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IGGY POP
Avenue B (Virgin)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
Taken as a new Iggy Pop album, Avenue B is likely to puzzle, disappoint or enrage a fair number of people who consider themselves Iggy Pop fans. Taken as a musical chapter in the life of James Osterberg, it is just as likely to impress, satisfy and astonish people who don't give a damn about Iggy Pop. Me, I was a fan going in, and I'm an even bigger fan coming out of the experience of Avenue B.
The mood, tempo and sometime tenderness of this music might make the casual observer write it off as Iggy Light. That can only happen if you don't listen. This is the story of a heartbreak, but it's a heart broken by an axe. A heavy, sharp axe thrust at full strength deep into the inner regions of that vital organ. The album opens with the first of a sequence of spoken word interludes that carry the story line forward, then shifts into "Nazi Girl Friend," which is as dark as it is soft, full of contradictory images and emotions that characterize much of the music here, and familiar to any veteran of lost love.
With John Medeski adding the perfect touch of cocktail B-3, the title track is music for a stone age bachelor pad - cool, swinging and scary. And so it goes, subdued music that communicates sadness, anger and fear in a manner that carries as much emotional charge as any Stooges scream fest, but in a way that seems more natural to a man past 50. But wait, if you think Iggy's lost a step, you haven't heard the cover of the Johnny Kidd classic, "Shakin' All Over," that serves as a storming centerpiece to the music on Avenue B. There's more to follow, more that deserves your attention for a long time to follow.
It may be the result of Detroit roots, or the influence of producer Don Was, or the impact of middle age on a hard rock life, or all or none of the above, but some of the music here is reminiscent of recent work from Iggy's fellow Motor City madman, Wayne Kramer. That's a good thing. A very good thing. And this is a very good album.
Track List:
No Shit * Nazi Girl Friend * Avenue B * Miss Argentina * Afraid To Get Close * Shakin' All Over * Long Distance * Corruption * She Called Me Daddy * Espanol * Motorcycle * Facade
© 2000 - Shaun Dale