So why is The White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
EvGet Behind Me Satan offers a full menagerie of detours, ranging from electric blues to floor-shaking piano stomps to sublime bluegrass.
Heather Phares at All Music calls it “a weird, compelling collection that touches on several albums’ worth of sounds, and its first four songs are so different from most of the White Stripes’ previous music – as well as from each other – that, at first, they’re downright disorienting.”
“Blue Orchid,” the album opener, is The White Stripes in classic (and top-notch) electric blues mode, though it can perhaps throw you off as it’s (nearly) the only song of its type on Get Behind Me Satan – and by far its hardest rocking (the also great “Instinct Blues” comes closest).
It occurs to me that just maybe Jack and Meg White took a cue from Led Zeppelin III here, with its thunderous “hammer of the gods” descending on “Immigrant Song,” before transitioning into a much more acoustic, folk-flavored, and eclectic affair throughout the rest of the album.
Two piano driven-bangers – “My Doorbell” and “The Denial Twist” – are among the catchiest songs in The White Stripes’ catalog and big reasons why Get Behind Me Satan landed at #67 of the best 1,000 albums ever.
Sidenote that “My Doorbell” is a hell of a fun number to trot out for karaoke night. But be warned as everyone in the room will be super amped by your performance. Stretch early and often, people.
While it’s quite rare, I adore when Meg White steps in front of the microphone. On that note, all 35 seconds of “Passive Manipulation” is just great, and I wish that we got many more.
If “Blue Orchid” is classic White Stripes electric blues, “Take, Take, Take” is an iconic boot stomping piano and acoustic guitar jam out number.
I was sitting there in a comfortable chair
And that was all that I needed
Then my friend offered me a drink for us to share
And that was all that I needed
Well, then I felt at ease but then I’m not too hard to please
I guess you couldn’t call me greedy
Then I was shocked to look up and see Rita Hayworth there
In a place so seedy
She walked into the bar with her long, red, curly hair
And that was all that I needed
And I said to my friend, “Good God, we’re lucky men
Just to even see her”
I also really dig the little buzzer sound effect thrown in around two-thirds of the way through the song, which sends things to a new level.
I’m not sure if “Little Ghost” is considered a “traditional” song of the South or bluegrass – perhaps it’s both. In any event, it sounds both timeless and of some earlier time in U.S. history at once.
More importantly, it’s endlessly delightful, reminding me of a song performed around a fireplace or at an intimate outdoor gathering. It’s one of my most favorite White Stripes songs.
There are several gentler numbers on Get Behind Me Satan, and at the moment I can’t get enough of the gorgeous and loose feeling “As Ugly As I Seem,” which features Jack White on vocals and acoustic guitar, with Meg providing minimal and effective percussion.
Some stats & info about The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Detroit Bands, Garage Rock Revival, Garage Punk, Alternative Rock, Blues Rock, Hard Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Get Behind Me Satan released? 2005
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #67 out of 1,000
The White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
And I’m thinkin’ about my doorbell, when you gonna ring it, and when you gonna ring it?
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.