Who would have thought that after yesterday's mighty onslaught there would be THIS MUCHmaterial left? What's there to say? If ya liked yesterday you will like today......
Let's begin with the two-disc "Head On".....to be honest I'm not exactly sure what it is supposed to "be", the first disc seems to have a couple of tracks taken DIRECTLY from "Raw Power", along with an alternate version of the SONG "Raw Power", the rest fleshed out with previously unreleased studio tracks, had the Stooges released a fourth studio LP I assume this was the skeleton of it, there are some keyboards (!) on some of the "new" tracks.....the second disc is a fairly horrendous sounding boot, Iggy sounds like he can't wait to get to the methodone clinic, the sound quality is typically bad (as it generally IS on Stooges concert recordings, which "true beleivers" would say drives home the point of the Stooges rawness.....the interesting thing about this disc are some (seemingly) improptu songs such as "My Girl Hates Heroin", "Jesus Loves the Stooges" and more, which exist only here that I know of.
Next up, "The Complete Raw Mixes", the name just about says it all, tracks from all three albums and more in their crudest format.....this is a French import and is for people (I'm sure they exist) who think "Raw Power" is "too slickly produced".Along the same lines is "Rough Power", in which we are treated to all the tracks on "Raw Power" in THIER crudest format, two three versions of each on in fact......according to some notes here the Ashton brothers PREFERRED these mixes over what was eventually released.....sounds about right to me. The Stooges were the real deal when it came to rough, raw, unpolished ugly rock......decades ahead of their time.
Another raw recording for the "purist" is "California Bleeding", a blending of several concert performances from 1973, again, with (at best) "varying" sound quality. A fine version of "Open Up and Bleed" is the highlight.
Speaking of which, we have the album "Open Up and Bleed"....live stuff from various shows is compiled courtesy Bomp! Records, includes some bizarre cover material, Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man", Dylan's "Ballad Of Hollis Brown", and Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze" (!).....as these thingsgo, this is one of the "better" sounding live Stooges recordings.
OK, so that is all I got for ya.....I know that they "reunited" and released "The Weirdness" in 2007 (I have a copy, not sure whether or not I've ever listened to it) and in 2013 released something called "Ready to Die" (no kidding).......no, out of respect for the band I'm not going to do it......a Stooges album released in 2007 or 2013 is too much for even my mind to wrap around, and I can't do it, if you want em I'm sure they are easilly available on the Bay or whatever.....but some bands were seemingly "meant" to "die a quick death", the New York Dolls, The MC5, The Darkness, The Pistols......due to their self-destructive tendencies and high-speed intensity, they just aren't "supposed to be" releasing material 40 years after their peak, leave that to the Rolling Stones or someone.....a Stooges album released in 2013, REGARDLESS of how it sounds, is, in my view, not the "real" deal.
HEAD ON DISC 2-01 She Creature of the Hollywood Hills/02 My Girl Hates Heroin/03 Hey Baby/04 Jesus Loves the Stooges/05 How It Hurts/06 Born In a Trailer/07 Wet My Bed/08 Rich Bitch/09 I Got Nothing/10 Not Right
THE COMPLETE RAW MIXES-01 I Got a Right/02 No Fun/03 1969/04 I Wanna Be Your Dog/05 Not Right/06 Little Doll/07 Fun House/08 Down on the Street/09 1970/10 TV Eye/11 Dirt/12 Shake Appeal/13 Search and Destroy/14 Raw Power/15 I Need Somebody/16 Rubber Legs (Long Version)/17 Open Up and Bleed/18 Johanna
ROUGH POWER-01 Search and Destroy/02 Gimme Danger/03 Hard to Beat/04 Penetration/05 RawPower/06 I Need Somebody/07 Death Trip/08 I Need Somebody/09 Hard to Beat/10 Death Trip/11 Raw Power/12 Search and Destroy/13 Shake Appeal/14 Not Right/15 Raw Power/16 Shake Appeal/17 Search and Destroy
OPEN UP AND BLEED-01 Death Trip/02 Head On/03 Rubber Legs/04 Raw Power/05 I'm a Man/06 Ballad of Hollis Brown/07 Open Up and Bleed/08 Johanna/09 Purple Haze/10 Im So Glad/11 Radio Advertising
LIVE AT THE MICHIGAN PALACE 1973-01 Raw Power/02 Head On/03 Rant #1/04 Gimme Danger/05 Search and Destroy/06 Rant#2/07 Heavy Liquid/08 Rant #3/09 Open Up and Bleed
Wow, been a long time since I've done a "best_______ever" post......I've been wrapped up in those comps for a LONG time now. So, what is your poison? Should I do these type of posts once in a while or stick strictly to comps and the like (have several THOUSAND comps alone (various genres) that we have yet to investigate.......what do you prefer? Input more than welcome!
By the way, the Stooges, as one of the ultimate "cult" bands, have hundreds of boots out there.....if you happen to have any that I haven't posted here (of course meaning the REAL Stooges, don't get cute and put up a link from 2009 or something), please feel free to share them in the comments section, as always!
I reckon I'll get something figured out for tomorrow!
Maybe some links up tonight, maybe all links up tonight......maybe NO links up tonight.....after all "Under the Dome" is on.....the show fairly sucks but that Rachel Lefevre.......ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Baby!