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Tracklist :
01. Loco Mosquito [3:16]
02. Ambition [3:27]
03. Knocking 'Em Down (in the City) [3:23]
04. Play It Safe [3:05]
05. Get Up and Get Out [2:46]
06. Mr. Dynamite [4:24]
07. Dog Food [1:50]
08. I Need More [4:05]
09. Take Care of Me [3:28]
10. I'm a Conservative [3:58]
11. I Snub You [3:13]
12. Low Life [2:57]
13. Drop a Hook [4:25]
| QUOTE |
| This one kinda follows in the same direction... not as effective, though. Still good. The Iggy Popster hasn't finished extolling his views on the surrounding world by any means, and he wants us to know it. Soldier is once again a collection of riff-raff ragged shaggy muggy tunes, more "diversity-oriented glam rock with an edge" than anything even remotely New Wave, and everything made interesting by the lyrics and Iggy's sharp delivery of said stuff. I mean, how can you condemn a record when it begins with Biggy screaming, in the most unpleasant tone he has ever had up to that date (and he's had a whole bunch of 'em), 'My mummy told me, if I was goody, that she would buy me a rubber dolly?' 'Loco Mosquito' opens the scene with Iggy in a particularly nasty mood: 'Please Mr Custer, I don't wanna go/And spend my night in a bar with some stupid dodo/I'm sick of hanging around with old transvestites/They stare at my rubbers/It makes me uptight'. And this considering the melody itself is some weird ska tune with bolting Cars-like synths and, for some unclear reason, distorted electric violins. 'Ambition' is more of a moody tango-like melody that could have easily suited Iggy's mentor (David Bowie, who for some reason declined to produce this record although he was going to originally), and it's also sung from a girl's perspective, no less. And 'Take Care Of Me' is a classic riff-based pop rocker. And that's just the first three songs. Since diversity is the key, you're bound to encounter a few throwbacks to the old Stooges sound, like 'Get Up And Get Out', for instance. At least that gritty saxophone in the background is mighty reminiscent of the Stooges, and the overall dark menacing atmosphere. But again, that's just one moment. For the most part, the Igster is busy making serious statements. Like his anti-conservative rant in 'I'm A Conservative' - pretty sharp considering 1980 gave birth to Ronald Reagan's presidency. What would you think if you heard all these references to drinking, screwing crazy girls and making millions at that turning point in American history? Iggy Pop certainly doesn' take no fuckin' chances. Or you could shift your attention to 'Dog Food' - whassup with that, is it a metaphor for the phoney social life in general or just a straightforward parody on current commercials? 'Dog food is my whole life/Dog food composes my wife'. Well, okay, you can take one glance at Iggy and kinda believe this - the guy sure never looked like his diet consisted of bacon and eggs. But that's all tied in, after all, isn't Iggy's entire image based on shock as the most artistic form of social protest? Before I start turning this into a discussion on liberalism and conservatism (ahem), though, let me just point out that Soldier has at least a few songs that are actually melodically strong and can get by on the force of chord sequences alone. This is actually the biggest problem of the album: it just doesn't seem to have as many first rate melodies as New Values did. But you sure wouldn't know that if all the songs on here were like 'Knockin' 'Em Down', a sarcastic "celebration" of brute force and ignorance set to a classic punkish riff and a classic poppy vocal melody. And we all know Iggy really revels in that atmosphere. Take Ted Nugent, cut out some of his muscles, transmutate them into brains, stuff 'em into the head, and you got yourself Iggy Pop. Perhaps he cannot deliver the classic Nugent roar, but he can deliver the classic "Iggy sneer" - as on 'I Snub You', a song that is... well, it is just basically a song about hate. Have you ever hated anybody? You know - not just abstract hate, but a concentrated, massive hate towards one particular person? 'I Snub You' is easily the most forceful of any hate songs I've ever heard unless we're talking abstract "hate the establishment" or "hate everything" concepts. 'I snub you, and when I snub, I snub you finally, forever...'. That's one n-a-s-t-y ending to this wild album. It is actually nowhere near as diverse as it is sometimes billed, but the arrangements have all those neatsy tricks like electric violins and different synth tones, and if only the hooks had been stronger, this would have been Iggy's second masterpiece a la New Values. The main problem, I guess, is the overall messy situation in which the album was recorded - with a whole bunch of producers and session musicians (including notorious names - like the original Sex Pistols bass player Glenn Matlock, who co-writes with Iggy a lot, and even ex-TC, er, ex-ex-tee-see, er, well, former XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews) stirring the brew and spoiling parts of it. But maybe there were other problems as well, I dunno. It's still a classy album from the Popster. |
Year: 1980
Genre : Alternative Rock
Format : ape,cue,log,covers
Total time : 44:23
Size : 307 MB
Extractor : EAC v0.95pb4
Codec : MAC 4.01
Compression : Extra High
Ripper : kz1111