Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By White Stripes, Sony Music 2020.
If, like me, you love what you hear of the White Stripes but you don’t want to wade your way through their entire catalogue to get the tracks you want, then this is the album for you.
Greatest Hits is the first official anthology of recordings from the iconic sibling duo of Jack and Meg White and it’s comprised of 26 songs, all of which have been previously released.
All the big hits are here such as Seven Nation Army, Fell In Love With A Girl, Hotel Yorba, Dead Leaves And Dirty Ground, Hello Operator, Icky Thump, Apple Blossom, and many more.
The album is available in all formats, including vinyl and there are a limited number of special giveaways available on a first in first served basis.
From the moment that the White Stripes burst on the scene I was hooked by their stripped back garage/punk sound.
I suppose that my appreciation for their work is a reaction to the vast majority of music that I receive or hear on the radio which is massively over-produced and consequently quite bland.
Regular readers of this column will know that over-production has been one of my hobby horses and I find myself dipping into the, often obscure, offerings of record labels like Dirty Water Records for a dose of raw reality.
The White Stripes are one of the few garage/punk bands that made the crossover from niche to mainstream.
There are two main elements that accounted for their success.
Firstly, they are very good musicians. A duo that consists of guitar and drums is as bare as it gets, there’s little to hide behind – no synths to provide an overlay and fill out the sound.
What you hear is all the warts of performance, but in the White Stripes case there are very few of them.
Secondly, Jack and Meg are tremendous songwriters who are steeped in the broad sweep of American music, country, blues, roots, rock, the lot.
These influences find their way into the songs making them much more than just a garage thrash band.
