THE WHITE STRIPES Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Back in 2000, Jack White was right at the height of his popularity - not that it has waned much since, to be honest. De Stijl is the second album from his band The White Stripes and while it didn't placed that impressively in charts at the time, it has since become a cult classic amongst late coming fans who have gone back and worked their way through the band's discography. Fact fans will be interested to know that 'Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?' was used in an episode of The Simpsons and 'Apple Blossom' was used in Quentin Tarantino's film The Hateful Eight.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Let's face it, White Blood Cells is the moment when The White Stripes really broke the mould. It's a continuation of Jack and Meg's garage rock aesthetic as fine-tuned over two previous albums, and wholeheartedly a straight up rock 'n' roll album. But the elements are so perfectly primed it's impossible not to rank this as one of the greatest long form outings of this century, so far. And we're not alone - Rolling Stone even reckons it's among the best LPs of all time. Pity the fool who disagrees.

From the racing 'Fell in Love With A Girl', to the beguiling mystery of 'The Union Forever', 'I Think I Smell A Rat''s meld of mariachi riffs and mosh stomp and the emotional piano closer 'This Protector', to the innocent acoustic joy of 'We're Going To Be Friends', this is a masterclass of songwriting and arrangement, tracks that evolve, perplex, surprise, and - most importantly - entertain.