Jack White's Lazaretto

Jack White is definitively a true superstar of his generation. What he did with The White Stripes was seminal in bringing rock’n’roll back to his roots: hard driven riffs, deeply based in Blues, pure simple beats and raw energy. With his solo albums, he kept the basic principles of his musical style, but more enriched in instrumentation, losing nothing of his primal voice. On the contrary, it sounds focused and tight.

“Lazaretto” opens with the powerful “Three Women”, a blues classic originally sang by Blind Willie McTell in 1928, but rendered to the point it becomes a completely different song. With a hard rock riff at the beginning played on a Hammond organ it announces a rough musical ride to follow. The rough sound continues with the title track “Lazaretto” that sounds retro and modern at the same time. Great riffs combined with hip-hop vocals and a B-part that sounds like Black Sabbath, the song and the album are maybe best explained through its lyrics: "Every single bone in my brain is electric". White’s extraordinary talent for guitar riffs is presented in other tracks on the album like "High Ball Stepper", “Just One Drink“  and “That Black Bat Licorice“, songs that fulfill every listener's need for a hard driven guitar rock.

But, riffs and beats are not the only things that make “Lazaretto” a great album – paying tribute to all American traditions, White offers some country sounds and  tender ballads, mixing styles, but more mature and convincing than ever. The opening track “Three Women” is my favorite, you choose yours!