10 Most Underappreciated Rock Albums
6. Jack White - Lazaretto
The White Stripes were one of the breakout bands of the 2000s. In particular their albums White Blood Cells and Elephant were monsters. The duo (husband and wife? Brother and sister? Just great mates? Who knows?) split in 2011 leaving frontman Jack to go solo.
2012’s Blunderbuss was good, but not great. It lacked…something. In 2014, Jack found that something, and, with Lazaretto, gave us a record that is as good as, but will never be as successful as, his former band’s monstrous duology.
Sure, he’s still doing the same country, folk, garage alt-rock thing he’s always done, but there’s an extra assuredness on this record that feels like Black's coming out of his shell as a solo artist. Meg White was often accused of being extraneous to Jack’s talent but, even with Jack’s precociousness, she was part of the White Stripes puzzle and, it could be argued, her absence from Third Man Records in 2012 may have been the hole that needed filling. Lazaretto’s lyrics, adapted from stories and poems Jack wrote as a teen, perhaps filled the gaps of his past and allowed him to move into the future.
Standout Tracks: Three Women, Lazaretto, Temporary Ground, Would You Fight For My Love?, Just One Drink, Alone In My Home, That Black Bat Liquorice.