So why is The Raconteurs’ Consolers of the Lonely on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
This is the greatest Jack White record ever recorded – at least so far.
The opening track, “Consoler of the Lonely” (singular), launches Consolers (plural) in a very specific way. We hear a child talking and the laughter of a conversation, followed by Patrick Keeler firing up on the drums. The conversation continues as a powerful guitar groove unfurls, and then in a little gap we hear Jack White offhandedly say, “We’ll double track that.”
And only then do we get full blast off of one of my favorite Jack White songs. The tempo upshifts and downshifts at turns, a song that evokes momentum and stasis, movement and restlessness.
Haven’t seen the sun in weeks
My skin is getting pale
Haven’t got a mind left to speak
And I’m skinny as a rail
I like to imagine this as a road-weary song, the grind of travel and touring and its incessant mild discomforts. But it could be about the grind of life, the grind of waking up every day and finding meaning to keep moving on, to keep living.
Light bulbs are getting dim
My interests are starting to wane
I’m told it’s everything a man could want
And I shouldn’t complain
I often think about a line from The Sopranos’ idiot sage, Chris Moltisanti (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Imperioli), who complains to Tony about “the regularness of life” being too hard for him.
I feel that – on some days, at least – and I think most of us do as well.
Stepping back from Consolers of the Lonely: ever since I heard “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” on the radio while driving through the salt flats near the San Mateo Bridge back in the day (for more on this, see the best 1,000 albums ever piece on White Blood Cells, #19), I was an immense fan of The White Stripes and, soon after, of any other musical project that White got involved in.
And, of course, The Raconteurs isn’t a solo project. It includes Brendan Benson on vocals and guitar, Jack Lawrence on bass, and Keeler on drums – the latter two also part of The Greenhornes (see: Dual Mono, #604) and The Dead Weather (yet another White project).
While The Raconteurs’ debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers (#465), is outstanding and grows on me every time I listen to it, Consolers ascends to wild and eclectic peaks.
It’s a deeply American-sounding album, an amalgam of garage punk and Americana and Southern rock. And it’s simply freewheeling and rocks out as all hell.
“Old Enough” is a great example of the interplay of Americana roots, alternative rock, and stellar songwriting and vocal harmonies by way of White and Benson. And its organ-driven section powers a rollicking jam out for the ages.
I adore “Pull This Blanket Off,” a gentle, booze-soaked Southern-tinged rocker that has a disarmingly intimate feel. It also reminds me of how rich and tactile the album’s production is (handled by White and Benson). And on that note, I’m not someone who is typically focused on awards, but it’s worth mentioning that Consolers of the Lonely won a Grammy for best engineered non-classical album in addition to being nominated for best rock album of 2009.
“Top Yourself” starts out with acoustic guitar jangling before accelerating into a grander and more dramatic affair, slide guitars ringing out, and even a banjo or two joining the doings. This is another one where I feel like we as listeners are gathered around a fire where White, Benson, and crew are performing for our tiny group.
The album’s cover art evokes this vibe, a black-and-white old-timey set-up on a tiny, mobile outdoor stage, the band adorned in what could be post-Civil War garb.
And indeed “Carolina Drama,” the album closer, plays even more deeply into this mode, a mini-epic Delta blues-ish number in this case detailing “a shaggy dog song-story featuring the attempted homicide of a priest and a rogue milkman,” as Pitchfork puts it.
I never get tired of how Consolers of the Lonely pivots between momentum and stasis, forward-leaning, Gothic-flavored blues-meets-garage rock, and some deep-seated gnawing nostalgia.
Some stats & info about The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Consolers of the Lonely released? 2008
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #16 out of 1,000
The Raconteurs’ Consolers of the Lonely on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Raconteurs’ Consolers of the Lonely that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
How you gonna top yourself when there is nobody else?
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.