Here’s a high-level recap of the new White Stripes album for those of you studying for the SATs:

Load:Metallica::Get Behind Me Satan:White Stripes

Just like Metallica’s break from their fan-embraced roots during a critical time for the band members, the new Stripes album is following suit and is going to piss off a lot of White Stripes fans.

However, true music aficionados are going to embrace the giant leap forward that is “Get Behind Me Satan,” and I hope you’ll listen past the single/first track before you make up your mind.

Featuring the first White Stripes song with naval references, another Meg-singing track (”Passive Manipulation,” which stays within her range and doesn’t leave her quite so vulnerable), maracas, hand drums, marimba and the genius that is Jack White, “Satan” is going to lose a lot of fair-weather Stripes fans. And frankly, I’m glad. This is the loudest acoustic album you’ll hear this year, and it rocks.

Jack White is synonymous with gritty, DIY rock. During a live show, this one man fills out the stage monitors with an entire ensemble’s sound, and “Satan” takes it to the next level. But the true test will be on stage during this summer’s tour, the venue for which White writes.

“Satan” features standard White Stripes bluesy-rock fare like “Instinct Blues” and “My Doorbell,” where I can only assume that Jack White and Brendan Benson have a running bet about how fast one can say “Well I’m thinking about my doorbell,” and Jack White is winning the contest. Your move, Benson.

Other tracks like, “As Ugly As I Seem,” pick up where Loretta Lynn and a role in “Cold Mountain” left off with a bluegrass tune that only Jack White could make seem cool. Is “Take Take Take” about Rita Hayworth, Tom Hanks’ wife, or a running tribute to the Scissor Sisters? You decide.

But the high note was selecting “Blue Orchid,” as the first single proves White’s “yes, I can sing in falsetto and make the ladies blush” confidence. It’s also a continuation of the group’s propensity to break the rules and win every time.

Three days before the album is slated to drop, White’s publicist announced an Amazon wedding between White and British model Karen Elson in a canoe by a shaman priest. Reuters, AP and the rest of the wire services quickly buzzed the news across the globe, including a tag about a first marriage for both (hardcore Stripes fans know Meg and Jack were married until 2000).

Such is the power of mystery White lives in his daily life and carries through in his music. “Satan” is that next stop. Your move, Benson.

The White Stripes’ “Get Behind Me Satan” hits stores June 7, 2005 from Third Man/V2 Records.