The White Stripes - Icky Thump Review

A genuinely brilliant, mature, extraordinary CD. Constantly interesting on many levels, great variety, always engaging. The songwriting is very strong and truly inventive, both musically and lyrically; the performances are consummate 

There is a diversity here and good vocals can be found throughout. "St. Andrew" is kind of the reprise of the finger-pick "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn," but that's a track that's more spoken than sung. Both tracks go complete with bagpipes. -- unheard of on the previous five records! The latter mentioned track goes nicely for those who like something in the "Little Ghost" vein.

For me, other highlights are an amazing cover of "Conquest" which even has a siren/toy machine gun-esque bridge. I really like the chorus of "I'm Slowly Turning Into You." "Effect and Cause" shows that Jack White still has the lyricism in him. This is the sound of rejuvenation; it's like they really had a mojo workin' on this record. It's intense fun and just about anything you've liked about the group can be found here, with a few new added stuff that's also a nice change of pace.

You may not enjoy it the first time around, but this one definitely grows on you.