For as much as I've been into the Stooges over the last three years, it's certainly taken me a while to get any Iggy Pop solo records. But I finally snagged a copy of Lust for Life, and my expectations of greatness were mostly met. What really appealed to me about the Stooges was the abrasiveness, especially of Raw Power. I was pretty bummed when I saw the reunited lineup would be skipping the Raw Power on the setlist. I like the first two albums just fine, but when everything was fully in the red at David Bowie's perhaps slightly inept hands, that's what really sets me off.Lust for Life manages to create an interesting mix of both of those eras, as well as adding dabs of fresh stuff. The first couple of tracks could have been on Fun House, and the screeching guitar on "Some Weird Sin" brings to mind the glorious wailing that opens "Search and Destroy." But when things really get outstanding is on "The Passenger," the 'know you've heard it before but can't place where' nugget of genius that finds Iggy in discarded junkie crooner mode, not as off-the-rails as on "Gimme Danger," but just as eerie. There are very few songs I will listen to on loop, and "The Passenger" just became one of them. It alone made the album worth the purchase.
There are plenty of other doses of goodness, like "Success," which could be a great lost Rolling Stones track, or "Neighborhood Threat," which sounds like a Crazy Horse outtake. I could do without the "Jesus, this is Iggy..." monologue on "Turn Blue," but to grant Iggy his greatness, you also have to allow for his penchant for the theatrical and melodramatic. But when he's roaring like a lion and taking full command of whatever era he's trying to capture, be it the Iggy Stooge of old or a new incarnation of Iggy Pop, it's really as rock and roll as it gets.
Also, this is clearly the greatest album cover of all time. Only fools and mutants disagree.
"The Passenger" live
