ALUMINUM -- ALUMINUM

Giving Rock music the orchestral treatment often yields disastrous results. Pops orchestras will take a break from Hollywood or Broadway themes to pull off innocuous representations of the KISS or Pink Floyd catalogs, a recording of which is inevitably (at best) a novelty. And if you can't keep the Rock band out of the orchestra pit, then you're in for an even worse fate (hello, Metalllica!). The engagingly unpredictable Aluminum project is based on the music of The White Stripes, but it takes a different approach in many ways. Besides downloads, limited hard copies of the disc are available only at alumiiinium.com. Meanwhile, the reconstructions of Jack White's songs by several young musicians from the UK's Classical scene are far more involved and avant garde than your usual "symphony goes Rock" fare. With composer/arranger Joby Talbot and XL Recordings founder Richard Russell as masterminds, Aluminum utilizes very well the dramatic possibilities of broad symphonic music (cuts like "Astro" and the title track have the moody movement and layered depth of classic Disney soundtracks, albeit with a darker veneer), but some of the tracks are heavy and dissonant with a Chamber-like intensity. By largely avoiding the Stripes' most popular songs (no "Seven Nation Army"), the ensemble avoids the trap of performing something so overplayed, the fixed expectations would be crushing. And while Jack White's personality is a big part of the Stripes' musical triumphs, Aluminum is largely devoid of it (White's only involvement was his blessing), its ultimate success showing White's sharp, sometimes underappreciated sense of timeless composition. (Mike Breen) Grade: A-