Nights Of The Iguana - Iggy Pop

The Idiot - Iggy Pop

Advantages: Astonishingly powerful music from Iggy and Bowie
Disadvantages: Slightly doomy, but well worth it.

The Idiot is as much David Bowie's album as it is Iggy Pop's. The record was recorded in the summer of 1976 as both men attempted to escape their drug habits. Relocating first to the Chateau d'Herouville just outside Paris, then to Berlin, the duo recorded an album of such oustanding power and depth that it is fair to say that The Idiot represents one of many peaks in both their careers. From the start Iggy wanted to get away from the hard riffing sound of the Stooges and fully embraced the European sound of NEU! He also wanted the album to be more funky and early on described the record as a cross between James Brown and Kraftwerk. The song "Nightclubbing" might be the closest to that description with its fearsomely Teutonic motorik beats and heavy bass. "Funtime" is more lively, as is the original version of Bowie's 1983 smash hit ...

adams66 16.09.2008 (26.09.2008) · Read full review
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Review of Idiot, The - Iggy Pop

Zombie Birdhouse - Iggy Pop

Advantages: quirky, unique songs with a lot of dry humour - unusual for Iggy
Disadvantages: a couple of weak songs

Iggy's 1981 album Party had been another smash flop and by Christmas of that year Iggy was without a record deal. His guitarist Rob Duprey had been recording odd little homemade instrumental fragments, which were twisted and poked and prodded during the spring of 1982 into something approaching songs for Iggy to finish. With sparse backing tracks many of these new tracks would stand or fall on their lyrics and top line melodies. Fortunately these were some of the strongest Iggy had written in years. In late 1981 Blondie's Chris Stein had set up Animal Records to release low-key albums by underground New York artists. Keen to record Duprey's quirky songs, Iggy was delighted to sign with Animal for a one-off album deal. The recording process became a family affair in order to keep the costs low - Stein played occasional bass ...

adams66 26.09.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Zombie Birdhouse - Iggy Pop

TV Eye 1977 Live - Iggy Pop

Advantages: excellent performances from Iggy Pop in concert
Disadvantages: bizarre song order and variable recording quality

In March 1977 Iggy Pop embarked upon his first tour as a solo artist. His friend and collaborator, David Bowie, took the unusual decision to accompany Iggy on tour of the UK and the USA as simply the band's pianist. The set list was a mix of Stooges classics and new material from The Idiot and the forthcoming Lust For Life and the tour was a resounding success. As well as Bowie the band consisted of Hunt Sales on drums, Tony Sales on bass and Ricky Gardiner on guitars, who switched between the high octane Stooges styles and the more thoughtful avant garde guitar sounds of 1977 Iggy with ease. After the release of Lust For Life Iggy again hit the road, but the second 1977 tour did not feature Bowie or Gardiner, replaced by ex Stooge Scott Thurston and Canadin guitarist Stacey Heydon respectively. The fall 1977 tour was generally ...

adams66 18.09.2008 · Read full review
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Review of TV Eye (1977 Live) - Iggy Pop