Lust For Life [CD]

i've heard theories that these two albums are supposed to musically and lyrically reflect iggy's state of mind at the time; 'the idiot' was the depressing descent into pills-and-booze despair; 'lust for life' was the optimistic, pick-yourself-up recovery. comparing the two albums, the differences are more than apparent. whilst 'the idiot' was murky, druggy teutonic art-rock that sounded not unlike kraftwerk et al, 'lfl' is a pure and jubilant rock album, through and through. ig even sounds happy on occasions!

the hunt brothers' rhythm section pounds and thunders through 9 fantastic tracks whilst the guitars crunch, twist and wail courtesy of the excellent carlos alomar and ricky gardiner. and iggy's never sounded so good since his stooges days, proving that he doesn't have to scream to be a great frontman (not that i'm complaining, i love the stooges). bowie also adds some subtly tinkling piano in places, although i think his touch is a bit less obvious here than it was on the previous album.

thankfully, iggy's not gone all nice on us; there's plenty of sleaze here. sixteen year-olds in leather boots, weird sins, OD's and neigbourhood threats, the iggy of old has not left us completely just yet (thank god)!

all in all, this is iggy's best and most accessible solo work, and if you only want the one iggy solo record in your collection, this is the one, without a doubt. sadly, the rest (apart from 'the idiot') are patchy. anyway, 'lfl' is a rock classic and should appeal to anyone with decent musical taste. five stars!!

PS: if you like this, try some stooges stuff (iggy's first band). i wouldn't really say it's in the same vein as 'lfl' (it's a lot rawer, dirtier, louder and a hell of a lot more unprofessional), but it's iggy in his prime and it's damn good music. all of their 3 albums are fantastic, but i think 'raw power' is possibly the best.

There are two standout tracks here that almost anyone who has ever heard of Iggy knows - the amazingly arranged 4 chord repetition of 'The Passenger', and the highlight of the 'Trainspotting', 'Lust for Life'.

In general the album is a lot of Iggy and a lot of Bowie, and most tracks show the input of both of them. Maybe some are a little on the long side, but it's a collection of great songs. 'Some Weird Sin' and 'Turn Blue' are a couple of favourites of mine, but I think most of the tracks on this are pretty strong.