Amazon.com: After several years of hard living and the commercial disappointment of his previous band the Stooges (occasional rave reviews do not keep the lights on), Iggy Pop continued his collaboration with David Bowie for his first solo album. Bowie serves as producer and cowriter, and his artsy, stylized hand can be felt negotiating the sessions. Unlike the explosive firepower of the Stooges, The Idiot centers on a moody, sometimes funky vibe that reflects the decadent aura of Berlin, where this album was recorded--and where Pop and Bowie attempted to tame their excesses. "China Girl" has since gone on to become a standard in both of their repertoires. However, it's Pop's mix of eerie nonchalance and passionate screams that defines the song. Tracks such as "Nightclubbing" and "Dum Dum Boys" are surprisingly subdued for Pop considering the subject matter. This is essentially Pop taking baby steps back into the world-at-large after years of self-abuse. --Rob O'Connor
good stuff! Awsome album! It's quite a bit different from the Stooges & a great variety of musicians play on it too.What can I say -great stuff!
The Idiot Iggy Pop-The Idiot ****
It's in there I can feel it! Aside from Studio B, The Idiot is Iggy Pop's most adventerious album, and I think It had to be. It was his first solo record, and first since the demise of one of the true great American bands, The Stooges. The album was produced by fellow trail-blazer and also major fan, the one and only David Bowie. Now many Iggy fans loath Bowie, while many Bowie fans loath Pop. I love both, stick them along side Lou Reed and to me you might as well have the holy trinity of alternative music, and originality. So yeah this really did have to be a different album for Iggy. He couldn't make Raw Power again, he couldn't be Iggy Stooge anymore, he had to find himself again. Always known for his eclectic taste in music ranging from John Coltrane to The Velvet Underground, from The Kinks to Muddy Waters Iggy was a true fan and loved it all and over the coarse of his career would incorporate it all into his music.
I feel two ways about this album. The first is that this is essentialy a David Bowie album released vicariously through the body of Iggy Pop, sounds crazy but listen. It was produced by him, he cowrote every song on the album with Iggy, and would later go on to cover the albums best song, 'China Girl.' The over all sound of the album is very simular to that of David Bowies albums of the time, Station To Station, Low, Heros, The Lodger, and even Scary Monsters later on. The guitar work, which by the way is amazing, is done by Carlos Amor who would play on Bowie's later records. The general feel of the album is Bowie. Not that it is bad because Bowie is by far one of my favorite artists of all time, he owns just about every other artist and style of music for that matter.
Then there is the part of me. This album was hard. When I first bought the album and put it on I thought, "what the heck?" But by the end of the album I got it, I fully understood. This really was Iggy, as much as it could be. He was looking for himself in a drugged out haze of heroin that he and Bowie were both sharing together but would soon kick in Berlin, Germany together. The guitar work on most of the album was not done by just Amor, but by Phil Palmer. The song 'China Girl' while not the big hit it would become for Bowie a few years later is better in it's simplicity found here on The Idiot. The lyrics are classic and among some of the very best poetry ever written. 'Sister Midnight' and 'Nightclubbing' are techno/dance/trance/house before those genres even came to form and were given titles, which is one reason why I love Iggy Pop so much because he is a trail-blazer. 'Fun Time' and Baby' sort of go hand in hand and couldn't be listened to or appreciated with out the other one, the sort of feed of each other. 'Dum Dum Boys' is just one of the very best songs that Iggy Pop ever recorded. A tribute to the ol' boys, you know The Stooges. He would later call one of his bands the Dum Dum Boys, but this song along with 'Tiny Girls' showed of what was to come from Pop on his next record, the legendary Lust For Life. 'Mass Production' closes the album with just that, mass production, and over the top recording done by the king of over the top, David Bowie. Not the strongest track on the album but a nice place to call it quits non-the less.
The Idiot is a classic album in Iggy Pop's cannon as well as David Bowies. This may not be his strongest or best but for fans it is surely essential.
Read between the lines Those of us who really know the music of these two artists can consider ourselves very fortunate as this type of collaboration is few and far between. Right time right place!!
Two words Just recently downloaded the hi-quality version. Had been getting by on a vintage vinyl copy since back in the day. Been listening to it again after a lapse of some years and have two words for it. One begins with an F, and the other one is Brilliant. "Dum Dum Boys" is reason enough to buy it.
icy music that shows its cracks... The Idiot is a template for minimalist synthpop albums from the 80s. With his pained vocals and blaring guitars, Iggy manages to inject a humanity into the pieces that is often missing from derivative albums. Listen for the nakedness of the vocals.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
