Under Great White Northern Lights is the first live album from
the White Stripes for the 2009
rockumentary film of the same name covering the band's summer 2007 tour in
Canada. The album featured songs recorded by the band, during their tour and has accompanied the film's DVD release on March 16, 2010.
Third Man Records distributed the album in CD and vinyl formats, which also included a box set. At the
53rd Annual Grammy Awards, the box set won
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package.
Release The album was released on March 16, 2010 by
Third Man Records and
Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Canada, and
XL Recordings internationally. A week ahead of its release, it was made available for an exclusive listen at the
National Public Radio website. It is available as both a CD and 180-gram vinyl LP. A limited edition box set containing the film was released on March 16, 2010. The box set includes the documentary, the 16-track live album CD, and the same 16-track live album on 180-gram vinyl. Exclusive components to the box set includes a live 7" single featuring "Icky Thump" on one side and "The Wheels on the Bus" (records live in Winnipeg on July 2, 2007) on the other, a 208-page hardcover book of photographs from the tour, one of six possible silkscreen prints, and a DVD of the band's 10th anniversary show in
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, entitled
Under Nova Scotian Lights.
Reception Aggregator
Metacritic, which uses a
weighted average, assigned
Under Great White Northern Lights a score of 78 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ryan Dombal of
Pitchfork felt that the box set reinforces "the White Stripes' mythology and displays the awesome power of their live show". Commenting on the songs and the packaging, he felt that it "sounds ridiculously heavy, with many songs easily trumping their studio counterparts, but the LP is also relatively linear and song-based". Heather Phares of
AllMusic wrote "Since a big part of the Stripes’ live show also rests on their visuals, the Under Great White Northern Lights DVD gives the complete experience, but this album is satisfying enough to make it a must for most fans." Whitney Pastorek of
Entertainment Weekly commented that the album "does a great job of highlighting both sides of The White Stripes' carefully controlled public persona." Anthony Lombardi of PopMatters wrote "
Under Great White Northern Lights feels like an appropriate recap of the unprecedented path the White Stripes have blazed over the past decade. For as long as the lack of a proper live release has created a hole in their otherwise peerless catalog, the delayed appearance of this record was well worth the wait and is an inarguably deserving crown on the superlative career-thus-far of Jack and Meg. If you’ve regrettably missed out on the band’s raging, unrivaled live show, this set does the volume-cranking, sweltering intensity they create some overdue justice. As a stand-alone release, it’s impressive; as a document and celebration of the greatest band of 21st century (sorry, Radiohead), it’s imperative." Andrzej Lukowski of
Drowned in Sound wrote "It looks likely that a new record will happen, which is good, because
Under Great White Northern Lights would be a funny postscript. It's not particularly revelatory, less cohesive a concert film than
Under Blackpool Lights, and in no way intimates that the band was about to go into hiatus. Really, it serves, more than anything else, as a reminder of just how singularly odd the White Stripes are, and how boring things are without them around." Jesse Cataldo of
Slant Magazine wrote "This isn’t the first album to communicate that feeling, but it does it with a wonderful level of abandon. In achieving this,
Northern Lights captures the live show as circus, the aura where group participation and the raggedness of improvisation supersedes a faithful rendering of songs, an interpretation that, if not always satisfying to listen to, is at least fascinating to behold." Chris Coplan of
Consequence commented "Each track is darker and deeper and more bluesy and eccentric and haggard and just as beautifully catchy." Will Dean of
The Guardian wrote "UGWNL is a live album for those who were there, and unless you're one of 600
Iqalummiut fans, you probably weren't." Andy Gill of
The Independent commented that the album and the film is "a strong affirmation of the principles of directness and immediacy which have served The White Stripes so well."
Track listing Personnel •
Jack White – vocals, guitars, keyboards, synthesizer •
Meg White – drums, percussion, vocals • Hector MacIsaac – bagpipes
Chart performance Certifications ==References==