In 1976,
the Stooges
had been gone for two years, and
Iggy Pop
had developed a notorious reputation as one of rock & roll's most spectacular waste cases. After a self-imposed stay in a mental hospital, a significantly more functional
Iggy
was desperate to prove he could hold down a career in music, and he was given another chance by his longtime ally,
David Bowie
.
Bowie
co-wrote a batch of new songs with
, put together a band, and produced
The Idiot
, which took
in a new direction decidedly different from the guitar-fueled proto-punk of
. Musically,
is of a piece with the impressionistic music of
's "Berlin Period" (such as
Heroes
and
Low
), with it's fragmented guitar figures, ominous basslines, and discordant, high-relief keyboard parts.
's new music was cerebral and inward-looking, where his early work had been a glorious call to the id, and
was in more subdued form than with
, with his voice sinking into a world-weary baritone that was a decided contrast to the harsh, defiant cry heard on "Search and Destroy."
was exploring new territory as a lyricist, and his songs on
are self-referential and poetic in a way that his work had rarely been in the past; for the most part the results are impressive, especially "Dum Dum Boys," a paean to the glory days of his former band, and "Nightclubbing," a call to the joys of decadence.
introduced the world to a very different
, and if the results surprised anyone expecting a replay of the assault of
Raw Power
, it also made it clear that
was older, wiser, and still had plenty to say; it's a flawed but powerful and emotionally absorbing work. [
was reissued on LP in 2017.] ~ Mark Deming