iggy and the stooges ready to die full album

Elsewhere on the album, anthems abound in the form of the most dead-on rallying cry for the lower-working-class dispossessed to date–the succinctly and aptly titled ‘ Job ’ – as well as a title track that mixes a signature Iggy Pop mission statement of angry desperation with guitar pyrotechnics that recall those halcyon opening salvos of ‘ Search & Destroy ’. The new album’s opening one-two of ‘ Burn ’ and ‘ Sex & Money ’ pair sublimely blunt and self-explanatory subject matter with back alley razor-blade guitars and a troglodytic rhythmic stomp as intensely single-minded as Iggy’s lyrical statements of intent. The results are the closest t hing to a time capsule to 1973 – or at least to Iggy’s subsequent efforts with Williamson, including 1977’s Kill City and 1979’s New Values – that rock ‘n’ roll is likely to proffer in this millennium. Ready To Die finds Iggy Pop, guitarist James Williamson and drummer Scott “Rock Action” Asheton reunited for a full album of all-new material for the first time since the legendary Raw Power sessions, with Mike Watt filling in for the late Ron Asheton on bass.

Iggy and the Stooges Scarecrow from Fat Possum Records on Vimeo.īetter 40 years later than never: The follow-up to the first record ever to bear the Iggy and the Stooges logo – the immortal proto-punk masterpiece Raw Power – will finally be out April 30, when Fat Possum Records releases the all-new Iggy and the Stooges studio album, Ready To Die. They don’t just go and twiddle around on stage to make a bunch of fucking money” Iggy Pop Perhaps they are finally ready to die but for our sake I hope that is not the case.“ a real fucking group… they also make fucking records. The candor fits their elder statesman status and you want to cheer for the proverbial last man standing. It makes these fabled hell-raisers appear inescapably human for the first time in many years. This is a subject matter that this band knows a thing or two about and the pathos is welcome. It doesn't hurt either that the opening guitar echoes the ghost of 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' – creating continuity between the band as they stand today and their infamous origins. 'The Departed' is an acoustic country-style number that ruminates on the inevitable passage of time and the pitfalls of growing old. Nobody becomes a millionaire out of punk rock excess.Įven an outfit with the bruising reputation of The Stooges can surprise you with their candor and honesty. “I gotta job but it don't pay shit” bellows Iggy and you feel compelled to believe him. Added to their existing formula is a dose of working man's blues on 'Job'. With song title like 'Sex and Money', 'DD's', and 'Gun' you need an eye for a knowing kind of stupidity to elevate the material above frat-boy humour. The blasts dirty saxophone, courtesy of longtime associate Steve Mackay, is a prominent player in the album's enthralling sleaze. This is kinetic, muscular music from a band who defined that style all those years ago. The guitars howl and the drums kick in all the right ways. The band show up, kick ass, and leave you with exactly what you paid for and a bloody lip. This record is born from an old school rock and roll ethos. So what does returning to his old wheelhouse with The Stooges really accomplish? Luckily Ready To Die is not the predictable affair that it might appear. It seems that Iggy Pop is desperate to widen the public perception of him from his already storied past. His last two records (2012's Apres and 2009's Preliminaires) have dabbled in covering the standards, light jazz, French pop, and puzzling diversions into spoken word. Iggy himself has been following his own muse for the last number of years – entirely detached from his leathery messiah status. This edition is a well-oiled machine and up to the daunting task set before them: create another classic Stooges record. This is the version of The Stooges that released the legendary Raw Power way back in 1973 (with Mike Watt replacing the late Ron Asheton on bass).

Ready To Die is an earnest attempt to not only right some of the past wrongs but to finally put a good foot forward. Even when he did return with his salad days band in 2003 it was only to retread the glory days and release the half-baked The Weirdness album. Without the grunt of The Stooges behind him he fell on hard times. He went from being music's most dangerous man to a shadow of his former self in the late 70s and 80s. Iggy Pop, arguably the original proponent of rock and roll anarchy, has had far more than that. Not many punk acts get a second chance: those that do tend to squander it or entirely sell out of their founding belief and even fewer still get a third chance.

Iggy and the stooges ready to die full album