Jack White’s “Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016” anthologizes his unplugged material from the White Stripes to the Raconteurs and beyond, the unvarnished tunes of a top-notch songwriter.
Album versions, remixes and the previously unreleased “City Lights” add up to an engaging 26-track chronological collection which cries out for an electric companion to complete the portrait of rock’s most modern traditionalist.
“City Lights” got its start during sessions for the White Stripes’ 2005 record “Get Behind Me Satan” and was completed this year without Meg White. Appearing at nearly the mid-point of this 2-CD compilation, it’s a worthy addition to the canon, a fragile, vulnerable vocal gauging his sanity and paying homage to his “surest and safest bet.”
“Honey, We Can’t Afford to Look This Cheap” has John Prine-like subject matter, the song’s title an apt summary of its mood, while curio “Love Is the Truth,” written for a Coca-Cola ad shown just once, removes the Memphis Horns from the mix, can’t camouflage the clich?d lyrics and is over in a jiffy.
