Jack White must be stopped

There is probably no one person more important to, or better yet, representative of rock music in the aughts than Jack White. He's the front man of three successful rock bands -- The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, which just released it's second album, Sea of Cowards, in a little more than a year. He's even done what only a very select number of music artists get to do: compose and perform a James Bond theme song.

Jack White is everywhere. And I think it's about time he was stopped.

The reasons in favor of stopping Jack White have been mounting since what appears to have been his creative peak in 2005. He had recently produced Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose and The White Stripe's 5th LP, Get Behind Me Satan. With those two accomplishments to his credit, White was the new master of the Rock Universe. He had managed to make art of recycled Led Zep riffs and old roots motifs. No performer in his class was more well known.

Think about it. In 2008, White was selected to represent no less than his generation in the rock guitar documentary It Might Get Loud with Jimmy Page and The Edge. This despite the fact that White represented a "full-circle" back to the blues-based monster riffage of Page. Jonny Greenwood or Graham Coxon would have been much more suitable choices for the instrument's evolving place in rock (and both, like Page and the Edge, from the British Isles).

By the time that film came out, White had the ability to treat the public to any and all of his musical whims. Each, an artistic step backwards. The Raconteurs was interesting, but a bit conventional. Now, the Dead Weather are a Page and Plant parody. It doesn't take a lot of time listening to Sea of Cowards to realize that the album's jams were probably written and recorded in a week's time. It's throw-away arena blues.

The White we have now is one that no one would ever say no to. The next logical step for him would be to record a 1-track, 45-minute-long album of guitar feedback (no need to play, he'll plug in and prop it against one of those great vintage cabs he uses) while he plays kazoo and a half-dozen monkeys beat a dozen various pots and pans. He could make that record. And I bet it would sell....

The thing is, White deserves his fame. He is a remarkable talent, even if he is a museum piece of sorts. With the White Stripes, he managed to resurrect a number of old forms in a compelling way. The White Stripes are a great act -- an aesthetically coherent work of rock as art. And at its best, the band really kicks ass at high volume.

White needs to stop indulging himself with the kind of easy-selling sludge that diminishes his artistic value (It's not like The White Stripes records don't sell). I can understand getting tired of playing with nothing but a drummer (who can just barely play at that). He's a great artist and should experiment, and perhaps even fail, like he so clearly has with The Dead Weather. But there's nothing experimental to the Dead Weather or, for that matter, The Raconteurs. White's original project remains his most artistically exciting.

Sure, he should stretch out, but with The Dead Weather, White is not simply in danger of watering down his output. It's already a watery, tasteless, bluesy soup.