Raw Power is the third album by American rock band The Stooges, released in 1973. 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 fan-base that included many younger musicians who would go on to help create the punk rock genre in the mid- to late-1970s and experience commercial success, making Raw Power one of the most important proto-punk documents of its era.
The recording history
After their first two albums, The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970) were released and were commercially unsuccessful, the group broke up. Singer Iggy Pop had signed on as a solo artist to MainMan Management, who also handled British singer David Bowie. The band was in disarray: they had officially broken up, bassist Dave Alexander was fighting alcoholism, and singer Iggy Pop's heroin addiction was escalating prior to Bowie's intervention. However, Iggy was determined for a reformation.
After signing to Columbia Records, he was sent to London to write and record an album with his new collaborator, guitarist James Williamson. After they couldn't find a suitable English rhythm section, Williamson suggested that former Stooges Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton fly over and participate in the recording sessions. With Williamson already on guitar, Ron was relegated to bass, his original instrument, while Scott took up his usual position behind the drum kit.
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. Unfortunately, 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 suddenly refused. When MainMan informed Pop that if the album 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 constraints, 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.
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.
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.[citation needed] Henry Rollins had the words "Search and Destroy" tattooed across his shoulder blades.[citation needed] Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols mentioned in an interview that he learned to play guitar by taking speed and playing along to Raw Power.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Remastering
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"Everything's still in the red, it's a very violent mix. The bottom line is that this is a wonderful album but it's always sounded fragile and rickety, and that band was not fragile and not rickety. That band could kill any band at the time and frankly can just kill any of the bands that built on this work since, just eat any of those poodles"
—Iggy
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In 1997 Columbia Records invited Iggy Pop to remaster the 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 Power sounded, and the fact that Columbia were going to release the new mix on its sublabel Legacy Recordings as factors that led him to go through with the new master. On the other hand, some fans — guitarist Robert Quine among 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[2]. 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.
James Williamson and Ron Asheton have both stated that they prefer Bowie's original mix of the album to Pop's remastered version.
Williamson:
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I personally think [the remastered Raw Power] sucked. I gotta tell ya that I like the IDEA of what he tried to do, and I talked to him about it, and there's a lot of factors involved, but at the time, none of us liked Bowie's mix, but given everything, Iggy, when he went in to mix it, he found out that the guy who had recorded it originally had not gotten a lot of level on certain things, like the bass and drums, especially the bass, so he didn't have a lot to work with. Then Iggy, on his mix, he left a bunch of guitar stuff on there that probably shouldn't have been left in, and just odds and ends. Bowie's not my favorite guy, but I have to say that overall, I think he did a pretty good job. [1] |
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Asheton:
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Don Fleming goes, "You know what? When Iggy's Raw Power mix comes out, I'll bet you're gonna go -- we always used to say how bad the original David Bowie mix of Raw Power was -- Fleming's going, "When you hear Iggy's mix, I guarantee you're gonna say, 'Man, remember that great mix that David Bowie did?'" So I heard it, I got the advance copy from his manager, and listened to it. Then I called Fleming and I'm going, "Gee, Don, I just listened to Iggy's mix of Raw Power. Man, I sure loved that old David Bowie mix. Was it ever great."...Basically, all that Iggy did was take all the smoothness and all the effects off James [Williamson]'s guitar, so his leads sound really abrupt and stilty and almost clumsy, and he just put back every single grunt, groan, and word he ever said on the whole fuckin' soundtrack. He just totally restored everything that was cut out of him in the first mix, and I thought, Damn, I really did like the old mix better. [2] |
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The Masters Edition
Sony Legacy Recordings will release a deluxe version of Raw Power in April 2010. Raw Power: The Masters Edition will contain David Bowie's original Raw Power mix, a live soundboard recording from Atlanta in October 1973, and liner notes written by authorized Stooges biographer Jeffrey Morgan.
Live Performances
In May 2010 Iggy Pop, James Williamson, Mike Watt, Scott Asheton and Steve MacKay will perform Raw Power in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series.
Covers
The album's songs have been frequently covered. Prominent versions include the Dictators', Red Hot Chili Peppers', The Dead Boys's, Shotgun Messiah's, Def Leppard's cover 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 by Frank Black for the game Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Former Smiths frontman Morrissey is also an admirer of "Search and Destroy" - he once described it as "a very LA song...A great song."[3]
Track listing
All songs written by Iggy Pop & James Williamson.
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
Side two
- "Raw Power" – 4:16
- "I Need Somebody" – 4:53
- "Shake Appeal" – 3:04
- "Death Trip" – 6:07
Personnel
Recording credits
Original 1973 version
Recorded at CBS Studios, London.
Mixed by David Bowie at Western Sound, Hollywood
1997 reissue
Produced and remixed by Iggy Pop at Sony Studios, New York.
Executive Producer: Bruce Dickinson
Alternate Versions
- "Gimme Danger" (7" Extended Version) - 6:04
- "I Need Somebody" (7" Extended Version) - 5:25
References
Notes
- Weisbard, Eric; Craig Marks (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679755748.
