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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Le nouveau record de Iggy Pop, Préliminaires, est magnifique!, July 9, 2009
This review is from: Preliminaires (Audio CD)
For the first time since 1999's Avenue B. We see the mellow jazzy soul of Iggy Pop.
First off, for the record, I don't understand why critics universally put down Avenue B as a failure. I'm an Iggy fanatic, and even though Ave B is his least Iggy-like album, I personally loved it. He hooked with Medinski, Martin & Wood, and a bunch of other real musicians, and showed his senstive side. He didn't mention his [...] getting stuck deep inside anything even once. Everyone hated it, but I thought it was the best thing he's done since the 70s.
That is until Préliminaires came along. This album may even surpass the great Avenue B. But I have to listen a few more times to be certain.
Iggy employs some diverse ingedients on this album.
"King of the Dogs" is backed by some suprisingly authentic dixieland jazz. Satchmo shares a writing credit.
Iggy also tries his hand at bossanova and applies his trademark croon to Antonio Carlos Jobim's timeless chestnut "How Insensitive."
And just like Ave B had a searing cover of "Shaking All Over" for the rockers, Préliminaires includes "It's Nice To Be Dead" as it's sole asskicker.
I love the blues number "He's Dead She's Alive." The production is as rustic as some dusty old Blind Lemon Jefferson recording from the Mississippi delta. The acoustic guitar is so shrill and so raw--like my speakers somehow transformed into a shanty of rusty corregated iron. I don't know how that would actually sound, but imagine it would be real creaky.
The rest of the cuts are a bouillabaisse of French pop chanson old and new. Aromatic notes of Edith Piaf mingle with musty Air with an icy broth recalling both The Idiot and 80s Leonard Cohen. Mwah! C'est magnifique! It's a superb dish!
If there can be anything negative to say about this record, it would be about it's short length. It's only 36 minutes and two songs are performed twice in two different arrangments. But like they say, it ain't the size of your oar but the motion in the ocean. I think albums these days are too long anyway. In the vinyl era, albums were only 35-40 minutes and that was perfect. Besides, gourmet French cusine is always served in neat small portions with no filler. Brief is good. I don't need no forty hour Sandinista.
In conclusion, Préliminaires is Iggy's classiest, most mature record to date. He should explore this side of his music further. A man in his 60s can continue to be a howling shirtless wildman for only so long. This is the sound of Iggy finally growing old gracefully. Et ça sonne bien.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not a one-trick dog, June 4, 2009
This review is from: Preliminaires (Audio CD)
If you are expecting Skull Ring or The Stooges, don't buy this. And don't bitch about it either. If that's what you want to hear, just put those albums on and be happy there's so much of it. It's about time the world was treated to more of the "other side" of Iggy Pop... the part where he can write intelligent lyrics and back it up with strong musical content, albeit not hard rock.
Preliminaires was written, and in some cases, sung for the French, where Iggy has his biggest following. Pre-release hype claimed it be Iggy's first jazz album. Well, yes, there's Euro jazz here, but there's also plenty of rock and lots of acoustic work too. And perhaps most importantly, some of the most unusual lyrics ever recorded: premeditated, yet sounding completely spontaneous as the finished product.
No, this is not The Stooges or Skull Ring... this is utterly different material for Iggy Pop, closer to Avenue B than anything else, but still completely unique. Listen to the samples to get an idea. It will give you the gist, but remember, those are 30 second excerpts that do not give you the complete picture. Listening to the complete tracks in complete album form leaves you wanting for more in the future and wondering why a project as great as this was not done sooner.
It's very short; clocking in at 36 minutes with flimsy packaging. This is reflected in how inexpensive it is. But that does not deminish the overall impact of this most different of Iggy Pop releases, something I hope there will be more of in the future. Highly recommended to those who can appreciate ALL the talent that Iggy Pop has... this man is no one-trick-dog.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gets Better with Every Album, August 6, 2009
This record sounds nothing like anything Iggy has ever done before, yet it is amazing. I bought it because I have never heard an Iggy record that I haven't liked, and this simply blew me away. The record really shows how dynamic Iggy can be, breaking away from his classic and trailblazing punk sound. This record has a lot of a smooth jazz sound to it, with Iggy softly and poetically singing about different subjects. Yes, the hardcore, "I want to hear classic Iggy again, and again, on every record, while he's stabbing himself with a broken beer bottle" fans will probably strongly reject this album. However, to those people who can actually appreciate other forms of music, and a musician's ability to transcend into different genres or music (and do it well), this album will be hailed as some of Iggy's greatest work. A definite buy.
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is Iggy Pop's 16th studio release. Browse Iggy Pop's Discography 
