by Simon Wright

Created on: March 03, 2008   Last Updated: March 04, 2008

Iggy Pop has come to be regarded as one of the godfathers of unadulterated punk rock; and as a sort of Peter Pan with attitude.

Raw Power was initially released in 1973 and was the third album from The Stooges. The first thing that strikes you on listening to the album is its all-out in your face aggression. When we think of Iggy Pop, we think perhaps of hits like The Passenger and Lust for life. This album, though, has no immediately obvious singles. You can't really say that there are any ballads or particularly radio-friendly songs. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that the album was initially commercially unsuccessful. Indeed, the band broke up after this album.

Whilst it's plainly not a commercial album, that's not to say that it's not a good album. It has, in fact, proven quite influential over subsequent decades. It is an album that will definitely appeal to people who live their rock loud and it probably has crossover appeal between people who are into punk and people who are into metal. People, on the other hand, who like gentle melodies and catchy choruses will be disappointed.

Some of the songs that standout include the opener Search and destroy'. Henry Rollins has these words as a tattoo, so was obviously a big fan. Next up is Gimme danger' which is one of the gentler songs on the record, although everything is relative. Raw power' is excellent and has been covered by Guns N'Roses. It's probably the best song on the album and its name sums up the whole album very concisely. I need somebody' is another good song. The sentiments are soft but the delivery is hard edged.

Whilst Raw Power (the album) was initially released in 1973, it was re-released in 1997 by Columbia Records with the songs having been remixed by Iggy Pop. The 1997 version is the one that I have and includes the following quote from Iggy, explaining why he agreed to the remixed version:

People kept asking me musicians, kids I would see, "Have you ever thought about remixing Raw Power?" Everything's still in the red, it's a very violent mix. The proof's in the pudding'.

So that clears that up then, or possibly doesn't! The original production of the album was controversial as Pop's initial mix was rejected by the record company who got David Bowie to come in and re-do the mixes. Bowie was a friend of Pop but I guess the 1997 re-issue was an opportunity for Pop to reinstate his control over the sound of the record. As with all such reissues, however, it was not without criticism from people who feel that the original should have remained unadulterated.

Track List:

- Search and destroy
- Gimme danger
- Your pretty face is going to Hell (originally called Hard to beat')
- Penetration
- Raw Power
- I need somebody
- Shake appeal
- Death trip

Sources:

www.wikipedia.org

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