Customer Reviews

Zombie Birdhouse (Bonus CD) (Dlx)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Only Iggy could try to write such silly lyrics and accompany them with mature 80's poppy rock music. Zombie Birdhouse is rather awkwardly arranged and produced. A lot of Iggy's material is like that, but it seems so much more apparent on this album. The album is good and I listen to it more than you might think. The first three songs are absolute classics and it's suprising that "The Horse Song" wasn't a hit. This album doesn't sound a lot like Iggy's style, but songs like "The Ballad of Cookie McBride" and "Eat or Be Eaten" show that he has just as much charisma as The Stooges did. Zombie Birdhouse is an odd album. Buy it...I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Well, to paraphrase Captain Beefheart, "Iggy was hungry but he sure weren't weird." I noticed in a couple of previous reviews that this is "bizarre" or "weird" music. Yes, it is experimental to a degree, but it's always in service to the emotion that Iggy is trying to get across.

For example, the slow-building, droning guitar/keyboard loop that slowly grows on Life Of Work implies exactly that - a droning, rhythmic life of work. "The people stare with blinking eyes, the workforce stands in readiness." The lyrical imagery is amazing on every track. I think of this as "thinking man's grunge" - because it's raw and personal but loud and rhythmic too. I'd bet anything that one Kurt Cobain spun this on his turntable a few times in his formative years!

Almost every song has a unique aural setting that fits it's message perfectly. Producer/guitar player Chris Stein (of Blondie!!) really goes wild in conjuring "jungle-like" sounds with strange metallic textures. This was one of his first projects after Blondie crashed and burned, and he was really eager to go in a new artistic direction. His imprint is all over this effort.

The drumming is also quite prominent throughout the album, with bongos (!) among other unusual percussion instruments (for his genre) that further the tribal aspect of the music.

Iggy really let's 'er rip with the tribal aspect of human nature in both his lyrics and vocal performance. It was a personally dark time for him. I saw him in late 1982, with about 49 other people, in Eugene, Oregon. At about 2:30 a.m., after looking generally [angry] and crazed (and flipping his mike stand hard into the audience a couple of times) he fired his soundman near the end of the show. Kicked him right off the stage! I think you can hear that anger, that exasperation, in this album.

When this first came out, it hit me on a very personal level. I had never heard music of such an intensely personal nature before. The closest anything has come since is probably mid-late 90's Radiohead. And people go crazy for them! Why not Iggy? Well, Radiohead is definitely more "mainstream" in several ways - sound, looks, actions - and I guess Iggy's just too much to take for most people. His singing isn't anywhere near pitch perfect, but again, it's calculated to be that way. He isn't doing anything by accident here, but the whole album has a really spontaneous feel that keeps it fresh over two decades later.

It's ironic that many Iggy fans put this near the bottom of their list but it's my #1 Pop favorite. If you haven't heard it, give it a try - but do it with an open mind (and preferably listen to it in a darkened room late at night for best effect).

Enjoy!

I always liked Zombie Birdhouse. With it's flying saucer guitar on The Horse song and the LMAO lyrics of bulldozer it is just representative of what I like about Iggy. Off the wall and fun, with more than a tiny bit of darkness to it (street crazies, the villagers, etc). I would splurge and get this edition because you get a live concert cd recorded in Toronto in 1983. The negative of this is Iggy must have had a cold because his throat sounds messed up, the quality of the recording is rather bootleggish, but still after a few listens you get used to the negatives and get into it. So I would definitely count the additional cd as a pretty cool bonus.

Before "Avenue B", there was "Zombie Birdhouse". Actually, this isn't as much of a departure as "AveB" considering the album that came before it: "Party". There is more of an emphasis on his poetry reading (I've heard that the Doors wanted him to replace Morrison 30 years ago) & concepts rather than attempts at hit songs. The side openers "Run Like a Villain" & "Eat or be Eaten" sure are catchy though & "Bulldozer" is hard enough it sounds like he should have kept it for "Instinct" (which for me is a good thing). He has more to say here. Even though some of the later songs don't work very well, "Villain" especially seems to equate the jogging craze that started in the eighties with running away from responsibility for the greed & corruption of that decade. "Street Crazies" is another favorite, talking about the homeless being those left behind "as we try for the better, for the higher in man... they may as well be apes". The best moment, I think, is at the end of "Watching the News" when he starts to sing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" as a tribute to Simon & Garfunkel. The album might seem softer, but it's heavier in another way. The live disc turns in heavier versions of most of "Z.B"'s songs, but knowing Iggy, they're also sloppier. They start off strong with an improvement on "The Villagers" which I always thought was a little too dance-y. From there it's the usual Iggy banter (i.e. obscenities) & clumsy versions of Stooges songs. The big surprise is the absence of "Lust For Life" or "The Passenger" which I thought he was required by law to play. The bottom line I guess is that if your a big fan, you're thrilled by anything new that comes along, & if not, it's a pretty good value for the few songs you'll like right away & then "discover" it later in your collection.

This is a great album. Iggy Pop at his most primal. It grows on you. These songs will invade your subconscious mind. ("Life of Work").

Actually, the first time I saw Iggy Pop was on the David Letterman show. He came on and did "Run Like a Villain" (off of this album), and so impressed me that I went out and got this album. Later, I bought the rest of his albums. :-)

The connection between Iggy Pop and Blondie went back to touring together in the late-1970s.

So it became a natural professional progression for Pop to sign with Chris Stein's label, Animal, for this 1982 release. Pop was in search of a record deal and the album was a centerpiece in Stein's alternative vision to major record labels, but Animal unfortunately had a very short run in the marketplace.

The album features Stein (b), Blondie drummer Clem Burke and guitarist/keyboardist Rob Duprey, who composed 10 of the 12 original LP tracks with Pop. For the tour to promote the album, Stein and Gary Valentine (g) were the Blondie band members in Pop's band.

The performance art of Iggy Pop has brilliantly centered on life in the real world and tracks like Run Like a Villain, Eat or Be Eaten and Watching the News captures such less-than-flattering snapshots. Bulldozer is a hard rocker, but the gem is Platonic, as Pop takes the lyrical framework - the search deep into the soul to define love - to amazing heights.

Pop is comfortably working with musicians he respects and the material continues to be vastly underrated. The album was re-released on CD in 2003 with an extra cut and live bonus disc, but is not readily available. No matter which release can be found, this is an intriguing album that packs a nice punch through the solid songwriting of Pop and Duprey.

Before I'd heard this, I only knew the biggies like Lust For Life, Idiot etc. along with The Stooges stuff.

Zombie Birdhouse is a great little slice of Iggy that anyone with a liking for the music of Detroits misunderstood son should invest in. Theres always lots of talk about how Iggy was too experimental in the 80's, but if you don't like experimental, what the hell are you doing buying Iggy Pop's music??? Many of the tracks are pretty straight forward rockers with nice n'quirky lyrics, But theres also some good off the wall stuff like 'Watching the News' and 'Pain and Suffering'. On first listening, don't give up on this album. Its a must......for any fan of the man!

Regarding the track 'The Ballad Of Cookie McBride': Who says this guy doesn't have a sense of humour!

Absolutely brilliant from start to finish. This is mature music that stretches the boundaries of Rock while remaining absolutely true to Rock's core disaffected, outsider aesthetic philosophy. Stunningly well arranged and executed in every way.

One of the most intelligent rock albums of all time. It's no surprise Iggy's core fans haven't a clue on this one, it runs the gamut from ballads to the best kind of tight, minimalist hook oriented rock to the avant guarde. It's everything it shouldn't be. Punk babies who thought punk was about adherence to fashion, spitting, head banging and nihilism will not like this.

The lyrics are always heartfelt and searingly honest, while at the same time consistently funny, dark and socially penetrating to the point of disgust, sometimes verging on what might be called layered streams of consciousness. In a word... brilliant.

I was never a big fan of Iggy while I was rude to you when I worked behind the counter of Tower Records but this record changed my mind and it sounds even better almost 30 years later. I suspect it's Iggy's favorite.

Get Jim Carroll's "Catholic Boy" with this and you'll be set.

Prescient too: "In the space age... the village idiot rules."

After the fairly bland-sounding "Party" with its failed attempt at a big dance hit ("Bang Bang"), Iggy and Arista Records went their seperate ways. Retooling with members of Blondie, Pop turned in a solid album that is occasionally very catchy and funky, but also suffers at times from really awful singing. Nobody expects Iggy Pop to sing like Pavarotti, but even so he could have made a bit more effort to stay on pitch ...

Having said that there are some good rockers here, like the opening track "Run Like A Villain," and some softer tunes like "Ordinary Bummer" which rank among Iggy's prettiest. The bonus track, "Pain & Suffering," is just plain weird.

The bonus disc is a warts-and-all live recording of a Toronto show from the tour of this album. Virtually the entire "Zombie Birdhouse" track list is represented, along with a handful of older solo/Stooges tunes. Sound quality is so-so at best ... It sounds like a sound-board recording. But it's still a neat audio snapshot from this period of his career. I just wish we could get a live disc of the "Soldier" tour.

Not the best Iggy solo album - That would be either "Soldier" or "The Idiot" in my opinion - but one of his better efforts.

Originally released in 1982, as this was Iggy Pop's seventh solo effort. Maybe not his best,but perhaps his most distinguished work. Remember seeing him on several late night talk and variety shows around the time this album came out. Tracks I dug the most were "Run Like A Villain", "Ordinary Bummer" and "Bulldozer". Is it just me or on "The Ballad Of Cookie McBride", is Iggy attempting to pull off a country song? Hint: it doesn't work with the Igster. The rest of the CD reissue is decent. Certainly nothing outstanding, but decent. Line-up: Iggy-vocals, Rob DuPrey - guitar with two Blondie members, Chris Stein - bass and Clem Burke - drums. Believe this title has been released again, with a live bonus CD from this very tour. I need to check that out.

December, 2010: I finally landed down a copy of the Iggy Pop - 'Zombie Birdhouse' expanded 2-CD reissue without having it cost me an arm and a leg. Thus, I hereby now give this title a four-star rating. Sound quality of the live 1982 gig is simply awesome. A must-own for all true Iggy Pop fans.