Iggy Pop Albums (22)
What The Critics Say
The timing of Iggy Pop's album Preliminaires is probably a product of coincidence and fate rather than careful planning, but it's hard to ignore the fact that just a few months after the unexpected death of Ron Asheton put the Stooges into limbo (at least for a while), Iggy has released an album that almost entirely avoids the issue of rock & roll. In a publicity piece for Preliminaires, Iggy wrote "I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars," and the man whose music helped inspire so many of those thugs keeps a wary distance from electric guitars on most on this album. Advance reports suggested that Preliminaires would be a jazz album, but that's not accurate, even though one of the best songs on the set, "King of the Dogs," features Iggy borrowing a melody from Louis Armstrong while backed by a traditional New Orleans jazz band. Instead, most of the music on Preliminaires recalls European pop -- music influenced by music influenced by jazz -- and the lion's share of the arrangements resemble some fusion of Serge Gainsbourg and late-period Leonard Cohen, fitted with a distinctly American accent on songs like "Spanish Coast," "I Want to Go to the Beach," and a cover of "How Insensitive." For those put off by such things, "Nice to Be Dead" is dominated by distorted electric guitars and "She's a Business" (like the nearly identical "Je Sais Que Tu Sais") booms with martial drumming, (both recall Iggy's moody solo debut The Idiot), while "He's Dead/ She's Alive" is backed by Pop's powerful acoustic blues guitar. Like 1999's Avenue B, Preliminaires is an introspective set, with Iggy crooning in a low murmur as he contemplates the failings of the world around him; he cites Michel Houellebecq's novel The Possibility of an Island as an influence (Houellebecq's words provided the lyrics for one stand-out track, "A Machine for Loving"), and the album is bookended by tunes which Iggy sings in French. Where Avenue B was a pretentious mess, Preliminaires is flawed but significantly more successful; though "Party Time" is mildly embarrassing in its depiction of decadence among the idle rich, the other songs are intelligent and often compelling meditations on a world where love and compassion are in short supply, and if "King of the Dogs" isn't exactly a new sentiment coming from Iggy, it's cock-of-the-walk air fits him like a glove (as does the trad jazz arrangement). Iggy's a better shouter than a crooner, but time has burnished his instrument with the character to fit these lyrics, and the best moments on this disc are truly inspired. Iggy Pop would be ill advised to give up on rock & roll, but Preliminaires shows he can do other things and do them well, and it speaks of a welcome maturity missing from many of his efforts outside the realm of fast and loud. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Iggy Pop reunited with producer David Bowie for Blah Blah Blah. While it adopts a number of different musical styles, the record isn't as cohesive or as ambitious The Idiot or Lust for Life. Instead, it acts as an Iggy sampler, offering a variety of material that is all competently performed, but with the notable exception of a cover of Johnny O'Keefe's "Real Wild Child (Wild One)," rarely compelling. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
One of the key rules of rock & roll is there are some artists you can never count out -- no matter how many lame records they may make, no matter how misguided their career direction might seem, they always hold the promise that they'll jump back in the loop and deliver the goods again. Iggy Pop delivered a solid one-two punch (for the first time in a while) with Brick by Brick and American Caesar in 1990 and 1993, but after ten years and three major duds in a row (the uninspired Naughty Little Doggie and the strikingly faulty Avenue B and Beat 'Em Up), you just had to wonder if maybe the World's Forgotten Boy had finally lost the magic touch for good. Of course, Iggy's career had always offered plenty of opportunities for such thinking, and just as he had in the past, Iggy came back to shut down the disbelievers with a solid slice of prime rock & roll called Skull Ring. The big news is that, on four cuts, Skull Ring marks Pop's first studio collaboration with the Stooges since Raw Power in 1973, and thankfully Ron Asheton's gloriously primal guitar riffs sound as brilliant as ever, and mix with Iggy's bestial wail like gin and tonic; if "Little Electric Chair" and "Skull Ring" don't quite pick up where Fun House left off, they make it clear the monster that is the Stooges can still shake the Earth when they have a notion. If the rest of Skull Ring doesn't quite reach the same level of solar plexus impact as the Stooges cuts, Iggy flies high enough on the rock juice that this set blasts like an M-80 from start to finish; Iggy's road band, the Trolls, redeem themselves after their cringe-worthy debut on Beat 'Em Up, electro-punk diva Peaches proves she's just libidinous enough to keep up with Iggy (and they goad one another into truly glorious rudeness), Green Day back the godfather of punk with spunk, enthusiasm, and lots of energy, and even Sum 41 give as good as they get (which is a lot more than you might expect from them). Skull Ring doesn't always capture Iggy at his best as a lyricist, but here what he says isn't half as important as how he says it, and he hasn't sounded this right -- and had music this potent backing him up -- in a decade, and the result is a big, sweaty, high-octane rock & roll session from a guy who practically defined the form. Like I said, you can't ever count Iggy out, and Skull Ring demonstrates why. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'From the Front Row: Live'
Release Date 4/22/2003
Tracks 17
Label Silverline
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
After experimenting with a variety of different approaches/styles after the break-up of the Stooges, Iggy Pop finally came to terms with the fact that he was a rock and roller in the late '80s. Taking a break from the studio and the road from mid-'83 through mid-'85, Iggy hooked up once more with old pal David Bowie for Blah Blah Blah. Iggy also finally returned to the concert stage, resulting in the recording of a show at New York's The Ritz, which has surfaced over the years in several different configurations. But with the advent of DVD-Audio in the early 21st century, whoever was in possession of the Ritz tapes decided to transfer them over to this new format, resulting in the release of 2003's From the Front Row: Live. While it's obviously not going to be as clear as a pristine studio recording (especially Iggy, who's one of rock's most energetic and unpredictable performers on-stage), this live show does a fine job of balancing the old with the new, as the time off obviously helped refuel Iggy. The Stooges songs always get a hearty reception at Iggy solo shows, and here it's no different, as "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "I Got a Right," "Down on the Street," and "Gimme Danger" are all highlights, as well as the bouncy "Lust for Life" and tense "Five Foot One." From the Front Row: Live is probably one of the better '80s-era live Iggy discs on the market. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Yet another in the seemingly unending series of mysterious European Iggy Pop live albums, Power & Freedom might sound a bit familiar to some fans, and not without reason; while there's nothing in the (extremely) skimpy liner notes to confirm it, a quick side-by-side comparison would indicate that this is an edited and resequenced version of the same July 19, 1988, show that's already appeared on disc as King Biscuit Flower Hour and Live at the Channel, Boston MA 1988. While the new sequence is puzzling in spots (it's just a bit disorienting to hear Pop say "Good Night!" after the fourth song), this recording at least captured Pop on a pretty good night; he's in good voice and an energetic mood, and the band (including former Hanoi Rocks guitarist Andy McCoy, who delivers a strong, wiry performance) never skimps on sweat and muscle. And while the recording and mix aren't flashy, they are clear, bright, and well detailed and certainly do this band justice. The one drawback is that Pop was touring behind the album Instinct, not exactly one of his more inspired efforts, and as a result the set list is weighed down with lots of second-rate material such as "Tuff Baby" and "High on You." But Pop also had the good sense to play some of the hits for the fans, and if the versions of "Search and Destroy," "I Wanna Be Your Dog," and "Kill City" aren't earth-shattering, they sound raw, right, and committed, proving that on-stage, Pop nearly always delivers the goods. (There's also one pleasant surprise; though the track list doesn't mention it, "Winners and Losers" segues into the rare Stooges nugget "Scene of the Crime.") Rabid fans certainly won't need to buy this a third time, but if you want a good recording of the world's forgotten boy on a better-than-average night, Power & Freedom isn't a bad way to go. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Instinct'
Release Date 8/21/2001
Tracks 10
Label Universal Special Products
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
After the pop-oriented smorgasboard of Blah Blah Blah, Iggy Pop teamed with producer Bill Laswell for the lackluster Instinct, a return to the pounding grind his early '80s albums, not the classic grime of The Stooges. In fact, Laswell allows Iggy's backing band, led by ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones indulge their tendency to wallow in a heavy metallic thud, making Instinct his most tedious record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Love it or hate it, Beat Em Up is inarguably one of the most appropriate titles Iggy Pop attached to an album in years; after an ill-advised detour into something resembling jazz on 1999's Avenue B, Iggy shifted gears again and served up his most physically punishing album since American Caesar in 1993. Beat Em Up starts out promisingly enough with "Mask," a hyperinsistent three-chord blast that, with its energetic riffing and manic vocals, sounds more like a prime Stooges number than anything he's cooked up in ages. But about halfway through the song, Iggy launches into a hysterical tirade against a number of cultural abuses common to modern-day America, and for every moment that he hits a nail on the head ("Irony in place of balls/Balls in place of brains/Brains in place of soul") there's at least one or two bits you can only hope he's joking ("Junkie frat boys in their shorts!"). And that pretty much sets the tone for the album; when Whitey Kirst's guitar isn't trying to split the difference between Ron Asheton-esque groove and speed metal shred, Iggy is ranting about one thing or another that annoys him until he sounds like a cross between Dennis Miller and the wino on the corner who yells at you when you won't give him a dollar. There are a few numbers where this all falls into place, and "Weasels" and "Ugliness" rock hard enough that you can forgive them when they start to go silly. But it's both ironic and appropriate that the most effective track on the album is the one that rocks the least -- "V.I.P.," six and a half minutes of slow vamp in which Iggy offers a hilarious stream-of-consciousness monologue about the joys of abusing your fame, which is funny and makes its points well at the same time. Beat Em Up takes an approach not dissimilar to what Iggy was reaching for on Brick by Brick and American Caesar, but where he sounded intelligent and thoughtful on those albums, on Beat Em Up, he sounds a like a crank who doesn't always realize he's being funny, and "V.I.P." suggests if he's going to go this route, he's best off directly aiming for laughs. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Live'
Release Date 5/4/2000
Tracks 10
Label EMI-Capitol Special Markets
See Album Tracklist and Review
