WRITE YOUR 1ST LISTEN REVIEW OF THE LAZARETTO ALBUM

[KNARF]

It's interesting to see how your 1st impression of an album is compared to numerous listens later.
We all know music grows on us as we get to know it better and memorize the lyrics, etc.
Forget that relationship to the music which does not yet exist–since the free streaming was only announced an hour ago.
I'm very curious what the greatest Jack White fans in the world thought of this album after just the 1st listen.

3 Questions:
1) Aside from "High Ball Stepper" & "Lazaretto" what's your favorite song?
2) If you had to edit one song out, what would that song be?
3) If Blunderbuss was rated a 10 out of 10, what do you rate Lazaretto?
+Anything else you'd like to add. Thanks.

LAZARETTO.jpg

1. Three Women
2. Lazaretto
3. Temporary Ground
4. Would You Fight For My Love?
5. High Ball Stepper
6. Just One Drink
7. Alone In My Home
8. Entitlement
9. That Black Bat Licorice
10. I Think I Found The Culprit
11. Want And Able

[KNARF]

I've only listened to it once. Here's my initial review:

1) Alone In My Home
This song was the most surprising to me. So different than anything Jack has ever done with any band.
"Three Women" is a close 2nd. The production value of the opening track is one of the best of Jack's career to me.

2) Temporary Ground
Compared to every other track on the album, this is a B-side to me.
I get it–after the grooving opening track & the rocking Lazaretto–the point is to bring the tempo down on the 3rd track.
But to hear anyone else's isolated voice other than Jack's on just the 3rd track is sorta sacreligious to me. Way too soon for that.
3 songs in–I JUST WANT JACK WHITE!!!
I'd have put it as the 3rd to last track. It's a solid song but pales in comparison to everything else on this AMAZING album.
I'd have preferred "Power of My Love" on the album over this track. So curious what the B-sides that lost to this song are.

3) 13 out of 10
It's hard to say it's better than Blunderbuss cause it's so different, but it's MUCH BETTER to me.
To put it simply, it's more White Stripes than Blunderbuss. Need I say more?

[Vytis33]

I'll chime in here after one complete stream of the album. On listen #2 as we speak. As a collective work I dig Blunderbuss more, just blew me away from the moment I put it on the turntable. Didn't stream that one first but heard a few songs at the Track 29 show in Chattanooga prior to a complete listen. As always, I'm excited to hear how Jack works these new songs out live. Will find out in a few short days.

Favorite songs that I hadn't heard yet: Alone In My Home and I Think I Found the Culprit

[KNARF]

Maybe I should have mentioned that you can stream the entire album here:

http://jackwhiteiii.com/lazaretto-itune ... interview/

[DBCooper]

I've only listened to it once. Here's my initial review:

2) Temporary Ground
Compared to every other track on the album, this is a B-side to me.
I get it–after the grooving opening track & the rocking Lazaretto–the point is to bring the tempo down on the 3rd track.
But to hear anyone else's isolated voice other than Jack's on just the 3rd track is sorta sacreligious to me. Way too soon for that.
3 songs in–I JUST WANT JACK WHITE!!!
I'd have put it as the 3rd to last track. It's a solid song but pales in comparison to everything else on this AMAZING album.
I'd have preferred "Power of My Love" on the album over this track. So curious what the B-sides that lost to this song are.

I enjoyed Temporary Ground. Sounded to me like it could have been on blunderbuss just as easily. The entire album is perfect.

[Getbacktogether]

To be honest the first time I listened to Blunderbuss I thought it was great and still think its great. I did not get the same feeling listing to this last night.... After my first listen and still have yet to listen again in my opinion its a step down from blunderbuss. Lazaretto, High ball stepper and Temporary grounds are my favorites so far. The others all feel like B- Side songs im afraid. At least that's my opinion after only listening to it once. Maybe more listens will change my views.

[maxman142001]

1) Aside from "High Ball Stepper" & "Lazaretto" what's your favorite song?
Would You Fight For My Love?

2) If you had to edit one song out, what would that song be?
Just One Drink...I feel this track, as good as it is, would make a great B-Side

3) If Blunderbuss was rated a 10 out of 10, what do you rate Lazaretto?
8.5 out of 10
Blunderbuss still holds a special place in my heart. This is a great album and lacks little if anything at all. Maybe I am looking for a edgier JW to get this to a 10-13....

[DBCooper]

Maybe I am looking for a edgier JW to get this to a 10-13....

lazaretto, high ball stepper, and black bat licorice are some of the edgiest songs he has done aside from the entire dead weather catalog.

[maxman142001]

Maybe I am looking for a edgier JW to get this to a 10-13....

lazaretto and high ball stepper are some of the edgiest songs he has down aside from the entire dead weather catalog.

True...LOVE the DW. Way more than Racs, but thats just my personal opinion.

[DBCooper]

Maybe I am looking for a edgier JW to get this to a 10-13....

lazaretto and high ball stepper are some of the edgiest songs he has down aside from the entire dead weather catalog.

True...LOVE the DW. Way more than Racs, but thats just my personal opinion.

Ya, listen again. I'll be the first to admit I'm not the biggest fan of blunderbuss (I enjoy all the songs, but it just makes me tired/bored when I listen to it as an album. I can't even make it through the whole thing anymore, and it's his newest). I think this album is a masterpiece.....but that too is just my personal opinion. Cannot wait to hear this stuff live.

[knoxvle]

Listened to it last nigh a few times.
It's definitely not as depressing as Blunderbuss.
Favorite songs:
Three Women
Lazaretto
Would you fight for my love
High Ball Stepper
Just one Drink
Black Cat Licorice

Not a fan of the twangy slide guitar country stuff, but kudos to him for doing it.
I like that it's not a typical album where all the songs are "rock" or "blues" he always mixes it up and keeps
your ears on alert!

Overall 8/10 stars

[bh1644]

After the first few listens all I could think was he should have called this album what it is... "Blunderbuss B-Sides"

that being said I love it... nothing wrong with B-Sides... Black Cat Licorice is awesome...

[Getbacktogether]

After the first few listens all I could think was he should have called this album what it is... "Blunderbuss B-Sides"

that being said I love it... nothing wrong with B-Sides... Black Cat Licorice is awesome...

That's kinda what I thought and said a couple posts ago. Besides Lazaretto and maybe High ball stepper I felt like the rest of the songs were b-sides. I do like this album but not as much as Blunderbuss. Idk after hearing Lazaretto and High ball stepper my expectations were high and after listening to the album I didn't get that excitement I did after just hearing the song Lazaretto.

[KNARF]

Wow. Completely different reviews so far. This album is AMAZING!!!
Been playing it nonstop and can't get sick of it. I can't say that for Blunderbuss.
And that's just from my iPod. The vinyl will take it to a whole other level! Correction: The ULTRA vinyl.

We must consider that the initial "Album Experience" was lost since we all heard Lazaretto, High Ball Stepper & Just one Drink already.
Some of us even saw Jack White play half these new songs live or on Youtube. That negates the chance of being fully surprised with the material on the 1st listen.
Imagine if you heard Lazaretto or High Ball Stepper both for the 1st time while listing to the entire album straight thru.
Your impression of the album would be 300% higher.
I heard 7 of the 11 songs before they streamed the full album. Some of the best parts of the album were already digested.
It's like devouring the main course, then rating the left-overs. Not a fair way to rate an album.

There are no B-sides on this album. It's VERY TIGHT!!!
Now having listened to it many times, it does feel a song short. Power of My Love would have fit nicely.
If I'm Shakin–a cover song made it to Blunderbus, Power of My Love should have definitely made it onto Lazaretto.
I like it much better than I'm Shakin.

GEEKARETTO TIME:
Here's a little test I did to see if my song for song evaluation equals what I feel my overall impression of both albums are.
I simply listened to each song, then gave it an overall 1-10 rating. Then added up the totals. This is what I came up with:

LAZARETTO
10 “Three Women”
10 “Lazaretto”
6 “Temporary Ground”
8 “Would You Fight for My Love?”
9 “High Ball Stepper”
8 “Just One Drink”
10 “Alone in My Home”
8 “Entitlement”
10 “That Black Bat Licorice”
7 “I Think I Found the Culprit”
8 “Want and Able”

94 TOTAL FOR 11 TRACKS
-FOUR 10s FOR ME.
9 OF 11 TRACKS ARE AN 8 OR ABOVE.

BLUNDERBUS
7 “Missing Pieces”
10 “Sixteen Saltines”
10 “Freedom at 21”
6 “Love Interruption”
6 “Blunderbuss”
7 “Hypocritical Kiss”
7 “Weep Themselves to Sleep”
8 “I’m Shakin’”
9 “Trash Tongue Talker”
10 “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy”
6 “I Guess I Should Go to Sleep”
6 “On and On and On”
7 “Take Me with You When You Go”

86 TOTAL FOR FIRST 11 TRACKS + 13 POINTS FOR 12th & 13th TRACKS COMBINED.
THREE 10's FOR ME
5 OF 13 TRACKS ARE AN 8 OR ABOVE.

[UniformRecon]

1.) "Would You Fight For My Love?" It's a tough pick between that one and "That Black Belt Licorice." I guess "Would You Fight For My Love?" is just like "Weep Themselves to Sleep" was for me with Blunderbuss: it sort of came out of nowhere as this really interesting and simple, yet powerful song.
2.) The wording of this makes me think more. If I had to choose a song that just didn't fit and probably shouldn't be on the album, it's "Just One Drink." It just doesn't sound right, and Jack doesn't sound like he's singing right. However, it's not my least favorite song. "Entitlement" is my least favorite song. It just doesn't sound like a Jack White song to me, but it also sounds similar to the other country songs on the record, so it at least fits the record's overall theme of not sounding like a proper Jack White album.
3.) Actually, I don't think Blunderbuss is 10/10. It's more of an 8/10, because it still had its weaker points. Lazaretto is about a 6/10 to me, as much as I hate to say that about a Jack White release. It's personally a hit-or-miss record. I don't think White has strength in doing Bob Dylan country songs, and most of it doesn't sound like a Jack White solo album, because he doesn't shine. He isn't up front in the mix of many songs. The complex instrumentation and band overpowers him too much.

Also, I listened to every pre-release single from Blunderbuss ("Love Interruption," "Sixteen Saltines," and "Freedom at 21") before the rest of the album, and Blunderbuss still left a big impression on me. Lazaretto left me disappointed. I'd say the best songs on Lazaretto are only on the level of the worst "not bad" songs on Blunderbuss. I've got a radio job here in Austin, so I'm sure I'll be able to properly put across my opinion on the record after I've listened to it more and written an actual review for my station.