THE STOOGES

Reviewed:
- The Stooges (1969)
- Fun House (1970)
- Raw Power (1973)
- Sadistic Summer Live 2011 (2011, live album)


THE STOOGES          1969          (Elektra)

- Standouts: Everything. 

Oh dear God this band are amazing. I mean, WERE amazing - up until 1974 when they split for decades. The 2003 reunion and everything that came afterwards was just unnecessary in my opinion, but that's another story. 

The debut album is essentially a garage rock affair, and one that was ahead of it's time - both for the music itself and Iggy Pop's vocals. This is album is raw as fuck considering it was released in '69 and you can even find the odd traces of punk and heavy metal throughout the record. 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' is the album's signature song - a pretty straightforward track but a massively important one in rock. The simple, effective power chord riffing is a staple of the punk rock genre which would emerge a few years later as well as a trait of metal. Along with Led Zeppelin's first two albums (both released in '69), I'd say this was the most important album in rock n' roll that year. True, 'Ann' and the ten minute plus 'We Will Fall' do have a whiff of 60's psychedelia about them, but they also sound like a band jamming in the garage, throwing any ideas they had in their head's out there during the performance. The rest of the songs are short and snappy, raw numbers that sound like they could've easily come from the following decade. Iggy Pop was like a wilder, punk rock version of Jim Morrison - he can't exactly sing well, but that's part of the reason for the record's success. The entire decade was a musical revolution on all fronts, and The Stooges certainly made their own contributions too. One of rock n' roll's greatest outputs.
Adam's rating: 9.6/10

FUN HOUSE          1970         (Elektra)

- Standouts: Everything, duh. 

Kind of a continuation of the debut, only more refined without the odd psychedelic moments. In place are some funk and soul elements, but only to minor effect. So, it's even better then! I guess my only complaint would be that the production is slightly less rough than it's predecessor, but the songs speak for themselves. The first two tracks, 'Down On the Street' and 'Loose' are pure hard rock songs while 'TV Eye' is a punk rock tune from 1970 in my eyes. Things get a little closer to the debut on the lengthy, stoner-ish jams of 'Dirt' while '1970' is like a drugged-up garage jam with some maniacal madman screaming down the mic and a random guy with a saxophone improvising over the top. It's brilliant! The same can be said for the title track, only this time the sax and riffs seem to have more structure. Fun House ends with 'L.A. Blues', which is basically just an extension of a concert finale - you know, when the band makes random noise with their instruments to end the show. So, not a song per say, but definitely the end to a wild ride! That's kind of what Fun House feels like - a crazy live performance in some sleazy backstreet club during the 70's. Some people will question the point of the album's like this - like, what's the point of a record if the songs aren't really structured properly, and the nutter on vocals can't actually sing? Those are the reasons why this band were so influential and ahead of their time! It's all about the energy! 
Adam's rating: 9.9/10

RAW POWER          1973         (Elektra)

- Standouts: EVERY MOTHERFUCKING SECOND!!! 

Here we have the magnum opus of rock n' roll, at least in my book. This record is just so fucking awesome and way ahead of it's time in every single way that I must listen to it at least once a month just to get my fix. By the way, this is a review of the 1997 mix, not the David Bowie original - I've not heard Bowie's production, but I hear there is a big difference between the two. 

Anyhow, the 1997 mix is the loudest CD I've ever heard. And the title of the record itself, Raw Power, is basically a summary of the music contained. This is the rawest professionally-made fucking record I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. I mean, the last two albums were masterpieces in their own right, but this one is full of violent punk rockers and hard rock numbers that still sound fresh to this day. Iggy is completely unhinged and unpredictable throughout songs like the aggressive, raspy punk of 'Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell', the hardcore garage rock of 'Search and Destroy', the violent boogie of 'Shake Appeal' and the heavy riffage of the title track. 'Penetration' chugs along at mid-tempo but the riff and the beat is so goddamn infectious the 4 minutes just fly by! Even the acoustic-driven songs, 'Gimme Danger' and 'I Need Somebody' (well, neither are really acoustic-driven, they just have acoustic elements to them) are driving hard rock songs. 'Death Trip' is probably the weakest song on offer, but only because the rest of the album is THAT good, it's still basically a masterpiece anyway. The entire album kicks your ass and each song is completely distinctive despite flowing together perfectly. Best album ever then? Dunno about that, but as a rock n' roll record, it is a perfect summary of what pure rock n' roll was all about - deranged, excessive, dangerous, unpredictable, violent (there's that word again), fueled by intoxicants...a time when hotels were still being trashed and booze n' drugs were the staple diet.
Adam's rating: 10/10

SADISTIC SUMMER LIVE 2011         2011          (Concert Live)

I'd never heard of this until I found a sealed copy of it in my local record store. I wasn't aware of any live Stooges material, post-reunion. As I stated in the debut album review, I'm not really a fan of the two reunion albums (The Weirdness and Ready to Die) as I felt they'd already left one hell of a legacy with the first three records. Anyhow, I picked this up out of curiosity more than anything, but I couldn't find much info about it online. It's not even listed on The Stooges' Wikipedia discography page - is it even official? The packaging looks more than legit. The other odd thing is that my copy is just called 'Live 2011', though when I did look it up on the web, it's called 'Sadistic Summer Live 2011' so I honestly have no idea what's going on with my copy. I don't understand why the tracks have been spread across two CD's either - there's only 13 tracks in total, and the second disc contains only the last two tracks! So, this is one of the strangest albums in my collection then. Fortunately, the performances within are pretty good overall, with the now zombie-like Iggy sounding better than I expected. It was recorded at the Isle of Wight Festival. Of course, the majority of the songs are from the first three albums (and for good reason), and while the energy levels are not exactly to Raw Power standards (then again, not much is), I enjoyed listening to it overall. Maybe it's just because I love those old songs that much anyway I could overlook the fact that in reality, the band are way past their prime. If you're a fan and you can find a copy, then I say go ahead and pick it up, but it's far from essential for a casual listener.
Adam's rating: 6.5/10