Japanese version of the duo's 1999 debut includes two exclusive bonus tracks, 'Let's Shake Hands' (Furry Lewis)& 'Lafayette Blues'. V2.

Japanese Version featuring Two Bonus Tracks: 'let's Shake Hands', and 'lafayette Blues'.

Ok... I'm that guy who shows up late to the party.

I had been resisting the White Stripes for years due to the lavish and almost unfailing praise they have received by both press and listeners alike. On the surface it amounts to that type of nonsensical hero-worship normally associated with phonies like Coldplay. I mean, come on, how could anyone live up to such praise? Only insider connections or rabid flavor of the week/year journalism could produce such a uniform response, IMO.

But I was wrong. And I'm happy about that.

Anyway, what more can be said about the White Stripes that hasn't been said already? Like many of rock's greatest bands, TWS leap into the fray fulled formed and yet have plenty of room to grow. They
follow no formulaic pattern and at the same time recall many of rock's greatest moments. They take no prisoners... and are young enough to know everything.

I wore out their other albums (Except for the first popular one...the name escapes me) like a pair of shoes...I listened to De Stijl every day for maybe six months. This album hasn't gotten worn out for me too bad. Some great stuff, some okay stuff. A good album. Cannon is the one, though. And the Robert Johnson song is almost unrecognizable.

I bought a few of their CDs. Some songs are good. Not for everyone.

I have to admit, listening to this gem was a bit of a struggle at first, but behold, the white stripes after a couple of listens have a ray of sunlight shine through with their first album (self titled no less).

Quite simply, through the noise, the distorted yelping and singing with off key moments, distortion on guitars and what seems to be almost teenage angst, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud.

If you have listened to the white stripes prior to this, you will notice that recording is a lot rawer then the past. I call it raw, what i really mean is quite poor quality, but thats because jack white recorded this on a shoe-string budget.

Give it a go, even if its to just finish off your collection you will be suprised with this album. two thumbs up, but not the perfect white stripes album, not by a long shot.

Early, unpolished, and hinting at the style they'll develop. The lyrics are interesting, and uncommon. It reminds me of early gritty "classic rock", back when its roots were firmly in the Blues.