RS500 #488: The Stooges — The Stooges
Year Released: 1969
Have I Heard This Before?: “Proto-punk” is sort of a litmus test for music critic/nerd types like myself; it’s where you either get it and are doomed to a lifetime of obsessing over minutiae and arcane knowledge of musicians, or you don’t and you get to live a normal, healthy life where you have human relationships. All of this is to say that, yes, I’ve heard the Stooges and this particular album before.
High Points: When people talk about the Stooges, and this album especially, they often lay the band out as one of the foundational texts of punk. However, as with the Velvet Underground (though I think this applies even more to the Velvets), this is really simplifying the story. The Stooges has the primal ferocity of punk in most of its songs, but it’s a far more varied, bizarre album than it’s sold as. Yes, the garage-rock stuff is great: “Real Cool Time” might be the actual first punk song, and no song has ever quite given a sense of impending, inevitable doom in the way that “I Wanna Be Your Dog” does, and few songs have made the apocalypse sound so fun. And, despite the fact that the simplicity of garage rock leads to so many of its practitioners sounding the same, but the Stooges have so much personality — from Ron Asheton’s fuzzy, wah-laden guitar to Scott Asheton’s primal drums to the absolutely inimitable force of nature that is Iggy Pop — that they can’t help but stand out. Many have tried, but few can replicate what the Stooges did here.
Low Points: That said, the Stooges did make better albums than their debut (one of which is coming up later on this list). I’d argue that that’s largely producer John Cale’s fault; he just seemed a weird fit for a band like this, and his production choices seem to neuter the band’s raw power (heh heh). Also, it’s okay if you’re not into the 10-minute dirge “We Will Fall”; it’s the sort of endurance test that devoted fans love and casual listeners would be best served skipping.
Loose Thoughts: A lot of people are probably familiar with “I Wanna Be Your Dog” through media given that it’s been licensed for everything from Guy Ritchie movies to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but I encourage you to hear the song in the context of the album. It really does a lot to reinforce the sinister nature of the song to hear it as it was meant to be heard.
This is probably the most-covered Stooges song, with everyone from Joan Jett to Sid Vicious to, improbably, Uncle Tupelo having a go. Having said that, Sonic Youth’s version is still the best cover.
Rating: As I said before, there are better Stooges albums, but this is still Great. It’s a deeply influential record that has aged far better than it should have.
