Icky Thump - Reception

Reception

The album received very positive reviews, with an overall average rating of 80/100 at Metacritic. Barry Nicolson with British magazine NME wrote, "Icky Thump is brilliant, there's no way around that." Commenting on the album's "fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy," Heather Phares, with AMG, said "Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy" album, and that "it's just great fun to hear the band play." Jon Dolon, a critic for Blender magazine, remarked "It's the sound of a band not stretching out so much as digging in: burrowing deeper into loamy soil they know well." In one of the more negative reviews, Josh Tyrangiel with TIME magazine remarked, "The White Stripes are too weird and talented to be boring, but it sounds like they might be a little bored." Ultimately giving the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and giving an (A-) on his website, Robert Christgau, with Rolling Stone, summed up the return album this way "Although the new constructions don't entice as consistently as they should, their noise stays with you. And what that noise stands for is itself." He added, "Like his sometime heroes Led Zeppelin, Jack White builds monuments. They're suitable for awestruck visits. But they're no place to settle down."

On December 6, 2007, Icky Thump was nominated for four 2007 Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the single "Icky Thump", winning Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Q Magazine named Icky Thump as the 2nd best album of 2007. Furthermore, the album placed #17 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.