Sixteen tracks, and only 40 minutes and 30 seconds long. Such are the stats for the White Stripes' third album, White Blood Cells, which broke them big in the US with the punchy, catchy crazy frantic hit "Fell in Love with a Girl." Following that, hype attracted them like… I dunno, lots of hype, though. And, when it comes down to consumers, they were polarized. Some people "don't get it," and hate it, while others "get it" and love it.

So how does this album stack up? Pretty damned well, if I do say so myself. It's diverse, for one thing. Acoustic innocence in "We're Going to Be Friends," frantic riffin' on "Fell in Love with a Girl," failed experimentation on "Aluminium," and country-ish bop on "Hotel Yorba." And that's just 4 of the 16 tracks here. Given that I don't think anybody goes to this site to read through a review of 16 individual songs, I will once again stray from that format.

Instead, I will blindly praise the album with some interjections as to why its score isn't the highest I could have given it. Aside from the diversity, Meg white is an excellent drummer who knows what to play and when. Jack White's high pitched screeching can grate on one's nerves, but if it doesn't have that effect on you… you should be fine.

Their sound here, compared to the last two outings, have once again taken a revamp, as well. Gone are the blues flourishes from De Stijl, and, with the exception of "Fell in Love with a Girl," gone is the punky sound that marked all the tracks of their first album. Every song here has something to like about it, except for "Aluminium," whether it be Meg White's pounding drums or Jack White's vocals, lyrics or guitar riffs. "We're Going to Be Friends" is one of the very, very few acoustic Stripes songs, and it's the best one here. So innocent and simple… A grade school love song; very beautiful.

Now, for my gripes: "Aluminium" is just… there. Rather grating, rather interesting to listen to. It's like someone (*cough*Jack White*cough*) decided to have a field day with the distortion effects on vocals and guitars while recording the album, then decided throw it in there for the hell of it.

It almost runs out of steam after this song, too. "Now Mary" picks up the ball and runs around with it for a minute (…plus 50 seconds), and was a close candidate for "best song," but then again, so was just about everything else. The piano and vocal-driven "This Protector" makes a soft closer to a mostly loud, guitar-centric album, which also happens to be one of the best releases of 2001.