds. Each song is good on... more
    
    The CD doesn't feel unified behind a particular sound, but showcases a wider variety of songs than Jack White had shown before, opening the flood gates for all his future sounds. Each song is good on its own.
    
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    Jessica Sude liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    :-D
    
    2 years
    
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    ayamnella favorited and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    yes.
    
    2 years
    
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    John Lyon liked and reviewed Get Behind Me Satan
    
    Not my favorite in the discography.
    
    2 years
    
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2008 reissue of Get Behind Me Satan. More acoustic and less electric, with more piano and less guitar than previous albums, this 2005 album charted #3, won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and its 'My Doorbell' was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. On the Modern Rock chart, 'Blue Orchid' hit #1, 'The Denial Twist' #5 and 'My Doorbell' #13.Their fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan is the strangest and least focused effort by these unlikely garage rock superstars to date. It's also their finest, an Exile on Main Street-ish mish-mash where the sum is greater than the parts. In a market increasingly driven by singles and downloads, it's nice to be reminded how exciting an album can be, especially one where you really don't know what to expect next. There are a lot fewer pounding guitars on this album. They've largely been replaced by pounding pianos. Most songs sound like rough mixes at first; almost every song has something exceptionally loud in the mix--the guitar solo in "The Nurse," the drums in "Doorbell," everything in "Blue Orchid." After a few listens, however, it becomes clear that the group is not using the studio as an instrument so much as exposing the nuts and bolts in the process along the way. There are some duds; the wanky blooze-rawk number "Instinct Blues" goes on way too long and it would be nice if "The Nurse" had a real chorus. Whether "Passive Manipulation" is about the wife-or-sister schtick, if the cover artwork indeed has Jack and Meg calling each other devils, and which scripture is referred to by the album's title (Matthew, Mark or Luke?): none of that matters so much as the fact that this album is strangely sprawling and obliquely ass-kicking at the same time. "Orchid" is a rockdisko sonic smash that shows how to really get rock kids on the dancefloor. Meanwhile, "Doorbell" sounds enough like the Jackson Five to totally rule, and "Forever for Her" is the best ballad Jack's written in years. The fact that some marimbas provide the driving force to "Forever" makes it all the better. --Mike McGonigal

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Get Behind Me Satan

By The White Stripes, 2008

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Get Behind Me Satan

By The White Stripes, 2008

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