Get Behind Me Satan

"White Moon" redirects here. For the Mongolian Lunar New Year festival, see Tsagaan Sar.
For the 1936 Irving Berlin song, see Get Thee Behind Me Satan.
Get Behind Me Satan
Studio album by The White Stripes
Released June 7, 2005
Recorded February 2005 at Third Man Studios, Detroit, Michigan
Genre Garage rock, alternative rock, blues rock
Length 44:07
Label V2 (US)
XL (Europe)
Producer Jack White
The White Stripes chronology

Elephant
(2003)		 Get Behind Me Satan
(2005)		 Icky Thump
(2007)
Singles from Get Behind Me Satan
  1. "Blue Orchid"
    Released: May 30, 2005
  2. "My Doorbell"
    Released: September 3, 2005
  3. "The Denial Twist"
    Released: November 7, 2005

Get Behind Me Satan is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band The White Stripes, released on June 7, 2005, on V2 Records. Though still basic in production style, the album marked a distinct change from its guitar-heavy 2003 predecessor, Elephant. With its reliance on piano-driven melodies and experimentation with marimba on "The Nurse" and "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)", Get Behind Me Satan plays down the punk, garage rock and blues influences that dominated earlier White Stripes albums. Frontman Jack White plays with different technique than in the past, trading in his electric guitar for piano, mandolin, and acoustic guitar on all but a handful of tracks, as his usual riff-conscious lead guitar style is overtaken by a predominantly rhythmic approach. Rolling Stone ranked it the third best album of the year[1] and it received the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 2006. As of February 2007, Get Behind Me Satan had sold 850,000 units in the United States.[2]

Background and production

Album

Jack White recorded the album at his own Third Man Studios in Detroit, Michigan, and mixed it at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. This represented a change from their previous album because The White Stripes did not use a professional studio for production work.

Jack White has explained that the title, Get Behind Me Satan, refers to a well-known line from the story of the Temptation of Jesus which is later repeated against the disciple Simon Peter, in Matthew 16:23 of the New Testament. In the King James Version, the quotation is slightly different: "Get thee behind me, Satan".[3] Jack White has also stated in an interview on the radio show Fresh Air that "truth is the number one theme throughout the album Get Behind Me Satan." Relating that point to the album's multiple reference to movie actress Rita Hayworth, White said she became an "all-encompassing metaphor" for the album since she changed her last name from something that revealed her Latina heritage, and the way celebrity was cast upon her.[4]

Get Behind Me Satan was, for ten years, the only album by The White Stripes to not be commercially released in a vinyl format. The reason behind it was because The White Stripes had intended to re-record Get Behind Me Satan entirely live in a New Zealand studio and wanted that to be the official vinyl version. However, the studio that they were planning to record it in no longer had the recording equipment to make it possible. As a result, at the time there was never a commercially released vinyl of the album. Yet, there are only a few copies of the album on vinyl LP that were given exclusively to music journalists for review, which have since become coveted collector's items. They were released by both XL Recordings and V2 Records and each label had only 300, making the total 600 and highly rare.[5] However, for Record Store Day 2015, Jack White's Third Man Records are releasing a limited vinyl edition with a lenticular gatefold sleeve, pressed on red and white vinyl. A commercially released version with standard artwork pressed on standard black vinyl will be released later in the year.[6]

Cover art homages

The album cover was used in the Gilmore Girls episode "I Get a Sidekick Out of You", with Lane and Zach in Meg and Jack's positions, respectively. It was also used for the 2008 Ozy and Millie calendar as both the front cover and for the month of January with the characters Ozy and Mille replacing Jack and Meg.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (81/100)
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [7]
Alternative Press [8]
Crawdaddy! Favorable[9]
Entertainment Weekly C+ [10]
NME 8/10[11]
Pitchfork Media 7.3/10[12]
Q [13]
Robert Christgau A−[14]
Rolling Stone [15]
Slant [16]
Uncut [17]
USA Today [18]

Get Behind Me Satan entered the U.S. and UK charts at #3, ranking higher in the U.S. charts than their previous records, but lower in the UK charts than Elephant. "Blue Orchid", the first single, became a radio hit in the United States and the band's second UK Top 10 hit. "My Doorbell" was the second single from the album, followed by "The Denial Twist". Both also reached the Top 10 in the UK and charted on the Modern Rock Charts as well.

In 2006, the album was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, edited by Robert Dimery, but was removed in the 2007 edition. "Instinct Blues" was featured in Michel Gondry's 2006 film The Science of Sleep. It was voted the sixth best album of the year in the 2006 Village Voice Pazz and Jop critic poll, with the song "My Doorbell" being voted as the year's ninth best single.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jack White. 

No. Title Length
1. "Blue Orchid"   2:37
2. "The Nurse"   3:47
3. "My Doorbell"   4:01
4. "Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)"   3:15
5. "Little Ghost"   2:18
6. "The Denial Twist"   2:35
7. "White Moon"   4:01
8. "Instinct Blues"   4:16
9. "Passive Manipulation"   0:35
10. "Take, Take, Take"   4:22
11. "As Ugly as I Seem"   4:10
12. "Red Rain"   3:52
13. "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)"   4:19
Japan edition bonus tracks
No. Title Length
14. "Who's a Big Baby?"   3:21
15. "Though I Hear You Calling, I Will Not Answer"   3:25

Personnel

The White Stripes

Other Credits

References

  1. ↑ "Top 50 Records of 2005". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2006.
  2. ↑ "Sources: White Stripes Heading To Warner Bros". Billboard.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "King James Version: Matthew Chapter 16". verse 23. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Fricke, David (August 25, 2005). "White on White". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  5. ↑ "The White Stripes / Get Behind Me Satan Promo Vinyl". stevehoffman.tv. crimpies 03-10-2009, 11:07 PM. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "THIRD MAN RECORDS PRESENTS FIRST COMMERCIAL VINYL RELEASE OF PIVOTAL WHITE STRIPES ALBUM FOR RECORD STORE DAY 2015". thirdmanrecords.com. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Phares, Heather. "The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Ortenzi, Rob (12 October 2005). "The best album of 1972. (The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan)". Alternative Press. ISSN 1065-1667. Archived from the original on 2 March 2006.
  9. ↑ Perry, Andre (27 June 2007). "The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan". Crawdaddy! (New York). Archived from the original on 3 July 2007.
  10. ↑ Browne, David (6 June 2005). "Get Behind Me Satan Review". Entertainment Weekly (824). ISSN 1049-0434. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Needham, Alex (25 May 2005). "The White Stripes : Get Behind Me Satan". NME (IPC Media). ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  12. ↑ Murphy, Matthew (5 June 2005). "The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  13. ↑ "Get Behind Me". Q (Bauer Media Group): 108. July 2005. ISSN 0955-4955. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  14. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The White Stripes". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan". Rolling Stone. 16 June 2005. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 24 September 2011. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  16. ↑ Walsh, Barry (11 June 2005). "The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan". Slant. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  17. ↑ "The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan". Uncut (London: IPC Media): 88. July 2005. ISSN 1368-0722. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  18. ↑ Barnes, Ken (13 June 2005). "The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan". USA Today. Retrieved 25 August 2013.

External links

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