Jack White - Entering Heaven Alive

Album Review

Jul 24

Jack White

Entering Heaven Alive

Entering Heaven Alive has smooth, inviting edges; it's a floral couch offering you a seat after a long day, a cup of tea, and fifty minutes of peace.

Jack White has done something very few musicians have been able to, carve out 20+ very relevant years. As the old adage goes," 'anyone can get discovered; the hard part is building a career out of it once you are."

It's been 23 years since The White Stripes exploded onto the scene in 1999, and yet, here we are in 2022 with White's second album of the year.

You don't make it over two decades in the industry by sounding the same, time and time again. But even if, for the first time, there's no color blue on the album cover, it's undeniably a Jack White record.

At this point, White's established reputation affords him a few things:

1) the opportunity to experiment with genre
2) the freedom to play around with instrumentation
3) the ability to take chances on songs that a new artist simply doesn't have the fame or influence to take.

Entering Heaven Alive is Jack White's fifth solo album and his most tender, acting as the antithesis of his previous work, Fear of the Dawn.

While Fear of the Dawn was the sound of rock plugged straight into a computer and cranked up - Entering Heaven Alive is a more organic, patient, and gentle album focused on subtle songwriting and playful lyricism.

Fear of the Dawn was jagged, fearless, and defiantly rough around the edges - Entering Heaven Alive has smooth, inviting edges; it's a floral couch offering you a seat after a long day, a cup of tea, and fifty minutes of peace.

So, what gives?

Why make two albums in one year?

Why not make a double album instead?

Why create two albums with two wholly different and singular moods over 3 months?

Because he can.

It might take some time to acclimate to the weather on Entering Heaven Alive. The now 47-year-old singer-songwriter starts the album off with a piece of advice "Ask yourself if you are happy and then you cease to be."

This philosophic musing sets the stage for what's to come, an album reflecting on life, death, sins, love, and of course, the afterlife.

There's a fear and curiosity about what will happen after his death - particularly to his loved ones. On "If I Die Tomorrow," White focuses on his death's impact on his mother. On the very next song, "Please God, Don't Tell Anyone," he's begging God not to tell his father of his regressions.

This doesn't mean the album isn't playful, and as always, White is maneuvering all kinds of different genres.

"Queen of the Bees" is a bizarre tune, quite goofy, and stands out as an outlier to the comfortable feel of the record. Its cabaret organ and overly cute storytelling can't be ignored and stands out, a little too exposed in the middle of the record.

The patience mentioned above is littered throughout the album. After the opener, "A Tip From You to Me," which is exceptionally restrained - comes the reggae chord ridden "All Along the Way," which hits you with a wicked electric guitar lick in the middle, but never repeats and never overdoes it.

Meanwhile, introspective acoustic guitar songs like "Love is Selfish" harken back to the simplicity of previous smash hits like "We Are Going to Be Friends."

These poetic and vocally lead tunes work powerfully in short bursts, as they always have for White - but his vocals tend to wear thin when overextended - like on the nearly 5-minute "Help Me Along," that is anchored around the vocal track.

The previous Fear of the Dawn was quite frantic, with a pace that felt like a car with no brakes. It couldn't slow down. It didn't want to.

But Entering Heaven Alive has a wonderful speed and cruise control on a long road trip on a Summer day.

Every song on the album feels like it has the potential to break out into a big rock n' roll tune, but save for a moment here and there - the restraint wins out, with each song staying in that cruise control vibe.

Entering Heaven Alive is an album you can put on during a road trip or in the background when friends come over, and someone will perk up and ask, 'hey, what is this?' It's more amicable than his more brash solo albums while still pushing and exploring new paths.

Perhaps the best way to consider the career of Jack White is by looking at the album's finale, "Taking Me Back (Gently)." Flipping the lead single of his previous album on its head with a bluegrass-inspired, acoustic version.

It thoughtfully ends his second album of the year the way his first began, completing a loop of 2022 music.

More than that - it explores the importance of songwriting over anything. Whatever style or genre you put on a song can clearly work, showcasing that what is truly important is the songwriting behind the distortion, the production, and digital effects.

And that's what's made Jack White a mainstay in rock for 23 years - his songwriting is unparalleled and comes through no matter what spin or experimentation he sprinkles on top.

As a homage to the way he ended his second album, let's end this the same way we finished our last Jack White review, which is to say: rest assured - Rock is in good hands as long as White remains rightfully at the forefront.