PRELIMINAIRES - Iggy Pop (EMI)
At this stage of his storied life he’s probably entitled to put out any damn thing he likes, but that doesn’t mean glued-on Stooges fans have to buy it. In fact why “Preliminaires” is billed as an Iggy record is beyond me. It should have come out under Jim Osterberg’s name.
Truth be told (and it has been related here in the past), Iggy’s solo career is littered with as many train wrecks as near triumphs. There’s a shortage of quality control running through the back catalogue that point to his own defiance and independence being an immovable roadblock to better work. Even a deaf monkey with ear plugs could’ve told him “The Weirdness” stank.
Of course “Preliminaires” isn’t “The Weirdness” – parts of it are in French for starters – and nor is it as low key or introspective as the haunting (and boring) semi-spoken word “Avenue B.” This one’s a weird mix of rag-time jazz (the hyped lead-off track “King of the Dogs”), electro-pop and balladry that was worked up as a soundtrack for a film about a French novelist mist of us won’t read. There’s a track that sounds like something from “The Idiot” – a lite version – and another sparse blues tune.
It’s produced well-enough but it’s a worry when the Iggster can’t be bothered to be in the same studio as the musicians he’s supposed to be working with. How far away from the rest of America is Florida anyway and wouldn’t his missus’ past employment with an airline entitle him to a cheap fare?
He might be sick of playing with bone-headed guitarists but at least they create enough racket to make Iggy sound interested.
Rob Younger once said that the thing that pissed off Australian fans the most when Ig toured here for the first time was that his then-band weren’t the Stooges. That’s probably true but they didn’t play music as bland as this either. - The Barman
WHERE THE FACES SHINE VOLUME 2 - Iggy Pop (Easy Action)
Let's not understate the awesomeness of this package, which is a leap forward from its predecessor in both desirability and sonic quality of the shows therein. While the first volume gathered some higher quality versions of existing bootlegs, as well as material from an offbeat period (the time of the "Party" album), this mostly goes for the throat.So we're talking 1982-89 - that'd be tours around the "Zombie Birdhouse", "Instinct" and "Blah Blah Blah" albums - and whatever you think of Iggy's recordings back then, there's no denying the ferocity of his live shows.
We're talking six CDs here PLUS a DVD. And if you're quick enough, there's a mail order bonus 1983 Australian show that's a scorcher. So as usual, Easy Action ain't doing things by halves.
If you're leery about anything connected with "Blah Blah Blah" you're not alone. It's too Bowie-fied for most thinking people's liking but hindsight shows that cleaning up his act and putting on a presentable face was a necessary step if Ig was to survive at a reasonable level. The good news is there's a '86 Detroit homecoming show that does rock regally, especially on the five Stooges tunes. It spans two discs and if the band's too professional at times (and the drum programing that seeps in fleetingly is horrible), Iggy's in fine form.
But onto the "Zombie Birdhouse Tour" disc, taken from a mighty 1986 at NYC's relatively intimate Ritz. "Little Boxes" is the little-heard rarity that opens it, and in case you're wondering it's a stream-of-consciousness rap that isn't essential. The balance of the show concentrates on the then-new album and it trades off some of the studio album's eclecticism for manic energy. "Zombie" was a grower with a certain off-the-wall charm and fine-boned production but its songs are immediately arresting when rolled out live. There's also a muscular "Sixteen" that works a treat with the prominent keys and even a rarely-played "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" to take us out. Sound is only a B+ with some clipping but it's certainly listenable.
"The Breaking Point Tour" that took Ig and Crew around the world in '83 had its stellar moments but many of the Australian shows weren't among them. The show chosen is from California in February before the band headed overseas and the sound is excellent. The pacing at the start of the set is off the mark however, with the ribald introductory vamp of "My Name Is Iggy Pop And I Am Here In Your Town" running into the dirgey "Mass Production" and then "Nightclubbing." The latter's a great version of its icey, Euro-cool self with some cutting guitar from Rob Duprey and Frank Infante running through, but this was the place for something more uptempo.
The stuff that follows more than makes up for the sluggish opening with a fantastic "Endless Sea" barreling into "I'm a Conservative" and the primal funk of "Street Crazies". "Loose" is butchered at machine gun pace, much the same way the band did it on the Aussie tour leg, but a truck-like "Run Like a Villain" and a ragged but righteous "I Want More" make amends. A hot show that's worth repeated listens.
"Playing With Cars 'n' Pistols" is the title of the "odds and sods" disc that's built around the Ric Ocasek demos of '83, an early take of "Repo Man" and the Steve Jones demo's from '85. While "Repo Man" isn't much different from its final inestimable form and all of the above have been released elsewhere, they're matched with an unheard demo of "Cry For Love", a trio of fiery and sonically excellent live UK tracks and four razor sharp live songs from a 1988 Manhattan gig with Jones guesting.
Which segues into Disc Six, the LA warm-up show for the "Instinct" tour. There's the odd clam evident (this was straight off the back of rehearsals) but the band are largely on song for what was a showcase gig. It's much superior to the long-avaialble "Live at The Channel" radio show that Revenge have traded off for years, and the only downer is that the encores (again with Jones) weren't included. Andy McCoy's alternately flashy and solid guitarwork is shown off to advantage here.
I have a soft spot for "Instinct" tour shows as they wound up with a run through Australia, by which time the band was one of Ig's best solo units. The surprise that is the mail-order bonus disc, "Speed Kills - Adelaide '83", shows them in manic form. Iggy was playing some long sets on this tour but for this show the audience got 24 songs. The reason they fit on an 80-minute disc is that they're slammed into each other with scarcely enough time in-between to say: "Thank you motherfuckers, you've been a great audience".
And the choice of songs is inspired, with a generous sprinkling of lesser-heard gems like "Johanna" "Scene of the Crime" and "Penetration" rubbing up against (and dry-humping life into) "Instinct" offerings that thankfully lost their dull metallic studio polish and grew wings when exposed to artificial stage light. The sound quality is only OK, but more than made up for by the brutally intense performance.
The DVD has the same line-up running through half-a-dozen songs (three from "Instinct", the balance from Stooges days) in London's Pinewood Studios with only a few more manners. The accompanying interview is a corker - intelligent questions matched by an engaged and thoughtful Iggy. Just how professional the new James Osterberg had become is borne out by the US TV interview that's appended, and his effortless bridge from an inane question about his hair colouring into the business at hand is impressive. There's also some outtake footage for the "Shades" filmclip.
Co-compilers Carlton Sandercock and Graham Ling have done the hard research yards and come up with the good stuff. If all this isn't enough, there's the usual well-researched and honest Kris Needs booklet notes to bring you up to speed, if you missed something along the way. - The Barman
1977 - Iggy Pop (Easy Action)
"Lavish" and "Easy Action" are synonymous - as the latest box set of raw power from the Pop attests. Ya gets four discs in long box format, derived from live shows and studio outtakes (mostly) by the band that recorded "The Idiot". There's also a booklet written by Kris Needs. Not only an important documentation of a man full of piss and bad manners and on the comeback trail but an ideal gift for the obsessive Ig-fan in your life.Three-quarters of "1977" is previously unreleased, the exception being a September 23 Paris Hippodrome show that's been re-mastered (the original tape being a little harsher.) Iggy and band runs through most of "The Idiot" with "The Passenger", "CC Rider" and "That's How Strong My Love Is" thrown in for good measure. More than listenable even if you're not the biggest fan of the album the tour was promoting, if only for the fact "Party" was still to be recorded. Dig those dinky synth effects.
Disc Two compiles a radio show and Iggy interview with front-ended alternate versions of "Tiny Girls", "China Girl", "Dum Dum Boys" and "Baby". These are neither better or worse than the originals (unless you're into analysing the impact of excessive cocaine use on human hearing during mixdowns.) At a guess, you'd think Ig's interview was probably similarly influenced as he comes across as terribly self-important, while the 33-minute radio show - contrastingly - shows off his band to great effect.
Disc Three is from the March gig at the Rainbow in London with the band just hitting its straps, by all accounts. This is totally unreleased and yes, the line-up includes the Thin White Puke on backing vocals and keyboards. There's a strong reliance on Stoogetunes to break the ice and, sonically speaking, there's a bit of clipping and distortion evident, but on balance it's a great representation of how the band must have sounded in the flesh. Curiously, the set-closing "China Girl" is drawn out to about 7mins, which for mine is about 4 minutes too long.
The last disc comes from Berlin in September '77 and finds Stacey Heydon replacing Ricky Gardiner on guitar and Bowie no longer on the tour due to recording commitments of his own. This is easily the best sounding of the live material and the set list is now further studded with "Lust For Life" songs. Just nine numbers over 42 minutes but a nice, tight set - with the exception of "I Got a Right" where the energy levels seem at odds with the original recording.Everyone will have their favourite Iggy era (recording wise, Stooges apart, I'm in for "New Values") and this collection will probably have its greatest resonance in Europe where "The Idiot" and "Lust For Life" sold the most. Just don't hold off before taking the plunge and whacking down your hard-earned - it's a strictly limited edition of 1000 copies worldwide. Leaves the major label "TV Eye" live album for dead. - The Barman
WHERE THE FACES SHINE - VOLUME 1: THE OFFICAL LIVE EXPERIENCE 1977-1981 – Iggy Pop (Easy Action)
Or “Touch Me, I’m Sick.”And I do mean sick. I caught “the last singer left alive” near the tail-end of the timeline preserved here, on a hot August night in 1981 at Ann Arbor’s Second Chance, and the guy was a mess; amphetamine-spiked dental work, barely able to find his ass with both hands and a flashlight, let alone entertain his fawning hometown public, looking to scrap with the entire second tier after someone dumped a cup of beer on him as he exited stage left at set’s end, and exhibiting all the class of stained faux-satin bed sheets.Easy Action have never been adverse to a little dirty work. “Where the Faces Shine” is their third in a series of missions to track down dodgy, unauthorized, and uh, well, let’s just call them what they are – bootlegs – clean them up, wrap them in top-notch packaging, and stamp them with legitimacy, and they’ve quickly carved out a reputation for themselves as conscientious archeologists, compilers, and curators of Murder City relics. They’ve made their bones by anthologizing the James Williamson-era Stooges and Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, both boxes the embodiment of obsessive, compulsive, fanboy music geekdom, packed with cardboard inner sleeves and booklets crammed with a plethora of information, interviews, memorabilia, and photos so you’ll have something to do while your inner ears are reduced to rubble.
This can of worms is no different, devoting one disc each to performances from the years 1977-1981, Iggy trying to find his footing in a post-Stooges world, thunder co-opted by legions of upstarts with punk rock identikits, better publicity, and a groundswell of grass roots support, his headspace alternating between heavily medicated and strung out, trolling through “The Idiot,” “Lust for Life,” “New Values,” “Soldier,” and “Party,” and leaning heavily on the entire Stooges back catalog to fill his set lists.
Disc 1: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, 3/28/77
Three-quarters of what would eventually morph into Tin Machine - a guy named Bowie playing keyboards in the shadows and the brothers Sales manning the engine room – as well as guitarist Rick Gardiner, turn this set on its ear, despite some dodgy editing, i.e., track fadeouts and silence between tracks. “Jesus? This is Iggy…” he confesses during “Turn Blue,” as if any introduction is necessary.Disc 2: San Diego State University, 11/16/77
Iggy’s no stranger to college campuses – The Stooges germinated (some would say “festered”) in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan - but this set gets off to a rough start with an ill-advised pass through Them’s “One, Two Brown Eyes” before the steady hands of “Metallic K.O.” survivor Scott Thurston and guitarist Stacey Heydon rein in Soupy’s boys and right the listing U.S.S. Pop. There are what appear to be a few works-in-progress here in the form of the bouncy “Modern Guy” and the portentous “Rock Action,” excuses for Iggy to hash out the lyrics in a live setting (with mixed results).Disc 3: Domino Club, Stockholm, 5/24/78
The filching of Sonic’s Rendezvous Band to anchor this tour may have not have left Scott Morgan chuffed at being left back in Michigan, but it undoubtedly made Iggy all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that Detroit’s finest (does the name Fred “Sonic” Smith ring a bell?) had his back. Solid if unspectacular set marred by less-than-inspired song choices (“The Endless Sea,” “Curiosity,” “One for My Baby”).Disc 4: Stardust Ballroom, Los Angeles, 11/30/79
Apparently someone forgot to tell the suburban surf punks crowding the stage not to believe everything they read in the press about proper behavior at an Iggy gig, so he takes several opportunities to set them straight. Old-school Brit punks Brian James and Glen Matlock lead the charge through a set just beginning to ooze and throb with selections from “Soldier” and come up mostly all aces, including a cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.”
Disc 5: Picadero, Barcelona, 5/15/80
I’ve never been anywhere within spitting distance of Spain, but I imagine it’s pretty hot there around mid-May. This show is pretty hot as well, Iggy shaking away the cobwebs and leading what sounds like a fairly rabid throng and Rob Duprey (guitar), Douglas Bowne (drums), Michael Page (bass), and Ivan Kral (keyboards/guitar) through a round of his own peculiar brand of singalong, good-time proto punk. It was around this time that Iggy made a bizarre appearance on NBC-TV’s “Tomorrow Show,” flashing a gap-toothed grin at host Tom Snyder while semi-coherently explaining Dionysian art, stage monitors, and just what comes over him once the stage lights come up.Disc 6: Palasport, Bologna, 6/18/81
Let’s face it – no one goes to an Iggy gig hoping to hear “Eggs on Plate,” “Rock and Roll Party,” or “Pumpin’ for Jill,” but the suits at Arista probably insisted on their inclusion in the set list in order to promote the “Party” album then on the racks. The same band staring at his back as Disc 6, plus another slumming Patti Smith Group member (Richard Sohl) thrown into the mix, plow through 17 songs, but only come down with both feet on Stooges terra firma once, er twice, trotting out “Search and Destroy” to open the set and as an encore.None of what’s here is what those spoiled by virgin vinyl, SACD, or surround sound would classify as an audiophile experience, but it’s all as compelling and morbidly fascinating as rubbernecking a multi-vehicle pile-up on I-75 North the Friday before July 4th weekend.
Simple minds, simple pleasures… - Clark Paull
1/4
For those who think too much Iggness is never enough, legacy music kings Easy Action have come up with this six-disc box set of live recordings. This is the first of three of these packages, so people with the collector’s gene need to be warned. At least they’ll be able to satisfy their jones at a reasonable price.
It seems to be stating the obvious but the one thing wrong with every Iggy solo band has been that they weren’t the Stooges. Sure, the quality of the line-ups has been variable, but generation after generation of Igfans seemed to be wanting a re-run of the Asheton brothers/Strait James instead of judging the Pop’s players on their own merits. As patchy as his solo recorded output may have been, Iggy himself has never been a letdown live, and the material on these discs reflects that.
For those who have been paying attention, a couple of these discs will already be familiar. The radio broadcast from Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on March 28, 1977 was previously available as “Night of the Iguana”, while the Stardust Ballroom, Los Angeles, gig of November 30, 1979 (another radio show) is still around as “Heroin Hates You”. The former showcases the TV Eye tour band (Hunt and Tony Sales in the engine room, Ricky Gardner on guitar and some bloke named Bowie on keys) while the latter features Brian James (The Damned) and Glen Matlock (ex-Pistols). The L.A. show in particular needs to be heard. The band’s mostly in sharp form (disregarding the fact they fall apart in “Knocking ‘em Down”) and sound quality is relatively bright. Nice take on “Dog”, and Ivan Kral’s keyboards give the songs some added bite.
The surprise for most will be Disc C of the set, from the Domino Club in Stockholm on May 24, 1978 because the backing outfit is Sonic’s Rendezvous Band (sans Scott Morgan, plus Scott Thurston). This one has kicked around as a short-run bootleg and as a Bit Torrented download, but the version included is slightly better-sounding. It’s still just an audience recording so don’t expect too much aurally. This was probably the best solo backing band Iggy’s ever had and if if they hadn't quite gelled by the end of the tour, there’s plenty of Sonic Smith magic to convince that, yes, this was one combination worth the retrospective fuss.
Disc F comes from Bolognia, Italy, in ’81 and documents an under-chronicled period, just after the release of “Party”. Now, I know that’s (rightly) regarded as a stinker of an album but even dross like “Eggs on a Plate” grows an extra leg live. Sound quality is fair to middling (that is, boomy) and you get to hear some rarities like “Flesh and Blood” and “Sincerity”.
Disc E (Barcelona, Spain, May 15, 1980) is with the same line-up (Rob Duprey on guitar, Douglas Bowne on drums, Michael Page on bass and Ivan Kral on everything else) and shows a band that was nothing if not road toughened. This time the setlist mixes the old standards with “Soldier” selections. Not startling but a better band than the one Pop would bring to Australia four years later to promote “Zombie Birdhouse” (but they weren’t the Stooges either). The extended intro to the then-unrecorded “I’m a Conservative” is quite cool.
With its packaging, the usual Easy Action rules apply with the inclusion of lavishly-illustrated pouchettes, stickers and a voluminous book, chockfull of quotes from various luminaries for a forthcoming Iggy Pop biography by Paul Trynka. I recall Revenge doing a box set of live Pop about 10 years back, but it wasn’t quite on par with this. - The Barman
A MILLION IN PRIZES: THE ANTHOLOGY – Iggy Pop (Virgin)
I can remember a time back in the dark ages, a period I like to call my high school years, when a Stooges album was harder to find in Detroit than, well, the Stooges themselves, especially after that Michigan Palace brannigan immortalized on “Metallic K.O.”
Imagine that! All three were out of print in the U.S. – Elektra and Columbia apparently uninterested in pressing any more - but if you looked hard enough and lifted up enough toadstools, you may have been lucky enough to unearth a pricey import.
For better or worse, the market is now flush with Iggy/Stooges durables, some well worth the scratch and others downright treacherous. This one, Virgin’s best shot at a hagiography of Michigan’s patron saint of lucidity, isn’t bad, depending on your willingness to embrace whatever flaming record company hoops El Pop was trying to jump through at the time.
Those comfortable with the sound of narcotic-induced delirium, primal therapy, and civilization collapsing would be hard pressed to find much wrong with Disc 1, the section of Iggy’s curriculum vitae covering the years he spent with the Stooges, making some rather unusual contributions to mankind, up through his employ as David Bowie’s lap dog in Berlin. However, by “much wrong,” I don’t mean “anything wrong.” Only one song from “Fun House” (“Down On The Street”), but four from “The Idiot” and five from “Lust For Life”? Hmmm…
The inclusion of non-LP sides “I Got A Right,” “Gimme Some Skin,” and “I’m Sick Of You” is a nice touch, though, all three redolent with the unmistakable bouquet of ozone and a tinge of stale sweat. And despite Bowie’s attempts to re-create Iggy as the fifth member of Kraftwerk, “Funtime,” “Sister Midnight,” “Lust For Life,” and “The Passenger” all lurch, twitch, and spasm with at least a faint trace of Murder City palsy.
Disc 2 is a little more, shall we say, problematic, Iggy bent, shaped, and pulled in so many directions by so many clueless A&R hacks that even he probably wasn’t sure who that guy was looking back at him from the mirror every morning.
Part of the frustration of career retrospectives such as “A Million In Prizes” is not only what compilers choose to include, but what they choose not to. I try to console myself with the naïve belief that the complete short shrift given to the “Soldier” and “Party” albums had to be due to licensing issues between Virgin and Buddha. How else to explain ignoring “Pumpin’ For Jill,” “Bang Bang,” “Knocking ‘Em Down (In The City),” “Loco Mosquito,” and, especially, “Dog Food” in favor of dross like “Look Away” and “I Felt The Luxury”? And is it just me or does anyone else detect the faint scent of desperation in the duets with Kate Pierson and Debbie Harry, perhaps the nadir of Iggy’s slowly-decomposing, post-Ashetons residence on Planet Virgin?
Yeah, “Avenue B” counts, but just barely. “A Million In Prizes” isn’t a total wash, not a bad starter kit for tourists, but it’s far from definitive. The shadow cast by The Stooges is simply too long, thick, and impenetrable, eclipsing everything Iggy’s done
since, darkening his world and ours. - Clark Paull
1/2
SKULL RING – Iggy Pop (Virgin)
Been waiting for this for some time so expectation levels were primed. If the prospect of another Igdisc doesn’t fill you with rabid anticipation after the ups and downs of the last two decades, the prospect of four tracks reuniting him with the Asheton brothers certainly should…
As if you didn’t know , Iggy – and most definitely his alma mater the Stooges – has a special place in the I-94 Bar. Fuck, if they rocked in on a quiet night I’d buy ‘em all drinks till they couldn’t stand and we’d all end up driving the porcelain bus home. (Certain people with prior personal experience of the Ig in his bad old wigged out days would say I'd be stuck with the bill anyway). The funny thing about fandom is that holding heroes in high regard means they’re almost certain to slip up and fall. Some of us take vicarious pleasure in watching it happen. Then we bitch and moan, and move on to forgiving and forgetting, before buying a ticket to watch the play’s next act.
Take the Ig. It pains me to say it but the guy has tripped over so many times, if you were a doctor you’d diagnose a middle ear imbalance. Live, he has had few peers, even with a hack band behind him. Remember the early '83 tour with Frank Infante and co behind him? Plodding riff merchants but the Ig's energy was stunning. On disc? Well, not all of 'em have been dire, but most have been patchy. The last outing, "Beat ‘em Up", for example, was an OK, if overly pissed-off racket, a shot at something rocking and contemporary that was too consciously Nu Metal. The dull-sheen of "Instinct" and more unhinged "American Caesar" had their moments of greatness, but the man himself disowns the disastrous "Party" and how many times can you listen to "Zombie Birdhouse" before checking yourself into one?
The good news is that Iggy’s managed something that most of the doubters (this one included) hardly dared hope would happen. He’s reached inside himself and pulled out one of the best albums of his solo career - certainly the best since "New Values". It’s certainly not just down to the presence of the Stooges on four tracks (although that hasn’t hurt).
A recent comment by one Igfan on a newsgroup has it that "Skull Ring" is good but our man still needs to loosen up and get back to primal basics. With respect to that critic, for the most part that’s exactly what it sounds like he’s done. Granted, a couple of collaborations are tight. Productionwise, there's no hint of the Bowiefied studio gloss of "Blah Blah Blah" or the dry session feel of the folky and ultimately flakey "Brick by Brick". It sounds nice and basic with enough punch and presence without polish.
Ig’s longtime backing band The Trolls (10 years-plus and counting) sound less "metal" and more "garage" (if those horrible generic tags make sense) than in previous outings. Loose and limber. They play on six official tracks (seven if you count the unlisted bonus "Nervous Exhaustion"). "Perverts in the Sun" is the sort of song that the Trolls have been threatening to nail all these years. Maybe they've been out looting retirement villages or robbing payphones or something, but on this one they sound like a motley gang of petty crims cutting a swathe through Miami's South Beach, swiping handbags from retirees before their 3pm check-in with the parole officer. Dirty slide and a breackneck beat make this their their finest moment but the other tunes are uniformly excellent. "Here Comes the Summer" is a stuttering guitar blast that's fairly base in its delivery (save for a crooning middle eight) and the catchy "Whatever" bears a superficial resemblance to the Hives.
Of course from here on in is where, potentially, it gets sticky. The rest of the disc is filled out by collaborations with other parties other than the Stooges - namely, Sum 41 ("Little Know It All"), Peaches ("Rock Show", "Motor Inn") and Green Day ("Private Hell", "Supermarket"). Sum 41 hardly figure in my world so I wasn't as outraged at some by the thought of a collaboration. Although "Little Know It All" is the closest to commercial pop punk on this disc, it swings and bites, in a righteous way. Don't listen too hard and you might mistake it for the Sewergrooves or one of the more tuneful Scandi bands to whom Detroit is a musical touchstone, as well as a dot on a map. It's way off anything Ig's done in the past and hard to shake once it's in the memory banks. The Green Day cuts resonate with a tinge of rockabilly and are nothing less than tremendous pop punk. Again, the collaboration has drawn fire, but maybe Iggy genuinely likes these guys after sharing umpteen festival stages? Who cares whether they have degress/big bank accounts. The music is what counts and it works.
The duets with Peaches are Ig's with a gal first since the Kate Pierson hook-up on "Candy"; the lascivious "Motor Inn" is mildly funny but "Rock Show" really grates. Maybe they'll grow with time but I mark 'em down a grade. We know what Iggy was thinking when he sat down in solo mode with his acoustic guitar and spat out "Til Wrong Seems Right", and as admirable as the anti-mainstream radio and TV rant is, Bob Dylan the Pop is not. It's a throwaway and should have remained a demo.
If you've made it this far you're probably asking, 'What about the Stoogetunes?' Glad you did. "Little Electric Chair" is the opener, a rumbling, jammy sort of assault with the unmistakable Rock Action pounding and Uncle Ron's omniprescent chordage. (Ron also plays bass on all four songs). "Skull Ring" is the album high point, a juicy guitar pumelling with a likeness to the "Peter Gunn Theme" played by a bunch of outlaw slackers. It's uplifting in its dumbness and you, too, will find yourself chanting "Skull Rings/Fast Cars/Hot Chicks/Money" at the unlikeliest moment.. "Dead Rock Star" finds Iggy in "Instinct" crooning mode and is a winner. The Ron lead break is reassuringly familiar, if you've ever heard New Race, Dark Carnival or Destroy All Monsters. "Loser" doesn't quite measure up, marred by a jokey Iggy vocal. A letdown, by a slight degree only. Play them all back-to-back and they work, anyway.
Who's going to quibble? It's a more than respectable - no, pretty great - quartet of songs and a focal point, if not backbone, for the album (without detracting from the Trolls' blazing contribution). Do these tunes add to the overally legacy of the Stooges? They're unlikely to knock "Funhouse" outta MY Top Ten, but who really gives a fuck? They're back, the songs ain't bad and they hint at things to come, if the rumoured Stoogealbum comes off. Fuck, these guys are the Stooges - the motherfuckin' Stooges! - and that says it all. More power to 'em.
I was told that I'd start to hate "Skull Ring" by the fourth or fifth play. Ten spins later, and still no trace of the contrived put-on a few people expected. Iggy's real and he's human and he's made some mistakes. This isn't one of them.
- The Barman
1/2
THE EYES OF ALICE COOPER - Alice Cooper (Eagle Records)
BACK FROM HELL - Bouchard, Dunaway & Smith (Kachina Records)
Iggy and Alice. Alice and Iggy. There are a lot of interesting comparisons to be made between these two great artists. Both were considered as dangerous as could be in the early 70’s. Both broke up with their bands in 1974. Both have had uneven solo careers, though I would argue Iggy’s has been A LOT more satisfying. Both have new albums out now with basically the same premise: make the record everyone has been wanting.
On "Skull Ring" Iggy Pop has made an album so undeniable that even the people who have found it hip to not like everything he’s done in the last 25 years are gonna go ape-shit over it. The Ig collaborates with several different sets of musicians on this record and it all works. Most notably, as you are by now no doubt aware, there are four songs with the Stooges. Those songs are exactly what you would hope and expect them to be – absolutely searing. The record kicks off with "Little Electric Chair" and it sounds like the son of "TV Eye." Ripping guitar as only the great Ron Asheton can provide. Simultaneously tight, loose and obtuse. "Skull Rings," which the Stooges played live this summer, is more heavy riffing pounded into the dirt with a chorus of "skull rings, fast cars, hot chicks, money." It’s easy to remember and hard to forget. On "Loser" Ron Asheton unleashes his high, screaming, classic lick for the first time. Wow. Iggy and Ron – perfect together.
While the Stooges songs deliver what is expected (play all four in a row and they stand up with any of their previous work), the real surprise is how good the songs with Iggy’s own band, The Trolls are. They basically hold up to the Stooges material. In case you think you didn’t just read that right I’ll say it again. The Trolls songs are as good as Stooge time. I wasn’t nuts about Iggy’s last record, Beat Em Up. I liked certain things about it – the aggressiveness for one, but overall I thought the songwriting was a little lacking. I have also been critical of Whitey Kirst as Iggy’s lead player. Well, I am happy to report that Whitey and the band have shut my mouth. The playing and writing is absolutely top notch. The compositions (by the whole band this time instead of just Iggy & Whitey) are written and played like the band’s lives (and jobs!) are on the line. "Perverts In The Sun" is unrelenting just like "Little Electric Chair." "Superbabe" sounds like Iggy wrote it with Marc Bolan’s ghost – and it’s so fucking catchy you’ll be singing the one line – SUPERBABE! - over and over. Same goes for "Whatever." "Here Comes The Summer" has some really jagged guitar playing by the Mighty Whitey and rumbling bass from Pete "Geoff Ginsberg deserves to die" Marshall. "Blood On My Cool" may be the most blazing of the lot. The seven songs delivered here by the Trolls would make up the nucleus of Iggy’s best album even without the rest of this amazing disc.
Then there is the stuff with the guest artists. This is where things could go really wrong. Well, fear not. "Little Know It All" the song with Sum 41 is going to be a hit. It’s an undeniable blazing pop-punk song. And the songs with Green Day are also really good. "Private Hell" has a bit of a Nuggetsy sound to it. And even the tunes with foul-mouthed Canadian rapper Peaches kill. Especially "Motor Inn," a little ditty about what people do at Motor Inns. The Peaches songs are kind of reminiscent of the tunes Iggy did 20 years ago with Rick Ocasek ("Fire Engine" & "Warrior Tribe"). Rounding things out is an acoustic blues tune called "Till Wrong Feels Right." It’s a Fat Possum style song where Iggy tells it like it is: "I heard the radio say that some piece of shit was the sound of today…" Thank you Iggy – this record is Godhead.
I have mixed feelings about Alice’s record. After reading about how it was a return to the style of the early Alice Cooper group I was pretty excited about it. After hearing it for the first time I was crushed. It does not sound like the Alice Cooper Group – at all. After a few listens, and hearing some of it live I have warmed up to it a bit. It is a rock and roll record and it is a really good rock and roll band. I think if it had been pitched to me as "by far the best record Alice has made in 25 years" I would have liked it right away. It IS the best record he’s done in 25 years, but to be honest – that is damning with faint praise. Realistically, the last great record Alice made was Goes To Hell and even that was showing some slippage. This is the record of a really good band – the material is generally strong, but it sounds a little more like "Poison" than "Public Animal #9." There are a few really great tunes – "Between High School and Old School," "The Song That Didn’t Rhyme," "Backyard Brawl," and "Novocaine" stand out. There are also a few clunkers like the opening "What Do You Want From Me," which has really stupid lyrics.
I think I might’ve liked the album better if I hadn’t just seen Bouchard, Dunaway and Smith and got their record "Back From Hell". This record comes a lot closer to the real Cooper sound than Alice’s does. Led by Joe Bouchard on guitar and vocals along with the "Killer" rhythm section of original Cooperites Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith these guys have turned in an old-fashioned heavy rock album. I couldn’t help thinking how good some of these songs would be if Alice got a hold of them. Even the lyrics are generally better than on "The Eyes…"
All the songs are co-written by BD&S with Ian Hunter co-writing no less than four of them. Surprisingly the only two clunkers on the record are among the Hunter co-writes. From the gitgo this record smokes. "I Want Two" is hilarious and chunky as hell. "I want two girls at once…for a midnight lunch" Bouchard sings. Dude your best shot at that was back in the headlining hockey arenas era! "Having The Time of My Life" showcases the superb rhythm section and is a real foot-stomper. "Vampire Night" and "Carnival Toy" are more atmospheric – in the Astronomy vein for you Cult-o-philes out there. The song "She Was A Bad Girl" would be perfect for Cooper – rocking, with funny, irreverent lyrics and a classic Dunaway bassline. Dunaway steps out and sings on "The Real Thing," a song about chemistry. But the album’s finale, a remake of BOC’s "Fallen Angel," is earth-shattering. Neal Smith’s drumming on this is nothing short of fantastic. Since he sang "Hot Rails To Hell," (and at least one tune on just about every BOC album) it should come as no surprise that Joe Bouchard can lead a band. His playing and singing are excellent throughout. As is the writing other than on the two cheesy Hunter love songs. While this record doesn’t sound like BOC or Alice Cooper Group per se, it does sound like something these monumental talents would come up with. This is worth seeking out.
After seeing Alice Cooper live recently it is pretty clear that he has a great band that can cut it on the old material and make the new songs sound better than the record. The only problem with them is that they sound like just about every other great band out there. BD&S are one of a kind. No one else can play like them – even if they try. One can’t help wondering how good it would be if Alice got together with BD&S maybe just for a few songs like Iggy and the Stooges did – just to see how it goes. I have a feeling that the same overwhelming praise now being heaped on Iggy would come Alice’s way. - Geoff Ginsberg
- Iggy Pop
1/2 - Alice Cooper
- Bouchard, Dunaway & Smith
BEAT 'EM UP - Iggy Pop (Virgin)
Cranberry Ken and I were only discussing this in the Bar the other day: We both mark Iggy harder than those so-called legends who present with a far less memorable back catalogue. The name "Stooges" looms large and loud in any I-94 Bar denizen's musical knapsack. Ergo, anything the Pop has done since is, by comparison, Poop. Ken is taken to saying that Iggy's last good solo record was "New Values" - argue to the contrary if you like, but the point is that the high bar is set at Mt Everest levels. That being the case, how can the latest offering be objectively assessed?
The first thing that needs to be said is that this is one ugly, loud mother of a disc. Forget the emo, reflective noodlings of "Avenue B" or the session-players-by-numbers contrived pap of "Brick by Brick". This is raucous, metallic crunch, reminiscent of the Ig's oft-stated childhood memories of Detroit production lines, and it's heavy enough to make the proto-metal of "American Ceasar" and "Naughty Little Doggie" pale. It's no coincidence that the bass player on this album used to play for Body Count - some of the gang vocal choruses and metal-funk rhythms stamp on the same street corner as Rage Against the Machine and any number of similar groups.
What it ain't - and we should get this out of the way now - is the Stooges. The Stooges simply WERE, a product of misspent youth and the world's original slackers, in every sense of the word. It's a step more in the direction of primal, but "Beat 'Em Up" will never recapture what was, even with the obvious marketing efforts inferring as much (Virgin billing this in ads as a return to form by the "Godfather of Punk" is just SO obvious).
Back to the task at hand, and the point is that any disc worth its salt can't be objectively assessed. Good music should move you, and there are a few outstanding cuts on this disc that do. I can do without "Howl" (all those wolf noises just don't cut the mustard) and "Football" is a patently dumb lyric when applied to the Iggster (who, as leathery as he looks, simply isn't an emotional pigskin), but "Go For the Throat" does so in delicious style (Lyric of the week: "Go for the throat/I'm fucked up/I'm so fucked up"). Likewise "The Jerk" (tempting as it is to class it as autobiographical) or the rant of "Mask".
Titles like "It's All Shit" and "Death is Certain" give a fair indication of where this is coming from - Iggy is fucking ANGRY and your speakers are going to feel the consequences ('cos it's mixed and mastered wonderfully loud). The old bloke has done a fine job of producing "Beat 'em Up", but when the smoke's all cleared you have to ask if all the racket was worth it. Ultimately, as fine a return to form this is, it probably won't be on high rotation at the Bar in six month's time. As good as some of the playing is (and Ig's longtime guitar foil, Whitey Kirst, does way better here than on some past efforts, dropping the metal pretensions) the anger is all a little too forced.. - The Barman
