Customer Reviews

Skull Ring

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Rocking hard and furiously, and hilariously obscene, Iggy Pop's "Skull Ring" is his best and most obvious commercial attempt since "Brick By Brick" delivered the Top 40 single "Candy." He gets these results by teaming up with a variety of folks from the past and present. Despite the far flung age discrepancies, the pairings with Green Day and Sum 41 are no where near as sacrilegious as some may want you to believe. In fact, "Little Know It All" sounds so darn wicked on the local station here that it would be hard to know Sum 41 was the backing if the DJ didn't make a point of mentioning it after every play of the song. Besides that, "Supermarket" with Green Day smokes. So all you crybabies screaming sellout need a reality check. Iggy isn't selling out. He's buying in.

After all, does anyone seriously believe an artist that would follow the righteous rock of "Here Comes The Summer" (which sure sounds like a hit record to me) with the serious political incorrectness of "Motor Inn" really cares if his album is "timely?" I think not. There is a wide variety of songs and styles to be had here, be it the wild retro rock of the title track to the music business blues of "Till Wrong Feels Right," that by the time the final fade of terrific "Blood On My Cool" (and the bonus track "Nervous Exhaustion" kicks in), you should be able to put away the preconceived ideas and realized that you have just listened to a first class rock'n'roll album. Bottom line, "Skull Ring" busts heads.

Great follow-up to Iggy's 2001 'Beat 'Em Up' disc(see my review)and about as slammin' as one could expect.As for some who may've not heard,four of this CD's sixteen cuts had Iggy reunited with two of his former Stooge members.All four of the Stooges tracks sizzle,"Little Electric Chair",the title cut "Skull Ring","Loser" and especially the prototype punk rocking "Dead Rock Star".There are also tunes here that have Iggy pairing up with a couple of other more modern punk bands,liked the two songs he performs with Green Day.He also teams up with artists The Peaches and Sum 41.There were like maybe one of those tunes that I thought seemed tame.But,hey!For the most part,this title is a must-have.Includes a 12-page booklet with photos and song lyrics(get out the magnifying glass).

ONe of my gripes about most music reviews, is that they are almost written by fans of the artist, carrying their preconceived notions and biases with them.

I've never purchased an Iggy album before, and I really enjoy this. Criticisms that it's "radio ready pop" are ridiculous. I never heard any of these songs on the radio, not that they don't deserve it. Lyrics like "Anger and greed brew until they stampede/And I can transmute/Them into more loot" isn't exactly Bon Jovi.

What I like about this album is the songs rock hard, Iggy's voice is excellent, the production and mix is good, the guitar tones are heavy and awesome, the most of the lyrics are interesting and offbeat, and it doesn't get old. For hard rock fans, definitely worth it.

Iggy Pop and his band The Stooges (Asheton Brothers)
reunite on four tracks for the punk all-star disc. Green Day, Sum 41, Peeches and the Trolls appear on this
as well. It sounds great but I wished it was an all Stooges album. The tracks with the Stooges are the best of the bunch. The music still sounds raw (but more refined). I marked out when I heard these. Maybe in the future they'll record a full-fledge reunion album. One can dream....

Strongly recommended.

Why is this a controversial call? The man sounds fresh, focused, and on top of his game. The music is loud, tight, and purposeful. Iggy is honest and ferocious. He embraces the best of what he's done before and finds energy in the puppies he sired (like them or not). It's a tough thing to stay vital without repeating yourself, and Iggy has taken as many dubious steps over the years as he has brilliant ones. This record has nailed it. It simply rocks. No BS, no trying to prove anything, no over-conceptualizing. Just from-the-gut rock.

As for the collaborations, if you don't bring preconceptions to the audio, it's all pretty organic. "Little Know It All" (w/Sum41) is probably the only track that's arguably not straight-up Iggy Pop. Yet in that same song, you get the line "I'm a target of the smart, they've got ambition, I've got heart, analyzed and tagged before I start." He's running on instinct and he's aware of being under pretty intense scrutiny from the know-it-alls.

But the true test of an Iggy Pop album is whether or not you reach for it years from now to spin the whole thing or just a track or two. I don't think it's even a close call.

This CD really rocks. And quite righteously, I should add. I'm hearing all kinds of influences. The title track has a nifty Creedance-60's voodoo rhythm. And "Superbabe" has this T-Rex/Flo and Eddie back up vocal thing going (really clever!) And "Here Comes The Summer" is one great nod to those throw-away summer songs of yore, but with a decidedly Iggy twist. And "Dead Rock Star"? What can you say about that title? Iggy's phrasing and delivery has never been so direct, potent and vital. I was expecting inconsistency after "Beat Em Up" (a great one in my book), but Iggy has kept up the momentum. It is a shame that there are the Green Day and Sum 41 tracks, because they really do kind of suck and seem out of place. The Stooges and the Trolls should be enough for anybody's plate, to say the least. But two or three dud songs aside, "Skull Ring" is Iggy Pop in fine, fine form and the cover art and photographs really enhance one's experience...

After 30-years, some new music from the Stooges!! Skull Ring is the best album released by the "Igg" in years! The CD is worth having just for the four new STOOGES tunes: "Electric Chair", "Skull Ring", "Loser" & "Dead Rock Star", but it excels beyond the magnificent Stooges material. Iggy pals around with SUM 41 "Little Know It All" Green Day "Supermarket" and of course his regular band the Trolls.

Great Stuff! Buy it, listen to it, love it!

Iggy Pop has put out some mediocre records over the past ten years. Like his pal, David Bowie, he was due for a change. Bowie put out Heathen a few years ago. Now Iggy has Skull Ring. A year ago he reformed with some of the remaining Stooges and played some shows. Four new songs resulted. This is the core of the record. The collaborations with Green Day and Sum 41 are interesting. The songs with Peaches fail miserably. It when you get to the Fred McDowell inspired "Till Wrong Feels Right" that Iggy seems like he is at his most original. This is a great record to have, so trade in those other solo albums.

Iggy's latest CD is a mixed bag. The songs with the Stooges are awesome old school rock. They rock hard and are worthy of the Iggy Pop name. The collaberations with Peaches, Green Day and Sum 41 are also very good. While not "old school" rock, the songs Iggy does with these bands/people are fast and very good.
His songs with the Trolls fall flat though. They are boring and lifeless. Fortunately, there are only 5 tracks on the Cd with the Trolls. The rest of the CD is pretty good. Worth picking up if you are a fan of the Doors or other old rock. While hardcore Iggy fans might be more than a little disgusted that Iggy teamed up with Sum 41 and Green Day, don't let that deter you from buying this album. The songs with the Stooges alone are good enough to warrant the purchase of Skull Ring.

Living in Detroit all of my life, I'm sure the following is going to be akin to blasphemy around here, but I find it difficult to gleefully ride the party line about the overall quality of this album. I'll be the first to admit that the four new snot hurlers by Ann Arbor's favorite sons are surely a cause for celebration, shaking and shimmying more boisterously than anything marketed under the Iggy Pop brand since say, oh, "New Values. Although none of the new tunes come within spitting distance of anything on "The Stooges" or "Funhouse," Iggy, Ron Asheton (doubling on guitar and bass), and Scott Asheton do themselves proud for a bunch of old scrotes and in case there's any doubt, it ain't broke and they're not fixing it. Glad to see Ron still owns a wah pedal, too. As for the rest of the album? Feh... It's probably interchangeable with anything Iggy's done since "Brick By Brick" (which, coincidentally, is right around the time he adopted that baroque-sounding vocal style that is really beginning to grate on my nerves) and there's a few pooches (sound like Peaches), but it ain't "Avenue B" Part II, either. Your results may vary. As for the long-rumored new Stooges album? I'll give it one more year, then I'll stop dreaming.