Since the announcement of its existence, Blunderbuss, the first solo album from modern blues mastermind and guitar extraordinaire Jack White, elicited much media and devotee anticipation, as well as apprehension, for the album’s April 24, 2012 release date. Jack White was the man behind the outlandish color-coordinated Detroit rock duo The White Stripes, who with hits like “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and “Seven Nation Army” revived rock music and brought the blues to an unexpecting but ever so grateful generation. Jack White was the man behind the blues-folk band The Raconteurs and psychedelic-blues band The Dead Weather, both of which never failed to shock and satisfy eager audiences. But White hadn’t put out a record with one of his bands since The Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards in 2010 and with the 2011 announcement that The White Stripes had officially retired, despite his own vocal objections, fans and critics alike wondered whether or not White was completely invested into his new role of the individual. But with Blunderbuss, White did not disappoint.
The album features tracks with aspects of all that pleased the fans of his other bands: the roaring guitar of The White Stripes, the folksy vibe of The Raconteurs, and the darkness of the Dead Weather. But the album also possesses an unprecedented complexity including a thrilling array of lyrics that denote disturbingly detailed images (“Cut off the bottoms of my feet, make me walk on salt” from “Freedom at 21”) while eliciting honest emotion and prudent insight into the cruel nature of love and loss (“I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me” from “Love Interruption”) as well as intricate musical arrangements that range from the crisp, screaming guitar that drives “Sixteen Saltines” to the pounding piano of “I Guess I Should Go to Sleep.”
Much like the artist himself, the album is full of creativity and wisdom, and while it is unique from