Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com
Showing posts with label Iggy Pop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iggy Pop. Show all posts
Monday, June 9, 2025
Friday, September 6, 2019
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Top 10 of 2009: 10-6
In my view, not a vintage year for music. I’ll get deeper into this when I scribble up my albums of the decade. Nevertheless here are my albums of 2009:
10: David Sylvian – Manafon
9: Iggy Pop – Preliminaires
A bizarre little album which saw Iggy abandon punk-rock and write contemplative songs and spoken word pieces, some inspired by the writer Michel Houllebecq which mostly used a muted, jazz-tinged backing. It’s in a similar vein to 1999’s Avenue B, though more pretentious and ultimately less successful. I could have lived without Iggy crooning in French on Les Feuilles Mortes (repeated twice on the album). The album feels more like a soundtrack with musical motifs recurring over different tracks on the album.
8: Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
Have only just got hold of this and I suspect if I’d heard it months ago it’s be higher up the list. For those who don’t know this is a collaboration between Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and John Paul Jones (ex-Led Zeppelin). And it rocks its considerable socks off. It’s a little daunting listening to this, 13 tracks, some of which are 7 minutes long. If it had been trimmed down it could have been really great. It’s very much driven by Homme, but at it’s best (Dead End Friends) it’s fat-free, straight down the line rock in a QOTSA vein. Scumbag Blues invokes Cream in their prime (a good thing), while on Bandoliers, Homme does his best Mark Lanegan impersonation to terrific effect. Not so successful is the Led Zep like Elephants with its shifting time signatures, it comes across as excessive and bloated. It’s a little exhausting listening to all of it. 8 four minute tracks would have been superb.
7: Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
Now this is a surprise. On paper it really shouldn’t work. How dare they release another album without Layne! However, this album is dominated by guitarist and co-vocalist Jerry Cantrell, who clearly had a bigger influence on their sound than I realised in the 90s. Indeed, it’s as if this album is a natural progression from 1995’s self-titled album (their last studio album with Layne). Replacement William DuVall by no means embarrasses himself and fits in seamlessly, especially on the heavier numbers like All Secrets Known and Check My Brain. The slower numbers are a little embarrassing, mostly sung by Cantrell, they come across as clichéd grunge ballads. Still, not a bad effort.
8: Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
Have only just got hold of this and I suspect if I’d heard it months ago it’s be higher up the list. For those who don’t know this is a collaboration between Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and John Paul Jones (ex-Led Zeppelin). And it rocks its considerable socks off. It’s a little daunting listening to this, 13 tracks, some of which are 7 minutes long. If it had been trimmed down it could have been really great. It’s very much driven by Homme, but at it’s best (Dead End Friends) it’s fat-free, straight down the line rock in a QOTSA vein. Scumbag Blues invokes Cream in their prime (a good thing), while on Bandoliers, Homme does his best Mark Lanegan impersonation to terrific effect. Not so successful is the Led Zep like Elephants with its shifting time signatures, it comes across as excessive and bloated. It’s a little exhausting listening to all of it. 8 four minute tracks would have been superb.
7: Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
Now this is a surprise. On paper it really shouldn’t work. How dare they release another album without Layne! However, this album is dominated by guitarist and co-vocalist Jerry Cantrell, who clearly had a bigger influence on their sound than I realised in the 90s. Indeed, it’s as if this album is a natural progression from 1995’s self-titled album (their last studio album with Layne). Replacement William DuVall by no means embarrasses himself and fits in seamlessly, especially on the heavier numbers like All Secrets Known and Check My Brain. The slower numbers are a little embarrassing, mostly sung by Cantrell, they come across as clichéd grunge ballads. Still, not a bad effort.
6: Morrissey – Years of Refusal
All the hype in advance of this album said that it would be Morrissey’s best effort yet. I should’ve known that this would set me up for a fall. The single (Morrissey still believes in singles, and is prone to complaining on stage when the local record shops don’t stock his) I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris is wonderful, and his voice has seldom been in better shape. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t follow in this vein. The music is busy, there’s almost too much going on, between Spanish guitars, mariachi horns (and that’s just one song) and a lot of heavy guitars, which leaves our hero straining to keep up. The songs are still Morrissey songs, which makes them pretty strong, but there are too many forgettable ones to make it a real classic. Some of the songs are a bit Morrissey-by-numbers (I’m OK By Myself). Having said all that, he remains a great singer and a good songwriter, but I think he needs to keep the band out of the studio and experiment a little. Just allow his songs to breathe.
All the hype in advance of this album said that it would be Morrissey’s best effort yet. I should’ve known that this would set me up for a fall. The single (Morrissey still believes in singles, and is prone to complaining on stage when the local record shops don’t stock his) I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris is wonderful, and his voice has seldom been in better shape. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t follow in this vein. The music is busy, there’s almost too much going on, between Spanish guitars, mariachi horns (and that’s just one song) and a lot of heavy guitars, which leaves our hero straining to keep up. The songs are still Morrissey songs, which makes them pretty strong, but there are too many forgettable ones to make it a real classic. Some of the songs are a bit Morrissey-by-numbers (I’m OK By Myself). Having said all that, he remains a great singer and a good songwriter, but I think he needs to keep the band out of the studio and experiment a little. Just allow his songs to breathe.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Ron Asheton RIP
It hasn't been a good start to 2009 musically. Just when the Stooges had made a comeback and started to receive some real acclaim, I was sorry to hear of the death of their guitarist, Ron Asheton.
I have had to take a month to digest this news. Ron Asheton's riffs were central to the first 2 Stooges albums. The first album, The Stooges, was some of the most basic rock n roll ever recorded. The songs were basic, childish, bratty, repetitive and downright puerile. Which is what made them great. Mostly using 2 or 3 chords, Ron's chords formed the basis for 3 of the greatest ever songs: 1969, I Wanna Be Your Dog, and No Fun.
From the moment the riff for 1969 kicks in, you are transported to a grimy, rough little setting. Helped in no small way by Iggy Pop's singing. He's not the greatest singer in the world, but he sings with just the right attitude to make these songs REAL classics. Forget the Beatles, the Stones, the bloody Beach Boys and all the other artists from the late 60s / early 70s that form the so-called 'canon' of rock. These songs take rock, screw it up into a little ball and trample on it. This song even coaxed some emotion out of Andrew Eldritch from the Sisters of Mercy in their cover version!
I Wanna Be Your Dog is even better. Possibly the greatest riff of all time, I defy anybody not to completely change their posture, walk or whatever they are doing when they hear it. No Fun, much-loved by the Sex Pistols, is equally basic. To me, it's like a theme tune for a mode of behaviour. I used to walk around with this in my headphones as an antidote to all the blandness out there. Also, these songs are great to sing because the words are equally basic.
They got more ambitious with the 2nd album, Fun House. TV Eye is solid guitar craziness. The guitar riff makes you want to go crazy and shout at the top of your voice. However the moment of genius in that song belongs to Iggy. Right in the middle of the song, he screams so hard that he starts coughing. And they just left it in!
Ron also perfected the quieter, slow release, heavy guitar dynamic on Dirt, which lopes along driven by the bass and beat, with Ron playing perfectly pitched guitar over the top to match Iggy's tension-filled vocals.
However for the 3rd album, Raw Power, due to events recounted elsewhere by better writers than me, Ron played bass. Anybody who's heard that album will tell you that due to the way it was recorded, it's hard to pick out the bass.
Of course it wasn't all good. We Will Fall is 10 minutes of tedium. Guitar-free if I remember rightly, think it was their answer to the Doors. And once you hear it, you won't be in a rush to hear it again.
The comeback album, The Weirdness, was nothing special either, but as a means to an end it got the Stooges to reform. I was lucky to see them play in Dublin in June 2008. The guitar had lost none of its power, even in a large outdoor venue, and Iggy's energy was both infectious and hilarious (in a good way).
Ron Asheton never achieved much else away from the Stooges. But for the first 2 albums alone, he deserves to be remembered as a cool guitarist. Forget the word legend, it's not very-Stooges. He was a cool guitarist.
I have had to take a month to digest this news. Ron Asheton's riffs were central to the first 2 Stooges albums. The first album, The Stooges, was some of the most basic rock n roll ever recorded. The songs were basic, childish, bratty, repetitive and downright puerile. Which is what made them great. Mostly using 2 or 3 chords, Ron's chords formed the basis for 3 of the greatest ever songs: 1969, I Wanna Be Your Dog, and No Fun.
From the moment the riff for 1969 kicks in, you are transported to a grimy, rough little setting. Helped in no small way by Iggy Pop's singing. He's not the greatest singer in the world, but he sings with just the right attitude to make these songs REAL classics. Forget the Beatles, the Stones, the bloody Beach Boys and all the other artists from the late 60s / early 70s that form the so-called 'canon' of rock. These songs take rock, screw it up into a little ball and trample on it. This song even coaxed some emotion out of Andrew Eldritch from the Sisters of Mercy in their cover version!
I Wanna Be Your Dog is even better. Possibly the greatest riff of all time, I defy anybody not to completely change their posture, walk or whatever they are doing when they hear it. No Fun, much-loved by the Sex Pistols, is equally basic. To me, it's like a theme tune for a mode of behaviour. I used to walk around with this in my headphones as an antidote to all the blandness out there. Also, these songs are great to sing because the words are equally basic.
They got more ambitious with the 2nd album, Fun House. TV Eye is solid guitar craziness. The guitar riff makes you want to go crazy and shout at the top of your voice. However the moment of genius in that song belongs to Iggy. Right in the middle of the song, he screams so hard that he starts coughing. And they just left it in!
Ron also perfected the quieter, slow release, heavy guitar dynamic on Dirt, which lopes along driven by the bass and beat, with Ron playing perfectly pitched guitar over the top to match Iggy's tension-filled vocals.
However for the 3rd album, Raw Power, due to events recounted elsewhere by better writers than me, Ron played bass. Anybody who's heard that album will tell you that due to the way it was recorded, it's hard to pick out the bass.
Of course it wasn't all good. We Will Fall is 10 minutes of tedium. Guitar-free if I remember rightly, think it was their answer to the Doors. And once you hear it, you won't be in a rush to hear it again.
The comeback album, The Weirdness, was nothing special either, but as a means to an end it got the Stooges to reform. I was lucky to see them play in Dublin in June 2008. The guitar had lost none of its power, even in a large outdoor venue, and Iggy's energy was both infectious and hilarious (in a good way).
Ron Asheton never achieved much else away from the Stooges. But for the first 2 albums alone, he deserves to be remembered as a cool guitarist. Forget the word legend, it's not very-Stooges. He was a cool guitarist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)