The highly anticipated new Iggy and The Stooges album ‘Ready to Die’, released on Fat Possum Records, arrived one week in advance, pleasingly surprising the tons of fans who were craving the new work of the Godfather of Punk and his band. The album will be officially released on April 30, but it is already available for streaming.

Many are doubtful when it comes to an old band reuniting or working on new material. The criticism of the old still doing what made it great is a characteristic of the current music scene. Iggy and The Stooges, with this new album, help to prove how wrong this attitude is. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Iggy Pop explained the simple, and yet admirable, reason why the band decided not to just ride the train of eternal self-celebration, benefiting from the timeless fame acquired by creating one of the most influential albums of all time, ‘Raw Power’. Iggy Pop stated “I didn’t do this expecting to make money out of it. It’s a lot of work, but I felt it was something that had to be done. This is my teenage dream, having a band that makes records and plays gigs. That’s still the glory of it, and I wanted to honor the institution and honor the group.”

So basically, being in a band should lead to music making. Well said Iggy, and well done. ‘Ready to Die’ does not disappoint those who were expecting some real rock ‘n’ roll to be on the plate. With songs written by Iggy Pop and James Williamson for the first time after ‘Raw Power’, the album is straightforward and raw; the listener does not face an overly-polished work, rather a lesson on how rock ‘n’ roll should be played. It has something that many, although luckily not all, rock albums are missing lately: it sounds real.

The album presents a powerful dynamic which, although classical, here works perfectly. It moves from louder and harder tracks, such as “Burn,” “Ready to Die” and “Dirty Deal,” to some delicate ballads and intimate songs, such as “The Departed,” dedicated to the late Ron Asheton. The lyrics are also very dynamic; Iggy Pop takes a close look at the world around, the “Unfriendly World,” as the title of one of the tracks suggests. There is the description and criticism of some of current society’s issues (“Gun”) and of people’s feelings. Some of the tracks present deeply involving and reflective lyrics, which help to create an intimacy with the band’s sonority. Iggy Pop mixes in this album his hard and punk attitude with his emotional side, towards which he definitively opened the gate for fans through his latest solo album ‘Après’. Some other lyrics are instead very simple and careless, stressing an easygoing attitude pertaining to part of the early punk movement, which presented not only a social condemnation approach, but also an irreverent and ironic one.

‘Ready to Die’ is a powerful and pleasant album which needs no comparison to ‘Raw Power‘ since it plays a very different role in the band’s career and in the current music scene. It is easy to listen to and captures the listener’s attention right away. Nevertheless, it is possible to grasp more and more at every listen. It is a record which gives a lot to those who listen with open ears and an open soul.

Well produced and appreciable by those loving rock ‘n’ roll, it is a strong statement of presence by a band which has made history. The renovation operated by Iggy and the Stooges in ’Ready to Die’ starts exactly from the band’s roots. Iggy and The Stooges do not present a completely new sound, but rather refresh the original one, transforming it in an adequate and relevant sonority for the present. With ‘Ready to Die’ Iggy and The Stooges take their past and make it meet with the present without cheating on themselves.

Rating: EXCELLENT 4.5/5

Image credit: Iggy And The Stooges via Facebook

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After an extensive tour in 2012, Iggy and The Stooges have decided it is time to amaze their fans with a brand new album. ‘Ready To Die’ is the title of the upcoming album by the infamous proto-punk band, and it will be released on April 30 on Fat Possum Records. The band’s most famous record is ‘Raw Power’, the album that opened the ball for the punk movement that took shape in England and in the U.S.A., taking several different forms and shades.

‘Ready To Die’ will feature Iggy Pop as vocalist, guitarist James Williamson and drummer Scott “Rock Action” Asheton, with the addition of the great Mike Watt (who has already been touring with the band), filling in for the late Ron Asheton on bass.

Iggy and The Stooges announced the album in a video portraying Iggy Pop as a scarecrow, and featuring a sample of one of the new tracks. In the sample, all the adrenalinic and electrifying feelings usually exploding in Iggy and The Stooges’ music are retrieved, pushing the excitement for the upcoming event even more.

Iggy Pop, with his usual peculiar way of expressing his personality, explained the idea behind the album “My motivation in making any record with the group at this point is no longer personal. It’s just a pig-headed fucking thing I have that a real fucking group, when they’re an older group, they also make fucking records,” he says. “They don’t just go and twiddle around on stage to make a bunch of fucking money and go, ‘Ohh, it wouldn’t be as good.’ This is not the fucking Smashing Pumpkins, you know, we’ve got the bald guy and whoever. This is the key. The only thing I really have left to say is The Stooges are a real group.”

As if the album was not enough to satisfy the appetite of the fans, the band’s official website gives more good news. It reads “Iggy and the Stooges will begin the Ready To Die live assault shortly. Stay tuned for coordinates.” Iggy and The Stooges had already announced a number of live shows around the world for this year, but this statement hints an extensive presence of the band on the live stage in 2013.

In the year when Bowie announced a new album and Jimi Hendrix’s brand new material is going to be released on a new record soon, Iggy and The Stooges’ upcoming album fits like a perfect piece in the puzzle of musical greatness. Let us hope the White Duke follows the example of his buddy Iggy Pop and jumps on a world tour to amaze fans, who have been waiting for years. Furthermore, the ‘Lust For Life’ biopic, about David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s Berlin period, is on its way to the big screen. It is surely an interesting year for music.

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Iggy and The Stooges are delighting music lovers of the world with a tour that embraces both Europe and the U.S.. For those who think that age could be a problem for the Godfather of Punk and his mates, Iggy and Co. are happy to prove you wrong at their live shows.

Toonari Post had the chance to attend Iggy and The Stooges’ live performance at Greenville Festival, Germany, on July 29. The band headlined the last day of this brand new and very promising festival in central Europe.

Iggy and The Stooges started the performance with a roaring ‘Raw Power,’ the track that gives title to the infamous album of 1973, now considered by many as the first punk-rock album in history.

Although at the beginning of July, Iggy and The Stooges had to cancel their performance at Sofia Rock, Bulgaria, due to a foot injury Iggy Pop sustained last year, the singer did not refrain himself from giving it all during the performance at Greenville. As usual, he let the spirit of music guide and possess him during the entire performance, singing, dancing, and jumping, like a 20 year-old boy who just discovered how great music is.

The band, whose bass is brilliantly played by Mike Watts, reached an astonishing level of perfection during the performance. Iggy Pop, on his side, was able to capture the audience with his intriguing and hypnotic voice, taking them into the spiral of energy created by both the music and his presence on stage. He also accompanied some of the lyrics of the songs with mimics, and in more than one occasion, made an introduction to the songs by relating them to moments in life he had experienced, linking the tracks to their meaning and origin.

A featuring characteristic was the love shown by Iggy Pop to his fans. He looked at the audience with the same facial expression a child has on Christmas day; It was a mixture of joy, surprise, excitement and that kind of purity of emotions that children have. During the performance he expressed his and the band’s gratitude towards the fans for always supporting them and being nice to them. The fusion between the band and the audience reached its peak when Iggy Pop asked people to join the band on stage. A flow of thrilled people went on stage dancing, singing and hugging the icon.

The band played most of the songs from Raw Power, as well as some belonging to Fun House and a couple of covers. The performance was set to end after a very powerful performance of ‘No Fun,’ but Iggy Pop, saying he was “in the mood,” asked the organizers if they could play some more. They ended up adding three songs to the setlist, leaving the stage with a delighted and screaming crowd.

The level of passion in the live performance was extreme, which, accompanied by the level of professionalism of the band members, resulted in one of the best performances a music lover could possibly witness. Attending one of Iggy and the Stooges’ live shows makes you feel like having just witnessed the performance of a man and a band beyond legend.

Image Courtesy of   Jabzg

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