The Weirdness

Performer: The Stooges
Producer: 3 Blind Mice
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Composers: Iggy Pop; Ron Asheton; Scott Asheton. The Stooges: Iggy Pop (vocals); Ron Asheton (guitar); Steve MacKay (saxophone); Mike Watt (bass instrument); Scott Asheton (drums). It's unreasonable to expect the reunited Stooges of 2007's THE WEIRDNESS to match the power, intensity, and attitude of their 1969 self-titled debut or 1970's FUN HOUSE. And they don't. However, this disc has much to offer. These aren't the drug-addled, knuckle-headed burnouts who changed the direction of rock-&-roll in one visionary swoop. Rather, this is an older, wiser, and more accomplished set of musicians having fun. Iggy and the Aeshton brothers (with Mike Watt replacing Dave Alexander on bass) know they have a reputation to uphold, and it's clear from note one that this is a Stooges album. Ron Aeshton's guitar burns with vintage fury, and while it's not as revelatory as it was in the early 1970s, it's still one of the most distinct guitar sounds ever. Iggy's lyrics are less blunt here, but just as wry and bizarre, with "Trolling" and "My Idea of Fun" sounding about as close to old Stooges outtakes as one could hope for. Scott Aeshton clearly wants to show off his new chops, but never at the expense of the band's essential primitiveness. Frankly, THE WEIRDNESS could have been a bloated disaster, but the boys kept things simple and made a record that doesn't necessarily build on the legend, but doesn't tarnish it either. It's unreasonable to expect the reunited Stooges of 2007's THE WEIRDNESS to match the power, intensity, and attitude of their 1969 self-titled debut or 1970's FUN HOUSE. And they don't. However, this disc has much to offer. These aren't the drug-addled, knuckle-headed burnouts who changed the direction of rock-&-roll in one visionary swoop. Rather, this is an older, wiser, and more accomplished set of musicians having fun. Iggy and the Aeshton brothers (with Mike Watt replacing Dave Alexander on bass) know they have a reputation to uphold, and it's clear from note one that this is a Stooges album. Ron Aeshton's guitar burns with vintage fury, and while it's not as revelatory as it was in the early 1970s, it's still one of the most distinct guitar sounds ever. Iggy's lyrics are less blunt here, but just as wry and bizarre, with "Trolling" and "My Idea of Fun" sounding about as close to old Stooges outtakes as one could hope for. Scott Aeshton clearly wants to show off his new chops, but never at the expense of the band's essential primitiveness. Frankly, THE WEIRDNESS could have been a bloated disaster, but the boys kept things simple and made a record that doesn't necessarily build on the legend, but doesn't tarnish it either.

Rolling Stone (p.77) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his is a real reunion, with all three living members of the original quartet....Iggy squawks about his favorite topics..." Spin (p.90) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] slick hard-rock set....Ron spews out trashy concise guitar solos as Scott batters the drums in suitably brutal fashion." Kerrang (Magazine) (p.49) - "At its most savage and fearless, THE WEIRDNESS flares with a fire that matches their earlier flailings..."

Every punk band past and present owes a great deal to the genre's forefathers, the Stooges, who made their anarchistic debut on Halloween 1967. For the next six years, singer Iggy Pop destroyed all boundaries between audience and performer--leaping into the crowd, creating confrontations, cutting himself with broken glass--while the other members kept it primitive, simple, and vicious. The seminal Detroit band's primal--yet somehow artful--attack was the primary influence on everyone from the Sex Pistols to the White Stripes. In the end, the Stooges were too volatile to last, and after a brawl with a Detroit biker gang in 1974, the Stooges disbanded, while Iggy went on to a long, fruitful solo career. In 2000, the band reunited for several tours, and in 2007 they released THE WEIRDNESS, their first studio album in over 30 years.

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