BCB 100 - Iggy (and/or) The Stooges

geoffcowgill · Postby **geoffcowgill** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:25

I recently got the first Stooges album and was not very impressed after my initial listen. Nothing really grabbed me. I'd get excited by some initial riff or rhythm, and then the songs would seem to go nowhere. The other two albums seem to have more to them. Fun House is the best, though. Taking in solo Iggy, I might like Lust For Life best out of all his stuff I've heard. Naw, I'm going with Fun House, if only for the brute force of "Down In the Street", probably Mr. Osterberg's finest few minutes.

Favorite Album - Fun House

Favorite Song - "Down In The Street"

Matt Wilson · Postby **Matt Wilson** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:27

Most people will go for Fun House though I'm not sure if the highs are as good as the first album's.

Davey the Fat Boy · Postby **Davey the Fat Boy** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:31

I know I'm supposed to love Iggy, but I really don't care all that much.

Snarfyguy · Postby **Snarfyguy** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:34

Album: Raw Power (Only because L.A. Blues is better in theory than in practice. And as high as the highs are on the first album, We Will Fall disqualifies it from greatness.)

Song: Lust For Life (Only because everything on Fun House *except* L.A. Blues is so nearly equally great that it's not fair to pick one at the expense of the others.)

Clippernolan · Postby **Clippernolan** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:35

I've only recently bought Raw Power after having it on the list for several years. It is a tremendous record, with lots of melody swimming in and out of the wall of crunchy guitar and Iggy's garagey vocal. I love that you get little glimpses of how the band could have expanded had this not been their last record together (at least up until recently). To me, Williamson is an improvement on Ron Ashton as a lead guitar, and although a lot of the funk is missing that infused Fun House, I think Williamson's guitar serves as a better second voice to Iggy's lead. I like that there are little florishes too, like the electric piano (I think?) on "Gimme Danger". But my favourite is the lead track, Search and Destroy. It makes me want to jump around and break stuff, which is my yard stick for measuring the effectiveness of any rock n roll song.

Album: Raw Power

Song : "Search and Destroy"

B · Postby B » 18 Jul 2006, 22:37

Album: Fun House

Song: 1970

Song could easily be one off Raw Power. Maybe the title song or "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell"

But the album is definitely Fun House

Sneelock · Postby **Sneelock** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:39

stooges album: Funhouse!
song: I Got a Right

iggy alubum: New Values
ig song: Success

Sneelock · Postby **Sneelock** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:41

Funhouse is NOTHING without L.A.Blues!
NOTHING!!!

Snarfyguy · Postby **Snarfyguy** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:43

Sneelock wrote:Funhouse is NOTHING without L.A.Blues!
NOTHING!!!

I agree completely.

In theory.

Jeff K · Postby **Jeff K** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:45

Davey The Fat Boy wrote:I know I'm supposed to love Iggy, but I really don't care all that much.

You sensitive Laura Nyro fan, you!

Album - all of them.

Song - every single one.

I had to really put some thought into my choices.

Davey the Fat Boy · Postby **Davey the Fat Boy** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:49

Jeff K wrote:
Davey The Fat Boy wrote:I know I'm supposed to love Iggy, but I really don't care all that much.

You sensitive Laura Nyro fan, you!

Album - all of them.

Song - every single one.

I had to really put some thought into my choices.

Yeah...it's shameful, isn't it.

Bungo the Mungo · Postby **Bungo the Mungo** » 18 Jul 2006, 22:59

Matt Wilson wrote:Most people will go for Fun House though I'm not sure if the highs are as good as the first album's.

I agree entirely.

Where were you when I said that last time we talked about the Stooges? and the time before that?!?

Again let me say that 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' is one of the greatest things ever recorded. There is nothing wrong with it. It thrills like sex, and never ever dates. And never will.

toomanyhatz · Postby **toomanyhatz** » 18 Jul 2006, 23:41

He's so great, and I'll say that standing on the coffee table of anyone who says otherwise. From being a blues drummer and hanging out with Sam Lay, to being in the Stooges and rejecting management offers from John Sinclair, right up to the Stooges reunion, Ig's his own man and always has been. And he's made very little bad music. I even really like Candy, his duet with Kate Pierson. And he can actually sing. And his energy level, even now, is pretty staggering. A major, major artist.

Album - Funhouse, but ever so slightly over the other Stooges records. Solo probably Lust for Life.

Song - Dirt or I Got a Right.

Matt Wilson · Postby **Matt Wilson** » 18 Jul 2006, 23:49

Sir John Coan wrote:
Matt Wilson wrote:Most people will go for Fun House though I'm not sure if the highs are as good as the first album's.

I agree entirely.

Where were you when I said that last time we talked about the Stooges? and the time before that?!?

Again let me say that 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' is one of the greatest things ever recorded. There is nothing wrong with it. It thrills like sex, and never ever dates. And never will.

I get tired of all the love the Stooges get around here so I rarely chime in during discussions. As great as they were I only love (as opposed to admire, let's say) about a dozen of their songs, if that.

"1969," "No Fun," and "I Wanna Be Your Dog" are the undisputed highlights of The Stooges and for my money they're better than any three songs on Fun House. The latter is the more consistent album though and probably serves as a better listening experience overall.

That's why I like Raw Power the best. Its highlights of "Search and Destroy," "Raw Power," and maybe even the slightly lesser "Gimme Danger," plus all the rest (without any obvious bummers like "We Will Fall" or "LA Blues") make for the most accessible listening in their rather slim catelog.

Snarfyguy · Postby **Snarfyguy** » 19 Jul 2006, 00:08

Matt Wilson wrote:I get tired of all the love the Stooges get around here so I rarely chime in during discussions. As great as they were I only love (as opposed to admire, let's say) about a dozen of their songs, if that.

Considering they only released three albums, I'd say that qualifies you as a pretty huge fan.

Matt Wilson · Postby **Matt Wilson** » 19 Jul 2006, 00:10

Snarfyguy wrote:
Matt Wilson wrote:I get tired of all the love the Stooges get around here so I rarely chime in during discussions. As great as they were I only love (as opposed to admire, let's say) about a dozen of their songs, if that.

Considering they only released three albums, I'd say that qualifies you as a pretty huge fan.

Well I am a fan, but I think you know what I mean.
I don't put any group who only released three LPs in my personal canon.

Buffalo Springfield maybe.

Snarfyguy · Postby **Snarfyguy** » 19 Jul 2006, 00:22

Matt Wilson wrote:I don't put any group who only released three LPs in my personal canon.

Interesting. I never thought about it like that.

Tom Violence · Postby **Tom Violence** » 19 Jul 2006, 00:28

Fantastic band.

Favourite album: Raw Power

Favourite song: 1969

Last year I was 21
I didn't have a lot of fun
Now I'm gonna be 22
I say oh my and a boo hoo

Iggy is inside my head. 8-)

The Write Profile · Postby **The Write Profile** » 19 Jul 2006, 00:44

I wrote a (somewhat coherent) post comparing the relative merits of Funhouse and Raw Power a while back. Hopefully isn't too garbled to be reposted here

Just as an aside, I really love the celeste on 'Penetration,' the way it seems to drive through the track like a locomotive. Iggy's vocals on this song, and many of the others are quite strange, especially compared to Funhouse.

In Funhouse, it sounds like he's caught in some sort of hurricane (that yowl which kicks into 'Down on the Street'), on Raw Power it's very gutteral and quite grunty even. On the whole, Raw Power is quite a claustrophobic LP, even the langrous 'ballad,' "Gimme Danger" seems to contain this barely suppressed malice. Listen to that side by side with "Dirt" (from Funhouse), and hopefully what I'm getting at will make a bit more sense.

Of course, it deserves its reputation for the opening trifecta alone, and "Search and Destroy" is so immense (particularly the 'in the red' Iggy-mixed version) that it scarcely bares repeating. But I get the feeling that on Funhouse, they were going really outthere, and Raw Power pulls them back into the cage, seething ("Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell"). That said, I might put Raw Power on now and I know all my misgivings will be blasted away. The 1997 remaster sounds a dream, everything's in the red.

It's a far goofier LP than Raw Power anyway, but The Stooges is probably the goofiest of them all, if not the most consistent. It has a number of great 'dumb' jokes, doesn't it, not least "1969." And "I Wanna Be Your Dog" brings the whiplash, those sleighbells are fantastic even without one of Iggy's best-ever, most perfectly pitched vocals.

I saw the reformed Stooges (with Mike Watt) play at the Big Day Out this year and they were utterly superb, leaving every other band in their wake for sheer power. This was a museum piece that tore down its own foundations, and Iggy looked to be having a lot of fun, inviting people onto the stage and the like.

Solo Iggy is very, very patchy, but Lust for Life and The Idiot (Bowie's best-ever production work, incidentally) are both excellent. "The Passenger" might be one of the best things he's ever done, certainly the most endlessly intriguing, with its great, cyclical riff and odd sense of unease inspite of its momentum.

Tom Violence · Postby **Tom Violence** » 19 Jul 2006, 00:48

The second disc of the 'Iggy Anthology' pretty much captures everything vital I think. And some stuff that isn't vital. Correct me if i'm wrong, i usually am.