Raw Power
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| Raw Power | |||||
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| Studio album by The Stooges | |||||
| Released | February, 1973 (US) June, 1973 (UK) |
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| Recorded | September 10-October 6, 1972 at CBS Studios, London | ||||
| Genre | Proto-punk Hard rock |
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| Length | 34:00 | ||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||
| Producer | David Bowie (original version), Iggy Pop (1997 version) | ||||
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| The Stooges chronology | |||||
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Raw Power is a 1973 album by American protopunk group The Stooges.
The third studio album by The Stooges, Raw Power, was largely ignored upon its release, and the group broke up in obscurity a few years later. However, it was embraced by a small, rabid fanbase that included many younger musicians who would go on to help create punk rock in the mid-1970s, making Raw Power one of the most important protopunk documents.
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[edit] Background and recording history
The Stooges had formed near Detroit, Michigan in the late 1960s. Their first two albums, The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970) were similarly unsuccessful, and the group broke up.
Singer Iggy Pop had been signed as a solo artist to MainMan Management, who also handled British singer David Bowie. The band was in disarray; they had officially broken up, Dave Alexander was fighting alcoholism, and Pop's heroin addiction was escalating prior to Bowie's intervention. However, Pop was determined for a reformation.
Signed to Columbia Records, he was sent to London to write and record their album with his new collaborator, guitarist James Williamson. Pop insisted that his fellow ex-Stooges Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton participate in the recording sessions. Williamson played all the guitar parts, Ron Asheton switched to bass guitar (having played guitar on the first two Stooges albums), and Scott Asheton played drums.
Pop said that Columbia executives insisted on two ballads, one for each side of the record. These two "ballads" were "Gimme Danger" and "I Need Somebody", both much more ominous and menacing than traditional ballads.
Pop produced and mixed the album by himself. Pop's botched first attempt mixed most of the instruments into one stereo channel, and the vocals into the other. Mainman demanded that the album be remixed, but Pop refused. When MainMan informed Pop that if Raw Power were not remixed by Bowie, the album would not be released, Pop agreed, but insisted that his own mix for "Search And Destroy" be retained. Due to budgetary constraits, Bowie remixed the other seven songs in a single day in an inexpensive Los Angeles studio.
"Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal" were both released as singles.
[edit] Initial Response
Sales of Raw Power were weak, and the album peaked at #182 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. The group continued touring for about a year, but Columbia dropped their contract and The Stooges broke up.
[edit] Legacy
Despite its weak initial reception, the reputation of Raw Power grew tremendously in subsequent years, and the album's volume and ferocity became benchmarks against which later albums were measured. In 2003, the album was ranked number 125 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain from the grunge band Nirvana wrote in his Journals numerous times that this was his favorite album of all time. Johnny Marr of The Smiths has also stated Raw Power as his favorite album. Henry Rollins has the words "Search and Destroy" tattooed across his shoulder blades.
Low-fidelity copies of Pop's original mixes circulated among fans for years. In 1995, a selection of these original mixes was released by Bomp Records as Rough Power. Fans and critics generally agreed that the original mixes were interesting, but not necessarily superior to Bowie's efforts.
[edit] Remastering
In 1997 Columbia Recordsinvited Iggy Pop to remasterthe entire album for re-release on CD. Pop says in the liner notes that had he declined, the studio would have remastered it without his blessing. Pop cited longtime encouragement from fans and peers, the existence of Rough Power, his distaste for how the original 1989 CD release of Raw Powersounded, and the fact that Columbia were going to release the new mix on its sublabel Legacy Recordingsas factors that led him to go through with the new master. On the other hand, some fans — guitarist Robert Quineamong them — felt the new remaster was as unfaithful to the material as the original 1973 mix, and further criticized the audible digital distortion in the new mix[1]. In the reissued CD's liner notes, however, Pop points out that one of his intentions in doing the new mix was to keep audio levels in the red (which would deliberately cause such distortion) while at the same time making the music more "powerful and listenable". This new version is arguably the loudest album ever, reaching RMS of -4 dB, rare even by today's standards.
[edit] Covers
The album's songs have been frequently covered. Prominent versions include the Dictators', Red Hot Chili Peppers' The Dead Boys's cover of "Search and Destroy" and Shotgun Messiah's versions of "Search and Destroy"; Guns N' Roses's cover of "Raw Power" (title track) on The Spaghetti Incident? and Ewan McGregor covering "Gimme Danger" for the film Velvet Goldmine, a movie telling the story of a character based around David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust during the 1970s glam rock era. "Gimme Danger" was also covered for the game Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Iggy Pop & James Williamson.
[edit] Side one
- "Search and Destroy" – 3:29
- "Gimme Danger" – 3:33
- "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell" – 4:54 (originally titled "Hard to Beat")
- "Penetration" – 3:41
[edit] Side two
- "Raw Power" – 4:16
- "I Need Somebody" – 4:53
- "Shake Appeal" – 3:04
- "Death Trip" – 6:07
[edit] Personnel
- Iggy Pop - vocals
- James Williamson - guitars
- Ron Asheton - bass, backing vocals
- Scott Asheton - drums
[edit] Recording credits
[edit] Original 1973 version
Recorded at CBS Studios, London.
Originally mixed by David Bowie at Western Sound, Hollywood
[edit] 1997 reissue
Produced and remixed by Iggy Pop at Sony Studios, New York.
Executive Producer: Bruce Dickinson
[edit] References
[edit] Links
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