AOTY 2023
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Critic Score
Based on 25 reviews
2007 Ratings: #89 / 712
Year End Rank: #9
User Score
Based on 606 ratings
2007 Ratings: #143
Liked by 69 people
June 19, 2007 / Release Date
LP / Format
Warner Bros., XL / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Entertainment Weekly

Despite all the distortion and teeth-shivering riffs, Icky Thump rivals White Blood Cells in accessibility.

90
musicOMH
It’s eccentric, it’s exhilarating, it is, in parts, absolutely insane. Yet it’s never less than absolutely compelling, which is what makes The White Stripes one of the greatest bands of modern times.
90
DIY
In short, with just one listen of any of the tracks on ‘Icky Thump’, you’ll be under the impression you’ve heard them a million times before.
90
NME
The title’s Northern, the songs are Scottish, the cover’s Cockney… the result is incredible.
90
Paste
Jack and Meg circle back to riveting classic rock and carny-bark.
84
Time Out London
Confused? You probably will be. Thrilled? You definitely will be. Jack ’n’ Meg just wouldn’t have it any other way.
80
Uncut
Heavy riffage! Mariachi blues! Meg and Jack are back.
80
Pitchfork

After the straightforward radio-rock trappings of the Raconteurs, the back-to-basics Icky Thump packs an unexpected freshness, resulting in the best White Stripes album in years.

80
The Observer

Six albums in and they're still refusing to make rock by numbers.

80
AllMusic

With its fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy, Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy, album -- and, as is usually the case, it's just great fun to hear the band play.

80
PopMatters

The new album manages to hone the at-points-aimless progressive aspirations of Get Behind Me Satan into sharp, clear-cut musical growth

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

If you’re fond of the curious, Icky Thump is the choice White Stripes album.

72
Coke Machine Glow
The White Stripes, at the same moment they claim to have finally overcome your entanglements, have provided you the ammunition of a hit-or-miss album.
70
Under the Radar
There is enough vitality in both composition and instrumentality to suggest that continued praise is warranted for this decade-long duo.
70
Slant Magazine
It almost entirely ignores what it is that gives the duo its claim as perhaps the greatest rock act of its generation.
70
Rolling Stone
Like his sometime heroes Led Zeppelin, Jack White builds monuments. They’re suitable for awestruck visits. But they’re no place to settle down.
70
Sputnikmusic

A successful return to the band's roots after the self-indulgent Get Behind Me Satan. Just don't mention Jack's Scottish heritage.

70
Drowned in Sound
This is by far The White Stripes’ most peculiar record.
50
No Ripcord

Icky Thump is an anti-climatic, vaguely appealing record that unfortunately feels like a retreat from the ballsy piano-based pop eccentricity of Get Behind Me Satan. And that's a shame because going back to basics - at least in this case - feels like surrender.

40
NOW Magazine

Most of Icky Thump’s songs sound half-assed, with keyboard parts thrown in ad hoc, but at least they had the good sense to trim the piano bar balladry.

SnowyFighter
72

Meg, look at this place this place is like a mansion look at all this stuff look I see something over there woooooooooahhhhh

This is the final release from The White Stripes and I’m glad they went out on a good note. Get Behind Me Satan was slow and boring, and this picks It back up a little bit. They stick with catchy riffs and melodies while also bringing in some different elements. The best example of this is Conquest, which was a really weird song when I first heard it years ago but ... read more

porpoise
80

The final project from the White Stripes is a mostly satisfying conclusion to their career. Working to build on strengths and rectify past failures, the music presented on the project is some of their best yet. While perhaps not exceeding what was put out on Elephant, the band still brings some solid hooks, dependable drum work from Meg, and Jack’s ear catching vocals. A nice note to go out on, and a band I won’t soon forget.

Highlights:
Icky Thump
You Don’t Know What Love Is ... read more

Plats
85

What a great way to end off the Stripes' discography! "Icky Thump" is their most diverse album yet featuring some of Jack White's best songwriting, performances and, of course, riffs yet! Not every idea works, but it's still a solid closer overall.

Fav Tracks: Icky Thump, You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told), Effect and Cause, A Martyr for My Love for You, Rag and Bone, Conquest, Little Cream Soda, 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues

Least Fav Track: Prickly ... read more

69

Now this had so much potential to be there best but every song got worse and worse

kattenbroekcom
67

Icky Thump is just confusing. The production on this album is what really weakens this album by miles. It sounds very from the ground but almost bitcrushed? It gives me similair vibes to some of the tracks on Four by Bloc Party and it only works on Little Cream Soda which is a more noise oriented track. This is the weakest one for me however.

96

This is the culmination of Jack White’s songwriting for the White Stripes.

I love De Stijl & all their albums (GBMS is the weakest by far), but this one is above all the others. I suspect the cause of their lower score on AOTY is two-fold:

-hipsters were angry that the WS were now as mainstream as Pearl Jam
&
-critics sick of the White Stripes fever that had been rampant the previous years (you couldn’t go a day without Seven Nation Army popping up on the radio - or even ... read more

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