The White Stripes
Elephant
V2
Formed in Detroit in 1997 by Jack and Meg White -- their relationship is open to some question and much speculation -- The White Stripes first hit the Motor City scene supporting lo-fi pioneers, Pavement, shortly before Stephen Malkmus's combo split up.
After two albums, both of which became minor indie hits, the duo released White Blood Cells in 2001. The album and the duo became an overnight smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic. A mere two months after its release, the White Stripes were performing in front of crowds of upwards of 100,000 at summer festivals throughout Europe.
As the first Stripes release on a major label, Elephant sees a smooth transition from minor indie label, to alt-rock giant, V2 Records. The move hasn't muted Jack and Meg's guitar/drum driven cynicism and nor has it excised the paranoia and anti-pop sound of their 2001 hit.
The album is the perfect combination of lo-fi minimalism and quality production and, to cap it all, one that was recorded without the aid of computers.
From the opener, Seven Nation Army, a lo-fi masterpiece on which Meg stakes her claim to the title of the most explosive minimalist drummer of all time, the pair never miss a beat.
What really makes this Stripes album stand out, though, is the blind rage that lurks behind every drum beat and guitar chord, the result of which is one of the most original, realistic and un-machine-like albums to come out of the Motor City.
Linkin Park
Meteora
Warner
Ever since the hip-hop/nu-metal combo, Linkin Park's debut, Hybrid Theory, catapulted the LA-based six-piece to fame in 2000, the music press has rarely missed an opportunity to fill its pages with Park related tit-bits.
So much hype has surrounded the band, in fact, that if one stacked up the countless in-depth interviews or trivial articles about vocalist, Chester Bennington, one would be hard pressed to believe that Meteora is in fact only Linkin Park's second studio album.
A couple of fillers in the form of a live recording, In the End: Live & Rare, and a remix album, Reanimation, have, no doubt, kept many a Linkin Park fan pacified. The question as to how the combo could better the originality, power and production of its debut could, however, have never been far away.
The answer, which hit record store shelves late last month, is not as gratifying as one might hope. Sure, the band's studio prowess ensures that the buzzsaw guitar, jerky, almost dub-styled rhythms and hip-hop angst are well mixed and spotlessly tight, but there is nothing new.
Not that this will, or in fact has, affected record sales. The album's first single, Somewhere I Belong, has already shot to the top of charts in both the US and Europe and Meteora itself is riding high in numerous album charts.
There might be little neoteric substance to the album, but that's not to say it's all bad news. True to form, Linkin Park's material remains tight and precise. Meteora is, however, simply all too predictable and fans looking for fresh excitement might be left feeling somewhat short-changed.
American Hi-Fi
The Art of Losing
Island
Too sharp to be grunge and too mainstream to be post-grunge, the Boston-based four-piece, American Hi-Fi, has managed to carve itself a niche somewhere in the middle since hitting the scene in 2000 with the guitar alt-rock anthem, Flavor of the Week.
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