Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	92/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	9/10
Pitchfork Media	6.9/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	A
Uncut

Elephant is the fourth album by the American alternative rock duo The White Stripes. Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, its release garnered near unanimous critical acclaim and commercial success, garnering a nomination for Album of the Year and a win for Best Alternative Music Album at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, peaking at No. 6 in the US Billboard charts and topping the UK album charts.

In later years the album has often been cited as the White Stripes' best work and one of the best albums of the 2000s; Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 390th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and later, the fifth-best of the decade. Third Man Records released a limited edition red, black and white vinyl reissue of "Elephant" on April 20, 2013, in celebration of the album's 10-year anniversary, as a Record Store Day exclusive.

Elephant is the White Stripes' fourth full album and the second to be released by V2 Records. In this album, the White Stripes attempted to achieve the idea of "Back to Basics" as well as encouraging other rockers to try the same way.

Including the song "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" (a Burt Bacharach cover) in their repertoire was Meg's idea, and the band had begun to cover the song live.

It was recorded over two weeks in April 2002 in London's Toe Rag Studios except for the songs "Well It's True That We Love One Another," which was recorded at Toe Rag in November 2001, and "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself", which was recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios. Jack White produced the album with antiquated equipment, including an eight-track tape machine and pre-1960s recording gear. As stated in the liner notes, White deliberately refrained from using computers during Elephant's writing, recording, or production. The White Stripes set their own rules while they were recording this album: ten days in a non modern studio. They chose to record in Liam Watson's modest Toe Rag studio in Hackney, London, England. The liner notes included the disclaimer, "No computers were used during the writing, recording, mixing, or mastering of this record," and none of the recording equipment was more recent than 1963.

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