After buying White Blood Cells, I had decided to buy either this or The White Stripes. I chose this, because it was the only one of the two I could find. Oh my God how pleased am I that I did. This is the best album I've ever heard.
There's no word for this album really apart from Amazing. If you've got White Blood Cells, the third of the albums to come along you'll have some idea of what this band is like. Now take that idea, throw in a big bag of Detroit rock, blues guitar riffs, cheerful harmonica tunes and hillbilly vocals, and you have what can only be described as a joyous...well...mess, of music.
The first track, You're Pretty Good Looking, is fantastic, combining puppy love singing and simple crunchy guitar. Hello Operator introduces the afor-mentioned harmonica, whilst maintaining the great guitareering. From then on it's slower, much more blue, but no less brilliant. These tracks make you feel lazy, until track 10, when it throws once again the rock guitaring and crashy drums at you with Let's build a home. The next track follows its example, and then its back to blues. The last track, a cover of Your Southern Can Is Mine is great, just like the whole damn album.
Just buy it. Please.

Only a few bands in history have been as consistantly excellent for their first four albums as the White Stripes. The Beatles, The Smiths, and Radiohead are the only three that come to mind(if I left anybody out let me know). The most obvious differences between De Stijl and the self titled album are the songwriting and the production. Jack's writing matured quite a bit on De Stijl, and the production is more polished, yet still raw enough to be considered vintage Stripes. "You're pretty good looking (for a girl)" is a solid opening track and more accessible than "Jimmy the Exploder" from the debut album. "Hello Operator" and "Little Bird" are two classic White Stripes songs. They feature some great blues guitar and Meg's thumping drums provide plenty of rhythm. Jack's voice is awesome as always, and it is a shame that he doesn't get more credit for his terrific vocals. On "I'm bound to pack it up" Jack plays a stand up bass. The song also features violin and maracas. Of course the cover of Son House's "Death Letter" is electrifying(they played the song live at the grammys recently, much to my delight). "Truth doesn't make a noise" is a mid-tempo acoustic piece with a piano accompaniement in a Dylan-esque tradition. "Let's build a home" is one of the best songs on the album. It's fast and to the point with some slide guitar mixed in between verses. They close the album with "Your southern can is mine", a very catchy acoustic blues sing along which is the perfect ending to The White Stripes most bluesy album. It will be nice to sit down and listen to this in about thirty years and just reminisce.

First of all, I think the Stripes gave this album the perfect name. De Stijl is the perfect description for their "minimalistic" sound. Bands just don't make music like this anymore. It is difficult to find words to do justice to this album...it is that good. This album has a very heavy blues influence, executed to perfection. My ratings of each song are:

You're Pretty Good Looking - 9 (very poppy, easily accessible)
Hello Operator - 10 (the harmonica is the icing on the cake)
Little Bird - 10 (my favorite, it ROCKS!!!)
Apple Blossom - 9 (Could have been on several Beatles albums)
I'm bound to Pack it Up - 9
Death Letter - 10 (great song, kind of a "rockabilly" sound)
Sister do You Know My Name - 10
Truth Doesn't Make a Noise - 10
A Boy's Best Friend - 10 (I absolutely LOVE this song...very bluesy)
Let's Build a Home - 10
Jumble, Jumble - 6 (I think the weakest song)
Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me? - 10
You're Southern Can is Mine - 10 (super catchy)

I realize that the Stripes' popularity is primarily due to White Blood Cells and Elephant. Those albums are good, but they are not nearly as strong as De Stijl. If you are a White Stripes fan, this is a must buy. For those who believe the Stripes are hype, this CD could change your mind.

Although White Blood Cells is Jack and Meg's commercial success, and Elephant is a very solid album, in my opinion De Stijl really captures what the White Stripes are about. It's much rawer than White Blood Cells or Elephant, but more tuneful than the debut, and is a very solid attempt at bluesy garage rock.

Well, for one thing De Stijl sounds very, very garagey. The production is gritty and honest, with almost no studio gloss present. The minimalist approach works wonders here.

Jack White is an excellent guitarist, and very proficient at the open-A, slide guitar blues of this album. His overpowering, rich guitar totally eclipses the need for a base player. On De Stijl, his vocals sound like that of a young Robert Plant. Although Meg is not the most competent drummer out there, she merely functions to keep time while Jack rips away on his guitar. Lyrics are simple yet often profound, with no pretension or angst rife among nu-metal bands these days.

Highlights include You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl), Hello Operator (got to love Meg's "solo"), Apple Blossom, I'm Bound To Pack It Up, Death Letter (my favorite), Truth Doesn't Make A Noise, and the hard rockers Let's Build A Home and Jumble Jumble. If there's a throwaway track, it's probably the weak cover of Your Southern Can Is Mine--way too much country for my liking.

This is the best White Stripes release, and captures everything good about this duo without overproduction or gimmicks. Recommended.

In De Stijl the Stripes arrive with thunder in the arena. Jack and Meg White (not brother and sister either - they used to be married) firmly plant themselves into rock history with this one. Somebody else said Jack sounds like some kind of Robert Plant novice on De Stijl (I agree), but when he gets to the next album (Cells) he becomes what Curt Cobain should have done eventually with Nirvanna or what Mick could have been if he had taken Jumpin' Jack Flash to the limit. So listen to this one knowing what is coming next is even better.

The Stripes don't sound like anybody else (no matter how hard we all try to draw parallels). Legions of other bands will be compared to them, not the other way around.

You're Pretty Good Looking let's Jack's guitar open throttle, not to mention setting his voice way back in your head where it won't go away. Sister, Truth, Pack It Up....all great tunes.....oh yeah, and what on earth possessed Meg for that rim solo on Hello Operator....that one won't go away either. There is way too much sound here for two people.....that other stuff you hear in the space in between is the sound of original rock lightning......and it's rare......there hasn't been a band like this one in 10 years. The only problem is somebody needs to help Jack with his lyrics.....house-couch-mouse......Jack....listen to some old Dylan or something, will ya?

Stripes make you realize that even if Green Day were the best of their era, this is how much better they could have been; this is how the Stones must have sounded at the Crawdaddy Club in 64; this is why all those hype-bands like the Hives & Vines will never last; this is nothing less than the start of the 3rd age of rock and roll. These guys have it.....the blinding future of rock may be in their hands.