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Review by Dave Thompson
Iggy Pop was in a peculiar position in the mid-1980s. On the one hand, the white heat of excitement that surrounded his re-emergence during 1977-1978 had been dissipated not only by time, but also by the succession of increasingly unconvincing albums he released at decade's end; on the other, he was now so firmly entrenched within the rock'n'roll furniture that it wasn't even a shock when he scored a hit single, with Blah Blah Blah's recounting of "Real Wild Child".
But he still put on a live show that left your jaw on the floor, and though the set list here owes nothing to the increasingly tightrope-like performances he gave in the late 1970s,
there is no denying the energy and effort involved.
For obvious reasons, the newly-minted Blah Blah Blah devours the lion's share of the set list. But, woven between the fiery reinventions of a studio set that was just a little too smooth, flashes of past brilliance gleam like the jewels they always were - "I Got A Right", "Gimme Danger" and "Some Weird Sin" kick things off, "Sister Midnight", "Nightclubbing" and "China Girl" percolate amidships and, if the earliest Stooges are horrifically under-represented, with just one song from the first two albums, the version of "Down On The Street" is compensation regardless.
Not a classic Pop live album - for that, you need the shows that were recorded between 1977-1980, when he was still dancing on the edge of musical survival. But still it's a firm reminder of why he remained important... and why he's still up there today.
| TRACKLIST |
| 1. I Got a Right . . . . .3:12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 2. Gimme Danger. . . . . .3:22 . . . . 3. 3. Some Weird Sin. . . . .3:27 . . . . 4. 4. Real Wild Child . . . .3:12 . . . . 5. 5. Sister Midnight . . . .4:41 . . . . 6. 6. Blah, Blah, Blah. . . .4:45 . . . . 7. 7. Baby, It Can't Fall . .4:14 . . . . 8. 8. Nightclubbing . . . . .4:07 . . . . 9. 9. Fire Girl . . . . . . .3:07 . . . . 10. 10. Five Foot One . . . . .4:12 . . . . 11. 11. Shades. . . . . . . . .5:48 . . . . 12. 12. Down on the Street. . .3:41 . . . . 13. 13. China Girl. . . . . . .4:47 . . . . 14. 14. Hide Away . . . . . . .4:45 . . . . 15. 15. Winners and Losers. . .6:19 . . . . 16. 16. Cry for Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4:21 |
Review by Dave Thompson
Iggy Pop was in a peculiar position in the mid-1980s. On the one hand, the white heat of excitement that surrounded his re-emergence during 1977-1978 had been dissipated not only by time, but also by the succession of increasingly unconvincing albums he released at decade's end; on the other, he was now so firmly entrenched within the rock'n'roll furniture that it wasn't even a shock when he scored a hit single, with Blah Blah Blah's recounting of "Real Wild Child".
But he still put on a live show that left your jaw on the floor, and though the set list here owes nothing to the increasingly tightrope-like performances he gave in the late 1970s,
there is no denying the energy and effort involved.
For obvious reasons, the newly-minted Blah Blah Blah devours the lion's share of the set list. But, woven between the fiery reinventions of a studio set that was just a little too smooth, flashes of past brilliance gleam like the jewels they always were - "I Got A Right", "Gimme Danger" and "Some Weird Sin" kick things off, "Sister Midnight", "Nightclubbing" and "China Girl" percolate amidships and, if the earliest Stooges are horrifically under-represented, with just one song from the first two albums, the version of "Down On The Street" is compensation regardless.
Not a classic Pop live album - for that, you need the shows that were recorded between 1977-1980, when he was still dancing on the edge of musical survival. But still it's a firm reminder of why he remained important... and why he's still up there today.
| SPOILER! |