At the ripe age of 75 Iggy Pop is releasing his 20th album. The album opens with the hard rock ripper "Frenzy" which finds Pop in a sweet spot that recalls his 1988 album "Instinct". Duff Mckagan help him out on this one. He wisely enlists a who's who of rock royalty to collaborate with as this album features members of Jane's Addiction, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. While Pop describes the album as geared to beat the shit out of the listener, he backs off after the opening track. The second song employs the cool and collected hints of his 80s new wave past. Which still works really well.
He sings an ode to his home in Miami on "New Atlantis" which ambles as a leisurely pace. It neither packs the punch of the opener nor invokes the moodiness of "Strung Out Johnny". While his voice sounds great with youthful enthusiasm, the song is not as well written as the opening track. Producer Andrew Watt, who has worked with both Ozzy and Morrissey, is the ringmaster of this circus. The ballad "Morning Show" is well done with a touch of blues to it. "Neo Punk" is another stab at punk. but this is not really the way the Stooges did punk, but what punk became after they came on the scene, so this hits me as odd.
"All the Way Down" does a better job a capturing who he is as an artist and respects his legacy. It might not be as punk, but that is fine. Eric Avery plays bass on "Comments" which goes back to his new wave era. This works as well as the harder rocking opening track and it feels like these two modes are what is working best for him these days. The last song kind of splits the difference between his strengths, somewhat new wave, somewhat of a rocker. I will give this album a 9, it is not his best work by far, but it is better than his last album, most artists would be doing well to score a 9, but this is Iggy and the bar is held high for him since I have been a fan for well over 35 years.
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