Blunderbuss (album)

Blunderbuss
Studio album by Jack White
Released	April 23, 2012[1]
Recorded	2011 at Third Man Studios, Nashville, Tennessee; USA.
Genre	Blues rock, garage rock, country rock, folk rock
Length	41:52
Label	Third Man, XL Recordings, Columbia
Producer	Jack White
Singles from Blunderbuss
"Love Interruption" Released: January 31, 2012 "Sixteen Saltines" Released: March 13, 2012 "Freedom at 21" Released: April 1, 2012 "I'm Shakin'" Released: October 10, 2012

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	B+[4]
Chicago Tribune	[5]
The Guardian	[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork Media	7.8/10[8]
PopMatters	6/10[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Spin	8/10[11]
Uncut	8/10[12]
Under The Gun Review	8/10 [13]

Blunderbuss is the debut solo album by Jack White, released on April 23, 2012 through White's own label Third Man Records in association with XL Recordings and Columbia Records. The album was released in MP3, compact disc, and vinyl editions. The album was written, recorded, and produced entirely by White in 2011. The first single from the album, "Love Interruption", was released on January 30, 2012 through White's website and Third Man Records website.^[14] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 138,000 copies.^[15] The album received Grammy Award nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards,^[16] while the single "Freedom at 21" was nominated for Best Rock Song. The single "I'm Shakin" was nominated for Best Rock Performance at 2014 Grammy Awards.^[17]

Background

Blunderbuss has its roots in White's recordings with several artists, including Tom Jones. White was in contact with Wu-Tang Clan member RZA and, when RZA couldn't attend the session, White felt bad since there was a band that travelled to Nashville for apparently no reason.^{[citation needed]} White decided to record several tracks that he wrote in the last 6 months of 2011, with the band. The tracks would later develop into songs that appear on the album.^[18] This album also marked the first time that Jack wrote all the songs in one session, rather than writing the material separately.^[18] The album was produced by Grammy winning sound engineer Vance Powell, who has also worked with such names as The Whigs, Kings of Leon, and Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes. Jack White has stated Blunderbuss is a record he could not release until now. He went on to state, "I've put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas."^[19] To promote Blunderbuss, White performed "Love Interruption" and "Sixteen Saltines" on the March 3, 2012 episode of Saturday Night Live, with two different backing bands, one all-female and the other all-male. The studio version of "Sixteen Saltines" was subsequently released via White's YouTube channel on March 13.^[20] Promotional copies of the album, distributed to reviewers and radio stations, were sent as vinyl records to prevent leaks. The album leaked on April 15, nine days ahead of its official release.^[21] On April 16, Third Man Records streamed the album in its entirety on iTunes for free listening, 8 days before its release.

The Japanese edition of the album features two extra tracks - "Machine Gun Silhouette" and a cover of U2's "Love Is Blindness" (which appeared on the tribute record AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered).

Rolling Stone named it the number-three album of 2012.^[22]

On March 5, 2013 "Blunderbuss," achieved gold status, having sold over 500,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[23]

The vinyl LP version of the record was pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN.^[24]

Singles

• "Love Interruption" was the first single from the album, released January 30, 2012. On February 8, 2012, "Machine Gun Silhouette", the B-side to "Love Interruption", appeared on SoundCloud, but it was quickly removed. The single peaked at #13 and #27 on the Billboard US Alternative Songs and US Rock Songs charts, respectively.^[25]
• "Sixteen Saltines" was the second single, released on March 13, 2012. It reached #129 in the UK Singles Chart and #12 in the top Alternative Songs.
• "Freedom at 21", a track originally released via helium balloon as a part of a stunt for Record Store Day, was leaked onto the internet on April 14, 2012.
• "I'm Shakin", a cover of Little Willie John

Track listing

Personnel

• Jack White – vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums, Rhodes, guitar case, Leslie speaker
• Bryn Davies – double bass
• Joey Glynn – double bass
• Jack Lawrence – bass guitar
• Carla Azar – drums, maracas, shakers
• Olivia Jean – drums, rhythm guitar
• Daru Jones – drums, tambourine
• Patrick Keeler – drums
• Ruby Amanfu – backing vocals
• Karen Elson – backing vocals
• Laura Matula – backing vocals
• Ryan Koenig – backing vocals
• Brooke Waggoner – organ, Wurlitzer, piano, Rhodes
• Fats Kaplin – fiddle, pedal steel, mandolin
• Lillie Mae Rische – fiddle
• Emily Bowland – clarinet
• Jake Orrall – rhythm guitar
• Adam Hoskins – rhythm guitar
• Pokey LaFarge – mandolin, backing vocals

Charts and certifications

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2012 (U.S.)

References