( A personal favorite of mine!)
This album starts out with “Connected By Love”, and honest to God this one overtime has actually grown on me. While that woozy synth in the background is just really awkward and something I wasn’t expecting to hear, I actually don’t mind Jack’s very bluesy performance. Like, he really sounds emotional, and his lyrics are some of his more endearing that I’ve heard in a while. But stylistically, while this is a straightforward moment for the album, this is really out there. Jack’s done some weird stuff in his career, but this is REALLY out there. But outside of that, this does seem a little stiff at points, like Jack’s not having nearly as much fun as he lets on. But I do like how colorful this all is, and that solo is fantastic. “Connected By Love” is very different for Jack, but I’m actually sort of OK with this all around. Then we have the much bluesier and slower “Why Walk a Dog?. Which honestly, sounds like it should be pretty solid on paper. It’s everything else here that’s just plain weird. For one, Jack’s performance is instantly not nearly as interesting. He doesn’t sound as passionate, and while he clearly has a lot of thoughts on Pets here, he doesn’t sound nearly as invested. And then we have this instrumental which is just so damn boring, I can barely get what Jack’s going for. Jack’s been an Alternative oddball for years, but this is too much. At the very least, “Corporation” has a little bite to it. Jack is actually sort of sounding like his old self here. Or at the very least, is vocal snippets actually sound like he’s passionate about this one. So far, we’ve heard a few really bizarre tunes that are had to place. But to be perfectly honest, while this one does seem disjointed, it actually has some of the most cohesive thoughts yet. Yes, the song with one line repeated over and over is the most cohesive here, that’s terrifying. But some of these grooves are actually really incredible. Jack’s incorporation of much heavier guitars as well and bongos and other World Music influences actually gives this a seriously wild feel. So yea, “Corporation" works, really well too, even if it’s very simple. “Abulia and Akrasia” is up next, and it’s instrumental actually comes off like some material off of “Lazaretto”, or even “Blunderbuss”. But am I missing something with these lyrics? Or this performance? You see, it’s moments like this that I’m terrified of Jack’s sanity. This track isn’t necessary to anything and is just plain boring as an interlude. Now, the fact alone that Jack White is focusing so heavily on a more electronic sound along is practically a sin. And trust me, this album actually could have been tasteful. But “Hypermisophoniac” isn’t tasteful, it’s awful. I’m down with breaking the rules of Alternative Rock, that’s what makes these genres so wonderful. But this track is trash. There’s no rhythm in sight, and 90% of this one sounds like Jack screwing around in the production booth. I just don’t get this track at all. Jack’s already one of the more creative and innovative names of our time. But with “Hypermisophoniac”, he sounds like he’s experimenting, but not because he wants to. This album is practically career suicide.
Now, at the very least I have to commend “Ice Station Zebra” for having a little rhythm and bounce to it. Not to mention, some of the instrumentals are genuinely intense. But what I find so funny about this, is that in between all of the wild instrumentation there are clearly still bits and pieces from both of his prior solo albums. But that’s where my compliments end, because good LORD does this track suck. This was the track that originally was supposed to be a collaborative effort with Jay-Z, which could have been a spectacle. But Jack took it upon himself to pick up the slack and rap the verse himself, and yea it’s as bad as you could imagine. His lyrics here are literally a cry for help from the little bit of the old Jack White left deep sown. Sure, they’re a little quirky, but not quirky enough. I’m not interested in this track, not even close. But then we get “Over and Over and Over”, and I have absolutely no clue where this one came from. This literally for the most part, sounds like an unearthed White Stripes classic. I love the sheer heaviness of this one, and just how unhinged Jack sounds. Once axing, this is a whole lot more straightforward as far as this album is concerned, but it works. The backing vocals are just enough, and Jack really seems actually wild. I have no clue where Jack picked this one up from, but I want some more of this. Not to mention, even in his performance, Jack sounds like he’s having so much more fun with this track. For Jack’s sanity, I really wish we get more of this. But with “Everything You’ve Ever Learned”, it’s clear that Jack’s instantly going right back down the rabbit hole. I feel like with so many of these tracks he’s trying so hard to be Frank Zappa. Now, I actually do think some of the instrumentals here are sort of exciting, and I love the continued inclusion of World music influences. However, Jack’s performance is just painful. His ramblings don’t come off as edgy or even experimental, they just come off as obnoxious. And it’s a shame, because I think the instrumentals here are really fantastic. “Respect Commander” however has Jack going back down that much bluesier path once again. This one is seriously interesting though, and even early when I heard it months ago I thought of all the tunes Jack was working with this was the most interesting. There’s certainly a very wild sense to this, and Jack is really branching out still. But he’s not straying too far from his Blues roots. In other words, yea Jack’s still clearly losing it, but there’s so much of this that reminds me of what I loved about Jack in the first place. So much so, that all of the experimentation here actually comes off truly wild and interesting. The solo is great, his performance is quirky, and if we got more tracks like this I feel like all around there wouldn’t be much to complain about. But just like the earlier “Abulia and Akrasia”, “Ezmerelda Steals The Show is an interlude that does nothing for Jack. This isn’t ballsy or even weird, this is just plain annoying. There are so many awkward decisions throughout this project.
Now, I actually think the atmosphere on “Get In The Mind Shaft” is pretty damn cool. Not to mention, the very shimmery production here is pleasant as well. I don’t know how true this track is, but its biographical themes of Jack at a young age is actually really interesting. But of course, it dissolves into this sort of ugly gunk that I guess isn’t the worst thing in the world. There are elements of this track that are actually some of the more solid of this album, like the choir vocals and the real emotion behind some of these instrumentals. But so much of this track is “weird” just for the sake of being “weird”. I really don’t get the feeling that Jack is doing this to broaden his horizons, he just sounds like he’s doing all of this just to do it. So many of these tunes have some interesting thoughts deep down, but Jack literally sounds dead set on making them unlistenable. Then we have “What's Done Is Done”, which is absolutely heartbreaking. This literally sounds like a B-Side from Jack’s “Blunderbuss” album. The result really isn’t that bad, and as far as an easily digestible track goes, this is by far the most accessible tune of the bunch. There are some really sweet harmonies, and Jack’s usual weird sense of humor is out in full force. But even outside of that, the very classy instrumentals that pop in just sort of seem like exactly where Jack should be at this point in his career. “What’s Done Is Done” is a truly bizarre tune, one that shows that Jack is certainly himself deep down. But with this album’s finale, “Humoresque”, it’s clear that Jack really has no idea what the hell he’s doing anymore. And that’s the only thing I can honestly say for sure at the end of the day. After all this wild experimentation and 40+ minutes of an artistic statement that goes nowhere, Jack just wants to sit down at a piano and give us a charming ballad to send us off? I don’t buy it, at all. It’s sweet and all, but it comes off like a cover that Jack just whipped out to save his ass. And while it’s pleasant to listen to, nothing about “Humoresque” is saving anything from this album.
Rating: 6.4/10
Give a Listen To: “Connected By Love”, “Corporation”, “Over and Over and Over”, “Respect Commander”
Genre: Blues Rock / "Experimental" Rock / "Art" Rock
Overall Thoughts: I'm all up for breaking the rules of Alternative Rock. Hell, that's what makes a lot of the genres that Jack dabbles in really interesting. But this is barely a rule-breaking album, it's not really experimental, and it's certainly not Jack "losing his mind". This is just an album that has a lot of questionable choices to it. A lot of the tracks here at the end of the day, do have some interesting concepts and even some genuinely strange ideas. Not to mention, some of the instrumental shift towards a more Electronic sound aren't terrible. But it's the structure of this album that just gets on my nerves. Jack isn't going "crazy", he just sounds like he's rambling, often about nothing of interest. This could have been a little more of an interesting album if it wasn't so damn gimmicky.
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