Formed around the core of old friends Jack White of the White Stripes and fellow Detroit musician Brendan Benson, The Raconteurs??? debut album Broken Boy Soldiers sees White playing apart from his "sister"-muse Meg for the first time in almost a decade. Backed up by a rhythm section of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of The Greenhornes, who Jack previously enlisted to play on Loretta Lynn???s 2004 album Van Lear Rose, this is a grit-under-the-fingernails rock offering, but with an ear for eclecticism that brings to mind classic rock touchstones from the Beatles??? Revolver to Led Zep???s Physical Graffiti. "Steady As She Goes" is a catchy, robust rock opener that bears resemblance to the Stripes??? choppy garage-rock minimalism, but before long, The Raconteurs are writing their own brief, White and Benson weaving Lennon-McCartney style vocal harmonies on the likes of "Hands" and "Together", or summoning up a clamourous sense of runaway-train doom on the White-sung "Broken Boy Soldier". It???s sturdy and enjoyable, in a familiar sort of way, but the eccentric "Intimate Secretary" ("This ringing in my ears won???t stop/I???ve got a red Japanese teapot") aside, it lacks the offbeat eccentricity and one-of-a-kind chemistry that makes the Stripes unique. --Louis Pattison

This album is amazing. It's not the white stripes so don't compare it to them, just listen and make up your own mind. A few years down the line this will be considered a classic album.

The more I listen to this album, the more derivative it sounds, but the music is so good, who cares? Brendan Benson and Jack White are such talented artists and they complement one another brilliantly, both musically and vocally. There's not a bad song on this album and it has to be a classic. I'd say there's something to appeal to everyone who likes good music, but my personal favourite is the lovely Steady As She Goes. We keep playing it in the car, makes long journeys go by in an instant.

The Raconteurs is a side-project; a break from the day job for four established musicians, most notably Jack White. These guys are not trying to change the world with `Broken Boy Soldiers', they are merely enjoying themselves and this point seems to have been lost on some reviewers.

The album should not be judged in the context of other releases by White or Benson but be viewed for what it is; a great rock album - no more no less.

In just over 33 minutes the band rip through a dizzying range of styles. It almost feels like a potted history of rock. `Steady As She Goes's loping bassline and quiet-loud guitar dynamic instantly recalls Pixies; `Hands' is a grand guitar-pop number reminiscent of `Bends'-era Radiohead and the title track is mutant 70s blues-rock a la Led Zeppelin.

`Intimate Secretary' is a great indie-thrash track with superbly eccentric lyrics: `I gotta rabbit it likes to hop/I gotta girl and she likes to shop' which make you smile until the band come out with: `I had an uncle but he got shot'. The smooth sound of `Together' reminded me weirdly of `Easy' by the Commodores, but that might be just me.

`Store Bought Bones' features a blast of squally guitars which would be quite at home on a Butthole Surfers track whilst the album closes with the bar-room blues of `Call It a Day' and `Blue Veins', the latter quite creepy and experimental.

The songwriting and musicianship are is of a very high standard throughout, all of the tracks are so different to each other but memorable in their own way. Love it, great fun.

This album has musical shades of the late Beatles, prog rock and '70s Bowie. That should be a great thing, yeah? Not in this case. There is nothing original in this album - from the Elvis Costelloesque opening to the Crazy World of Arthur Brown-like organ of "Store Bought Bones".
There are some interesting musical styles meshed together here from the blues rock (a la Led Zeppelin) of the album's title track to the thumping funk of "Level". Its a well played and well sung work, which, in overview, makes for a fun, rocky, indie album.
Despite these good points though, I can't help thinking "what other song does this one sound like" everytime a new track starts.
When their lead singer sings the line "I'm adding something new to the mixture" amidst the, once again, slightly fimiliar sounding "Together" ("Easy Like a Sunday Morning"?!?) I'm forced to ponder WHERE!!!
Not bad, but definately not great.

A lot of people seem to be saying "better than the White Stripes". I'm not really sure about that. It's just less blues-based, less stripped-down and probably as a result, more accessible.

I saw The Raconteurs at Leeds Festival last year, and they were simply the best band of the entire weekend - that I saw. They just knocked the entire audience flat. So tight, and real heavy. The album isn't as heavy as the live performance but it's tunes are beautifully infectious and sing-a-long, inventive, and yes, poppy.

Now, since I got an iPod, I have been making a playlist of all my favourite tunes from whatever records I put on it. And the thing with the Raconteurs album is that I haven't put even one song on that playlist. And the reason for that is that I like them all. I can't pick one, two or even three that I like above the rest. So there's no point in putting the whole thing on a playlist. This is the only album that I have so far had this problem with. I think that's quite high praise.