The White Stripes have always been about simplicity.

For their first three albums, keeping true to this approach had been easy. They were still fairly hidden in a safe place reserved for critically acclaimed indie bands. But the White Stripes were bound to enjoy some type of broader success sooner or later. That it would be as immense and as widespread as the reception to their third album, "White Blood Cells", was nobody's guess.

For their fourth album, the challenge to keep things simple while still pushing forward seemed mighty. Their response is "Elephant". Recorded in a brief two-week stint at Liam Watson's Toe Rag studio in London, with no equipment dating past the epochal year of 1963, the band's fourth album is dedicated to "The Death of the Sweetheart".The sincere emotion that is the foundation of the 'feeling' you get listening to the White Stripes' music ties every song together.

This record will be remembered. Everything is laid out for the critics to pick and pull apart. Don't think too deep. Just listen. Turn off the outside world. Elephant will open the doors to a thousand different stories. This is not hype. This is an understatement. Like an elephant never forgets, you will remember "Elephant" forever
? XL