The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights Review

Posted by Lenny Vowels on 03.17.2010

Detroit's favorite rock duo makes their way to Canada to record a live album for the ages.

Ever since college, the White Stripes have always been near the top of my lists of bands to follow. I first heard them in the early part of the decade at, surprisingly, the MTV Video Music Awards. After their live performance of “Fell In Love With a Girl,” all I could think was “Wow, how can so much power come from just a two-person band?” After picking up White Blood Cells and their tremendous follow-up, Elephant, I was hooked. I managed to track down their previous two albums and have grown to love them just as much, along with the two since. So, when I heard that the band were releasing a new live album in lieu of a new studio album, I was disappointed at the lack of incoming new material, but naturally excited about new and raw editions of some of my favorites.



Track Listing

1. Let's Shake Hands
2. Black Math
3. Little Ghost
4. Blue Orchid
5. The Union Forever
6. Ball and Biscuit
7. Icky Thump
8. I'm Slowly Turning Into You
9. Jolene
10. 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues
11. We're Going to Be Friends
12. I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself
13. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn
14. Fell in Love With a Girl
15. When I Hear My Name
16. Seven Nation Army


The show begins with a bagpipe intro, which I can't imagine is normal for the band, but I can envision it being a great way to introduce the Stripes to the live crowd. The pipes lead into the first number, “Let's Shake Hands.” This one was a bit odd since I had never heard of the song before. Apparently it was the first single released prior to their first eponymous debut album, and it was included on the Japanese release of the same record. The song sounds amazing live and is a perfect contrast to the bagpipes, so the album is already off to an awesome start.

One of my favorite Elephant tracks, “Black Math”, is the follow-up and it actually sounds cleaner than the album version. It's actually something of a shame because I always loved how much heavier the original sounded, but it's still a great track. “Little Ghost” was the first true gem on the album to my ears. I didn't care much for the original cut on Get Behind Me Satan, but it was a LOT more energetic when played live. It certainly didn't seem as somber, and I think that's what the song has always needed to go from being simply good to being great.

“Blue Orchid” is my favorite Stripes song of all time, and while I had high expectations, it certainly didn't disappoint. It's just as hard and edgy as it ever was. The album then segues into maybe the band's most underrated song of all time, “The Union Forever.” It's always been my favorite track on White Blood Cells, but most don't seem to agree. The lyrics sound a bit more high-pitched the the album version's trademark disgruntlement, but White's ode to Citizen Kane fails to lose any steam despite the fact.

What follows is what can certainly be considered the down portion of the concert. That's not to say anything is bad, but it does come off as a cool-down period. “Ball and Biscuit” is significantly shorter than the original, and “Icky Thump” is still great, but the band surprisingly skips the first verse. “I'm Slowly Turning Into You” is another one of my favorites, this time from Icky Thump, and it comes off just as well as the album cut. “Jolene” is one of many great covers the band has recorded, and I was always amazed that the piece never made it onto any of their albums, and it's just as awesome here.

The laid-back section continues with “300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues”, “We're Going to Be Friends”, and the Stripes' cover of “I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself.” The energy comes back with “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn,” but surprisingly levels off again with “Fell In Love With a Girl.” One of the Stripes' most famous and well-known songs, the usually frantic song is toned down to almost a standstill pace that makes it more akin to a ballad. It's a surprise, but hardly an unwelcome one, as I can respect the fact that bands like to change gears with their own songs when playing them live.

To close out the record, the listener first gets a taste of “When I Hear My Name”, the only pre-Cells song that made it to the album. The song sounded fine, but I still would've preferred to hear more of their older stuff. Finally, the band's most famous song “Seven Nation Army” closes the album with a much longer rendition, and it isn't nearly as bass-heavy. The signature dropped-octave of the guitar used in order to sound more like a bass being played is not present, and we are left with a standard six-string sound. I would also be remiss in not mentioning the crowd singing along, and really, how can you not love that?

The production tends to go the opposite way for most live albums, as this one actually sounds less distorted than the band's studio releases. This isn't a knock on the Stripes so much as it is a remark of their overall style. It still sounds fantastic, but it's a strange nortion when one is conditioned to expect a much less clean sound. Overall though, it's still a great live piece and it's only making me look forward to their next studio release that much more. It's just too bad that Jack White is the hardest-working man in the music industry, aside from maybe Dave Grohl, meaning it could be a while.

The 411: One of the best musical duos in the world delivers in spades. I consider myself unfortunate to have yet to see the White Stripes live, and judging by how good this album is, that feeling isn't going away until that happens. My only direct issues with the album are that the CD didn't include all of the tracks that were on the DVD, and that some of their big hits weren't included like "The Hardest Button to Button," "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," and especially "My Doorbell." Even with all of this missing, it's still an easy inclusion to the collection of any fan of the band's, or great music in general.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]