Maps of Music

Elephant (2003)

Where the lyrics of Elephant take you, and where it was really made.

The album was cut in about two weeks in a claustrophobically cramped Hackney studio on an eight-track machine, yet it became the band's best-selling record.

Key places

Where most of the album was recorded (2003)

Recording site Toe Rag Studios — The White Stripes recorded most of Elephant at this studio over about two weeks in April and May 2002. The band chose it partly to escape distractions at home by working in another country. Its Hackney location was then in a rough part of east London. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

A track recorded at BBC's studio (2003)

Recording site Maida Vale Studios — One track, I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself, was recorded at BBC's Maida Vale Studios rather than at Toe Rag. It is the only track on the album recorded at this studio, according to the Discogs credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Elephant: fourth studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes
• Released 1 April 2003 by V2 Records in the US and XL Recordings in the UK
• Produced by Jack White and mostly recorded across two weeks in April and May 2002
• Continues the back-to-basics approach of the previous album White Blood Cells (2001)
• Lyrics address the death of the sweetheart in American popular culture
• Sold over four million units worldwide, the band's best-selling album

Background

• Band first visited Toe Rag Studios in late July 2001, at the request of drummer Bruce Brand
• Release was planned for fall 2002, but the unexpected popularity of White Blood Cells moved it to spring 2003
• Title reflects the contrasting personalities of Jack and Meg White, who often switch roles onstage

Recording

• Made on an eight-track tape machine and older equipment, based on the belief that it was the pinnacle of recording technology
• Engineer Liam Watson worked in six-hour shifts across about ten days
• Recording dates reportedly 24 April to 13 May 2002, budget reportedly about £4,000
• All songs, including B-sides, were mixed in one day at the studio
• I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself was recorded at BBC's Maida Vale Studios

Cover

• Photographed by Dirtbombs member Patrick Pantano in a Detroit photo studio in late 2002
• Cover art and liner notes use red, white and black, like the band's other albums
• At least six different front cover versions exist across US, UK and other releases

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• The White Stripes was an American rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997.
• The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals).
• The duo began as part of the Michigan underground garage rock scene.
• Their debut single "Let's Shake Hands" was released on vinyl in February 1998.
• In 1999 they signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and released their self-titled debut album.

Members

• Jack White played guitar, keyboards, piano and sang.
• Meg White played drums, percussion and sang.
• Jack wrote all the original songs, while the duo composed and performed them.
• The duo performed without a bass player.

Career

• White Blood Cells (2001) brought the band commercial success and placed it at the forefront of the garage rock movement.
• Elephant (2003) won the band its first Grammy Awards and produced the signature song "Seven Nation Army".
• Get Behind Me Satan (2005) experimented with piano and marimba.
• Icky Thump (2007), the sixth and final album, returned to blues and punk influences.
• The band went on hiatus in 2007 and officially ceased recording and performing in February 2011.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• NME's John Mulvey rated the album 9/10 and called it the most fully realised White Stripes album yet
• Rolling Stone's David Fricke called it a work of pulverizing perfection
• AllMusic's Heather Phares gave a five-star review, saying it overflows with quality
• Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn said the band earned more respect than any other US band since Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails
• The Guardian's Alexis Petridis called it the band's apotheosis
• Metacritic reports a score of 92 out of 100 from 28 reviews, indicating universal acclaim
• Negative reviews came from The New York Times (Jon Pareles), Entertainment Weekly (Rob Brunner) and Pitchfork (Brent DiCrescenzo)

Reappraisal

• Named best album of 2003 by Loudwire, NME and Spin
• Stereogum's Tom Breihan called it the band's show-and-prove moment
• Ultimate Classic Rock's Michael Gallucci called it a masterpiece
• Rolling Stone ranked it fifth among the 100 best albums of the 2000s (2009)
• Billboard ranked it ninth among the Top 20 albums of the decade (2009)

Records

• Billboard 200 debut at number six, with first-week sales of 126,000 units
• Spent 58 weeks on the Billboard 200, the longest of any White Stripes album
• Topped the UK Albums Chart and spent 55 weeks on it
• Certified platinum in the US in September 2003 and double platinum in March 2023
• Certified triple platinum in the UK by December 2003
• Won Best Alternative Music Album at the 2004 Grammy Awards and was nominated for Album of the Year

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ball and Biscuit is named after a microphone used in the studio and runs over seven minutes, the longest song in the band's discography
• Every track except track 4 was recorded on eight-track reel-to-reel at Toe-Rag, while track 4 was recorded at BBC Maida Vale Studio
• On the LP edition the seventh song on side two is titled Well It's True That We Love One Another
• Holly Golightly appears as a guest vocalist, and the song she sings on is the only one with singers other than Jack and Meg

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · pt.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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