special introductory
paragraph!
The Stooges
Fun House
Raw Power (Iggy Pop remix)
Metallic KO
Siamese Dogs EP
Head On
Live In Detroit DVD
The Weirdness
When one hears the phrase "Raw Power," one's immediate thoughts of course waft back to Fuzzy Zoeller's amazing performance in the 1986 Sea Pines Heritage, but wasn't it Arnold Palmer who once remarked to a young caddy, "I've got a cock in my pocket and I'm hitting down the old fairway"? Indeed. Therefore, Tiger Woods is black.
This record's chord sequences are simple, druggily midtempo and repetitive, hammering themselves into your world through sheer lack of dynamics. But not dumbness. Too many people use the spelling "STOOPID" to describe this album, but it's neither stupid nor deserving of a poorly-spelled rendition of said word. If it were, it would sound like the Seeds, with every single song sharing the same exact hook and keyboard solo. Such is not the case - in fact, there's hardly any keyboard on here at all, unless you count the ONE note being played over and over again by a drunken parakeet in the background of "I Wanna Be Your Dog." The chord sequences are minimalist, but not by any means interchangeable. And just check out how hilariously similar the cover looks to that of the first Doors album! Way to go all out with the creativity, Elektra Records! (If I may briefly continue the Doors comparison, am I Sillypants Johnson or is "Ann" the "The Crystal Ship" of this album? Or at least until the laugh-out-loud noise break at the end?)
Joey Ramone covered "1969," Sonic Youth, the Space Negroes and Slayer covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog," the Sex Pistols and Teen Idles covered "No Fun," The Fall ripped off "Little Doll," and most folks would agree that the only questionable track on the record is the pretentious and tiresome ten-minute viola drone meditation "We Will Fall" (whose sole purpose for existence was almost certainly to try and convince their producer, John Cale of Velvet Underground lame, that regardless of lyrics like "I want sumthin' I want sumthin' tonight. I want sumthin' I want sumthin' - Alright!" they were in fact an avant-garde group of dark, Dionysian experimental artists). But even this track isn't BAD. The "Oh-Tree-Ran-Cha" chant is honestly pretty eerie, and everyone loves a good viola. The only mistake was dragging it on to a length that matched every other song on the record added together with a faulty calculator.
Was The Stooges revolutionary? Absolutely. It was almost a perfect circle and when you set it on the turntable, it would revolve nearly 34 times a
Was The Stooges groundbreaking? I don't think so, the vinyl's pretty light. I guess if the soil was still wet due to heavy precipitation, it could be used for that pu
Was The Stooges good? Yes. But only if you like rock music.
Say, this is interesting. The guy who shot these cover photos, Joel Brodsky, is the father of my former boss, Jill Holt. He shot lots of Elektra photos - David Peel, the Doors - Joel Brodsky was the SHIT! And his daughter? Man, she was (my) BOSS!
And even better news - that asshole guy I used to work with now has ANOTHER fucking book out! This time, it's about some John Coltrane album or some shit. And what am I doing? Just sitting here getting old with ball hair growing all over my back? When do I get MY recognition? Where's MY book deal?
Wait, slow down. What's this about not talking about my balls in every single review?
I can see the Doors comparison with "Ann", have had those thought myself before, but "Crystal Ship" is really much more melodic than this one. Unlike most people, I'd say I started getting into the Stooges through Monster Magnet, so the song I think about is one of theirs, called "Third Alternative" which uses the exact same riff (probably in another key though) as the one that ends this one, for the chorus. I'm sure it was more of a tribute than rip-off.
Yes, I like "1969" best, how can I not get sarcastic about this? Good sound, but things would get a lot better. My rating: 8/10.
The Stooges had only 5 songs hitherto recording sessions. So Ron had no choice but to go to his room and make few more...and the rest is history.
The album was out the same week as "Woodstock" festival. And as things go in this vicked world - record was just the stuff that made difference between burnout 60's and the new thing that was yet to come... EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER and PROGRESSIVE ROCK CRAZE!!!
Well sort of...The album starts divine: "1969". Then comes "I Wanna Be Your Dog" the song that convinced aproximatelly half a billion guitarists that they can play guitar and look cool without really rehearsing 24\7... Me included.
Skipping "We Will Fall", we clash with "No Fun" the song that made the other half a billion guitarists think that they could play one riff and do weird stuff on stage in the SAME time - and look cool - with various effect on the audience (if any)...And repeat that famous line (by Bobby McFerrin ofcourse) at the end of the song "Ever felt you're being cheeted...". Then comes "Real Cool Time", "Ann", "Not Right" and "Little Doll". I dont really remmember those songs. I must be too old. Or its Parkinson knocking...on my doors...in the bedroom...eels...eells...cobras...cooobras all over...they...they are blue...moody...cobras...their teeth are so green...they...
What to the other songs, the best is sure, 1969, with its McDaniel-beat riff. Also, listen to the gloomy “Ann”.
The Fun House band sounds completely relaxed, intertwined and natural -- like a well-integrated unit of sick soul, rather than the guitarist, bassist and drummer playing garage rock on the debut. Key to this feeilng is the production of the record. The guitar tones are generally reverbed all to Hell, to such a diffuse, distracting half-there tone that the riff would be impossible to make out if not for the overdub of a fuller-toned "axe" in the opposite speaker (as in "Loose"). The drums are pumped way up in the mix, and fuckin' Scott Asheton's playing is so crisp, sleazy and dance-dance-DANCEABLE(!), it's impossible for me to sit through these songs without shaking my leg up and down and my head back and forth. Granted, I have tardive dyskinesia, but even if I didn't (which I don't), these songs are SO GODDAMNED RHYTHMIC!!!!
Fun House is an amazing mix of r'n'b soul emotion, phunkyass funk beets (col' medina - don't be hatin'!) and drug-addled guitar rock noise. I've never heard a record quite like it, and that's saying a lot considering how many records I've heard (4) (all my other reviews are guesstimates). The macho phallic thrust of "Down On The Street" and "Loose" -- the sweaty hook-driven pound frenzy of "T.V. Eye" (especially the part in the middle where Iggy screams "RAM IT!" at the top of his lungs four times in a row) -- the stark desolate blues of "Dirt" -- the punk rock cacophony of "1970" (later covered by The Damned as "I Feel Alright") -- the James Brown sax/guitar melodic boogiedown of "Fun House" -- and finally the completely indescribable "L.A. Blues" (unless you use the descriptions "screaming" and "a guy throwing his drumset down the stairs"). It's an album that is more than its songs. It is its sound, its jib, its attitude, its tones and textures, its dissonance, its feeling, and most of all its possessing the gall to conclude with five minutes of cataclysmic pitter-pattering, clitter-clattering, bleating, skranking, screaming both wah-wah and man-made and bass bwoomps going up and down the neck. Synopsis: The most unhinged and drugged-up soul record in town!
Interestingly, although I was telling a hilarious lie when I pretended these reviews were for a golf magazine, the truth is that I was on my high school golf team when I bought this album. This was a strange period in my life that I'm really not sure how to explain. The main reason I ended up among this bunch of fucking dorks is because the baseball team rejected me due to inability to not miss the ball 15 times in a row. The golf team, a more amiable sort, would let ANYBODY join. And I will not soon forget being on the fairway ready to tee off and having that wonderful "chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk-BWAH-dunk-chunk-chunk-chunk-doodly-chunk" riff from "Down On The Street" going through my head over and over again. Who was I fooling to kid? Golf? That's stupid! Rock music was at home waiting to be listened to, and I was out on the golf course hurling balls into trees?
Why are you looking at me with such disdain?
WHAT THE!?!?!? WELL, HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME THAT "BIRDIE" AND "EAGLE" WERE INTENDED AS METAPHORS!?!?! I'M NOW SO TOTALLY FUCKIN' FILLED WITH IRE!
Yeah, this is quite an improvement from the last record, and I don't know about murders or brothers, but I just dig the way he screams. There's so much reverb, but it's still dirty enough to give it a perfect live sound, more so than on the debut.
10/10.
While many have pointed out the snare crack of Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" acted like a gunshot firing off the sound of a new revolution, Rock Action's snare crack at the beginning of "Down On The Street" blasted off a new era of de-revolution. No wonder Rolling Stone panned it: it's a completely retardo, white-trash horrorshow filled with rhythms straight out of the car factory. By ten seconds in, Iggy's already growling like an animal, looking to fuck your old lady doggie style. By thirty seconds in, you're agreeing that a gangbang with your old lady and Iggy is not only acceptable, but inevitable.
If Iggy's sexual overtones don't become painfully obvious by the second track "Loose," then may I recommend buying the album that features Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" instead? "T.V. Eye" further examines Iggy's M.O.: see tail, sniff butt, pound it like a mastodon in heat. If you're looking for an album that sounds like a vicious diatribe against foreplay, "Fun House" is it.
At least for the first three songs, that is, because then "Fun House" turns scary starting with "Dirt" and then ending with the freejazzfeedback "L.A. Blues." With this track alone, John Zorn found his meal ticket and Iggy found his bus ticket back to Michigan after Elektra dropped him. Thank God enough intellects (Bowie) understood the primal craziness of these monkeys to cage them long enough for Columbia to sign them using banana scented markers. A while "Raw Power" is another fine example of primitive decadence, "Fun House" remains as the premier underbelly rock album that's actually closer to Howlin' Wolf's blueprint than anything the British Blues Invasion ever produced.
That's not to say I didn't love it from the beginning - hell, I loved it from the first time I heard "Down on the Street." That song was everything - the GROOVE! From the opening bass slide and snare hit it just SUCKS YOU IN and won't let you go, until your swimming in a red distorted sea of relentless riffing and nonsensical (but nontheless great) vocals. To this day it sounds like the ultimate party soundtrack - not so much "music to listen to at a party" but more "the sum total, the encapsulation of all the party's energy and people" into a song, like it was a perfect equivilant. I'd kill to have this song played at a prom or a dance, because just TRY not to sit still while listening to this, it's impossible.
Alright, so "Down on the Street" isn't the only song on the record, but damn is it good...so is everything else! Except "LA Blues." I never got that one. Maybe that's the point though, that the band felt like fucking around on that one. I don't know. I have heard, however, that the whole point of this record, in producer Don Gallucci's eyes, was to record the Stooges' live set. He succeeded brilliantly. As I said before, this IS rock and roll for a party. All the way through - from the riotous start that is "Down on the Street" to the cataclysmic ending of "LA Blues." There's the down-tempo, but no less groove heavy middle, "Dirt" (wonderfully atmospheric), and then the denser, building chaos of "1970" and "Fun House," all leading to the coming end.
That's all I can really say about it. Others have talked about its greatnesss, and I won't disagree. Funhouse is truly one of the best records out there.
How could any of you LIKE this album? AT ALL? Jeezus, how is it POSSIBLE to like this album? Yeah, I understand it's loud, scary, clangy, janky, hellish, and absolutely anti-mainstream, but. . . so frickin' WHAT??? I mean, shouldn't there be. . . you know. . . HOOKS in the songs?
I guess not. I guess I'm just a sold-out brainwashed drone of the corporate- controlled masses for not seeing the atonal magic in "L.A. Blues". Dang it all.
Man, this is less listenable than Captain Beefheart. I give it a five out of ten--and only for "1970", an absolutely hookless screaming mass that nevertheless compensates with some truly breathtaking drive. The rest of the songs should be used as torture devices for terrorist suspects. Especially "L.A. Blues". Take THAT, Zarqawi!
One of the things I find so rewarding about Fun House is it's structure as an album. Comes out real mean and struttin' with "Down On The Street" before blasting off with "Loose" and "T.V. Eye" (I think Ig is hollering "Ram it!" in the breakdown) and winding down to a hush at the end of side 1 with "Dirt". Side 2 is back and screaming along with "1970" ("I feel alright!!" He sure don't sound all right. Sounds like he's being exorcised....) when the sax comes in howling at the conclusion never to back out for the duration of the album. "Fun House" shifts down slightly to a simmer but threatens to boil over in many spots....but never does....but then....."L.A. Blues" .....blessed release! Bring it down! I find this conclusion peaceful. Like cleansing with fire or acid. Some people who otherwise like the album find this to be annoying or unlistenable or "unmusical" even. They don't like it when the other kids color outside the lines I think. Don't it make no sense?
Down on the Street
1970
TV Eye
Dirt
Fun House
Loose
LA Blues
Now I am not an egotistical kind of guy or anything, but I feel it necessary to dispel the confusion concerning Iggy's outburst towards the end of T.V. Eye. I am pretty damn positive he is yelling "Robert"! Because every time I hear it, I scream back, "WHAT!??!" Listen closely. See? Ah...now we can all finally get some rest.
loooooooooooooooorrdddd waaaaaaaaaaaaha stooop usssssss
MY Tv eye:
looooooooooooooordddd waaaaaahaa MAMBOOOOOOOOOOO.
11/10.
Iggy Pop's real name is James Osterberg. He became known as Iggy while drumming in a Michigan band called the Iguanas. On the first Stooges album, he was listed as "Iggy Stooge," but this was not his idea and he was apparently really pissed off about it. Shortly therafter, he added the word "Pop" to his name in tribute to M's 1979 hit "Pop Muzik." After Fun House sold fewer copies than Crazy magazine (that would be a zinger if anybody in the world remembered Crazy magazine), Elektra dropped the band. By the way, has there ever been a stronger argument for the shitty taste of record labels? Or at the very least, the complete lack of interest in anything but money? Fun House has, of course, come to be recognized as one of the absolute classic albums of all time. But it didn't move enough units, so Elektra dumped them. Same way they dumped Ween a few years ago. They're still committed to intelligent original music though, as evidenced by the ten Keith Sweat albums they've put out to date.
The last four words of that sentence are a great piece of advice for any teenage girl, by the way!
Best,
Larry from Three's Company
So at this point, or either before or after, Iggy started writing songs with a really talented guitarist named James Williamson. Then David Bowie and MainMan Productions approached Iggy about moving to England to lead a band over there. Iggy said sure, but insisted that James be allowed too. They agreed, and Iggy and James tried to find a rhythm section to match their styles. They couldn't do it, so they ended up calling the Asheton brothers over. Ron graciously agreed to move over to the bassist slot and original bassist Dave Alexander went on to die of a drug overdose. Some other stuff happened and eventually Iggy made a horrendous shittyass mix of the new record. David Bowie tried to fix it, but made an even bigger mess of it. It wasn't until 1997 that the original tapes were relocated, and Iggy was invited to create a new CD master. And THANK GOD for this. I don't care if you don't even have a CD player - you MUST NOT purchase the original vinyl copy of this album (or any previous CD mix, for that matter). The original mix is SO GODDAMNED AWFUL that it ruins the entire album. Basically, everything in the mix is all muffled and hidden, then a piercing, bottomless headache of a guitar lead will rip through your ears at five times the volume of the muffled melody, and that's what the entire album sounds like. No power or bottom end at all - just tinniness, treble and headaches. But this 1997 mix is amazing. The songs just KICK ASS!!!! The arrangements are top-of-the-line intelligence, with second guitars and outside instruments brought in at just the right moments, diverse guitar breaks sharing the same space and songs, tons of power and distortion and tremendous melodic hard rock catchiness in the medical fields of punky rock, Sweet-style glam, malevolent darkness, bluesy riff-rockin' genius and tons and tons of straight-up Hot Rock Action. If you play the guitar, or have ever seen a guitar, you're going to LOVE James Williamson. And look at those song titles! "Gimme Danger" - "Search And Destroy" - "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" - "Penetration" - "Death Trip" -- this is violent goodtime rock and roll!
Iggy's in peak condition too, both lyrically (compare his old-timey "Maybe go out/Maybe stay home/Maybe call Mom/on the telephone" to his new-fangled "I'm a street-walkin' cheetah with a heart full of napalm/I'm the runaway son of a nuclear A-bomb.") and vocally (check out the hilarious yet incredibly melodic vocal hook he's chosen for "Shake Appeal" -- and the raspy growly scraggly throat destroyer approach he takes on "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" -- or the near-whispered passive aggression of "Penetration" -- or the low croonerisms of "Gimme Danger". Heck, check 'em ALL out, what with them all being on the same album!)
So if you're looking for a bunch of SONGS, this is the Stooges album you want. Fun House is more about an overall mood and feel, and works better as a whole than split into individual tracks to be graded separately. This one, on the other hand, is eight great hard rock songs. Seven if you think the title track has a weak vocal melody, like at least ONE of us in this room does.
Well, I don't know - maybe it's YOU!!!! (*points accusingly, makes high squeaky noise like Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, sucks your brain out and replaces you with a copy of Ween's The Pod*)
Dude, guess who was executive producer for this reissue? Bruce Dickinson! Yes, THE Bruce Dickinson! But guys, please -- he puts his pants on the same way as you do, one leg at a time. The only difference is that once his pants are on.... he makes gold records!
Tragically, there is no cowbell on this release.
Guess what? I GOT A FEVER. And the only prescription is - MORE COWBELL.
Ok, that's enough.
ps: This album rules. But you already knew that.
You really should've reviewed The stooges when you opened your website Mark, this band is really important in rock & roll history, same as MC5. How many votes has MC5 by the way? And why from all the delicious alcoholic beverages in the world you chose Whisky?
Whisky tastes so bad indeed!...try Vodka instead...Have you tried Rum with Peach Juice? That reaaaaally tastes good...See ya!
And it says "MOTHER!!!" on TV EYE!!!
I'd give it an 8 out of 10.
And by the way, I actually think Fun House would be a 10-worthy affair if they'd just re-arranged the song order. The problem is, they arranged it according to what songs the sax player was and was not on. Side 1? No sax. Side 2? Sax.
Blah. Bad idea. I think they should've put "1970" as track 2, "Fun House" as track 5, and "Loose" as track 6. Then you've got yourself a classic. It's a groove record--if you can't groove logically, you ain't got nothin'.
P.S. - Wonder what would happen if I drove around in the Detroit ghettos blasting this stuff? Probably get shot on sight...
This remix lacks all artistry and sense. There's no subtlety. Sure, it sounds clearer, which is nice, but so friggin' what? That could've been accomplished enuff by remastering the orig. mix tapes w/ the warm 24-bit technology so that you could hear the ORIG. MIX better.
The old mix made the album sound trashy, sleazy, low-budget, mythical, weird, cool. Iggy's vocals were blended in with the chaos. Now, instead of sounding like a rock god, he sounds like some normal guy standing behind your stereo singing in your living room. Fucking sucks. The vocals are WAY up front for the most part. The mix on "Search & Destroy" eliminates some of James Williamson's tasty licks. You do not do this to James Williamson, Master of Endless Supply of Inventive Riffs and Licks.
It has its good moments, here and there, don't get me wrong. But overall, there's no sense of taste. No presence or atmosphere. In order to bring out wildness, sometimes you have to be subtle so as to highlight it. The orig. vinyl release was classic for a reason. It influenced scads of people and rocked many an individual. Gee, I wonder why.
I hope Columbia releases a REMASTERED ORIGINAL BOWIE MIX cd. You hear me, Columbia? Do it! (please)
Mark, review Turbonegro's albums, for cryin' out very loud.
Thanks to you, Amazon, Bittorrent, my curiosity, Iggy Pop, James Williamson, and Ron and Scott Asheton, I now have a high pitched ringing sound in my ears. I just listened to this album straight through. In headphones. I've been here before, but this is probably when I enjoyed it the most. 34 minutes of punk/rock'n'roll heaven. Even when they're supposed to be quiet (like Gimme Danger) the fuzz guitar and fuzz bass simply overpower everything. Sometimes you will be lolling in your seat clinging to consciousness. And sometimes you will be DANCIN'! (Raw Power, Shake Appeal) Recommend to anyone and everyone who likes their music balls-out rockin'.
P.S: If I do go deaf, you will not be held responsible.
The first three songs sound like Iggy has buried his entire band under a pile of dirt, planted a microphone in front of it, and is now running back and forth singing in no particular direction. Two are unlistenable run-throughs of Paw's Mower material and the third is a great moody guitar chord-driven outtake called "Head On." Good tune! And one you can find with better sound elsewhere!
The last three tracks feature clearer recording as well as some uplarious stage talking. Here's what Iggy says to his violent, stuff-throwing audience: "Our next selection is for all you Hebrew ladies in the audience - it's called 'Rich Bitch'!" "I don't care if you throw all the ice in the world - you're paying five bucks and I'm making 10,000, baby. So SCREW ya!" And some other things, but my tennis elbow forced me to stop writing down examples very early in the day. These three tracks include the boogie-woogie wonderful bass line "Rich Bitch" (for eleven far-too-lengthy, smelly minutes), the catchy fun fast profane winner "Cock In My Pocket" and a ridiculous cover of "Louie Louie" that starts with several minutes of the band tuning while the crowd throws stuff at the Popman. It may not be a terribly good live album, but that doesn't change the fact that Iggy Pop Rocks!
Iggy Pop Rocks? What a great name for a candy that snaps and crackles in your mouth! And we can make it so that when you put some in your mouth and then drink a Coke.....
....a pint of sperm is pumped from your stomach and you wake up in a bathtub with your kidneys removed! Oh, I LIKE it! Call Nabisco! I'll get on my blow job shoes!!!
But not only does Iggy piss 'em off with his looks and the band's general incompetence, he bates them. Repeatedly. And then he bates their dates. Repeatedly. Whoever had the good sense to actually document this show should be provided a medal of honor for being in the trenches when the war between Iggy & The Stooges and the Michigan Palace Audience broke out in 1974. Typically, a live album serves as either a document for an artist's particular tour or as a taste of how good a band is live. This album does neither. It's a show you're glad you didn't get a chance to see and it's a taste of how bad The Stooges could be live. The curious thing is that Iggy (both sober and strung out) acts as if he's fronting the greatest band in the world which in itself is an accurate statement. "Metallic KO" begs the listener to prove otherwise. If The Stooges weren't the greatest band in the world and this isn't the greatest live album of all time, then prove it. Get your ass up on stage in front of a crowd of angry drunken steelworkers and win them over, especially if you can barely play an instrument. I couldn't do it and I doubt that you could either, but thank God we've got a document of someone who wasn't afraid to accept the challenge.
It's on here twice because it's great. It's really fast punk rock - far punkier than any song on an official Stooges release. And it was recorded in like 1973! ISn't that buttfucked up the fuckass? The other songs are "Gimme Some Skin" which is just as fast, but more playful. And "Rock Action" which sounds like an early boring version of "Gimme Danger" that's not good. Hey, I have an idea. Alcohol tastes terrible, right? My idea is this: Somebody should come up with a pill or something you can inject into your arm that makes you feel "drunk," but that you don't have to taste. Aren't I a genus? You would shoot it up or snort it up your nose, and you would feel DRUNK! But without having to taste alcohol! Should I get a nose job? I can barely breathe. I NEED YOUR ANSWERS. The largest percentage of my readership is composed of plastic surgeons, so I thought you guys could inform me of your aj;sflk.
It only has four songs. If you buy it, get your head out of my a;fjsl.
My new way of cussing is just to go "aj;sfdl." NO! WHY DID YOU - I'm not funny. Comedians are for "straights" - I'm not straight. My penis curves to the right. Hey readers! Which way does your penis curve? That's the important question for today. And when you email me, remember to cc George.W.Bush@asshole.com. He takes care of the site now that Rich Bunnell has retired. Can I say something important? Here it is. THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE IN THE WORLD, SO STOP DREAMING AND PROTESTING. IT'S POINTLESS. POLITICIANS ARE PUT INTO PLACE TO DO OUR DIRTY WORK FOR US. The times they are a-not-changin'. Just live, do your shit and die. Try not to worry so much. I'm a mummy! Look what happens when I walk up to someone! I'm a mummy!
It only has four songs. Who are all you pricks that voted for Faith No More anyway? You pricks. The Kinks are good, and now I have to review fuckin' Faith No Fucking More. FUCk!
Actually I like them. Especially the stellar material that they wrote with Courtney Love as their singer. Can I say something about "Best of the Year" critic's lists? Here it is: THEY'RE WORTHLESS. The White Stripes. Wow! What a surprise! You chose as your favorite one of the most popular "hipster" releases of the year! Why are so many people raving about that idiot band though? With that song about the girl or whatever? Afraid Of Ezra or whatever they're called? Most critics have shitty musical taste. And I'm not excluding myself, now that I occasionally actually get paid for reviews I write. But I like OLD shitty stuff, not NEW shitty stuff. I'm not dumb enough to like NEW shitty stuff. Or am I? Sure I am. But only the Strokes. I'm stupid enough to like the Strokes, for some reason. I hope their singer is nice, because I'd hate to like a band with an asshole lead singer, aside from the Fall. Look, I know we're having a great conversation here but I need to go eat dinner now. This "record" only has four songs, and two of them are "I Got A Right," which you NEED to buy somewhere because man what a great punk song! It's the best song that Teena Marie never wrote! It's the best song that the hairs on my ballsac never wrote!
The hairs on my ballsac are a famous team of songwriters - have you heard "She-Bop" by Cyndi Lauper? The hairs on my ballsac wrote that. They thought it was hilarious. I told them it was stupid, but that shows you what I know. It became a huge masturbation anthem and I just sat at home eating baked tin cans while the hairs on my ballsac laughed all the way to the bank and dressed in fancy Calvin Klein ballhair suits. FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING BALL HAIRS!!!!
This CD has 14 songs on it, but the last ten are Michael Nesmith taking a shit in his own mouth.
Wait a minute! It has "Dogs" in the title! I LOVE dogs! Check out this dog I just drew:
ZOOQ
Our alphabet sucks. I can't even make a decent dog out of it. Thanks for nothing, Etruscan ASSHOLES.
But you know me, I've been pissed at the Etruscans ever since the Gauls invaded. Pick up your rocks and FITHT, PUSSIES!!!! FITHT!~!! FITHT!!!!
Supposedly my reviews actually make sense if you're unconscious.
By the way, my favorite Stooge is Curly. That guy in the Harlem Globetrotters. His bass lines TORE!
I think you are a bit severe in your review of the Siamese Dogs EP. Yes, I agree, it's a bit o' a steep price for it but that's the Record market.
That's why I included it in our Siamese compilation so Kids can get more for their money and go through real political and musical openings and awareness. It is also available for a fair price at http://siamesedogsrecords.com
No matter what you say I still believe it's a great motherf..... single and it broke quite a bit of musical barriers in its time and is still acclaimed all over the Music world.
I am, personnally, very proud to have had the chance and the foresight to collaborate with The Stooges and I am thankful to James Williamson to have trusted me and believed in me.
Thanks for keeping the good word.
Keep On Rockin'
Head On is a double-CD that collects a good number of the previously unreleased Stooges tracks that you're always hearing about in magazines and hit movies of the day. "She Creatures of Hollywood Hills," "My Girl Hates My Heroin," "Jesus Loves the Stooges" - all that stuff (and more). Depressingly, a lot of this material is just two-chord Chuck Berry/Rolling Stones-imitation jamming garbage based around Scott Thurston's amateurish, fatiguing boogie woogie piano. Were songs like "Born In A Trailer" and "Wet My Bed" actually intended for release? They just sound like tomfoolery - the kind of alcohol-driven bile that bands play to warm up before the real rehearsals begin. But then, even the songs with RIFFS (like "Rubber Legs" and "Pin Point Eyes") are completely underdeveloped, relying upon one or two great guitar lines repeated over and over for seven or eight minutes or however long it takes James Williamson to play them 500,000 times each.
On the up side, Head On features terrific studio versions of "I Got A Right, "Cock In My Pocket" and (this may surprise you) "Head On," as well as early run-throughs of two songs that would wind up Iggy and James' wonderful Kill City LP. But back on the downside, there's a grotesque superglam verion of "Raw Power" dressed up in questionably masculine "Ah-ooooooooo!" backup vocals. But on the upside, there's a funny alternate version of "Hard To Beat" featuring many missed lead guitar notes. But then again on the underbelly, where the hell is "Gimme Some Skin"? And then uply, there's a different, slower recording of "Not Right" (did I mention how much I love the rhythm of that song? Bass, guitar and drums all together - BA-DA-BA-BA-DA-BAH! BA-DA-BA-BA-DA-BAH! BA-DA-BA-BA-DA BA-DA-BA-BA-DA BA-DA-BA-BA-DA come on now! who's with me? BA-DA-BA-BA-DA-BADDD-D-DAE-BB-S-EAB-AD-E-SS-R-BAD-@@@-BADA-!!-GAD-.).
On the downside, every single song sounds like one of the engineers mistook the master tape for a newborn baby and shat all over it.
btw D-Generation does a great cover of "I Got Nothing" one of the rehearsal post Raw Power songs for the 1997 Iggy Pop tribute album.
Somebody could faint over the fact that this could be recording of THE IGUANAS the 1965 school band which featured James N. Osterberg. But no! This is the 1994 CD that consists of complete "Raw Power" sessions(that is: 1972-1973. A series of different mixes from the Raw Power sessions). Some would call this trivia or pointless minutia, but for fans this is priceless. There was some fuss over the fact that Bowie wasnt able to put himself totally into mixing of the "Raw Power" so the (first) mix was quite bizzare. This tracks show that they could record completely live, without any production - and it would sound great! Either way - Its always the songs and the live performance that keeps Iggy and James and Asheton's blasting all over. For a normal, meek, loving fellow that isnt 100% into Iggy Pop there is nothing much to like in here. But for example: "I Need Somebody" (live version, no.8) sounds really really great! Its totally loose and chaotic but you can freel their blues adoration. "Hard To Beat" has some intro radio talk (WABX Detroit) about Iggy, Cocaine, Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Song Names...before it crashes into explosion of "Yor Pretty Face...". "Death Trip" ends abruptly like they werent totally into it..."Raw Power" has some weird 'ooohhh ooohhh ooohh' sound in it. "Not Right" has another radio talk this time with hostess that algedly loves Scott...The final song "S & D" has "Hey! hey! hey!" stugg in it...All in all - this is beautyfull document of the band really before his time.
Once I got past being lied to and treated like shit by the people of Creem Magazine who brought you this DVD, my facial muscles relaxed into a smile. For you see, this is a 2003 Stooges reunion: the most disgusting wrinkly old long-hair in the world has rejoined his old friends the Asheton brothers (one of which is now larger than a house), invited former Minuteman and fiRehose Mike Watt to replace late bassist Dave Alexander (they waited and waited at the studio for Dave, but he never showed up!) and got back to crankin' out the greatest oil-based garage rock that the young men and women of today will ever know.
Nearly every single track from the first two records is reproduced here in shimmering color -- only the art-bore epic "We Will Fall," noise hooligan "L.A. Blues" and Doorsy ballad "Ann" are missing -- along with one new song from the latest Iggu Sklortch solo album. And they sound great! Granted, you don't get that second-guitar-overdub thing on the Fun House songs, and the tracks definitely lose a bit of power when Ron lurches off into one of his solos, but check THIS out -- they even brought along Fun House saxophoner Steve MacKay! They didn't have to do that! They did that for YOU! They could have just half-assed it and got some third-rate piece of shit like Clarence Clemons or Sidney Bechet, but they got Steve "Blow, Steve!" MacKay!
Extras include a neat bass-free NYC in-store gig with just James, Scott and Ron playing low-volume and high-goodness, along with Mike Watt reading his Stooges journal and a photo gallery. The total running time is approximately 100 minutes and I've rated it X for "full frontal sunken chest."
You: "Who's James"?
Me: "Oh, YOU'D know him as 'Iggy Pop.'"
The Stooges have ruined the future.
?
The Weirdness is a collection of 12 high-energy but low-creativity garage rock songs built upon trebly reverbed distorted guitar chords, inaudible bass, wah-wah wanking solos, a live raw drum sound, and occasional saxophone. A few of the riffs hit pay dirt (mainly the mean, driving "My Idea Of Fun" and emotionally-toned "Free & Freaky"), but most are happy little chord changes indistinguishable from those of every Estrus band in American Society.
Still, even an album of basic uptempo rockers can be great fun; what ultimately kills The Weirdness are the lazy, off-key, one-take vocals of James "Iggy" Osterberg "Pop." He honestly just sounds like he isn't trying AT ALL!!! Maybe it's too much to expect a return to the passionate screaming of his youth, but could he at least not sound like he just wandered in off the street? His vocals are almost all flat and off-key, delivered in what is basically his SPEAKING voice. I realize that he was probably trying to keep it 'real' and 'authentic' by singing the tunes straight through without post-production cleansing, but it sounds like they accidentally released a goddamned "guide vocals" tape! And it's really hard to appreciate the high-powered goodtime rockin' of the Ashetons when stuffed-nose Iggy sounds like he overdubbed his parts while listening to a very quiet tape of the instrumental performances. I trust Mr. Steve Albini with my life, so I'm not sure why he didn't insist that Iggy scream to be heard above the din of the live in-studio band. Or at least hit the fucking notes. Iggy has NEVER had this much trouble hitting his notes! Wha' hoppen!?
In summary, The Weirdness was never going to be Fun House II: The Sequel To Fun House, A Film By Tobe Hooper Of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" Fame, but it could have easily been a decent 7-worthy addition to any retro-motorcycle-rock fan's collection. Regardless of some derivative riffs (and a couple godawful ones -- "Trollin" is particularly horrific), there is a zippy youthful energy to the playing that belies the Ashetons' advanced ages (they're both 400 years old!). But Iggy Pop sucks absolute robin cock on this record. It is easily his worst studio performance of all time, no contest. Which would be fine if he was mixed way down, but you can make out every single word he says! And that's hardly a good thing when the words are used to form sentences like "Maybe I should take a little pill/Maybe I should listen to Dr. Phil."
Then I thought, the songs aren't bad! Some of the hooks really hook. "My Idea of Fun" was quite good, and "The End of Christianity," be it good or not, stuck with me for a bit even after one listen. Contrary to you, I liked "Trollin'," and thought it was quite catchy. (Although I can't believe no one told Iggy that songs that have the meter of, and rhyme with, "R.O.C.K in the U.S.A." are a bad bad bad idea ("Free and Freaky in the USA").
But his voice! Terrible! Off-key, lazy, bored and ineffective. I understand that any of those modifers could have been good, but here they are not. His worst singing ever. I am embarrassed for him, and a little for myself.
And the lyrics try too hard, but that was to be expected. "My idea of fun is killing everyone."
No, Iggy, stop! They might suspend your membership at the country club!!
I don't know how he gets help from people like Watt, Albini and others talented guys... He must be a very very nice guy as a friend! Or maybe he pays all the bills... Or brings the whores... Or has a beautiful daughter... Or tells very funny jokes and stories... Or has a Playstation 3 at home... Or... Well, maybe they just feel pity for the old man.
We got the album at the GVSU radio station, put it on and one of us said, "hey, will you turn that crap off?"
On the other hand, I saw the Stooges at the Fox theater in Detroit last Friday and have to say, it was awesome despite their playing 4 songs from The Weirdness and 2 songs from Skull Ring. Iggy tried to establish a chaotic vibe at a theater that mainly holds plays. People rushed the stage, my friend got kicked out and snuck back in only to have Iggy fall on her and some guy in a wheelchair, security was actually worried because they weren't used to that type of thing. I tried to get on the stage and join the other 30 people that were dancing around during "No Fun" but I got pulled off. Wicked cool night!
I think that "My Idea Of Fun" is probably one of the worst, most grating songs I've ever heard and found it hilarious when Iggy introduced it onstage as if he were the singer of some young band with a huge new hit called "My Idea Of Fun" that everyone was just dying to here... "My idea of fun.... My idea of fun..."
People are complaining about the awful lyrics, but I'd say that's their appeal. Dig this - "England and France, these cultures are old, the cheese is stinky and the beer ain't cold". RIGHTEOUS!!! I think the lyrics are more potentially offensive than on any of their other releases. Imagine if they had said "my idea of fun is killing everyone" in 1969, or "the end of Christianity"!
I'd just say that before you keep bashing it like I probably did the first time I listened to it, just give it a few more listens. You'll be surprised at how these melodies stay with you. Don't listen to it with a serious mindset or to actually pay attention to every nuance of the lyrical or musical content of the music. It's a party album. Listen to it while having a good time. I'd say it's a job well done for the guys.
Oh, and am I the only one who thought the title track sounds a lot like "Star Me Kitten" by R.E.M.?
