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Icky Thump (2007)

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

The band's longest studio sessions ran three weeks at Nashville's Blackbird Studio, and this sixth album turned out to be their last studio record.

Key places

Recording at Blackbird Studio, Nashville (2007)

Recording site Blackbird Studio — The album was recorded and mixed entirely in analog at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, in Studio D, during January and early February 2007. It was the longest recording period of any White Stripes album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Icky Thump: sixth and final studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes
• Released June 2007 in the US by Warner Bros. and internationally by XL
• Produced by Jack White; the band's only album on Warner Bros. Records
• Returns to the early garage rock and punk blues influences of the band
• Adds Scottish folk, trumpet, and bagpipes to the established formula

Background

• Follows Get Behind Me Satan, which had more elaborate arrangements
• Jack White was inspired to make another album after touring with The Raconteurs
• Meg White temporarily moved from Los Angeles to Jack's home in Nashville for a couple of months to record
• Meg said the album was not as elaborate as the previous one and aimed for a simple, basic form
• Completion was announced on February 28, 2007

Recording

• Recorded and mixed entirely in analog at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, in Studio D
• Engineer Joe Chiccarelli worked throughout January and early February 2007
• Recorded over three weeks, the longest recording period of any White Stripes album
• Recorded on two 16-track machines as a compromise, rather than the band's usual 8-track
• Jack had no finished songs as of December 2006 and began with a blank chalkboard
• Lowell Reynolds served as assistant engineer

Cover

• Jack and Meg are dressed as Pearlies on the artwork
• Photography by Autumn de Wilde
• Layout and design by The Third Man

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

• Critics praised the album as a resurgence after the polarizing reviews of the previous record
• Metacritic gave it an average of 80 out of 100
• NME's Barry Nicolson wrote that it is brilliant
• AllMusic's Heather Phares called it a mature album that is far from stodgy
• Blender's Jody Rosen described a band digging in rather than stretching out
• Rolling Stone's Robert Christgau gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and an A− on his website
• Time's Josh Tyrangiel was among the more negative reviews, saying the band was too weird and talented to be boring

Records

• UK Albums Chart: number one
• Billboard 200: debuted at number two with 223,000 copies sold
• Certified gold in both the US and the UK
• Entered the top ten in several other countries
• Won Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 50th Grammy Awards
• Q magazine named it the second best album of 2007
• Placed 17th on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007

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

Trivia

• The album cover shows Jack and Meg as Pearlies, a traditional Cockney outfit that contrasts with the Northern dialect of the title.
• The album is dedicated to Jack's father.
• The band's Electra thanks in the liner notes come second, right after God; according to Ben Blackwell, Jack's nephew, it refers to a pet Jack and Meg once had, not the radio DJ.
• Ahead of release, Chicago station Q101 aired the whole album on May 30, 2007 without the band's permission.
• Limited 512 MB USB drives of the album were made, 3,333 for each of the two versions, one depicting Jack and one Meg.

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

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