Ann Arbor, a stone’s throw from Detroit: this is where The Stooges adventure begins. Such an industrial city could only give birth to this kind of aggressive rock, like a factory machine. The summer of 1969 bears witness to the band’s first musical seismic shift, an eponymous soundtrack to the Modern Times and the unrest which was bound to entail.
Armed with wah-wah pedals and distorted, ramshackle fuzz effects, Ron Asheton’s guitars cut through the smoke, Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander’s pounding prehistoric rhythms are merciless and the 22-year-old singer’s lyrics (James Osterberg, aka Iggy Pop) are a call to arms for rebellion. The Vietnamese conflict is stalling, the American youth is disenfranchised, and Iggy and his Stooges wallow in this brilliantly nihilist manifesto, a sort of shamanic style of garage rock carried by anthems I Wanna Be Your Dog, 1969 and No Fun.
The Stooges Delta Pop Festival 1969
Ruck ZuckThis first offering from the band was produced by John Cale, having left The Velvet Underground the previous year. There are some daring experimental elements on the album, like the ten-minute-long We Will Fall, featuring Cale’s very own intoxicated violin. And to think that the Stooges’ next album would be even more apocalyptic…
Gimme Danger Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Documentary
Rotten Tomatoes IndieThis magnificent Deluxe Edition celebrating half a century of The Stooges is made up of the original studio album, now available in Hi-Res 24-Bit quality, as well as a number of alternative takes (including seven never released digitally) as well as John Cale’s first mix of the album, rejected at the time by the label, Elektra.
It was actually published for the first time in 2010 but at a speed slower than anticipated. On this 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, everything is in place to celebrate this rock masterpiece’s milestone birthday in the best conditions possible.
