Throwback Thursday: Raw Power, by Iggy and the Stooges

In 1973 one of the most important proto-punk albums ever put to tape was unleashed unto the world in all its primal fury: Iggy and the Stooges' Raw Power. Without Raw Power the punk movement as we know it today would probably have never occurred, or at the very least would have taken a much different shape and more time to get into full swing. Supposedly recorded in only a day and mixed by pop rock icon David Bowie, this album pulled absolutely no punches whatsoever and became what many fans consider to be the band's magnum opus.

Raw Power was mixed on what at the time was already old equipment - the kind that Elvis Presley might have used during his heyday. This gave the songs a much more raw (as the album is so aptly named for) punchy edge. With slashing chords, thundering rhythms, and howling rage fueled vocals this is the perfect combination of stripped down bare bones music with the kind of lo-fi sound quality that adds that much more punch, grit, and honesty to the music. No flash or frills here. Just pure raw power.

Search and Destroy is one hell of a way to kick off the album. This tune kind of lays out what The Stooges were all about: embodying angst, lust, anger, and other passionate emotions into as ripping and raw of a form of music as humanly possible. That cheap old tape really shines through so to speak during those blues tinged yet ever so furious guitar solos while your speakers are also blasted with drums ripping away in the back like a machine gun. Actually with the recording quality it almost actually does sound like a machine gun.

Raw Power is one of Iggy and the Stooges' most well known songs. At least well known among fans and others in the punk community. It has that upbeat over driven blues shuffle that is blasted into outer space by adding a more aggressive over tone to everything. David Bowie also appears as a guest musician in this rock n' roll ruckus by pounding away at a tinkering piano that fills out the pseudo 50's rockabilly motif it presents. It takes that style of music and makes it a bit more powerful, honest, and relatable to the younger generation of the time.

Raw Power is one of the crowning achievements of the proto-punk/early punk movement of the early 70's. It's not difficult to hear where so many bands like The Ramones, New York Dolls, Misfits, etc. drew their influence from. It's no surprise that decades later so many artists are following The Stooges' example by keeping the music at its basic most primal roots and doing it on equipment that sounds cheap for that DIY feel that appeals to a surprising number of listeners. It's definitely an album I would recommend.

Raw Power, by Iggy and the Stooges receives 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Search and Destroy
2. Gimme Danger
3. Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
4. Penetration
5. Raw Power
6. I Need Somebody
7. Shake Appeal
8. Death Trip

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Power-Iggy-Pop-Stooges/dp/B00138KGS4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472807278&sr=8-1&keywords=Raw+Power