Elephant (album)
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox album Elephant is the fourth studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes. It was released on April 1, 2003 in the United States by V2 Records and in the United Kingdom by XL Recordings. Produced by vocalist and guitarist Jack White, it continues the "back-to-basics" approach from the band's previous album White Blood Cells (2001), foregoing computers and utilizing gear no more recent than 1963. It was mostly recorded across two weeks at Toe Rag Studios in April and May 2002,Template:Efn and features lyrics about the "death of the sweetheart" in American popular culture.
Elephant reached the top ten of multiple territories, peaking at number six on the US Billboard 200 and topping the UK Albums Chart, and achieved multiple platinum status in several countries. The album produced the hit singles "Seven Nation Army", "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" and "The Hardest Button to Button", the first of which boosted its sales. Considered to be the band's magnum opus, Elephant received widespread critical acclaim and several accolades, including a nomination for Album of the Year and winning Best Alternative Music Album at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Elephant is widely recognized as an influential and seminal work of the 2000s garage rock revival, solidifying Jack and Meg White's leading positions in the movement, and has been named by several publications as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album has sold over four million units worldwide, making it the band's best-selling album.
Recording and production
The White Stripes recorded Elephant over ten days in April through May 2002 at Toe Rag Studios in London, with the exception of "It's True That We Love One Another", "Hypnotize" and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" being recorded in November 2001, with the latter taking place at BBC's Maida Vale Studios.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On certain releases, "Hypnotize" was mistakenly marked as recorded in April,<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> which was corrected on the 20th anniversary release.<ref name=":2" />
Guitarist and vocalist Jack White produced the album with antiquated equipment, including an 8-track tape machine and pre-1960s recording gear.<ref name="Fridge">Fridge, David (April 17, 2003), "Living Color". Rolling Stone. (920): 102</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Computers were not used during ElephantTemplate:'s writing, recording, or production, and the equipment utilized was no more recent than 1963.<ref name="katchen">Katchen, Andrew (March 29, 2003), "White Stripes Stay Pure on 'Elephant'". Billboard. 115(13):9</ref><ref name="mojo">Various artists (November 1, 2007), "The White Stripes Elephant". The Mojo Collection—The Ultimate Music Companion (4th Edition). Canongate Books.</ref><ref name="SWEET">Cameron, Keith (March 28, 2003), "The sweetheart deal" Template:Webarchive. The Guardian. Retrieved December 12, 2014.</ref> The band often exhausted the limits of the 8-track recorder, particularly on "There's No Home for You Here", for which Jack said "I think how far we went is too far."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Music and lyrics
.jpg)
Elephant is a garage rock,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> blues rock,<ref name="Allmusic">Template:Cite web</ref> and punk blues<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> record that advances the "back to basics" approach from the White Stripes's previous album, White Blood Cells (2001).<ref name="Pareles">Template:Cite news</ref> The band expanded their style with a bass line alongside lead and rhythm guitar, in addition to greater use of keyboards and pianos.<ref name="Pareles" /> Jack infamously used a DigiTech Whammy pedal to mimic the sound of a bass guitar for several of Elephant's tracks. He did so in "Seven Nation Army" and "The Hardest Button to Button" by connecting a semi-acoustic guitar to the pedal and lowering the pitch by an octave.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":18">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ukcd">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
Jack wrote most of the lyrics on Elephant, and its music was composed by the band. Its main themes revolve around the idea of the "death of the sweetheart" in both American culture and popular culture.<ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref> Jack observed that "You look at your average teenager with the body piercings and the tattoos. You have white kids going around talking in ghetto accents because they think that makes them hard. It's so cool to be hard. We're against that." Other themes on the record include love, demonstrated by tracks such as "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" and "In the Cold, Cold Night",<ref name=":133">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":17">Template:Cite book</ref> and perseverance, demonstrated by "Little Acorns".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The tracks "You've Got Her in Your Pocket" and "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine" were written in the band's earlier years, and rerecorded for the album.<ref name=":17" /> With Elephant, Meg hoped to show that "it's O.K. not to care about anything. Everything can be judged, everything can be trashed."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Elephant marks some firsts for the band. The album features White Stripes drummer Meg White performing leading vocals for the first time ("In the Cold, Cold Night"), having only performed background vocals for De Stijl and White Blood Cells previously.<ref name=":133" /> Prior to its recording, she built her confidence by singing solo live.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It also features Mort Crim as the speaking voice on "Little Acorns" and Holly Golightly as a guest vocalist in "It's True That We Love One Another";<ref name="linernote">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> it is the only album of their discography to feature singers other than Jack and Meg.
Artwork
Similar to the band's other albums, Elephant's cover art and liner notes are exclusively in red, white, and black.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> On the reverse side of the US edition, all of the number "3"s are in red (disregarding the authorization notes at the bottom).<ref name=":8" /> The cryptic symbolism of the album art includes a skull sitting on the floor in the background, as well as peanuts and peanut shells in the foreground, and on the circus travel trunk appears the mark "III", Jack's signature.<ref name=":9" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jack is displaying a mano cornuta and looking at a light bulb intensely, while Meg is barefoot and appears to be crying, with a rope tied around her ankle and leading out of frame. Both have small white ribbons tied to their fingers. In an interview with Q Magazine in 2007, Jack said, "If you study the picture carefully, Meg and I are elephant ears in a head-on elephant. But it's a side view of an elephant, too, with the tusks leading off either side." He went on to say, "I wanted people to be staring at this album cover and then maybe two years later, having stared at it for the 500th time, to say, 'Hey, it's an elephant!'"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref>
The album has been released with at least six different versions of the front cover—different covers for the CD and LP editions in the US, the UK and elsewhere.<ref>The White Stripes official website Template:Webarchive, index to album artwork including covers, page 1 of 3. Page retrieved June 21, 2007.</ref> On the US CD edition, Meg is sitting on the left of a circus travel trunk and Jack is sitting on the right holding a cricket bat over the ground,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while on the UK CD edition, the cricket bat touches the ground and the image is mirrored so that their positions on the trunk are reversed. The UK vinyl album cover is the same as the US CD, but differs in that the color hues are much darker. The Record Store Day 2013 vinyl and August 2013 180-gram black vinyl reissues have Meg wearing a black dress instead of the usual white dress; the only other release with Meg wearing the black dress was on the V2 advanced copy back in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The advanced copy was on red and white vinyl, while the RSD copy has red, black and white colored vinyl in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A 20th anniversary limited edition has Jack wearing all white similar to the limited 2003 Australian pressing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The artwork of Elephant has become iconic.<ref name=":14" /> It appeared on Billboard's list of "The 100 Best Album Covers of All Time".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Promotion and release
.jpg)
The track list for Elephant was announced in January 2003 to NME,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and four singles were announced to promote the album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After a debate with XL Recordings,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Seven Nation Army" was released as the lead single on February 17.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The song peaked at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band's first entry on the chart,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while reaching the top 10 in the United Kingdom and entering multiple international territories.<ref name=":22">Template:Cite web</ref> The success of "Seven Nation Army" boosted the album's reach and sales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March, it was given to NME for an early review.<ref name=":18" /> The White Stripes were set to tour that same month, but postponed after Meg broke her wrist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Elephant was officially released on April 1 by V2 Records in the United States and XL in the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band began their promotional tour on June 13, and performed for six weeks across North America until July 23.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" was released as the second single on September 1,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> which became their first work to chart in the Netherlands and New Zealand.<ref name="NOR3">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NZ3">Template:Cite web</ref> "The Hardest Button to Button" was released as the third single on November 17,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Efn which peaked in the top 10 of the US Alternative Songs chart and drew attention for its music video.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The fourth and final single, "There's No Home for You Here", was released on March 15, 2004 and failed to replicate the success of its predecessors.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> That same year, the band released their first concert film, Under Blackpool Lights, which entered multiple charts.<ref>Template:Cite magazineTemplate:Dead link</ref>
Elephant has continued to be reissued by Jack's Third Man Records, notably on anniversary dates. In 2013, Third Man Records released a limited edition vinyl reissue of Elephant, in celebration of the album's 10-year anniversary, which were pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2023, a mono remix of the album, titled Elephant XX, was announced and later released exclusively through Third Man Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That same year, a deluxe edition for the anniversary was released with live recordings from a performance in Chicago's Aragon Ballroom.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Critical reception
Elephant received widespread acclaim from music critics; review aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalized score of 92 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:AllMusic</ref> In a perfect 5 star review, AllMusic critic Heather Phares said Elephant "overflows with quality".<ref name="Allmusic" /> David Fricke of Rolling Stone called Elephant "a work of pulverizing perfection," and believed it exceeded "the plantation holler of 2000's De Stijl and 2001's White Blood Cells with blues that both pop and bleed".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> John Mulvey of NME rated the album 9/10 and stated that "The eloquence, barbarism, tenderness and sweat-drenched vitality of Elephant make it the most Template:Sicrealised White Stripes album yet."<ref name="nme" /> The Los Angeles Times's Robert Hilburn claimed that the band earned more respect "than any other U.S. band since Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails" and compared the listening experience of Elephant to "playing chess with a tournament pro -- an experience so full of unexpected twists and turns that you find yourself trying to guess where he's (Jack) going, only to marvel at his choices."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called Elephant their "apotheosis" and wrote that "the White Stripes' music seems almost elemental, their power undeniable: it is clear why they are the only band to have transcended the indie ghetto."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Uncut magazine remarked that "Elephant is where the tabloid phenomenon of summer 2001 prove they are no flash in the pan by making a truly phenomenal record."<ref>Byline unknown (May 2003), "Elephant". Uncut. volume unknown: 94</ref> In contrast, Jon Pareles of The New York Times, while praising the continuation of their "back to basics" template, felt that "the quest—for something that might as well be called heart—is still ahead of them."<ref name="Pareles" /> Rob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly deemed Elephant a "front-loaded Jack White powerhouse" and called the band half-talented, criticizing Meg's drumming.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork was similarly negative in his review, believing Jack's blending of elements seemed superficial and Meg's drumming was "pancake-handed".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lorraine Ali of Newsweek criticized the band's gimmicks but concluded that the album "still sounds great."<ref>Ali, Lorraine (April 14, 2003), "The Second Coming". Newsweek. 141 (15):57</ref>
Elephant was named the best album of 2003 by Loudwire,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> NME,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Spin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also placed highly in other end-of-year lists, including The Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop" poll and The Guardian's roundup.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The record netted the band their first Grammy Awards at the 2004 ceremony, winning the Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song ("Seven Nation Army") awards, in addition to the band's only nomination for the Album of the Year award.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref> It also won Best International Album at the 2004 Meteor Music Awards,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was nominated for Best Album at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards,<ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref> International Album at the 2004 Brit Awards,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Best Album at the 2004 Shockwaves NME Awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Commercial performance
Elephant entered the Billboard 200 at number six after first week sales of 126,000 units and spent 58 weeks on the chart, the longest of any White Stripes album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was certified platinum in the United States in September 2003, and ended the year at number 57 on the Billboard 200.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> That same month, it received a platinum certification in Canada.<ref name="MC">Template:Cite certification</ref> In the UK, the album topped the UK Albums Chart and spent 55 weeks on the chart.<ref name=":22" /> It was certified double platinum in October 2003 and finished the year at number 22 on the UK Albums Chart.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In October 2009, Elephant was certified double platinum in Australia.<ref name="ARIA-2009-albums">Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2023, ahead of the album's 20th anniversary, it received a double platinum certification in the United States.<ref name="RIAA">Template:Cite certification</ref> By December 2003, the album was certified triple platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom.<ref name=":22" /> As of 2025, Elephant has earned the most certifications of any White Stripes album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Legacy
Since its release, Elephant has been cited by critics as a landmark album of the 2000s garage rock revival and the White Stripes's best work.<ref name="Fridge" /><ref name="SWEET" /><ref name=":15">Template:Cite web</ref> Sarah Boden of The Guardian observed that, by the end of the 2000s, "nobody matched Jack and Meg when it came to creating a colossal sound out of such basic ingredients. Elephant, after all, was the release that banished preconceptions about the White Stripes' self-consciously limiting format and affirmed that they were consistently and swaggeringly magnificent."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tom Breihan of Stereogum deemed the album as the band's "show-and-prove moment. They showed, and they proved." Breihan further wrote that "the vast majority of Elephant holds together as a mean, surly, pretty statement of rock dominance. The pressure was on, but they weren't gonna crack."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ultimate Classic RockTemplate:'s Michael Gallucci declared that Elephant sparked a "rock revolution" and made guitar-based music prominent again, calling it a "masterpiece".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2003, a month before its release, NME ranked Elephant at 74 on their list of the "100 Best Albums of All Time" list.<ref name=":16">Template:Cite journal</ref> Halfway through the 2000s, it appeared in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref> In 2009, Billboard ranked it at number nine in its list of the Top 20 Albums of the Decade.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite magazine</ref> That same year, Rolling Stone ranked it number five on their list of the 100 Best Albums of the 2000s.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Other publications that included Elephant on their decade-best albums lists include Complex,<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref> Consequence,<ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref> NME,<ref name=":19">Template:Cite web</ref> Paste,<ref name=":20">Template:Cite web</ref> Pitchfork,<ref name=":21">Template:Cite web</ref> Spin,<ref name=":23">Template:Cite web</ref> Slant,<ref name=":24">Template:Cite web</ref> and Uncut<ref name=":25">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Elephant at 390 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, dropping it to 449 in the 2020 revision.<ref name="500-greatest">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2013, NME ranked the album 114 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.<ref name=":26">Template:Cite web</ref> Also in 2013, readers at Mojo voted Elephant as the most influential album of the last 20 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, The Guardian ranked it 48 on their The 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Newsweek ranked it 81 on their 100 Best Rock Albums of All Time;<ref name=":27">Template:Cite web</ref> the same publication ranked it 13 on their 50 Best Rock Albums from the 21st Century in 2021.<ref name=":28">Template:Cite web</ref>
Olivia Rodrigo said Elephant is the album she listens to most.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In a Spin article, artists who cited the album as an inspiration include Ron Gallo, Rob Miller, Brett Newski, Mike Peters, Slug, Bela Salazar, Gina Schock, Imaad Wasif, Charlie Wayne, and Nancy Wilson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Track listing
Notes
- The Japanese release of Elephant includes "Who's to Say" (Dan Miller) and "Good to Me" (Brendan Benson, Jason Falkner) as bonus tracks.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
- On some releases of Elephant, track 14 is mistitled as "Well It's True That We Love One Another".<ref name="linernote" />
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 The White Stripes
- Jack White – vocals, guitar, piano, production, mixing
- Meg White – drums, vocals
Guest personnel
- Mort Crim – vocal
- Holly Golightly – vocal
Production
- Liam Watson – engineering, mixing
- Miti – engineering (track 4)
- Noel Summerville – mastering
Artwork
- Bruce Brand – layout
- "The Third Man" – artwork
- Patrick Pantano – photographyTemplate:Col-end
Charts
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
Weekly charts
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|
Year-end charts
| Chart (2003) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 45 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 43 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 58 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 83 |
| French Albums (SNEP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 137 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 75 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 16 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 74 |
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 22 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 57 |
| Chart (2004) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 57 |
| French Albums (SNEP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 128 |
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 153 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 173 |
Certifications
Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Summary Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Template:The White Stripes Template:Jack White Template:Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album Template:Authority control