Jack keeps proving that new riffs are endless. Many years ago, people were saying that classic hard rock is gone. Jack White shows up and proves everyone wrong and keeps doing it, IMO. Lazaretto is a good example, and it is heavily influenced by the 1980s.
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I think its cos he’s found success without being technically “good” at the instrument. He’s become massive off a kinda garage band sound and relatively sloppy live work, and dudes who are more technical proficient are probably a bit bitter.
But then I haven’t heard of much hate on Jack White really. I’ve heard negative comments about his playing but usually his songwriting is well received.
I’ve seen The White Stripes live at a festival and honestly they were one of the tighter acts there. Sure, they choose to use a lo-fi sound but the actual playing was pretty great.
At a certain point some guitarist who acquire a lot of skill start thinking about music like it’s figure skating and difficulty becomes the only standard they care about. Guitarists love Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and no one else does. White is the opposite side of that spectrum.
I used to play guitar like Satriani. Used to do about 5 hours practice a day, had real dedication to it (obviously family, work etc gets in the way after a while do I tailed off). Everyone said “dont learn all the theory, it ruins music” and tbh, it didnt. I think the people who hate White and co tend to have an inflated sense of ego or something. The two I remember that did hate him were into that prog and shred style. Cant really say its all.
I wasn’t aware of other guitarists hating on him. He did a show not that long ago where he jammed with The Edge and (I think) Jimmy Page and they all seemed to get along just fine.
It Might Get Loud is a fantastic documentary IMO. At the risk of making both of us feel old, it came out in 2008! The opening scene will go a long way into making someone a Jack White fan if you weren’t already.
I also wasn’t aware of the dislike from other guitarists.
OMG “a few years ago” is now 15 years
yeah i hate it too…
In not familiar with many people who genuinely hate Jack White. He’s never claimed to be a stellar guitarist and a lot of his career was built on this “I’m doing this with cheap gear and I’m not amazing but I’m still making great music and so can you!” vibe which was really awesome and inspirational for a ton of new players.
I will say that I understand when he gets criticism for performances that just come across as trying too hard to be different. His Star Spangled Banner for example. Not that I personally think you have to “sing it straight” as many would say, I’m all for experimentation… but I’m not sure I “get” what he was going for.
Creativity vs Theory. Jack isn’t technical by any means but does some creative stuff. Other guitarists dedicate their lives to theory and could run scales around him, but might not necessarily be more creative. I think there’s room for both, but some folks might disagree.
I quite like some of his stuff. The people I’ve seen moan about him tended to be those into prog or shred styles of guitar. Its a bit of a shame, but thankfully rare. I do think White sits on the edge of that nostalgia thing. Other bands like Boards of Canada also sit there.
