Raw Power
	Produced by Iggy Pop
	Released on May 1973
	US CHART POSITION #182
	Find it at GEMM
PC-32111 cover [high resolution photo]

R aw Power, baby, don’t understand. It’s unconscious, unfeeling, undead even. The mix is terrible, the fidelity feckless, the playing in spite rather than inspired. “I am the world’s forgotten boy,” Iggy sings on “Search And Destroy,” but the world took notice. Too premature for punk rock, too primitive to be stylish, Iggy tore down the Curtain of Tomorrow and gave us all a glimpse. It’s on every groove of Raw Power, the sense that The Stooges were running right for the edge of the world and didn’t much mind if we followed or not. Yeah, you can use The Doors and VU as a reference point if you still want, since Iggy is the bastard offspring of both. But this album was different. James Williamson cranked out tight guitar riffs that combined heavy metal’s storm and punk’s energy drain, overdubbing drenched guitars (“Shake Appeal”) to push things to the breaking point. It’s a hazy vision of the future, but that may be no accident. The world wasn’t ready for a gloves-off version of “Death Trip” or “Search And Destroy.” So Iggy and The Stooges create a contained hurricane, something that won’t blow you away so much as lift you off the ground a little. When you land, the landscape is familiar but you notice new objects like “Penetration” that weren’t there before. Raw Power remains a landmark in the annals of punk rock and heavy metal. The Stooges, like Sabbath and The Velvets, “got” it, before anybody knew what “it” was. And Bowie? He’s just along for the ride, which is where you belong.

PC-32111 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. SEARCH AND DESTROY    3:26
2. GIMME DANGER    3:28
3. YOUR PRETTY FACE IS GOING TO HELL (Originally titled "Hard To Beat")    4:52
4. PENETRATION    3:35
5. RAW POWER    4:22
6. I NEED SOMEBODY    4:50
7. SHAKE APPEAL    3:00
8. DEATH TRIP    5:53
   
   All songs written by Iggy Pop/James Williamson

CREDITS

RON ASHETON -- bass and vocals
SCOTT ASHETON -- drums
IGGY POP -- vocals, mixing
JAMES WILLIAMSON -- guitars
David Bowie -- mixing
Mick Rock -- photography

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