On a sticky-hot Friday in July, Jack White did something supremely cool. He dropped one of his best albums in years without a word of hype. Unsuspecting shoppers who visited White’s Third Man Records storefronts in Nashville, Detroit and London left the shop that day with an unassuming LP tucked in their bag. Once the needle dropped on the album — in a plain sleeve and with a label bearing only the stamped phrase “No Name” — said shoppers discovered a riffy, rambunctious new collection of songs from modern rock music’s foremost mage. Songs like the eerily prophetic jam “Archbishop Harold Holmes” and punk burner “Bombing Out” made clear from first listen that White had made an album that — like all his best work — should be played at a wall-shaking volume. Weeks later, White widely released No Name, but not without playing a few pop-up shows that left followers largely praising his no-rules approach to the new LP — and wondering what else he’s got up his sleeve.
Best Surprise Album Drop
Jack White, 'No Name'
Album art: Jack White, 'No Name'
