Iggy Pop - Million in Prizes: The Anthology
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Free Music Notes for Million in Prizes: The Anthology
Free Music Review: Second ill attempt to documentarise the Iggy phenomenon...
Hit: 4 Stars
Up to now, the only "decent" Best-of that existed, namely, "Nude and Raw" was always rightfully criticised for being superficial and omitting to a ridiculous degree. Several years after, comes this brand new, and much improved effort in "A Million in Prizes", a double CD (triple in the limited edition that includes a DVD) and attempts to put together the big and fuller picture on one of rock's most definitive performers, personas, and live legends.
But improved as it may be, this double CD is still not doing proper justice to this incredible phenomenon known as "Iggy".
The first CD covers (in the vague sense of the word) the Stooges era. Quite rightly too, as the Stooges have STILL not been put in their just light. People still associate the Sex Pistols with the advent of punk, when the truth is that the Stooges invented punk. They did it 1000 times better, a 1000 times more provocatively, and with a 1000 times more shock value and substance than all those that followed them during that time . It's time those that are interested in punk start discovering the facts. Starting indeed with the Stooges.
The second CD gets to Iggy Pop himself, solo. The same applies again, that it only vaguely "covers" what has made Iggy to what he is.
Alone the fact that "Louie, Louie" is spectacularly absent, as well as other stunning songs (easily 3 or 4 of them) from the "American Caesar" (for many his best album) is enough to warrantee a mere 3 stars for this CD. But then again one of Iggy's most intriguing albums, "Avenue B" is entirely absent here, which in my opinion is an utter crime. A couple of songs from the incredible "Arizona Dream" soundtrack easily deserved their place here and didn't get it either.
Still, those that don't want to drop the considerable cash needed to shelf all of Iggy's vast discography will be for the time being well served with this Best-of album. Despite all the notable absences or omissions, some truly inimitable rock classics are included here, songs that have carved their niche in rock history in stone. And especially for those very thinly familiar with Iggy's history this double CD will be nothing less than a revelation.
Other than that though, i would have to agree with those placing their hopes on a future Iggy box-set when it comes to a complete picture on the man actually called James Osterberg.
Through all the years and through all the fake "legends" the music industry has created, the few real ones that have persisted have served as a measuring entity for musical truth. One of these few, is Iggy Pop. He's never compromised his ferocity, whether singing ballads or hard stomping high-octane rock. And as far as rock personas go, extremely few even come close to the life and doings of that man.
Free Music Review: The legend of the Iguana
Hit: 4 Stars
After 35 years, Iggy Pop gets a double disc anthology. While far from essential (I mean the man has what, over a gazillion albums?), it is a great starting point for anyone who wonders what the real thing sounds like when it comes to rock.
The first disc confirms this. With some blisteringly remastered Stooges cuts (can't wait for those re-issues!), songs like "Search and Destroy" or "I'm Sick Of You" show exactly what John Lydon and Malcolm MacLaren were hunching over when dreaming up the Sex Pistols. There is a terrifying amount of energy that blasts from those first ten songs, and you can hear the inspiration for everyone from the Ramones to Billy Idol, not to mention eventual cohort David Bowie, who nurtured Iggy through such classic songs as "China Girl," "Nightclubbing" and "Lust For Life."
The second disc is still great, but much spottier. The Arista tenure gets represented by a mere 3 songs, and the quality runs all over the map. A&M obviously saw Iggy as a star, and then tried packaging him. It did pop out some memorable songs, like "Real Wild Child" and "Cry For Love," but somewhat neutered his impact. Almost to prove he could mainstream it with the best of them, an almost unrecognizable Iggy recorded a hit single with B-52's Kate Piersen ("Candy" the sole Top 40 record of his career) for his stunning and consistent Virgin album "Brick By Brick."
The two new live tracks are defiantly worth the price of admission, and the remaining tracks are the best from each of his remaining albums. It also contains the meditative "Look Away," one of Iggy's few ballad moments. Getting the title track from "Skull Ring" is a nice touch, completing the circle by reuniting Iggy with the Ashton Brothers (and if you don't have that album, it's worth the bucks). "A Million In Prizes" is a long overdue honoring of Iggy's input and influence.
Free Music Review: Pop Rocks
Hit: 4 Stars
While A Million In Prizes offers little for those who've kept an eye on James Osterberg's career since the days of The Psychedelic Stooges, as a five decade overview of the leathery Detroit legend it completely eclipses the hits packages that precede it. Whether it's garage rock, glam, punk or even Berlin cabaret, Iggy Pop has kept at the top of his game via reinvention, clever allegiances and simple survival.
Roughly divided up into the four eras of Stooges-fronting, Bowie-befriending, 1980s commerciality and 1990s icon(oclast), the double disc package A Million In Prizes fulfils the obligation of presenting Iggy as an enigmatic, genre-hopping artist whose successes have been often down to savvy collaborations. Early Stooges tracks Search And Destroy and 1969 set the bar high for where the trailer park kid could go, but after The Stooges' 1973 post-Raw Power split, the helping hands of David Bowie, Jimmy Webb and even members of The Sex Pistols assisted Pop in his sonic travels. Early solo track Nightclubbing, the slamming beat of Lust For Life and the amusing Iggy drawl of I'm Bored show an artist keen on probing styles far removed from the primordial rock sounds he'd worked on with The Stooges only a few years before.
While Bowie's shadow looms large at the midpoint of this collection during the pair's Berlin recording period, by the time of his 1980s chart successes with Real Wild Child and the Steve Jones co-write Cry For Love, Pop had shown he was no mere pet project for Bowie. With the beautiful Candy (surely the single of 1990, if not the greatest duet ever), the Debbie Harry allegiance Well, Did You Evah? and the neatly cyclical reformation of The Stooges for Skull Ring, A Million In Prizes complements Iggy's sizeable manhood by being a similarly lengthy and exciting package. Here comes Johnny Yen again - rest assured, Pop rocks.
Free Music Review: Creative Anger Followed By Regular Anger
Hit: 4 Stars
Disc one exposes a man who could shift with the best of them: His Stooges days are marked by wild proto-punk riffery mixed with the most cantakerous nihilist lyrics this side of 1976. Fantastic. The latter portion of the disc sees our man taking a trip with Bowie, a trip where synths plod along within the most vacous soundscapes this side of dub. The legacy of drugs looms in the content of these tracks, and the clash of Iggy's vocal delivery and the atmospherics is unique indeed. A triump.
Disc 2 is revelry smothered by cliches. The first few tracks on the disc have homogenous production values that make all the songs sorta blend into each other. The cod-Bill Idol phase (from the Blah Blah Blah album) is rather amusing, since the slick production makes Iggy seem like the glossiest rebel ever (and that's not a bad thing). After that, however, tracks like Cold Metal and the like reveal a complacency characterized by yelling over the most contribed riffs. Nothing special. The latter tracks share one thing: bloody awful production values. These sound like they were recorded in a Third World radio station's maintenace closet in 1965. At least the live tracks (re-hashes of Fun House tunes) revive the raw aggression of the Stooges.
I'd say that forking over the extra dough to get this set, when you could get the one disc compilation, seems rather extreme. Just get the 1996 compilation and then buy all three Stooges albums. If you're really curious, get Iggy's late 70s albums and Blah Blah Blah. And that's about it. It's not plausible that you'll be tempted to delve into most of his 90s work.
Free Music Review: Disc One -- Indispensable; Disc Two--Dullsville
Hit: 4 Stars
"A Million in Prizes," like other two-disc compilations by acts like The Fall, Devo and The Damned, features an essential first disc with Iggy Pop at the peak of his powers (with the Stooges, James Williamson and David Bowie). Featuring remastered versions of the Stooges best songs plus the remixed songs from "Raw Power," this stuff is blood-curdling, head-banging rock n' roll of the highest caliber. Topping it off are newly cleaned up versions of Iggy's pre-hardcore classics "I Got a Right," "Gimme Some Skin" and "I'm Sick of You." This material is followed by the best songs from his first and best two solo albums, "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life." Once again an improvement over "Nude and Rude," the previous official Iggy best-of, this disc features "Success," a wonderful, unheralded cut from the latter album. Then ... there's disc two. It starts off solidly with a holdover from "Lust for Life," "Some Weird Sin," and the best cut off his underrated "New Values" album, "I'm Bored." Even "I Need More" is listenable, as Iggy's voice is still thunderous and convincing. After that, however, Iggy's records fall victim to bad 80s production and a seeming complacency on his part. "Real Wild Child (Wild One)" represents Iggy at his most commercial ... something akin to David Bowie's "Let's Dance" album, only much less satisfying. Despite the dropoff in quality, Iggy's energy and commitment to musicmaking is praiseworthy, making "A Million in Prizes" an essential part of any respectable music fan's collection.