Maps of Music

Get Behind Me Satan (2005)

Where the lyrics of Get Behind Me Satan take you, and where it was really made.

The album was made in Jack White's own house, yet the press release and liner notes called that house Third Man Studios.

Key places

Sessions at Jack White's home (2005)

Recording site Hitsville USA — The album was recorded in around two weeks in late February and mid-March 2005 at Jack White's home in Indian Village. The press release and liner notes called the house Third Man Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixing at Ardent Studios (2005)

Recording site Ardent Studios — Mixing was completed at Ardent Studios by John Hampton and Jack White in late March 2005. Mastering followed at Masterdisk in New York City. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Get Behind Me Satan: fifth studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes
• Released worldwide on 6 June 2005 by XL and Third Man; in the United States on 7 June 2005 by V2 and Third Man
• Jack White produced the whole album
• Recorded at Jack White's home in Indian Village, Detroit
• Three singles: Blue Orchid, My Doorbell, The Denial Twist
• Title echoes a line from the Temptation of Jesus story, repeated against Simon Peter in Matthew 16:23
• Vinyl not released commercially until 2015

Background

• Written after the White Stripes felt betrayed by close friends in the Detroit music scene
• Jack White felt a falling-out with former friends and a lawsuit over royalties pushed him to leave Detroit
• Jack White described the album as a farewell to parts of his personality he no longer wanted to see
• Demos recorded on a microcassette recorder throughout 2004 and early 2005
• Jack White quit smoking because it affected his singing voice
• Reported recording cost was under $10,000
• Tracklist and release date announced 12 April 2005; a listening event for music journalists followed the next day at Splashlight Studios, New York City

Recording

• Recorded in around two weeks in late February and mid-March 2005
• Sessions called cursed: tape machine and microphones malfunctioned and water dripped from the ceiling
• Matthew Kettle recorded the album on a Studer 8 track tape machine
• Six Coles 4038 microphones were used for the album
• A Steinway grand piano was rented for a fuller sound
• The foyer served as the main recording space, with drums on the second-floor stair landing
• Mixing completed at Ardent Studios by John Hampton and Jack White in late March 2005
• Mastering by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk

Cover

• Cover and liner note photos taken by Ewen Spencer during a five-day shoot at Jack White's home
• Cover likely draws on Mexican Catholic iconography, though it was widely read as a Zorro reference

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

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

• Get Behind Me Satan received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its experimentation
• Some critics felt its production was too constricted
• Heather Phares of AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, praising the experimentation but noting that the energy dips in the middle
• Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone was similarly positive in his review
• NME's Alex Needham called it a very brave record
• David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C+ and felt many tunes were undercut by half-finished arrangements
• Chuck Klosterman of Spin praised Blue Orchid but criticized the experimentation and themes

Reappraisal

• Review aggregator Metacritic lists a normalized score of 81 out of 100 based on 38 reviews, which it labels universal acclaim
• The album was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in 2006, and removed the next year
• It was voted the sixth best album of 2006 in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critic poll
• Rolling Stone also ranked it the third best album of 2006

Records

• Entered the US Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart at number three
• Entered the top ten of seven other territories
• Sold over 920,000 copies in the United States, with a gold certification from the RIAA
• Platinum certifications from ARIA (Australia), BPI (United Kingdom) and Music Canada for their respective sales
• Won Best Alternative Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards; 'My Doorbell' was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
• Blue Orchid became the band's second Billboard Hot 100 single and first number one on the Canadian Hot 100

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was made in Jack White's home, but the press release and liner notes called the house Third Man Studios.
• Jack White bought a marimba shortly before recording; he had no particular plan to use it on the album.
• The cover was used in the 2006 Gilmore Girls episode 'I Get a Sidekick Out of You', with Lane and Zach in the positions of Meg and Jack.
• Only 600 exclusive vinyl copies were made for music journalists; the album was the only White Stripes album not commercially released on vinyl for ten years.
• Jack White said the title can mean you are either for him or against him, or that the Devil backs you up while playing his music.
• The band planned to re-record the album in January 2006 at Joe Gubay's Studio in New Zealand, but the studio no longer had the equipment.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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