Free/ Iggy Pop - punk

By Narendra Kusnur

Album: Free
Artiste: Iggy Pop
Genre: Punk
Label: Caroline International
Rating: ***

James Newell Osterberg Jr, better known as Iggy Pop, has often been described as the godfather of punk-rock. It all began in the late 1960s when his band The Stooges created waves with its distinct sound and angry, rebellious songs. Iggy later collaborated with David Bowie, and influenced many artistes like the Damned, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Joy Division and even Nirvana.

The American musician never sold in large numbers, but a few things defined his persona, besides the fact that he was an under-rated role model. One, he was a flashy showman, quite often performing bare-chested. He was one of the early practitioners of the stage dive, where the artiste dangerously jumped into the crowd. Third, he has one of the most booming baritones in rock, somewhat in the Leonard Cohen mould, and it's something which hasn't wavered even at the age of 72.

On his latest album Free, Iggy uses warm jazz-inflected textures and ambient synth effects to highlight his voice. The album is a mix of trademark tunes and poetry recitations. Somewhere, one feels he's overdone the latter, as the second half is filled with spoken verse. This may restrict the album’s broader appeal.

Iggy is fantastic on his recitation of the Lou Reed-penned ‘We Are The People’, where he thunders, “We are the people without land, we are the people without tradition, we are the people who do not know how to die peacefully and at ease.” Backed by Leron Thomas’ trumpet line, the piece turns out to be exquisite. In fact, Thomas has written most pieces on this album, and guitarist Noveller (real name Sarah Lipstate) produces some lush soundscapes.

The trumpet is a regular feature, beginning with the title track, where Iggy sings only one line, “I wanna be free.” The tempo picks up on ‘Love’s Missing’, but the highlights of the first half are the infectious ‘Sonali’ (wonder who that Indian-sounding protagonist is) and ‘James Bond’, where a man wants a female boss. The words “She wants to be your James Bond, well it’s not for a price and it’s not to be nice, she wants to be your James Bond” lend commercial appeal.

A low point is ‘Dirty Sanchez’, where Iggy talks of his hatred for online porn. Though he tries to use a vintage punk flavour, the song is cacophonous and crowded with a surfeit of choruses. However, the rendition of poet Dylan Thomas’ ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ is marvellous.

Though Iggy sounds amazing on this and ‘We Are The People’, he goes in for an excess of the poetry part. The pieces ‘Page’ and ‘The Dawn’ may impress on early listening, but sound monotonous after a while. A few more hook-filled numbers would have certainly added value to Free.