In retrospect, it was sorta inevitable that Pop and company would grow dissatisfied with simply replaying those storied songs in a performance setting almost as certain was that 2007’s studio return of The Stooges, the Virgin Records-issued The Weirdness, would fail to meet expectations.
#IGGY AND THE STOOGES READY TO DIE FULL ALBUM SERIES#
Genres such as post-punk, ‘80s underground rock, heavy metal, grunge, and more all came into contact with the fathoms-deep glory of the band’s work.ĭuring this period Iggy commenced a solo career that featured the expected ups and downs, but the low points had almost no effect on the esteem for his prior band’s legacy, similar to how the twists and turns of Lou Reed’s solo material mattered very little in the general assessment of The Velvet Underground’s beautiful reign.Įven when Iggy and the Asheton Brothers reconvened in 2003 with Minutemen bassist Mike Watt (who replaced the deceased Dave Alexander) for series of live shows, the overall attitude remained positive, mainly because those gigs seemed to reveal the reawakening of a slumbering powerhouse.
Of all the bands designated as proto-punk, The Stooges easily held the biggest overall impact on the music of the late ‘70s, and their influence continued to spread even after punk’s heyday was over. Of course, this is all part of rock lure. Two years later Metallic K.O., a live document of their final shows, was issued semi-officially by the Skydog label and just in time for the reevaluation of The Stooges as punk rock reared its spiky, pissed-off head. It also flopped commercially and the group disbanded in 1974, with the monkey still very much on Iggy’s back. Resurrected through the efforts of David Bowie and with guitarist James Williamson in the lineup (Ron Asheton having switched to bass) they became Iggy and the Stooges and produced Raw Power with Bowie in the producer’s seat for new label Columbia in 1973. Aggressively unfashionable in the midst of feel-good hippie-era vibes, they sold hardly any records and imploded in a haze of heroin abuse, subsequently finding themselves dropped from the roster of their label Elektra
With their 1969 self-titled debut and its follow-up, 1970’s Fun House, The Stooges recorded two of the greatest albums ever. And when some cornerstone performer or legendary group returns to the studio after a lengthy hiatus, the chances that the results will somehow escape being judged against those previous breakthroughs are basically nil. In rock ‘n’ roll, it’s particularly hard to escape being dogged by past success, and this is especially true when those achievements happen to be amongst the most important in rock’s history. Maybe the best thing about Ready to Die is that it holds a few surprises that actually expose the limitations of its intentions. But taken on its own, the LP does include a few nice moments. Such contemplative numbers are an area Iggy could fruitfully explore but, for this summer at least, let's watch that rubber body of his being defiantly flung about the world’s stages one more time.If you were hoping that Iggy and the Stooges’ new record Ready to Die, which features the unlikely return of James Williamson on guitar, would somehow match the heights of Raw Power, you’re in for a little bit of disappointment. “Unfriendly World” casts a cynical eye around and sounds apiece with Lou Reed’s best late material, while “The Departed” more consciously looks elegiacally backward, even incorporating a gentle take on the cataclysmic central riff from “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. More interesting are two warped thug-funk messes, both featuring saxophone, the lumpen “Sex and Money” and the punk-Motown of “DD’s”, a goofy garage paean to big breasts.īest of all, albeit incongruously, given this is pretty much the band that fired out the scorched earth classic “Search and Destroy”, are two slide guitar-tinted acoustic slowies.
“Burn” is chewy, riffy and trashy with doomed lyrics, a likeable opener, and there's plenty of tasty cretin-hop rebelliousness such as the bullish likes of “Gun” ("If I had a fucking gun/ I could shoot at everyone/ freakin’ out in the USA”) and “Job” ("I got a job but it don’t pay shit”). This isn’t an unarguable pay-off by a grizzled old dog, such as 63-year-old Iggy’s peer Lemmy mustered on Motörhead’s last album, but Ready to Die does have treasurable moments of wearied rock-warrior pathos and a host of other kicks.
Since then original guitarist Ron Asheton has died and, in a strange mirror to history, James Williamson, guitarist on 1973's classic Raw Power, has returned to the fold (following a 30 year career in engineering management!)įor fans who dared to hope, it’s good rather than great news.
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