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Iggy Pop (vocals), James Williamson (guitar), Ron Asheton (bass, backing vocals), Scott Asheton (drums) y David Bowie (piano, percussion)
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Fun House was the first album by The Stooges that I listened to, followed by the band's self-titled debut. The quartet's first two albums blowed my mind, each one from its particular flank. I had to listen to the legendary Raw Power, no doubt.
However, it was not what I expected. I did not understand it. I thought that I was listening to a flawed version. How was it possible that it sounded that bad? But I gave it more chances, in spite of the fact that I still was not able to understand it. Until it happened: I slowly began to remember the songs. And then I started to feel the need to listen to them again and again, until I suddently realized I had memorized the whole record. It did not bore me at all. I understood it.
Raw Power is, undoubtedly, the highest point in The Stooges's career, even within their original trilogy. The band's overflowing effervescence, their uncontrollable rush was already producing consequences: bassist Dave Alexander had been fired due to his alcoholism, Iggy Pop was immersed in a heroin addiction and the band's stability was in critical condition. In the middle of the turbulence of excesses, the quartet –which now consisted of Iggy Pop, James Williamson (who had just entered the band), and brothers Ron and Scott Asheton– managed to somehow focus on a creative process boosted by David Bowie acting as a producer. The result was Raw Power, a reliable reflection of that street indecency, that liberating muddle and reckless wildness in which the band was submerged.
However, it was not what I expected. I did not understand it. I thought that I was listening to a flawed version. How was it possible that it sounded that bad? But I gave it more chances, in spite of the fact that I still was not able to understand it. Until it happened: I slowly began to remember the songs. And then I started to feel the need to listen to them again and again, until I suddently realized I had memorized the whole record. It did not bore me at all. I understood it.
Raw Power is, undoubtedly, the highest point in The Stooges's career, even within their original trilogy. The band's overflowing effervescence, their uncontrollable rush was already producing consequences: bassist Dave Alexander had been fired due to his alcoholism, Iggy Pop was immersed in a heroin addiction and the band's stability was in critical condition. In the middle of the turbulence of excesses, the quartet –which now consisted of Iggy Pop, James Williamson (who had just entered the band), and brothers Ron and Scott Asheton– managed to somehow focus on a creative process boosted by David Bowie acting as a producer. The result was Raw Power, a reliable reflection of that street indecency, that liberating muddle and reckless wildness in which the band was submerged.
The album has a rusty, grimy, crude, careless sound, and that is precisely what enabled The Stooges's peerless spirit (the sound that the band built like there was no tomorrow, as if it was a life or death matter) to be captured seamlessly. A plainly possessed Iggy Pop (it is easy not to recognize him at first listen) steps onto an instrumentation as solid as in previous albums, but in which the incorporation of guitarist Williamson and Ron Asheton's new role behind the bass stand out, shaping the band's sound towards a perhaps less psychedelic, yet not less powerful path, especially when Scott Asheton's drums are added to the recipe, adding outstanding intensity to Raw Power.
And when everything –blood, sweat and tears– is put onto the music and, in addition, there is as much unparalleled talent as the one the band had already showed in The Stooges and Fun House, the result cannot be other than a masterpiece. Raw Power has no low points and just grows with every listen. And it is, no doubt, a reflection of voluptuous and hasty creative energy, as well as of rabid eagerness and vehemence that, sadly, did not end up well in its frenzy. The Stooges split up, leaving behind three key pieces of rock history. —IMF
Note: This is the original, Bowie-mixed version of Raw Power.
Note: This is the original, Bowie-mixed version of Raw Power.
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