Iggy And The Stooges Raw Power

What can be said about the album that hasn't been said already? It's one of the most influential albums in history, kick starting the 70's punk rock movement, inspiring every generation of music in one way or another since it came out. Dig this, it's not hype... this album really is the real deal.
It was 1973, and after being dropped from Elektra The Stooges broke up. Iggy Pop hooked up with David Bowie and MainMan, and from there he was sent to London to write and produce a new record. He met up with James Williamson, who he'd later make Kill City with some years later, and they started making the record. After trying out tons of musicians, Iggy thought it best to get Ron and Scott (Rock Action) Asheton back in the studio. Dave Alexander was kept out because of his raging alcohol problem, so Ron filled in on Bass, while James played all the guitars on the album. Because Ron and Scott were on the album, the band was dubbed: Iggy And The Stooges.

It was at at Bop Street Records in Seattle, Washington, 35 years later, that I would find this record. Dave, the dude that runs the now legendary record store (over 650,000 records!) Showed me an area with some amazing first pressing... Patti Smith's Horses, The Stooges Fun House, Ramones Road To Ruin...but when I picked up this copy of Raw Power, I almost cried. A little battled, a bit worn, but I knew I had to buy it. Dave is a great guy, he hooked me up with this record and a Double LP of The Damned for a great price. I had a great conversation about the talents of Greg Ginn and East Bay Ray with the night shift manager Matt, and found that I could live at this record store for the rest of my life. That's enough about personal history for now, lets talk about the record.

It kicks off with the theme song for every angry adolescent...Search And Destroy. Iggy's original mix was kept on this one song, but the rest of the album was remixed by David Bowie by order of Columbia Records. The rest of the album kicks just as hard and doesn't stop till the end of the thread on side B. Gimme Danger was a "ballad" of sorts, but much darker then anything made in later decades. Side B starts off with Raw Power, one of the best title tracks ever made. Lets face it, if you haven't heard this you have to hear it on vinyl. David's mix kind of sucks, really, the drums are mixed way down and the additional guitar tracks seem to be almost non-existent. The vocals sound great, classic Iggy Pop, filthy. The bass seems to blend into the guitar a bit much, but I read somewhere that David did the mix in a single day. Go Bowie, it's your birthday.







Like, a million years later, Iggy got the chance to remix the album for the CD version in 97. Which is widely considered to be the loudest CD ever made. Iggy put everything in the red, and you can tell...the guitars are distorted like crazy, and you get alot of kick out of the drums and vocals. But I'd still take Bowie's mix any day of the week.

Rough Power is an official version of the album that contains Iggy's original mixes (all the vocals on one channel, and all the instruments on another) Bootlegs have been around forever, but Bomp! records pressed this in 1995 for the masses.


Heres some video from 2008 of the Stooges playing Search and Destroy


Raw Power




Personnel:
Iggy Pop- Vocals
James Williamson- Guitars
Ron Asheton- Bass
Rock Action (Scott Asheton)- Drums

Track Listing:
Side A:
1. Search and Destroy
2. Gimme Danger Little Stranger
3. Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell
4. Penetration
Side B
1.Raw Power
2.I Need Somebody
3.Shake Appeal
4.Death Trip


www.iggypop.com

I got most of my info from "Please Kill Me" By Legs McNeil, and Raw Power Wiki page. I also love this album with all of my body, and these thoughts about it are my own and no one elses.