The White Stripes Detail 20th Anniversary ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ Companion Release
"Twenty years later and the album still stands out for how fresh and how timeless it sounds," Jack White's Third Man Records says.
The White Stripes photographed in 2007.
The “most misunderstood entry” in the White Stripes’ back catalog is getting a revisit for its 20th anniversary.
Released as part of the ongoing Vault subscription series from Jack White’s Third Man Records, Get Behind Me Satan XX comes packaged as part of a special two-record set alongside an additional 7″ record and a Blu-Ray, serving as a companion to the original 2005 album.
“Often mistaken as a break-up album, a treatise on fame, or a ‘piano’ album, the record is most accurately described in Jack White’s own words as focused on the truth,” a statement from Third Man Records reads. “The fact that it was in no way Elephant, Part 2 only further confused, infuriated, and/or beguiled many.
“Twenty years later and the album still stands out for how fresh and how timeless it sounds. In the face of newfound worldwide commercial success, no other contemporary rock band had the stones to introduce mandolin, tympani, hand bells and marimba into their arsenal, let alone embark on deep tours of both Central America and Eastern Europe. But as has long been established, the White Stripes were singular. They were never like anybody else. What enchants now, upon further reflection, is the disparate threads that all came together to make Satan so refreshing.”
The first disc of the new package comes front-stacked with previously-unreleased demos of the album and alternate studio takes. “At the same time both skeletal and enlightening, Jack White’s songwriting demos from 2004 and early 2005 – captured with zero concern for fidelity or thought that anyone else would ever hear them – are of prime excitement here,” the statement adds.
Meanwhile, the second disc features previously-unreleased live recordings from the album’s 2005 tour, while the additional 7″ record boasts “one of the great white whales in Stripes history”, a recording of the long sought-after “Spitting Tacks”. Additionally, the Blu-Ray captures footage of the band during a tour of Central and South America in support of the original record.
“Armed with a mini-DV camera and free reign to capture whatever caught his eye, David James Swanson tagged along on the White Stripes Central and South American tour in 2005,” Third Man Records added. “A soundcheck here, rabid fans singing along there, it’s all crystalline visual quality on a handheld scale. While it would be too grandiose to deem this a ‘film’, the collection of sequences and behind-the-scenes moments captured here are a striking, complimentary statement of the unique and chaotic time that the White Stripes inhabited in this era.”
In typical fashion, the nascent package is rounded out by an expansive archival booklet which collects photos, concert posters, a comprehensive list of tour dates, “and all the exhaustive details fans have come to expect from these anniversary editions”.
Released in June 2005 as the White Stripes’ fifth – and penultimate – album, Get Behind Me Satan peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and saw the group win the Grammy for Best Alternative Album the following year.
While the original album has been occasionally reissued since its original release, Third Man Records’ Vault editions are not typically reissued, with those interested in the Get Behind Me Satan XX advised to sign up to the Vault before Jan. 31st.
