Customer Reviews

We Will Fall: Iggy Pop Tribute

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Tribute albums suck. They are made specifically to wring the last fan dollar from the die-hard geek who just has to have it.

Not so with this one. Loving contributed to by people who know and are inspired by Iggy (Jayne County, Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry, Misfits, etc.).

A version of the Stooges' "No Fun" by the Sex Pistols (1977) was probably the first officially recorded cover of an Iggy Pop song. The most famous was Bowie's defilement of "China Girl" in 1983. The music of Iggy and the Stooges has transcended three generations. In fact, they've been credited for wiping out the sixties entirely! Even George Clinton claims to have transformed Parliament into the wilder, free-form Funkadelic after witnessing a live Stooges performance.

In their day, the Stooges were highly unmarketable and unfashionable. However, the course of history would have been severely altered without the steadfast foundation they built in the late 60's on solid rock. The Stooges erupted in a loud explosion of raw nerves and energy, similar to the big bang which created the planet earth. You might call it a natural disaster!

Iggy revered Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and the blues bands of Chicago in the mid 60's. He tried to convey the passionate style of the blues players to his stoned delinquent Stooges friends. Their interpretation was a strange hybrid of black rooted music merged with the problems, anger and frustrations of five white boys who could barely play their instruments. This wasn't just another pretty white boy singing the blues like Elvis (although Iggy was kinda charming in his own sick way). This was an ugly, fierce unit - the scum of the earth and proud of it - emerging from the streets of Detroit to perpetrate their own sonic pleasures upon the masses. The Stooges stomped on what we knew as music at the time and brought it back down into the street where it belongs. Their music was indulgent and often violent. It took the glam out of glamour, the pop out of pop, invented heavy metal and revered soul, rhythm and blues.

Representatives spanning three decades have contributed to We Will Fall, a twenty-track Iggy tribute album; from the 70's (Jayne - formerly Wayne - County, Joey Ramone, Lenny Kaye, Blondie - under the alias Adolf's Dog, and The Misfits), the 80's (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Bush Tetras), and the 90's (New York scenemakers DGeneration and NY Loose, Lunachicks, Sugar Ray, Superdrag and more). It is their reverence of the subversive revolutionary music of the 70's which bonds these artists - from Glam to Punk and most of all, the unique, raw and savage sincerity of the transcendent Iggy Pop.

These hypodermic covers are so true to the originals that should you blink an ear, you'd mistake them for Iggy himself! Every performance shines on this collection. Iggy's music is in the blood of these artists (after all, it was their youth's inspiration) right down to their seemingly Ig-possessed yelps and yowls.

The standout cuts are a thrashed-up "Lust For Life" by NY Loose, and an even racier "Funtime" by Blanks 77. DGeneration render a faithfully beautiful "I Got Nothing". "Sister Midnight" by Bush Tetras features some bone-chilling guitar work. Joey Ramone's tribal "1969" reverberates through to the 90's. The most deviant interpretation is Jayne County's campy "Down On The Street/Little Doll". Jayne is the only artist who dared to revise the lyrics, but not the spirit. The Red Hot Chili Peppers rip open "Search & Destroy". Sugar Ray's "Cold Metal" is their best effort since their version of Howard Stern's "Psychedelic Bee"!

It's disappointing that nobody chose to cover "Rich Bitch" but perhaps we can look forward to this in the future. How about it, Madonna? Britney? Anyone? And where's Snoop's cover of "I Wanna Be Your Doggy Dog"?

The music of Iggy and the Stooges seduces, assaults and reminds you that you are alive. It's no surprise that their legacy, and the unstoppable Iggy Pop will continue into the next millenium. Pop maintains his solo career as a living legend, and at age fifty, has successfully expanded into film and TV, attaining the mainstream recognition he deserves.

Turning the tables, some songs Iggy has covered are James Brown's "Sex Machine" appearing on a 1996 CD single B-side, and he also appears on the James Bond covers album performing "All The Time in the World". But Iggy's most magnificent cover is his version of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie" of course. I especially love the Metallic K.O. version with X-rated lyrics -- it's so romantic!

Yesssss!

I have almost every album Iggy Pop has made, so buying a tribute album of an idle was a gamble, it was worth every penny and more. If you are an Iggy fan you won't be disappointed at all. This is a must for your collection.

From the opening classic "1969" this album goes from strength to strength. If you've heard the "1969" cover by the Sister of Mercy and liked it then you're in for a treat, all the tracks on this album are recorded with the same quality and passion.This Album rocks from begining to end, covering a good 25 year span, the only disappointment on a personal level is the ommision of few of my favourites "Dog Food" , "Locomosquito" , "Cry for Love" to name but a few so hopefully we may get Tributes(2). Buy it! Luv it! Spread the word!

As mentioned above, tributes aren't usually worth much, but this one kicks. Arguably, the songs are better than even Iggy's own renditions. Lots of colour and pounding sound. I rate myself as being an average listener of Iggy Pop - but the energy bristles and captivates on this one. Well worth having.

Iggy Pop made his presence known to the music world when his band The Stooges first burst into the scene in the late 60's and early 70's with their brand of ferocious, snarling hard rock that gave birth to the Punk movement. Pop of course, is also famous for his insane theatrics which ranged from smearing peanut-butter over himself to slashing his chest and turning the performance into a blood-soaked experience artists like Marilyn Manson would try to imitate years later. "We Will Fall" is a burning fast testament to the Iggy Pop legacy, performed by artists who are not going for surpassing the original, they are simply paying due homage to one of the prime influences on Punk and hard rock. This is one of those rare tribute albums that has more than one or two noteworthy track. Ramones frontman Joey Ramone delivers a snarling, exciting "1969" while the Red Hot Chili Peppers do a "Search And Destroy" that is a wonderfully energetic hybrid of their own sound and the original Stooges brand. "Real Wild Child" could be considered one of Iggy Pop's more playful songs, a fun jam, but Joan Jett and The Blackhearts turn it into a ferocious, ripping assault. Deborah Harry of Blondie has always called Iggy Pop one of her heroes, and here she appears with a cover of "Ordinary Bummer" that plays like nice 70's pop atmospherics, her rich voice really stands out here. Monster Magnet deliver a great track with their cover of "Gimme Danger" which stays true to the original and Dave Wyndorf delivers an edgy vocal that sounds incredibly close to Pop's voice. NY Loose also do a "Lust For Life" that sounds like a simple hard rock update of the original. The Lunachicks turn "The Passenger" from a dreamy, atmospheric ride to a fast Punk hybrid, this one takes a while to get used to, especially if you love the Iggy version. Other memorable moments are Holy Bulls doing a ferocious "T.V. Eye" that stays true to the Stooges spirit, here's one of the fans who want all out Iggy Pop-like ferocity. Sugar Ray surprisingly does a decent "Cold Metal." A tribute album usually owes it's moments to the impact of the original material, bad songs could be fixed, but it is difficult to fail covering a classic if you do it right and so the same can be said here. Of course there will always be some artist that should have been on the set who is missing like Scott Weiland, but what we get isn't bad at all. There's always a feeling, even in the weak moments, that the artists performing love the material and respect the original source. If they didn't they probably wouldn't be on this CD.

Sugar Ray delivers an astonishing Cold Metal. Wayne/Jayne County's best work=Down on the Street/Little Doll. Late Great Joey Ramone=1969.Blondie/Misfits/Pansy Division/Lunachicks a who's who of late 90's alternative bands. Creme de la Creme of Iggy songs from Igster's most creative period.

Amazon posting here indicates this piece is a 2-CD offering - yet it's actually a single disc title. Total of twenty-one tracks of diverse groups and artists to pay their respect to the one and only - grandpappy of punk - the Igster. Tunes like the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's take on "Search & Destroy", Joan Jett & The Blackhearts with "Real Wild Child", the Misfit's "I Got A Right", the Pansy Division contribution of "Loose", not to mention the Lunachicks giving us "The Passenger" make this tribute title worthy of repeated spins in your home entertainment center. Few more I like are D-Generation with the slamming "I Got Nothing" and Sugar Ray's homage with "Cold Metal" [one of my personal Iggy Pop favorites]. Look at the asking price.