Iggy & The Stooges
Raw Power

"... Ummm, I have a bunch of songs, but I need another person to record them," Iggy told his then-friend Bowie and the record company after experimenting with other musicians. "Eeeeeeee, no. I need one more, no - two musicians, without them it won't work after all." So, following Ron, Scott Ashton and James Williamson arrived in London, and the Stooges gathered to record an album, only to be silent for a very long time afterwards. Of course, now the innovative ideas of Dave Alexander with the ethno-raggas of India and psychedelics are left behind, but here the bestial manner of I. Pop and the tough playing of Williamson came to the fore. At the time of the recording of the album, Iggy had been a systemic heroin addict for more than a year, perhaps this was the reason for the genius of the material. How not to remember the quote told to Dave Mustaine by Gar Samuelson (Megadeth) - "If you want to be famous, get on heroin." Speaking of which record was the debut in proto-punk, it was "Raw Power". Of course, "Funhouse" can be considered a starting point, but it was the specific compositions from the third album of The Stooges that served as the beginning of what the Sex Pistols and Motorhead will diligently develop. Back then, Bowie's influence on Iggy was not as great as it would be later. But his direct involvement in the creation of the album's sound cannot be underestimated either. Perhaps that is why the material departs from rock roots and is more recent, full of interesting ideas that are unusual for this period of time. An important role was played by the castling of the line-up - Ashton is the guitarist behind the bass, instead of the genius D. Alexander, and the newcomer Dmimmy Williamson with his hurricane, rough guitar. As in the case of the debut album, where, according to the musicians themselves, the composition "We Will Fall" brought the group out of the crowd, here absolutely all the material represents a fundamentally new format of sound and performance. The stake was made, first of all, on the rude, distorted, nervous-sounding guitar for those times, and of course the vocals, striking in their psychopathic nature. The cocktail worked, although it was not well understood, not least because of the subsequent monstrous performances of the group, which, in fact, served as a quick breakdown. There are no pronounced hits here and at first glance it seems that the album is a solid rock-middling of its era. However, if we compare it with the masters of the rock scene of that moment, and the promising alternative newcomers, this absolute masterpiece looks (although, rather, it is heard) like a renegade who knows that he is the coolest and without unnecessary PR. P.S. In one of the interviews, when asked about new musical trends and, in particular about The Stooges, Jim Morrison replied: "Well, if people listen to this, then it has a right to exist."

Old kind Iggy! Old kind garage rock! Classical album from The Stooges released in 1973. A real masterpiece! The only minus is in rather budget edition. Fortunately, well sounded.

Album that did not publish ELEKTRA - their historical error - I recommend

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