Iggy Pop - Idiot
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CD Details
Artist: Iggy PopEdition: Music CD
Published: 1996-06-13
CD Release Date: 1992-06-29
Music Label: Virgin Records Us
Soundtracks:
- Sister Midnight
- Nightclubbing
- Funtime
- Baby
- China Girl
- Dum Dum Boys
- Tiny Girls
- Mass Production
Music reviews of Idiot
Music Review: Iggy's best solo album
Rating: 5 Stars
That's right, this album is far better than "Lust For Life", Iggy's best known and best loved solo album that came right after this. In contrast to the Stooges albums and "Lust For Life", this album does not solely rely on overdriven guitars and loads of heady attitude (although the distorted and wah-inflected lead guitar on "Dum Dum Boys" here kicks and lounges with perfected sleaze) to make its point. In contrast, there are synthesizers (Synthesizers? Iggy?) and creepy, sinuous bass and drums, courtesy of David Bowie, who lent his band (Carlos Alomar, Tony Sales, Hunt Sales, and himself), his production, his keyboards, and his songwriting talent to Iggy, who was trying to come back to the music industry again clean. Bowie wrote much of the music on this album, but it is wholly Iggy's - the lyrics are masterful on this album, and the wasted Ig wrote every word and more than a little of the music. The eight tracks on the album go like this.1 Sister Midnight - A distinctive, kicking drum line, clever bass and guitar, and synth bleeps characterize this one. Pop uses a gravelly and incredibly melodic bass-baritone throughout this song and much of the album. Bowie's wacky backing vocals are high and make this a great song.
2 Nightclubbing - The title is self-explanatory. Do you recognize the beginning drum beat? That's right, they are very similar to the beginning drums on Nine Inch Nails' infamous hit "Closer". But the track is much more musically sophisticated than that animalistic rant, centering on a down-toned decadent feeling especially suited to the lyrical content.
3 Funtime - This is a kind of uptempo punky song with echoing drums. Iggy gets a bit Stooge-y here by sneering about having fun with Bowie wailing backup, although Ig's mood throughout the album is pretty subdued).
4 Baby - Creeping down the cold corridor of the Berlin studio accompanied by subtle drums and fuzzy bass, tinkling piano frames this rant about trying to repair a fracturing relationship.
5 China Girl - By far the most famous song off this album, thanks to Bowie's bubbly dance-pop cover hit, "China Girl" is much more abrasive and frightening here because of the way Iggy handled the ending. But there is no moment exactly like the one here where the girl oddly tells him to shut up and then shushes him to sleep. This is a famous classic. Throughout the album, Iggy has increasingly shown how well he can sing, and this remains the definitive showpiece for the range of his vocal quality.
6 Dum Dum Boys - By far the greatest song Iggy ever recorded without the Stooges, "Dum Dum Boys" has some of the best reptilian, snakelike distorted guitar ever recorded (it literally drips with sleaze and disgust). Bowie's cocktail piano is perfect, and the rhythm section just locks together with a beautiful force. And guess what the song is about...the Stooges. Iggy sings here with stunning power about how much he misses his old comrades. Thank God this song goes on for seven minutes.
7 Tiny Girls - Cringe-inducing title, especially given Iggy's sexual history, but great song. Ig's lyrics here are much more intelligent than he ever was before. Keeping to the jazzy, slightly funky electronic vibe, Bowie lays down a beautiful saxophone solo. If anything else proved this was not a Stooges album and never could be, this sax solo is it.
8 Mass Production - The longest song on the LP, this eight-minute dirge staggers along and begins with soundscapes straight out of Bowie's "Low" (which Bowie had just released) and more sleazoid guitar and sinuous bass and drums. Iggy's despair is at its worst here, and that's how the album ends.
So, there it is...not an album to listen to when you're feeling down. Just ask Ian Curtis, the lead singer of the great postpunk band Joy Division, who notoriously and infamously committed suicide after listening to this album (not that the LP caused his death - he had been having serious problems with depression and epilepsy before that). My favorite song is "Dum Dum Boys", which just lacerates everything in its path. This was one of Iggy and Bowie's artistic triumphs.
Description of Idiot
Iggy Pop Photos
 |  |
More from Iggy Pop
 Lust for Life |  Skull Ring |  Nude & Rude: The Best of Iggy Pop |
 Naughty Little Doggie |  A Million in Prizes: The Anthology |  Live at the Avenue B |
After several years of hard living and the commercial disappointment of his previous band the Stooges (occasional rave reviews do not keep the lights on), Iggy Pop continued his collaboration with David Bowie for his first solo album. Bowie serves as producer and cowriter, and his artsy, stylized hand can be felt negotiating the sessions. Unlike the explosive firepower of the Stooges, The Idiot centers on a moody, sometimes funky vibe that reflects the decadent aura of Berlin, where this album was recorded--and where Pop and Bowie attempted to tame their excesses. "China Girl" has since gone on to become a standard in both of their repertoires. However, it's Pop's mix of eerie nonchalance and passionate screams that defines the song. Tracks such as "Nightclubbing" and "Dum Dum Boys" are surprisingly subdued for Pop considering the subject matter. This is essentially Pop taking baby steps back into the world-at-large after years of self-abuse. --Rob O'Connor
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