Iggy Pop - Idiot
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Free Music Notes for Idiot
Free Music Review: Like a beautiful nightmare
Hit: 5 Stars
David Bowie may have instigated this jazzy, synth-driven monster of an album, but only Iggy Pop could have taken it home. Iggy, stoned but enthusiastic, belts out sinister songs of desire, decadence, and detachment that might have given Raymond Chandler pause, if only for their ability to convert the angst and false glamour of film noir into shimmering rock-and-roll abstraction. He yells, he croons, he snaps and purrs his volatile, sometimes haunting lyrics with conviction that was totally new to Stooges listeners in 1977. The songs are dynamite from the jaunty beginning to the devastating end. In between, the basis for Bowie's 1983 hit, "China Girl," forms the album's centerpiece, as a majestic, heartfelt ballad that still leaves room for bitterness and doubt.
Due to some self-serving actions on Bowie's part surrounding the album's release, and to the album's ominous, groundbreaking nature, it never really took off. But a generation of goths and new-wave heavyweights heard it. The results -- from Depeche Mode to Siouxsie and the Banshees to Nine Inch Nails' "Closer," which apparently samples the drum machine from "Nightclubbing" -- speak for themselves.
To say whether this eye-opening, genre-bending milestone is also "safe" to listen to is a tough call. If I were most people, I might warn against it because it's a bona-fide downer. But I'm not most people. I grew up fascinated by the striking visuals and dangerous human drama of those old detective pictures, and I count the slick but sickly cyber-noir Blade Runner among my favorites. The Idiot is sort of the musical equivalent of Blade Runner if it were shot on a Super 8 camera. Scuzzy and coarse, it thumbs its nose at the idea of a digital remaster, but you can't look away for all the glitz and color, however cynically it's applied. Besides, you might not want to. The Idiot is creepy, sure, but there's a compelling flow from song to song and more than enough sublime pop melody to go around (though your mileage may vary).
If you love rock, and you hear this, and then try to go back to Lust for Life, Low, Heroes, or what have you, you can't. A mix of those might be all right for a party, but The Idiot takes you to another world -- for better or for worse.
Free Music Review: Essential Iggy!
Hit: 5 Stars
Iggy Pop made his official debut as a solo artist with this record and has struggled to scale the heights of this brilliant album since. Drugged up & boozed up after The Stooges broke up, Iggy was in the midst of a downward spiral when Bowie dragged him off to Berlin, got him sobered up (somewhat) and helped him write a couple of rockin' albums (see Lust for Life). In 1977 when this was released, Iggy said in an interview "I'm not a punk anymore!"... when The Ramones, The Sex Pistols & The Clash were only beginning Iggy had already proved all he could to punk and was moving on. Bowie's influence is heavy here, providing brilliant and catchy music for Iggy to lay his lyrics on top of. Iggy has upwards of 15 solo albums (not counting live albums and compilations) and this is right at the top of the list of ones to own.The pair's time spent enjoying the Berlin nightlife is covered here with 'Nightclubbing' & 'Funtime', both of which are regulars on Iggy's setlist thesedays. 'China Girl' was written about a girl Iggy was with at the time, and proved a huge hit for Bowie a few years later. Iggy's version is the definitive though, with his rougher vocals giving the song a different edge. 'Baby' touches on what can almost be considered glam-rock, and Iggy pays tribute to his former band on 'Dum Dum Boys', while yearning for them when he needed them ("Now I'm looking for/The dum dum boys/Where are you now/When I need your noise"). It's Iggy at his most personal and it's simply brilliant. Iggy set out to prove that he was more than his reputation, that he had musical talent and wasn't a burnt out case. He succeeded. This is not only great music, but it gives you a good understanding of Iggy's mindset at the time.
Free Music Review: avant-garde raw power.
Hit: 5 Stars
Why does it always seem that musicians always make their best music during their drug induced heydays? Well, this album is proof to that unsettling reality. Iggy Pop's droning voice and slurred vocals, in conjunction David Bowie's Eno/Kraftwerk inspired synth riffs creates, in my mind, a picture of a man (Iggy pop) desperatley trying to claw his way out of a unfulfilled, monotonous life(symbolized by the low synth drones)in a drug induced, drunken stupor. The melancholy "China Girl" (Yes, it is the same song, only this is the original, better version) communicates the same feel, but deals with sins of lust and misogyny(I think). These are situations that ring true of everyday life for a lot of people. No track is more heart felt, ironically, than the track "mass production". Any fan of Iggy or Bowie NEEDS this album. If you like this album, pick up the masterpiece counterpart album of the same year, "Low", by Bowie and Brian Eno. It has a similar feel and purpose. This is a superb album, it achieves its goal so well, it even drove Ian Curtis of Joy Division to suicide. Perhaps it was a little too good.Free Music Review: China Girl: It's not Bowie vs. Iggy
Hit: 5 Stars
A few of the reviews express the oft-repeated belief that Iggy's China Girl on The Idiot is better than Bowie's version on Let's Dance. This reflects a false dichotomy--Iggy versus Bowie. As many of the reviewers have noted, The Idiot was as much (if not more) Bowie's project as Iggy's. Bowie resurrected Iggy from obscurity, wrote most of the music, played most of the instruments, and produced the album. Thus, China Girl is as much Bowie's song as Iggy's. The true dichotomy is 1977 Bowie versus 1983 Bowie. The version of China Girl on The Idiot reflects Bowie's experimental vision which bore fruit for him on the celebrated Berlin trilogy. The version on Let's Dance reflects Bowie's desire at that time (perhaps a misguided one) to tap into the mainstream of pop. Both versions were appropriate for their time and purpose. Keeping this context in perspective, I enjoy both versions, but given my affinity for Bowie's late 70's work over the Let's Dance era, I must agree that the earlier version is my favorite.Free Music Review: The Wonderful Drugged Maze of Sludge
Hit: 5 Stars
It's no surprise that Iggy would eventually turn into Bowie. With the Idiot, he moved to Berlin and hooked up with the man. The backing band here is the same one that Bowie used for Low, and Bowie actually wrote the music for this. Naturally Iggy provided the wonderful lyrics, "Last night I was down in the lab/ With Dracula and his crew." This album is really too wonderful to put into words. It's dark, scary, depressing, and confusing. I especially love the muddy sound. You know, Joy Division's Ian Curtis hung himself while listening to this.
Iggy's scream is gone (with the exception of the end of "China Girl") and replaced by this new baritone crooner (David Bowie's ... son). Stand out tracks include the quite unfun "Funtime", the frightening drugged up "Nightclubbing" and of course "China Girl". This really is fabulous and unique. If you enjoy Heroes and Low by Bowie, as well as Fun House by the Stooges get this and thank me later.