Album Of The Week - "Avenue B"

I do not ever want to sound repetitive in my blog in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of other armchair musical slugs out there, but I just gotta say this...IGGY POP IS A GOD. Gods are able to perform spectacular feats and impress their followers with such displays of brute strength and compassion. Iggy easily fits that criteria.

There, I said it. With not an ounce of shame attached.

So, consider this about Iggy Pop - Not only is he revered in virtually all musical circles as one of the Godfathers, Granddaddies, Pioneers and Instigators of Garage/Punk Rock, but of all his contemporaries of the past & present, he is clearly one of THE most diverse recording artists. His vocal range is one that most rock vocalists would die for. He can scream, he can growl, he can croon. Over the years, his collaboration recordings range from Ryuichi Sakamoto, to Peaches, to SUM 41 to Les Rita Mitsouko to Debbie Harry to David Bowie to Medeski, Martin & Wood. The styles of his musical contributions extend from Punk to Hard Rock to Alternative to World Music to Easy Listening to Modern Jazz and coming soon, his foray into New Orleans Dixie Jazz on his forthcoming new album Preliminaires

All of this preamble, brings me to my choice for Album Of The Week - Avenue B, released in 1999 and Produced by Don Was. Most do not "get" this album and I have even heard quite a few Iggy fans claim they think its okay but generally do not prefer this album. I suspect it ranks a few notches below Soldier or Party.

However, I disagree (as usual when it comes to Iggy). I believe this to be one of his BEST and clearly one of his most under rated recordings. I love listening to this album. When a track comes up on my iPod, I am tempted to break the flow of the iPod "shuffle" and just listen to this album in proper order.

First off, the verbal interludes. These are more in line with his non-musical poetry and so entertaining to hear him "speak". "No Shit", "Afraid To Get Closer" (this one makes me wanna cry) and "She Called Me Daddy" (with its sarcastic snicker before the final verse). Iggy had never delivered these types of spoken word recordings before. I envisioned what it might be like to listen to a full album of him reciting poetry (Heaven!).

Then off Avenue B, is one of his BEST cover songs ever - Johnny Kidd & The Pirates "Shakin' All Over". The way the guitar chugs along with the shuffled beat driven by a penetrating bass line - such a great groove. As Dick Clark might say, its' got a good beat and its' easy to dance to!. "Corruption" sounds like it could have been on his American Caesar album, another great and under rated album of Iggy's. To me, the most entertaining track is his collaboration with Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Alt-Jazz trio, "I Felt The Luxury", the closest Iggy has come to lounge music ever. He sounded like a natural for some Jazz tinged music (I wonder if this is where the idea for doing a Jazz album came from).

For further proof of this albums' potency, check out the DVD Live At Avenue B, recorded in Europe. Songs from the album received their first (and only) live presentations. As always, too, Iggy is in fine form as the consummate front man.

Perhaps, the reason Avenue B fails to register so favorably with his legion of fans, is because most of his fans are still waiting for Raw Power II or are not advanced enough themselves to appreciate such grand gestures of diversity. For me, Naughty Little Doggie is the "dog" of his canon of work. It just isn't Avenue B. No way. Not ever.