JACK-IN-THE-UNBOXED!

My MOST favorite vinyls since returning to the format so far have all been Jack White releases- these are my 4th and 5th.  While I liked (not loved) the cover work for the first Dead Weather set, the cover art for the new album kinda sucks chicken bones.  Did they not have time to scribble up some titles to toss above the characters? Even with the existing photo something more interesting could have been done to better reflect the feel of this record. The inside one-page 4-photo collage would have been a better cover. 

Of course what the cover lacks, the music well makes up for!  This is a tighter, more focused Dead Weather than on Horehound.  Inside the single-pocket gatefold is a great band pic, also found inside is the lyric / photo insert with some kind of written letter on the inside- not sure what that's about just yet. This record could be a soundtrack to a killer cult fave movie if Jack could focus on something long enough. 

I didn't catch on to the White Stripes right away, I'd seen them on Conan, downloaded a few songs from White Blood Cells, then Steady As She Goes was a free iTunes single. Not much else appealed to me from the Raconteurs first album. Then I really got hooked with Icky Thump, and Consolers of the Lonely. By the time I got into vinyl in late '08, it was too late to find Broken Boy Soldiers for a fair price. 

The cover on this is nothing short of SWEET!  Copper foil lettering / trimming surround the super gloss photo on a just-slightly oversized heavy stock cover.  The back is blank except for the IIIrd Man logo and song titles which are also copper foil.  Across the inside are the song titles in calligraphy- would have been sweet had they used these on the back also in copper foil instead of the tiny block lettering used.  Also a non-glossy photo insert, blank on the outside. The non-glossy black record sleeve is printed on one side.

For Record Store Day Jack pressed up 300 copies on copper-colored vinyl that were sold in the Nashville area.  Lucky bastards!  I'm just thankful they repressed the original so newer fans can finally pick up a copy.

Dead Weather online.
Dead Weather on facebook.

Raconteurs online.
Raconteurs on facebook.

White Stripes online.
White Stripes on facebook.

Jack White online.
Jack White on facebook.

Third Man Records online.
Third Man on facebook.

Jack White @ metacritic.