Customer Reviews

Stooges

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A nicely packaged CD with good sound quality. The highlight is the overwhelmingly fierce "Open Up & Bleed."

The downside, for me, is the inclusion of alternate takes of songs which appear (in superior form, in my opinion) on Kill City, Raw Power, and "I Got A Right." I wish BOMP! or someone else would compile all the non-LP studio tracks on a single disc. As it is, they have studio outtakes, live versions, and everything else spread over a bunch of CDs, which seems done more for profit than comprehensiveness.

Incidentally, I have a CD on the French Revenge label ('Kill City/I'm Sick of You,' not sold on Amazon) which compiles "I Got a Right," "Gimme Some Skin," the studio tracks from "I'm Sick of You," the *entire* Kill City album, and "Jesus Loves the Stooges." Unfortunately, though the material is licensed from BOMP!, it's all mastered from vinyl, so the sound isn't great. But they've got the right idea.

That said (grouse, grouse), "Studio Sessions" is a fine initiation into the seamy Stooges underworld. I'd recommend it as a first step beyond "Raw Power" et al.

Finally! The Rubber Legs tracks off the master tapes, without all the hiss and crackle heard on BOMP!'s Open Up And Bleed! and the aforementioned french bootleg. If there was ever any evidence that the Stooges were artistically deserving of a second Columbia album it is found in all its glory right here. While the Rubber Legs portion of this CD are studio rehearsals, Iggy and band give all. The addition of a piano player (Bob Sheff, I believe) was a stroke of genius. He brings a new dimension of swing to the Stooges and his electric-piano playing on "Open Up And Bleed" adds a touch of the mystic to the band's sound. That he can more than hold his own amidst James Williamson's relentless rhythm guitar and blistering solos is no small feat. And Iggy's off hand calls to band members for solos and what not has the strange effect of enhancing these recordings. This CD also features a rare version of "I Got A Right" not found on any of the BOMP! releases.

A couple of other outtakes from these sessions can be heard on various BOMP! releases, and they are off the master tapes, but if you want to hear the shorter, more intense version of "Johanna" off the master, you'll have to seek out Open Up And Bleed on the french label Revenge.

Another collection for all you Iggy/Stooges die hards.Ten power house cuts from rehearsal tapes that were recorded sometime in 1972.Sound is acceptable.Tunes that made me want to smash stuff up in the street were "Death Trip","I Got A Right","Rubber Legs" and a track that I don't remember,"Pin Point Eyes".Wait...a minute.That song is on the 'Wild Love' disc(see my review).

There are a ton of albums out there documenting the unreleased tracks that the Stooges rehearsed & toured with live but never officially recorded for an album. There's no one disc that covers these tracks definitively so it's up to the hardcore fans to wade through the glut of releases and pick the good from the bad.

This is definitely one of the better releases out there. The versions of Head On & Rubber Legs here are awesome - the band is tight and the performance is excellent. You get a studio cut of 'Open Up and Bleed' which is great, and an 8-minute plus version of 'Johanna' which is definitely the definitive version of the song before Iggy toned it down severely for his solo release. Another highlight is the only known proper studio version of 'Cock in my Pocket' (demos are seen elsewhere though), and the version of 'Raw Power' with backing vocals (it sounds like the finished version before it was mastered, and was probably the version submitted to the label). 'Pin Point Eyes' is a really interesting track, as you can hear for yourself the control Iggy had within the group - throughout the album he controls the tempo of the songs, slows it down, makes calls for solos, etc. Other's have dismissed it as a direction-less jam, but it stands on its own as a good tune, and certainly sounds like a master compared some of the stuff on the Wild Love cd (to prove it, in the middle of the song Iggy is heard commenting "This better be on tape or I'll kill somebody!").

The quality of the tracks is fairly consistent throughout, a couple of tracks are taped off the radio (you can hear the tape clicking at the start and the radio announcer talking) although they don't really dip in quality too much. As far as semi-official Stooges releases go, the sound quality is decent.

This cd is one of your only chances to hear decent studio versions of Cock in my Pocket & Pin Point Eyes, and there's lots more to entice newer fans. If you haven't heard the blistering, longer version of 'Johanna' or the awesome 'Open Up and Bleed' in a studio setting then check this out.

Well-written liner notes and some great booklet photos can't offset the fact that this CD is for hard-core Stoogemaniacs only. Rough, alternate versions of "Raw Power"-era songs are collected here; most of these same recordings can be found on various BOMP! releases. If you only count yourself a casual fan (shame on you!), stick with the studio albums.

This is one of the many Stooges outtake albums. If you've heard one, you've heard all. I'm a true Stooges junkie and I own everything, although, Iggy and the boys recorded several versions of "Funhouse" songs and they are all stashed away somewhere. The unreleased "Funhouse" recordings will make this sound like a lounge album. I'm not sure when Iggy plans on releasing the tracks but, for now, buy this record for the songs that you can't find on the Bomp label and wait for the Stooges to reconcile their differences. Perhaps the lost album will turn up on the rumored box set.