Forget what the rock'n'roll history books tell you, or what the uncharacteristically tired look of the guy on the cover might lead you to believe - Iggy Pop is still the angry teenager, at war at what he sees wrong in the world and not yet cynical enough to give up the fight.
The album opens in full swing with "I Wanna Live", a message that while perhaps his wilder days are behind him, at least he's left his mark, and that there are still things to kick up against. The drumming is at once tight and loose, driving the beat but still funky; the guitars suitably raw, and Iggy harking back to the higher-range vocal style of the early days - there's even a little lyrical reference to The Stooges "No Fun".
"Pussy Walk" is Iggy vs. his hormones. Sure to be slated in some quarters for the admittedly sexist lyric, it's actually pretty funny as Iggy admits that he can't help himself when it comes to women; "like you're supposed to go to the store and get a bottle of milk ... but on the way there's a girl and there's another girl ... and your eyes are going one way ... and your nose is going up ... and your nose is going down." He makes you feel almost sorry for him!
With a guitar tone that evokes "Kill City" era James Williamson, Iggy longs for a return to his "Innocent World" on the next track. Though 'innocent' and 'Iggy' aren't often associated with each other, it's as if he finds 'grown up' life to be too corrupt, a theme also taken up on the following "Knucklehead".
Incredibly, I've heard "To Belong" described as Iggy's version of Nirvana, as if they were the first band to do the slow verse/fast chorus thing, but to me "Keep On Believing" has the more contemporary sound (influenced no doubt by the choice of using Offspring's producer for the recording). That said, it's still pure Iggy, a voice that's been lived in, and I've yet to hear anything as perfect as the crazy wah-wah solo on any recent "punk" records. [Trivia note: before joining Nirvana, Dave Grohl once played in a one-off pick-up band with Iggy.]
Cited as one of his major influences, I'd never really heard the Velvet Underground in Iggy's music until "Outta My Head", with its droning feel and thump thump drum beat, though "Shoeshine Girl" has almost a country/folky feel, or at least Iggy's take on that kind of music. "Heart Is Saved" is more conventionally rocky, but is probably the most throwaway song on the album, unlike the final track, "Look Away".
Although nearly all of Iggy's songs are in some way about the man himself and his experiences, "Look Away" seems even more personal. It's the story of Johnny Thunders, with whom Iggy "did not part friends", but who he clearly had a lot of affection for, and in who he could maybe see himself - and since Johnny died chasing the rock'n'roll dream, whereas Iggy got clean, it's almost as if he's facing his own mortality. Amateur psychology aside, it's a very moving track.
With his almost 20-year old classic, "Lust For Life", finding a new audience due to the recent success of the Iggy-inspired movie, "Trainspotting", it's incredible to imagine him still making such vital records, but while most "doggies" of his age are no more naughty than breaking wind when visitors call, Iggy is still the puppy that tries to screw your legs.
