Elephant (2003)

Elephant is the fourth studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes. It was released on April 1, 2003 in the United States by V2 Records and in the United Kingdom by XL Recordings. It was produced by vocalist and guitarist Jack White, and was mostly recorded across two weeks at Toe Rag Studios in April and May 2002. Continuing the "back-to-basics" approach from the band's previous album, White Blood Cells (2001), it features lyrics about the "death of the sweetheart" in American popular culture.

Elephant reached the top ten of multiple territories, peaking at number six on the US Billboard 200 and topping the UK Albums Chart, and achieved multiple platinum status in several countries. It sold over four million units worldwide, making it the band's best-selling album. The album produced the hit singles "Seven Nation Army", "The Hardest Button to Button" and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", the first of which boosted its sales. The album received widespread critical acclaim and several accolades, including a nomination for Album of the Year and winning Best Alternative Music Album at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

Elephant is widely recognized as a key work of the 2000s indie and garage rock revivals, solidifying Jack and Meg White's leading positions in the movements. It has been named by several publications as the White Stripes's magnum opus and features on several publications' listings of the best albums of all time.

Recording and production

The White Stripes originally visited Toe Rag Studios late July 2001, at the behest of British drummer Bruce Brand, the day after a performance at the 100 Club in London, England. Brand and Toe Rag proprietor, Liam Watson, who served as the album's engineer, were in a band called the Masonics. The Masonics' U.S. agent arranged for them to open for the White Stripes during that performance and asked Brand to assist The White Stripes while they were in the United Kingdom. The White Stripes returned to the studio in November 2001 to record several songs: "It's True That We Love One Another", "You've Got Her in Your Pocket" and "Hypnotize", whereas "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" was recorded at BBC's Maida Vale Studios. They returned to Toe Rag again in April 2002 to record the rest of the album. On certain releases, "Hypnotize" was mistakenly marked as recorded in April, which was corrected on the 20th anniversary release. The White Stripes had planned to release the album in fall 2002, but the unexpected popularity of White Blood Cells pushed the release to spring 2003.

Toe Rag had a reputation within the garage rock world as the kind of studio artists "dreamed of recording at." The studio was chosen to escape the distractions of home by working in another country, as well as the fact that the Holly Golightly song "Indeed You Do" (from her 1997 album Painted On) had been recorded there. In contrast to supposedly hedonistic Los Angeles recording studios with "a cappuccino machine and video games between takes," according to guitarist and vocalist Jack White, Toe Rag was "claustrophobically cramped" and "freezing" with a virtually inoperable heat radiator, which forced them to concentrate on the work. In early 2000s, Toe Rag's location in Hackney was a notoriously violent area of London and a "harsh environment," regardless of which Jack considers it the "best studio experience [they've] ever had," and they found the studio "mind-blowing." All songs, including B-sides, were mixed in one day at the studio; Jack suggested the idea of mixing it at Abbey Road Studios, though Watson ultimately chose to do it at Toe Rag. Watson engineered the album in shifts of 6 hours at a time across approximately 10 days, although there were some days off during the two weeks booked at the studio in order to accommodate other work on the schedule such as concerts. The recording dates reportedly took place between April 24, and May 13, 2002. The album was recorded for a budget of a reported £4,000 (or £6,000 if accounting for the cost of the hotel stay and other extraneous expenses) and Jack returned in late September 2002 to re-record and remix certain vocals.