Iggy & The Stooges
Released on February 7, 1973 and widely cited as an influential forerunner of punk rock, Raw Power saw The Stooges deliver one of the most outstanding, uncompromising albums to document the real deal.
After their first two albums The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970) were released to little commercial success, The Stooges were in disarray: the band had officially broken up, bassist Dave Alexander was fighting alcoholism, and singer Iggy Pop's heroin addiction was escalating prior to the intervention of David Bowie.
Pop later recalled, "very few people recognized the quality of the Stooges' songwriting, it was really meticulous. And to his credit, the only person I'd ever known of in print to notice it, among my peers of professional musicians, was Bowie. He noticed it right off."
Having signed on as a solo artist to Columbia Records, Pop relocated to London, where he was to write and record an album with James Williamson, who served as the Stooges' second guitarist from late 1970 until the band's initial dissolution in July 1971. When they failed to find a suitable English rhythm section, Williamson suggested that former Stooges Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton fly over and participate in the recording sessions, leading to the band's reformation under the new name of "Iggy and the Stooges".
Although he was the band's founding guitarist, the elder Asheton reluctantly agreed to switch to electric bass.
“The Stooges weren’t looking to service a hip crowd, but a social underclass.”
The opening track “Search and Destroy” remains in the pantheon of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. A lyrical pastiche of Time Magazine buzzwords, Pop aims at the establishment, growling the chorus, “I'm the world's forgotten boy / The one who's searchin', searchin' to destroy.” From the first guitar licks, the song is an urgent manifesto, rejecting the party line. Though not explicit in politics, the message is strong, a battle cry for the anti-Vietnam War movement and an examination of the fallout of a generation awash with the damage of combat.
“Gimme Danger” is one of the tracks that feels dramatically different on the Iggy Pop mix. On the original album, it is quiet and creepy, a song The Rolling Stones wished they had written. The Iggy Pop mix is brash and American, literally titled the “violent” mix. The contrast is especially dramatic post-bridge, Pop’s version with frenzied guitars, Bowie’s a muted solo.
“Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell” is a hip-shaking rock and roll anthem, rooted in Chuck Berry. “Penetration” is dirty and raw, even on the cleaned up Bowie mix (with silly bell tones in the background). The lyrics are sparse, and the opening lines are delivered with a rasping Jim Morrison-quality. There are echoing hums, backing the yelps and sighs Pop delivers writhing around until the end of the track.
The title track “Raw Power” is fun and jangling, a tribute to Pop’s beloved heroin. The thrill of addiction and living a dose or two away from death gets a glamorous send-up. The drug held a tight grip on most members of the band, contributing to their erratic behavior and “rock and roll lifestyle.” They were all fortunate to shake it (eventually), though its devastating effects would keep the band from releasing new music or performing together for several years to come.
“I Need Somebody” brings The Stooges back to their bluesy roots, full of twang and vibrato. When Pop sings “I’m only living to sing this song,” you feel his listlessness, the blues guitar wailing loud enough to keep him alive for another line. Throughout the thinly-veiled drug metaphors, you understand the dire circumstances around the band’s health. But it’s also made clear that they just really loved drugs. There’s no desire to find a different path, just resignation to their new master. Armed with the knowledge of their lives post-Raw Power, it’s easier to listen to the album, but the darkness is still often acute and overwhelming.
A wild, groovy track, “Shake Appeal” would later be described by Pop as his as a way to “get to my dream of being Little Richard for a minute.” The howling intensity and double time drumming feels incredibly punk—it’s a track you can feel in the DNA of The Ramones or The Clash years later.
“Death Trip” closes the album out with a winding guitar solo, a flashy signature from Williamson leaving his mark. It captures the ferocity of a live Stooges performance, Pop screaming to the point where his voice fries and fades.
“Their fearless commitment showed others the possibilities of an aggressive new sound that would later be immortalised as punk.”
Raw Power captures The Stooges in mid-flight.
Four fearless and drug-mangled visionaries powered by an elemental blend of self-destructive conviction, sweat and a squall of rock in its rawest form. Crass, artless and world-changing, they imploded within the year.
The album instantaneously bombed. But word spread. Generations of artists found something to hook onto, whether it was Iggy’s danger, James’ inspired fretwork, the volatile rhythm, bleak themes of nihilism, or the idiosyncrasies of the recording. The Stooges had taken rock music to the razor’s edge. Blazing with violent intensity and cloaked in unceasingly failure their follies became the stuff of legend.
Their fearless commitment showed others the possibilities of an aggressive new sound that would later be immortalised as punk. Negative emotions didn’t have to be buried behind a painted smile. Ill-defined rage could and should be thrown loose and unleashed upon the world.
The Stooges knew this, even if just by instinct. They were the caustic truth of their times. No wonder people weren’t ready to accept it, they still aren’t.
Raw Power embodies an idealism and artistic vision both defying and defining the music of 1973. It’s a simple document of The Stooges, a band who played it honest while pushing rock to a harder, louder and faster extreme. A death trip to immortality.
Original recording released February 7, 1973
