Funhouse [CD]

Given the option, I would have rated this at least 6 stars, despite the last track being something of a disappointment (we'll come back to that...)
First off, this 35 years old album still sounds utterly contemporary. So much wouldn't have happened without it, and none of the innumerable bands influenced by it have come close to equalling it.
Second, let's dispel the notion that this is a bunch of spontaneous stuff they just came up with in the studio. What it IS is their live set of the time, honed by regular gigs and (superbly) recorded live in the studio through a p.a. with no overdubs. Anyone who's heard the sadly no longer available "Complete Funhouse Sessions" will know that they arrived in the studio with these songs pretty much already worked out, and the multiple takes (over 30 on some songs) were just a case of nailing the best possible version. These guys weren't virtuosi, but they could lay down a murderous groove to rival anyone - and as for the singer...
Down In The Street is a mean, lowdown, almost funky opener, with some superb whoops and yells from Iggy. Loose (which took the most takes) is an awesome full on floor the accelerator three chord blast, with some great dynamics. TV Eye keeps up the energy level with a bit more structure. Absolutely superb, especially the bit where Ron Asheton just chugs away on guitar with Iggy's unearthly yowling over the top. And then possibly the greatest thing they ever recorded - Dirt. This is an epic ballad, alternating between a vicious, jerking riff and an almost plaintive section, with a cool guitar solo thrown in and Iggy snarling "do you feel it when you cut me?" with terrifying conviction.
The second half is patchier - opener 1970 is probably the least good actual song on here (still damn fine though), but also marks the debut of excellent sax player Steve Mackay, who plays throughout the rest of the album. The title track is a vicious and extended workout showing clear evidence Iggy had been listening to James Brown, though by no means trying to copy proper funk. It seethes with superb vocals and sax. Check out the 2 CD version for some great out-takes of this. Lastly, we get to LA Blues. Unfortunately the producer wouldn't let them do what they did live, which was break down into LA Blues from the end of Fun House, after building up a full head of steam. Instead, they had to start it cold, and it shows - you really have to be in the mood to make a free-form freakout like this work, and they weren't, especially drummer Scott Asheton - he had to overdub a new drum part over the edit (from a 17 minute jam) used for the album - which was never going to yield ideal results.

So five and a half good tracks out of seven, on a 33 minute album - doesn't sound that hot. But be assured that those five and half tracks are at the absolute pinnacle of loud, vicious, evil, dirty (fill in more adjectives when you've heard it) rock music. Just doesn't get any better than this.

I remember my surprise when Nude & Rude - The best of Iggy Pop was released and there wasn't a single track from Funhouse on it. Surely this was The Stooges' finest hour - the one time when flawed (or maybe floored?) genius Iggy got everything right. Then it dawned on me, you just can't take a song from this album in isolation and clumsily wedge it into a 'best of'. This isn't so much a collection of songs but more a rock 'n' roll symphony in seven movements perfectly charting a trajectory from taut, muscular rock to pure primal noise.
The album opens superbly with the driving, rhythmic 'Down on the Street' more direct, more pounding than anything on the first Stooges album. Then they effortlessly go up a gear with Loose: an incredibly catchy bass line underpins a superbly aggressive guitar workout. The onslaught continues with 'TV eye', with its Stone Age drumming, ear splitting guitar, and Iggy's extraordinary primal scream. Where do you go from there? The album's centrepiece and one of the finest songs the Stooges recorded, 'Dirt'. It's a sexy, slow-burning, seven minute garage-blues workout - a million miles from the dull filler 'We Will Fall' on their first album. "Do you feel it when you touch me? There's a fire" recites Iggy.
Dirt marks the turning point between the more structured songs on the first half of the record and the perfectly orchestrated degeneration into pure noise on the second half. This starts with '1970' which picks up where TV Eye left off but turns into an infectious wig-out with wailing saxophone joining in as the band whip themselves into a frenzy. Then comes the title track which is a loose-limbed continuation on the same theme with blasting sax perfectly interwoven with Ron Asheton's guitar playing, from the word go and Iggy rapping at the mic, improvising off of the rhythm like some kind of garage rock James Brown.
The Stooges start this album like a tightly coiled spring and unravel gloriously as the album progresses. Hence, 'L.A. Blues' brings the record to a close in the only possible way: complete meltdown. It's 5 minutes of pure discord which must have been recorded in a single take as it's impossible to imagine anybody putting themselves through that more than once. Yet it isn't unbearable or pointless as most tracks of its type usually are (who has ever listened to 'Revolution 9' by The Beatles more than once?). It has no lyrics, it has no tune, it has no need of either, it is a truly beautiful piece of noise. Essentially with Funhouse the Stooges are peeling away the layers of Rock 'n' Roll and stripping it back to find out what lays at the heart of their music and L.A blues is just that - like a painting of a pure emotion.
So, there's only one way to listen to Funhouse: right through from start to finish and turned up as loud as possible. I personally find that it's the most cathartic experience rock 'n' roll has yet produced - This is the best of Iggy Pop.

This is the second (and final) Stooges album made by the original and best lineup. This is the one that was recorded in a brick-walled studio with the volume up to 11, never mind all that soundproofing sh*t, in an attempt to capture the band's incendiary live show. This is the one that features bop jazz sax weaving in and out of the band's crazed jamming all over Side 2. This is the one that culminates in the fabulous "LA Blues". This is the one that got them sacked from Elektra. This is the one sold diddly squat on its' first release, but went on to become one of the most influential rock albums anywhere, anytime. This is the one that every discerning rock fan should know and love. Buy it today, listen and marvel.