Product Info
LP, 2CD & CD versions.
More Info
In 1976, the Stooges had been gone for two years, and Iggy Pop had developed a notorious reputation as one of rock & roll's most spectacular waste cases. After a self-imposed stay in a mental hospital, a significantly more functional Iggy was desperate to prove he could hold down a career in music, and he was given another chance by his longtime ally, David Bowie. Bowie co-wrote a batch of new songs with Iggy, put together a band, and produced The Idiot, which took Iggy in a new direction decidedly different from the guitar-fueled proto-punk of the Stooges. Musically, The Idiot is of a piece with the impressionistic music of Bowie's "Berlin Period" (such as Heroes and Low), with it's fragmented guitar figures, ominous basslines, and discordant, high-relief keyboard parts. Iggy's new music was cerebral and inward-looking, where his early work had been a glorious call to the id, and Iggy was in more subdued form than with the Stooges, with his voice sinking into a world-weary baritone that was a decided contrast to the harsh, defiant cry heard on "Search and Destroy." Iggy was exploring new territory as a lyricist, and his songs on The Idiot are self-referential and poetic in a way that his work had rarely been in the past; for the most part the results are impressive, especially "Dum Dum Boys," a paean to the glory days of his former band, and "Nightclubbing," a call to the joys of decadence. The Idiot introduced the world to a very different Iggy Pop, and if the results surprised anyone expecting a replay of the assault of Raw Power, it also made it clear that Iggy was older, wiser, and still had plenty to say; it's a flawed but powerful and emotionally absorbing work.
LP version includes a voucher to download MP3 of the album.
180 Gram Heavyweight Vinyl.
Part of the Back To Black series.
Tracklist
A1 Sister Midnight 4:23
A2 Nightclubbing 4:18
A3 Funtime 2:53
A4 Baby 3:20
A5 China Girl 5:12
B1 Dum Dum Boys 7:12
B2 Tiny Girls 3:03
B3 Mass Production 8:28
Rainbow Theatre - Finsbury Park, London 07/03/1977 (2CD EDITION ONLY)
- Raw Power
- TV Eye
- Dirt
- 1969
- Turn Blue
- Funtime
- Gimme Danger
- No Fun
- Sister Midnight
- I Need Somebody
- Search and Destroy
- I Wanna Be Your Dog
- Tonight
- Some Weird Sin
- China Girl