Jack White recording new album in NYC & LA; "Boarding House Reach" (03/23/2018)

In true modern pop fashion, likely in a bid to stay "relevant" or "current", most songs seem have two or three lines which repeat for three to four minutes, much like Beck's last.

 

JWIII is taking huge risk on this one. After listening straight through the album, I'm just not sure the songs are strong enough. I'll wait until it sinks in and a few more listens before ultimate judgement. The playing and sounds developed at times are interesting but don't really hold my interest at first pass.

 

I like Jack White and I love wacky stuff musically, but I'm really trying to keep an open mind with this one. I like the idea of it and think the concept of it is kind of cool, but have a feeling that I won't get a lot of long term traction from it. I can see myself getting tired of it quickly but coming back to it years from now thinking the whole thing was better than the sum of its parts.

 

A couple listens in, and I don't like it (I liked his first two, and I really like Raconteurs), but this album... this album's boring.

I agree with Pitchfork's review:
Jack White: Boarding House Reach Album Review | Pitchfork

 

I wouldn't say it is getting panned everywhere: Boarding House Reach by Jack White

 

I need to give this more listens to sink in, but after my first pass through I'm feeling really indifferent (a first for JW material).

 

Fair enough. I read Pitchfork, Stereogum and one other review this morning. Hadn't checked metacritic at that point, so maybe I shouldn't have spoken so quickly.

 

“After the Stripes broke up, and as he began to dress more and more like Johnny Depp in a Tim Burton film, he started to carry himself like Depp too: A former boy-genius soured into a man, an iconoclast trapped in an icon’s body.” Oof. That seems quite astute.

 

I wrote this in the Vault thread but it's more relevant here ...

I had a listen to this album via Spotify this morning on the way to work and I'm sorry to say I had to switch it off about 3/4's of the way through.

It actually ended up feeling like an endurance test - a few hooks but overall just sounds like a whole lot of ideas and not really any substance. Certainly nothing immediately catchy.

Of course I'll give it a go again when I build up to it but I'll not be buying this today which was my plan ...

The best thing I can say is that I didn't buy the Vault edition.

 

What is the story with the album cover? Is it just a photo of Jack edited to made him look feminine? Is he trying for an Alladin Sane type cover?

 

Wish I hadn’t paid £25 for this.

Terrible.

 

It's a composite. The eyes are his, then the bottom half is female

 

This album will be very polarizing. Strong opinions in one direction or the other lends to the thought, at least for me, this album is not only highly creative but super progressive, and unlike anything we’ve heard from anyone, including JW.That’s hard to do in 2018.

 

Its a fun jam out album, funky and weird - I like it

It isn't necessarily a "songwriting" album like Lazaretto, Blunderbuss, etc. It is differently intentioned, and I don't know if I will reach for it as often as those previous albums but I definitely am having a fun time listening to it

 

in theory yes, but what are your thoughts from listening to it?

 

After three full listens, I love it. From the blended genres, strong prescence of the keys, and few but awesome guitar solos, I think it’s his best work. What about you?

 

I just listened to the new album and liked it. I liked the strange stylistic mishmash of a direction it took. I'm more of a White Stripes fan, and have never been a huge fan of Jack White's solo work, but I still enjoyed this album well enough. That being said, I still didn't like it as much as his previous solo albums, but it does feel like the natural progression for him to go deeper into the weirdness, following songs like "Sixteen Saltines" and "Lazaretto."

 

It's almost like a modern-day Captain Beefheart album in some ways. I just read the new Rolling Stone article. I wonder how they'll pan out live. I got tickets for the Rochester show in June.

 

That's great! I've listened to it twice so far, streamed once on Tidal and once to the Vault release I received today. Jury is still out but I'm open to the direction he took this album and find it refreshing an artist like Jack can throw caution to the wind and put something like this out. I hope I can enjoy it as much as his previous work... only time with tell.

 

Just finished my first listen to it via Tidal (I have a copy of the CD on the way from Ticketmaster from when I bought my tickets but no sign of it yet). Not sure what to make of it yet but it's certainly not dull! I like some songs but some sound a bit too much like throwaways or sketches. I need to hear it a few more times to really make my mind up. I think that some of the songs will sound good live (possibly better than some of the recorded ones), so it'll be interesting to see how seeing him in concert will affect my opinion of the album.

 

I’m stilll annoyed that he doesn’t include a download code in with the LP.

 

eh, it's not bad.

 

It's great for artists to take risks. Greatness comes from taking those risks. Sometimes the gamble does not pay off. Time will tell on this one, but I do appreciate JW's dedication to getting out of his comfort zone "White Stripes sound." He could keep making Elephant 10 times over, but that would get old I suspect.

 

I have now listened to the album two times. I have a little mixed feelings but I do think I like it quite a lot. Definitely want to listen to it some more.

Here are the DR ratings for the CD: