The Stooges - The Weirdness
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Free Music Notes for The Weirdness
Free Music Review: Long Live The Dum Dum Boyz
Hit: 4 Stars
To all the folks before me who have written reviews and said "Gosh I'm a true Stooges fan but I really hate this CD" I can only reply...."Oh Puh-lease!" Anyone who loves Iggy Pop will like this CD just fine. Listeners who were never really fans may yawn and say they have heard it all before. They would have a valid point. They would also be missing the point. The Stooges did it first before all the countless imitators that came after and tried to put their own spin on it.
On this reunion effort The Stooges have produced a good, solid piece of work. Mind you I didn't say a great piece of work. None of the songs here rise to the level of some of the tracks on "Skull Ring" like "Little Electric Chair" or "Skull Ring" (both performed by the Stooges themselves). None of the tracks here are duds that make you want to cringe and fast forward either. My current favorites include the stupidly snide "Greedy Awful People" the mock patriotic anthem "Free and Freaky" and the stoned lounge act from hell title track "The Weirdness". I have listened to the entire CD several times through and am still discovering songs that grow on me. Best of all The Stooges are touring behind it and I have tickets to see them. No doubt they will play a lot of their old tunes and if this CD is any indication they are in very excellent form indeed.
Long live the Dum Dum Boyz
Free Music Review: Good to have the Stooges back
Hit: 4 Stars
This album is getting a lot of negative reviews, and it's a letdown in some ways. I would have liked to see a more classic "Stooges" style approach, with a lot of instrumental space, and more of Iggy's vintage nonverbal vocalizing, rather than these wordy, kind of sing-songy tunes. And the recorded sound doesn't seem to deliver the full power of the playing.
Still, there's a lot to like. Iggy's lyrics may be goofy, but he pulls them off with a ton of charm and verve. He gives a great, spirited performance. Ron Asheton carries the backing with strong Johnny Ramone/Steve Jones rhythm playing. (Some of his soloing seems to show some misguided James Williamson/Raw Power envy, though. Ron should have played more wah-wah.) Tenor sax man Steve MacKay raises everyone's game on the four or so songs he plays on. Stand-in bass player Mike Watt does a good, unobtrusive job -- the songs keep up the momentum even when Scott Asheton trips up on the drums, which happens kind of a lot. For me, the slow tunes, "The Weirdness" and "Passing Cloud" end up working best.
It's the "worst" Stooges album, by a mile. But it's a good new rock CD that I didn't have before. Glad to have the Stooges back.
Free Music Review: It gets better with repeated listenings
Hit: 4 Stars
I would like to briefly respond to some of the negative reviews of this album. I've been a fan from the beginning. I am in my 50s. And I am one of those people who loved "Avenue B." At first listening I didn't like it either: the vocals sounded too far down in the mix, the lyrics were goofy, it just sounded weird. But its Iggy and the Stooges so I listened to it a bunch of times in a row. I tried to get Fun House and expectations of it out of my head. It still sounded a little lame. Then, finally I turned it WAY UP. Suddenly the the logic of the mix popped out at me. The wall of sound over times reveal itself as frankly "awesome." The layers of sound on this album are amazingly dense--like Metal Machine Music with chords and melody. I remembered what I liked about great loud apparenly primitive music--the Sex Pistols, the Dolls, the Ramones. Mike Watt's base is literally welded to the bass drum. This thing kicks. And the "goofiness" of the lyrics reveals a cynicism that is truly profound. Yes, it is the season for wars with no reason. It only sounds dumb. This is a very smart record. I might be wrong--but give this album a chance. It has pleasures to reveal.Free Music Review: 4 star effort
Hit: 4 Stars
The reviews for this new CD, from at least two major review sources, suggested it was not only sub-par but would forever be a black mark on the Stooges legacy. I first sat down and listened to the opening song and wondered if the professional reviewers were right. It seemed like by-the-book Iggy. But then I remembered what one of the Amazon reviewers had said, something along the lines of, "When you listen to this CD, turn it up. Don't be afraid of the volume. This CD is meant to be played loud." How right he was. Even being critical I'd still have to say the first six songs have an almost relentless energy.
I can only imagine that the big name review sources who were down on this CD concentrated almost completely on the lyrical content and missed the very sound of the CD, of which Iggy's lyrical content is only a part. This isn't hip-hop or rap where a musical snippet is looped and the only variable is the lyrical content. The music here matters and, at its best, it is an ever-changing, ever-charging juggernaut.
Free Music Review: Must Litsen to Back to Back 2-3 Times
Hit: 4 Stars
When I first put this on I cringed....Waited a couple days then played it over and over, really gave it a fair shake....What I found is that it's not that bad, much better than the first impression, which I must say was that it was very blah....Of course it's no Fun House or Raw Power, but who was really expecting one? Bottom line is it's pretty good, the lyrics are god awful in some spots of course, but there are some catchy tunes and I thing Ron Ashton puts forth a solid effort....It certainly doesn't kill any legacy, but it doesn't enhance it either....Those that ripped it, give it a second listen, if you don't like it then, I don't know what to tell you.