Spin Magazine, back in the '90s, had an article titled something like "top ten albums owned by people who hate music." I don't remember what all was on there; Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was one, Pearl Jam's Ten was another. It was basically a collection of all the shit that you got from Columbia House because the choices were so limited. Charles Mudede made a similar argument in The Stranger back in the early '00s that the Fugees were the worst thing that ever happened to rap music because they crushed the soul of black protest under a veneer of misappropriated Enya hooks. So I get his point. I've always thought the White Stripes were for people who wanted the street cred of listening to the Velvet Underground but didn't want to actually have to listen to music.
I've always liked Jack White. He's done a lot of good for Detroit and what not, he's got a great label for people to come in and record honestly. But however anyone feels about his music, anyone that claims he's not an absolute master guitarist is just lying to themselves. The guy can play the living hell out of a guitar, and that always seems to be missed when talking about anything else about him.