Stooges raw power full#

It captures the ferocity of a live Stooges performance, Pop screaming to the point where his voice fries and fades.This week, the street-walking cheetahs of Discord and Rhyme take a stroll down the dark, sketchy alley that is Iggy and the Stooges’ 1973 classic Raw Power. “Death Trip” closes the album out with a winding guitar solo, a flashy signature from Williamson leaving his mark. Armed with the knowledge of their lives post- Raw Power, it’s easier to listen to the album, but the darkness is still often acute and overwhelming.Ī wild, groovy track, “Shake Appeal” would later be described by Pop as his as a way to “get to my dream of being Little Richard for a minute.” The howling intensity and double time drumming feels incredibly punk-it’s a track you can feel in the DNA of The Ramones or The Clash years later. There’s no desire to find a different path, just resignation to their new master.

But it’s also made clear that they just really loved drugs.

Throughout the thinly-veiled drug metaphors, you understand the dire circumstances around the band’s health. When Pop sings “I’m only living to sing this song,” you feel his listlessness, the blues guitar wailing loud enough to keep him alive for another line.

Stooges raw power full#

“I Need Somebody” brings The Stooges back to their bluesy roots, full of twang and vibrato. The drug held a tight grip on most members of the band, contributing to their erratic behavior and “rock and roll lifestyle.” They were all fortunate to shake it (eventually), though its devastating effects would keep the band from releasing new music or performing together for several years to come. The thrill of addiction and living a dose or two away from death gets a glamorous send-up. The title track “Raw Power” is fun and jangling, a tribute to Pop’s beloved heroin. There are echoing hums, backing the yelps and sighs Pop delivers writhing around until the end of the track. The lyrics are sparse, and the opening lines are delivered with a rasping Jim Morrison-quality. “Penetration” is dirty and raw, even on the cleaned up Bowie mix (with silly bell tones in the background). “Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell” is a hip-shaking rock and roll anthem, rooted in Chuck Berry. The contrast is especially dramatic post-bridge, Pop’s version with frenzied guitars, Bowie’s a muted solo. The Iggy Pop mix is brash and American, literally titled the “violent” mix. On the original album, it is quiet and creepy, a song The Rolling Stones wished they had written. “Gimme Danger” is one of the tracks that feels dramatically different on the Iggy Pop mix. Though not explicit in politics, the message is strong, a battlecry for the anti-Vietnam War movement and an examination of the fallout of a generation awash with the damage of combat. A lyrical pastiche of Time Magazine buzzwords, Pop aims at the establishment, growling the chorus, “I'm the world's forgotten boy / The one who's searchin', searchin' to destroy.” From the first guitar licks, the song is an urgent manifesto, rejecting the party line. The opening track “Search and Destroy” remains in the pantheon of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. Ron Asheton begrudgingly stepped over to the bass guitar, replacing original bass player Dave Alexander, allowing Williamson to demonstrate his genius guitar-playing alongside Pop’s frontman antics. Putting aside emotional and chemical trauma, the original Stooges lineup of Detroit boys (Pop, Ron Asheton, and Scott Asheton) joined James Williamson to record Raw Power. In a story that feels like fan fiction in 2018, Pop met Bowie at Max’s Kansas City and was subsequently convinced to record another album. Raw Power was recorded after the first of the many Stooges breakups.