By By Billy Florio
The liner notes inside Get Behind Me Satan read “This record is dedicated to Suzy Lee, wherever she may be…”-a subtle reference to past work of the White Stripes. Ironically, there is nothing about this album that has anything to do with the former work of the duo. Get Behind Me Satan is a complete departure from the grimey blues-rock of albums like White Blood Cells and De Stijl, or even the pop sensibilities of Elephant. It’s an experiment in different styles that sometimes works, but most of the time crumbles under the fact that the songs seem two revisions short of being complete.
It’s not that the album is bad-it’s just disappointing. It used to be guaranteed when you heard a White Stripes song that you’d know what you were going to hear. The White Stripes had a definable sound: a mixture of garage rock with heavy influence of the blues. A sound that has been praised and admired by its fans, since many, among them this reviewer, first heard “Fell In Love With A Girl.” It’s heartbreaking to hear a band that built its sound on the perfect recreation of the garage sound, attempt to do a full-blown piano ballad. – “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet).” Of all the places the White Stripes try to take this album, this is the one that fails the most. Here White is traveling into Antony and the Johnsons territory-or he would be there, if it didn’t seem like he was channeling Richard Marx on the way.
Not every song in White Stripes’ first four albums was a solid gold masterpiece. However, the albums were so good and each song fit into place that it didn’t matter if a song like “Ball And Biscuit” bothered the listener-the album was still amazing.
Get Behind Me Satan unfortunately doesn’t have that order. The album seems like it was just thrown together with no thought put into song order. There’s a gap of filler in the middle of the album that’s so big it could have been an album on its own. The best songs are clumped together: the opener “Blue Orchid” is an amazing disco number that’s as funky as Jamiroquai. “My Doorbell” is a nifty soul-funk combination, and “As Ugly As I Seem” is a near perfect attempt at freak-folk. None of this though is classic White Stripes. The only songs that come close are the childish, but fun “Little Ghost” and the garage-ish “Take, Take, Take.”
After Elephant there were rumors that there would be no more White Stripes albums. Get Behind Me Satan may make people wish those rumors were true.
The Chronicle gives “Get Behind Me Satan” by The White Stripes three out of five stars