The Idiot

Great jojo reference, but not my cup of tea.

Elske Nightclubbing, men ellers syns æ ikke det her e ei kjempe sterk skive

Jeg har tilgode å bli forført av Iggy Pop og David Bowies Berlineskapader, men jeg får vel flere sjanser i løpet av de resterende 1000 plater.

Man slipper vel ikke inn på blårock om man gir under 4/5. Jeg faller for presset og gir den en somid 7/10. Passe snålt med en god dæsj kult. 7/10

Høres bare ut som Bowie på sitt verste. Og etter å ha lest Wiki’en så stemmer jo faktisk det. Blir litt for seigt, men hadde sikkert vært strålende med litt heroin innabords.

Så sykt kult. Iggy og Bowie va magisk. Nightclubbing e den kuleste låten som e lagd.

Trivelig! Hørt på bussen. Bra pub-musikk?

God pubrock.

Iggy cosplaying as David Bowie. I'm not a huge fan of that era of Bowie either- they were both better off staying on drugs. It's lounge music for the end of the world.

One of two (maybe three) bonafide Iggy solo classics. Band sounds great, the mix is bang on. This, Lust for Life and the three Bowie Berlin albums are all in the same box of cool late 70s rock for me.

A lot cooler than what I was listening to back in 1977. I had no idea that China Girl was co-written by Iggy and Bowie. No real big hits but a solid listen.

even at face value, a pretty great album marred by how absolutely insane "China Girl" is.

Not bad, but nothing that struck me as that remarkable. It’s a good example of early post-punk, including the first version of China Girl (who knew?). But overall it didn’t make that big an impression on me, songs by the end especially really seemed to drag.

A decent debut solo effort from Mr Pop, and a very different sound to his Stooges years, due largely to David Bowie’s enormous influence (he wrote the music and also produced it). Given this it’s unsurprising that it sounds a lot like Bowie’s mid-70s output, especially ‘Station to Station’ and ‘Low’, only not as good. That’s not to say it’s bad; it’s a textbook 3-star album, without any particularly low lows, or high highs. ‘Nightclubbing’ and ‘China Girl’ are probably the best songs, while the two longer tracks on side two drag on a bit too long for my liking.

Ah, Iggy. As with Lust for Life, this is basically a Bowie album with someone else singing and arguably better than Bowie’s own albums from the period.

I don’t like his voice very much, but I can admit that this album is pretty good. I can definitely heard Bowie’s influence of this album, which is great. Worth checking out!

I liked this one a whole lot! I was vibing with it the whole time it played, and I knew pretty early on that it was going to be 5 stars. I don't listen to much Iggy Pop, but I knew this one was one of his Berlin albums with Bowie, so when it was done I went into the credits to see how involved Bowie was in the project, only to see his name absolutely all over it. He played like every single instrument on this album, and did backup vocals! Almost makes you wonder if this shouldn't be considered a Bowie album ft. Iggy Pop.

Fuck that was unreal. Solid throughout and Bowie’s influence on this is very noticeable. Incredible stuff for a debut album!

Listening through I kept feeling this was essentially just a David Bowie album, maybe a bit more lethargic and gritty. Then reading the summary it sounds like that’s pretty much what it is. Unfortunately for Iggy, I’m tapped out after getting my project’s 9th Bowie album this week, and it hurts “The Idiot” through no fault of its own. 2.5/5

Saved? ❌ Would listen again? 🤔 Would recommend to anyone? ❌ Would buy on Vinyl? 🤔

Pretty good but not amazing

This countdown is coming close to getting me to come around on Iggy - I enjoyed "Raw Power" and it inspired me to listen to "Lust for Life" on my own, which I also enjoyed. Im sure we'll see it on here later. As to be expected since they were made at the same time, this album sounds like David Bowie's Berlin albums.....but without the vocal range/brilliance, and creative vision that sets Bowie apart. A couple songs on here - "Nightclubbing" or "China Girl" for example - have better versions by other artists (Grace Jones and Bowie himself respectively). This one has cool moments but is overall kind of uninteresting. Kind of like if you mixed the worst, most experimental Bowie bits with boring, monotonous Lou Reed vocals.

Bis auf Mass Production langweilig

Conozco poco y nada de Iggy Pop, y no puedo creer de lo que me estuve privando [edit: ya recordé por qué me había negado a hacerlo, porque es un pedófilo (como casi todos los músicos de aquella época)]. Desconocía la participación de David Bowie –a quien adoro– en un proyecto con él, así que fue una gran revelación cruzarme con este disco. La mejor campaña de desintoxicación alguna vez hecha. ↑: Sister Midnight, Baby, Dum Dum Boys, China Girl ↓: –

Not to Bad 👍🏻

Incredibly average, nothing on here had any staying power.

Sounds a lot like Bowie. I like Bowie. I like Iggy Pop. But I like it best when Iggy sounds like Iggy.

The repeated, blatant pedophilia got me going 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 I’m genuinely concerned that most commenters didn’t notice it.

I really like Iggy's stuff with The Stooges, but don't like this direction he then took that much. I feel like, in a way, I want to like it more. But alas

cabrón

Hadn’t heard much Iggy Pop before now so I was excited. Quite bluesy, more than I expected. Not really my type of music tbh. Fav song is ‘Nightclubbing’.

This was already in 4 territory before I got to China Girl, which prompted me to do some background research. So the album was written by Bowie and Iggy. And it's more than the sum of its parts with Iggy's growling vocal and improvised lyrics and Bowie's musicality. So much better than the Stooges.

Rock. Took a while but was I was enjoying it more near the end.

Meh, not for me

I assume every album on this list is here for a reason, so maybe I need to hear from an Iggy Pop fan about this record. I thought it was bad. Some of the songwriting I thought was good, but it turns out that was mostly David Bowie. Iggy, apparently, wrote the lyrics and sang them like a spooky ghost at the end of a tunnel. Also what the hell is going on with Mass Production? That’s legitimately the most annoying song I’ve heard in years.

im not sure whether i prefer this or lust for life, but i feel like both help me understand the other more....if the followup is indeed a Life album, this is definitely a Death album. the bowie collaboration brings out all the weirdo energy bubbling under the stooges records and channels it into something other than their infernal rock style...the idiot is like a stooges album thats all clogged up by piles and piles of pollution that have been collecting for years. iggy, inverting his stooges image as a carnal flesh goblin, sounds more like a corpse or a robot on many tracks. the tracks themselves are mostly all excellent explorations of this filthy Smog Rock...with the masterful closing track feeling like the album's whole world finally choking to death. and in the middle of it all is the glorious, heartstopping centerpiece of China Girl, which feels like the smog has somehow become rainclouds, briefly cleansing and lighting up the wastes in a tragic, operatic thunderstorm...like the last flash of Humanity that will be seen. i might prefer lust for life song for song...but this records highs are probably higher, and its overall structure and symmetry the stuff of legends

One of my favorite albums. I love Iggy and being a Bowie super fan this is amazing to me. Not a wasted song on here.

A very interesting album. Sounds almost futuristic to me, or st least futuristic for the time. China Girl and Mass Production were my standouts, but the album was pretty solid. 7.4/10

3.75. Not bad!!

Somehow I liked this one a lot more than the Stooges one we had last week You can really hear the Bowie influence. I really liked China Girl, Dum Dum Boys, and Mass Production.I really like the guitar riffs quite a bit, super catchy. Variety’s surprisingly good too, some definitely sound more punk themed and others are a lot more mellow. I don’t say this often but honestly this one could use one or two more songs. I’m still not huge on Iggy’s voice, and I do think the first half drags a little bit (that first song just isn’t very good unfortunately). Lyrics are also not great on some songs and on the repetitive side I think there’s just a lot more going on with his solo work where it’s catchier and more innovative. Pleasantly surprised

China Girl is a banger, but the rest is slow, rough, noise. For a guy named Pop, he's really hesitant to give his songs hooks. Despite being the sister album to Low, it has none of the charm.

An album written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie, produced by David Bowie, while Iggy and David Bowie were functional addicts in Europe in the 70s. With Iggy Pop doing his best attempt to sing like David Bowie... We have officially found the TENTH David Bowie album on this list. FFS. Not great, not good. 2 1/2 tops. Going 2 stars.

This one is just weird. I didn’t really like the singing and there were certain moments in songs where the instrumentation where it sounded more like noise than music. Overall, it’s just weird.

Two things immediately came to mind when I started this album. First, it was nothing like the Stooges, which was a surprise. Second, I was getting some serious David Bowie vibes from the vocals. I checked out Wiki, and it turns out there's a good reason for that. This is almost as much a Bowie album as it is an Iggy album. (Bowie even covered (can you cover a song you helped write?) "China Girl" a handful of years later (and did it better). And, a Bowie album wasn't what I was hoping for. I read that Bowie actually wrote most of the songs and Iggy did lyrics and singing, which happened to be the parts I really didn't In the end, this is more of a Bowie album than an Iggy Pop one, and to be fair, I don't know enough about Iggy's songwriting or singing to truly have that judgment but that's how it felt. I feel like if Bowie had done this all himself with minimal help from Iggy on vocals or lyrics, it would be a 4 or 5 star album, but as it stands it's just mid to me though I did enjoy it overall. Did I need to hear it before I die? Maybe

punk? ballad. rock?

Forgot about the Bowie association. The first track and ‘China Girl’ hit right for me.

A album I thought I would like more with it being an Iggy Pop and Bowie one, but no it really just does nothing for me mostly. There's some good tracks here and there but it's kinda just meh 5-6/10

Really good. Loved the sound- very unique. Bowie influence shined through- was interesting to hear China Girl this way. Overall very enjoyable and different.

Three Stooges albums, two Iggy Pop albums, and The Idiot is the last one of them. But this album reminded me the most of David Bowie's Low, which was one of my favorite Bowie albums on this project, instead of Lust for Life or the Stooges' music. Of course that's due to their friendship and Bowie's producing, but Iggy was far from a passive participant. A few songs in, I noticed that The Idiot gave Iggy Pop more depth. Iggy's follow-up album, released just a few months later, is louder, brasher, and closer to garage rock. The Idiot is more art rock, the most art rock I've heard Iggy to be. "Nightclubbing" has a dark tone and a good beat, and it's so enticing in a way that you don't hear in other Pop albums. As the last song, "Mass Production" may be the song closest to the Stooge's proto-punk origins since half of the sound is so distorted and over-produced, while the other half is normal, making for such an uneasy listening experience--but that has to be a purposeful statement. I can understand how a song like this contributed to Joy Division's stylings. I didn't enjoy The Idiot as much as Lust for Life, but I realized I solidly enjoyed Iggy Pop's solo music more than the Stooges. Unfortunate for me to enjoy the music of a pedophile. 3.5

Once again, really digging the solo Iggy Pop album and kind of hating that I do (see: me complaining about him being a seemingly loud and proud pedophile). Once again, this album reads strongly of Bowie, which makes sense because once again, he produced it. This album was not as strong as its follow-up, "Lust For Life", but there's still a lot of good post-punk goodness on this album. The closing track, "Mass Production", is very eerie and dissonant and serves as a bit of a haunting end to the album.

Iggy Pop has had some sort of charmed life. He grew up in Detroit and seemingly bumbled his way into becoming a rock legend. That’s not to say he didn’t have talent, he did, and more importantly, he had charisma. In rock and roll, a lot of times, all you need is charisma. It’s Iggy’s charisma and insanity that got David Bowie, one of the hottest acts at the time, and all-time legend, to take notice. Bowie and Iggy were both in the throes of drug addiction when Bowie suggested they leave Los Angeles and go to Europe. They ended up in Germany, and Bowie wanted to help Iggy record his first solo record. So, Bowie, with some help here and there, wrote the music for The Idiot. Iggy, of course, supplied the lyrics, with him writing most of them in the studio while listening to the music Bowie composed. And now we have The Idiot as a record of this dynamic duo. Track 1 is Sister Midnight, and it’s plain to hear Iggy isn’t making proto-punk, garage rock this go round. The music is a bit funky, a bit electronic, with someone calling the album “a cross between James Brown and Kraftwerk.” I’ve always loved Iggy’s voice, it’s so distinct with that low roar. Bowie plays a lot of instruments on the album and wrote most of the songs on guitar and keyboards. While the album isn't garage rock, like the Stooges, there’s plenty of guitars in this song. Such a great song. It was the first single off the album, with China Girl being the second. Yes, Bowie recorded China Girl himself for his Let’s Dance album. Track 2, Nightclubbing, has what sounds like Bowie singing vocals, but it’s, in fact, Iggy. Wow. It really fooled me at first. More great guitar on this song. It seems that quite a bit of the music from the demos was used on the final takes. Drummer Michel Santangeli played drums for what he thought were the demos and was let go after the second day. He figured he didn’t get the job, but later heard his used drumming on the finished album. Track 3, Funtime, sounds like a song The Stooges might have played together. It’s very loud and mixes rock guitar well with electronic sounds. I’m really digging this album. Track 4 is called Baby and I can hear why Josh Homme, of the Queens of the Stone Age, calls Iggy an influence. Such a weird song for the year 1977. That’s something that should be said about this album so far. The music on it sounds timeless. It sounds like music that came after the 80s and new wave. It sounds way ahead of Bowie’s Let’s Dance. This song is so cool. That’s all that can be said. Track 5 is China Girl, and it’s totally different than Bowie’s version. Bowie’s version is so burned into my brain, with Stevie Ray Vaughan playing lead on the song, but I dig this one too. Bowie plays sax on this version. I’ve always loved Bowie’s sax playing. Iggy sounds just as high as Bowie does while singing. I like this song, but Bowie’s is still my favorite. As I mentioned earlier, this was the second and last single from this album, though Bowie’s version was the bigger hit of the two. Track 6 is called Dum Dum Boys and it's basically a song about the Stooges. Bowie played all the guitar parts on the song, but got a bit self-conscious and hired someone to re-record them. It’s a shame, I’d like to hear what Bowie’s playing sounded like. The song is very slow and heavy. Kind of like a Stooges song with actual musicians. Not saying the Stooges weren’t great, they were, they just weren’t ever going to be session artists. Such a cool, chill song. Track 7 is Tiny Girls and it opens with Bowie’s saxophone. It’s a slow, almost old-fashioned, ballad. The song is about a dude wanting to find a “tiny girl” who doesn’t play games, is naive, and has no emotional baggage. He later finds out that even the “tiny girls” have their own flaws. It seems Iggy was going through some stuff during this time. Not my favorite song on the album, but it’s short and not very sweet, at least to tiny girls. Track 8 is Mass Production, and it sounds like it should be played in a sci-fi movie. According to whatever AI Google uses, the song is comparing relationships and human existence to disposable products on an assembly line. Pretty bleak, but both Iggy and Bowie had just recently gotten off the horse, as they say. I assume their nerves were frayed and synapses were firing on all cylinders. A lot of people see this as a precursor to the industrial music that became popular for a time in the 90s. The music is so interesting and not what you expect, so I do like it. This album was fun. I love Iggy Pop, and truthfully, I love his solo stuff more than his work with the Stooges, though they do rock. I think this was a brilliant debut album and critics enjoyed it too when it came out in 1977. Though I imagine quite a few critics were caught off guard, as the music on The Idiot is the opposite of the Stooges. Sometimes, I think when an artist totally reinvents themselves, it takes people years to catch up. This album is a must-hear, and I’m adding it to my playlist to enjoy again. It’s been a great start to the week with ZZ Top yesterday and Iggy and Bowie today. The 1,001 list got two right so far this week.

Not a bad album, I was expecting worse. But this is the fourth iggy pop album I have listened too on the list and im only 10% in...

'I'm a breakage inside.' Never panned, tho criticized for being too Bowie-influenced - e'en Bowie himself concedes that he 'used' Iggy as a means to his own creative ends - The Idiot's still fortified by the fact that there're 8/8 great tracks to choose from. You're proffered 'funtime' instead of 'fun house,' & Iggy is less explosive than he's wont to be on Stooges records or Lust for Life - it's indeed difficult the extract his characteristically physical style from these songs - but the strengths of the album are an undeniable feast. +, the 'China Girl' you get here is superior to the one on Let's Dance. It does start to sound like a Bowie record w/ vocals coming from elsewhere, alas, & the saxophonic parts on 'Tiny Girls' are feeble, but a debut to adore.

I’ve heard plenty of Iggy Pop before, but never a whole album. Really liked this one.

I hadn’t previously listened to this album and was quite surprised at the difference from the stooges era Iggy. It sounds very much like a Bowie album, which I now understand why. Repeat listening would probably get this 4 stars, but first impressions are 3. Fave track - dum dum boys.

It wasn't bad but not comibg back anytime soon

The album starts strong but ultimately peters out.

Dark, cold proto-industrial mood 🎶

Reminder that this was the last album Ian Curtis ever listened to.

4/5 porque descubrí que China Girl fue coescrita con Bowie ❤️

discaso, me lo guarde para comprarmelo y todo.

I like how it's messy, but melodic at the same time

Parts of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 sound strikingly like a David Bowie record — which is hardly surprising. At the time, Iggy Pop was living in Berlin with David Bowie, who also produced the album. The music carries that same cold, mechanical atmosphere that would soon define Bowie’s own Berlin period: sparse arrangements, uneasy rhythms, and a detached, almost industrial mood. It’s an interesting record, but it sometimes feels more like a Bowie-adjacent experiment than a fully distinctive Iggy Pop statement. Still, its stark sound and strange tension make it a notable chapter in Iggy’s career.

Good album. Enjoyed it

Probably the least interesting David Bowie album

A very creative, interesting listen. A bit challenging to digest in one shot, but no doubt the layers of brilliance reveal themselves more and more each time you listen.

Iggy brings it with every performance. Solid album.

Музыкально альбом сырой и интересный, но вокал Игги за гранью ужаса, поэтому ...

enduring songs, iggy personality throughout with some bowie influence, prelude to tin machine for him

I really don't know. Love those first few tracks. All that magic of some similar time Bowie but in such a unique voice. I think the b side falls of pretty hard for me. I thought this much less second time through though

Injeta esse som em minhas veias. Sonoridade única, em nenhum outro lugar você encontra tamanha sujeira. Aquele proto-post-punk que exala marginalidade. Charme distinto. O toque de Bowie faz toda a diferença também. Algumas passagens aqui me lembram bastante Scary Monsters, que é um dos meus discos favoritos dele. Não digo isso apenas pela inclusão de China Girl no álbum, mas também por toda a sonoridade das canções. Uma ótima união e uma incrível mistura de estilos. Tão escorregadio e pegajoso quanto uma poça de óleo. Um paisagismo bem sombrio, obscuro, esquálido, pálido, e quaisquer outros adjetivos que encaixam tanto pra música de Iggy Pop quanto para becos miscelâneos da região metropolitana de São Paulo. É tudo supremamente agradável aos ouvidos, a menos aos meus. Sem mencionar o quão influente esse disco realmente foi. Aquele post-punk revival que deu segunda vida ao Rock no final da década de 1990 e início da década de 2000 claramente usa The Idiot como modelo. Outro motivo para amar este álbum. Há muitos. 5/5

If you like Low-era Bowie then you'll love this. Dum Dum Boys is my favorite tune on here. One of those tunes that demands that you crank it up all the way. Is China Girl more offensive for China or for Girl? I suggest we all agree to skip this track whenever it appears but I'd rather keep it out there than try to erase it like The Cure did with Killing An Arab (a far less offensive tune, btw). Too bad because it's a great track other than every syllable that comes out of Pop's mouth. Anyway, someone needs to write a book about Pop and Bowie during this time in Europe. Would be a great read.

Although I'm glad to see that we get more than one appearance of Iggy Pop in this collection, I'm also a bit appalled that this is the first of five(!) albums with Iggy Pop (two solo albums, three with The Stooges). That's probably at least three too many albums that could have gone towards other (and more recent) artists, I'd say. But this seems like a decent choice for Iggy Pop--especially if you prefer your Pop served up Bowie-style--especially with the opening one-two punch of "Sister midnight" and then "Nightclubbing", along with the fascinating "Dum dum boys" and "Tiny girls" much later on. It's also nice to see the other side of the Bowie/Pop collaborations, after a bit of an overdose of Bowie albums earlier in the collection, although given how forcefully Bowie inserted himself in every facet of this album, it's hard to know just how much influence Iggy Pop had on his debut solo album (even down to how bland Pop's version of "China girl" is, at least compared to Bowie's version). Given all of that, I would definitely vote this one off the 1001-Albums island in favor of just "Lust for Life", but that doesn't detract from the overall distinctive sound of this album I suppose, and also how strongly this Bowie-directed project diverged from his Stooges phase.

Great album that holds back just a little--The tempo, the tone, the ferocity are a little subdued throughout.

Se que este álbum es un parteaguas en la historia del rock, y me ha gustado pero no me ha encantado, lo respeto y definitivamente le doy su valor. No lo sé, quizá tenga que reescucharlo.

This feels much more of a Bowie album than 'Lust'. It's a bit more eclectic (patchy) for this. I didn't realise Funtime was such a Neu! tribute. Nightclubbing is great and worth the admission price alone, but the rest of the songs don't seem as well-formed, in the main. And I much prefer Bowie's China Girl - even though I still don't get the lyrics. Interesting.

aka Low 2. It's the layers on The Idiot that makes this album so special. Some songs almost have two separate narratives taking place, but somehow still manage to stay on track. The China Girl original adds a little more malice than Bowie's cover. But ultimately it's Bowie who shines through on The Idiot. He's across every track, bringing the best out of Iggy. A dirty, messy album. But much needed.

Bowie’s fingerprints are allover this and sit comfortably alongside his Low and Heroes albums. Definitely no the Iggy of the Stooges but still pretty good

Not for me...

Not for me

l'instrumentation et l'enregistrement sont vraiment surprenants, on dirait un disque moderne! j'adore les guits planantes. La voix blasée de Iggy. C'est proche de David Bowie son grand pote, mais pour moi j'ignore pour quoi ça frappe plus près du coeur que le grand duc poudré. Je ne connaissais pas et j'ai préféré à Lust for Life, que je connaissais déjà.

J'ai commencé par dire que je préfèrais Lust For Life mais je ne suis plus certain. China Girl et Dum Dum Boys m'ont vraiment rentré dedans. Pas la même vibe que l'album d'après mais vraiment excellent.

This was alright. I like Iggy Pop in general, and he has some cool tracks that I really enjoy. Unfortunately this album wasn't full of them. There were some tracks that I was able to groove along to and was happy to be hearing them, but the majority were just kinda like rhythmic noise with some mildly harmonic accompaniment. "China Girl" was completely pale in comparison to the David Bowie version. There were a couple moments when I heard a strong Jim Morrison sound in Pop's voice, but it was more of a subtle impression than any kind of real "channelling" and it didn't impart any of Morrison's mojo to this album. Three stars, and I think that's being generous because I generally like Iggy Pop.

Liked: Tiny girls Disliked: Songs from this album

Went by completely unnoticeably

I really hate these albums when it's just someone talking or exaggerating their voice. It's really unenjoyable.

Gillade det inte alls nu första varvet, var väl på fel humör? Men andra varvet, jäklar. Vilket mörker, vilken röst och industrikänslan på topp. Minst en stark trea men sätter fan en fyra för antar att det är ännu bättre nästa varv?

Mycket är jävligt ballt, inte minst Mass Production och dum dum boys. Vill gilla det mer än jag verkligen gör dock. Mycket som inte fastnar, trots ett par genomlyssningar. China girl är lika mjeh med Iggy som när bowie gjorde den själv. Föredrar lust for life. Här blir det rak 3a.

Han är ju ball men fan. Har haft svårt för Iggy Pop sen bästa polaren Låset satte på The Passenger varje gång man var på väg till hockeyträning. Här är ju dock den hemska låten inte med vilket gör lyssningen sen aning bättre men ptsdn lever kvar. Stark tvåa!

king

Tillbaka till de mytiska Bowie/Iggy-i-Beröin-åren! Alla de plattorna låter ju så coolt att man brakar och den rösten skojar man inte bort. Slås alltid av hur bra texterna är. Tiny girls och China girl... Ojvoj!

Excellent

Brilliant. The synths on Mass Production are mind bending

I had no idea what to expect with this one. Brilliant moody and hypnotic album

Iggy and Bowie is such a winning combination . A pure joy to listen to. An idiot he is not.

Great stuff, absolutely steeped in Bowie

Not for me.

Not bad

I didn’t know piggy pop went through a Bowie phase. I didn’t know he wrote China Girl. This was a pleasant surprise.

Very good album! Could definitely hear the David Bowie in the music and I really enjoyed it

His voice is magical.

Relatable album to my life, and I'm not just talking about the album name. Something about The Idiot keeps luring me with its krautrock-influenced rhythms and weird riffs/hooks. Sister Midnight/Nightclubbing/Dum Dum Boys always find someway to come back to my head every few months at the latest. A conventionally weirdo record.

not really into Iggy pop personally

Sister Midnight - 5/5 Nightclubbing - 5/5 Funtime - 4/5 Baby - 5/5 China Girl - 5/5 Dum Dum Boys - 5/5 Tiny Girls - 3/5 Mass Production - 4/5 Average score: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 8/10 Loved this. I prefer Iggy's work with The Stooges but I love that he did this weird little album with David Bowie as well. His voice goes great with this type of music. Fav Song: Nightclubbing

I prefer Iggy when he was louder and played with Stooges, but he's surely not an idiot. Didn't liked late 70s mainstream influences much though... Best song Dum Dum Boys

Decent album. Some great songs on here.

Fairly uninteresting album that didn't do much to connect with me. Felt like a discount-Boeie album with some really rough monotone vocals. Some okay moments but a lot that isn't worth revisiting. Top tracks: Funtime, Dum Dum Boys

Sister Midnight - 4.5/5 Nightclubbing - 5/5 Funtime - 4.5/5 Baby - 3.5/5 China Girl - 5/5 Dum Dum Boys - 4.5/5 Tiny Girls - 3.5/5 Mass Production - 4/5 An dark, brooding, and raw post-punk album that has an immaculate sound design and engineering team? Thanks Bowie! You can hear his influence on the album, but Iggy Pop makes it his own with the more moody lyrics and more punk-forward energy. Overall: 5/5 Favorites: Nightclubbing, China Girl

His solo debut, made with the help of David Bowie, and I love it. Goes on my list for favorite debuts.

파괴를 일삼던 야생마가 차가운 기계의 심장을 이식받고 비로소 응시하게 된 저무는 유럽의 밤

Pretty great to be honest. Bowie all over this but it’s an Iggy album at its heart. This is a goth album and you can’t tell me otherwise. Hope there’s more Iggy Pop on this endeavour. Best: Funtime Worst: Didn’t skip anything

I like the idea of Iggy more than I do the reality!

This feels like listening to a David Bowie tribute band where the vocalist isn’t very good at all. It’s not horrible because the rhythms are there and some of the music is creative, but- it’s not great.

Super cool album. China Girl was my song of the album and best first listen with Tiny Girls and Dum Dum Boys being my other highlights

Heard Before? Nope. I thought "Lust For Life" was the debut. Notes: - massively front-loaded. side two felt endless. - rhythm section solid and interesting throughout, guitar work very uneven, synths used almost exclusively and pointlessly as pads. - seriously, did Bowie just go home after side one? - also, was side two recorded while Iggy was asleep? Verdict: Go directly to "Lust for Life". Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Listen Again? Yes to the first two tracks, hard no to everything else.

It's a strange, sleazy Iggy/Bowie hybrid, and I know the extend of each's contributions continues to be debated, but nonetheless I am here for it. Very different from Stooges and Lust for Life, but not a dud track here.

He has better albums imo

Good album. Nightclubbing is a classic

I like Iggy Pop in general but this did absolutely nothing for me

Decent background music. I appreciate his style but I was left wanting with this album.

Great!

6.5/10 very 80s vibes

I do not like his vocals whatsoever and all the tracks sound so dull and low energy

Had to keep reminding myself this was Iggy Pop and not Lou Reed. Very similar story to Transformer. Punk rocker starts hanging with Bowie and records glam rock. Cool moments but mostly didn’t work. May come back for his China Girl version.

Sorry I've been so negative with my reviews lately. Have been spending too much time with my 6 week old - like her I've been shitting all over everything. Anyway, Iggy Pop is always and remains one of those artists I like the idea of more than the actual songs. Nightclubbing, dum dum boys, and china girl are pretty solid but the rest of this is a bit of a slog. Probably a 2.5 but rounding up in deference to Bowie.

Sonically, this is a bowie album. Theres not much “Iggy” as I know it, but hey, I guess thats what happens when you hit a wall and need to quit the rock lifestyle. We all grow up? 🤷‍♂️😂 I don’t appreciate this album, but its cool that Iggy and Bowie became collaborators and fought their addictions together Dum Dum Boys was fun.

i'm sorry gang but the david bowie version of china girl is MILES better

3.7

Super meh - dont understand why this is on the list

More Bowie than Iggy but still a good album.

This was a really great album. Thoroughly enjoyed the listen.

p387. 1977. 4 stars. If Jim Morrison had produced an album with Bowie, it would sound like this. Point deducted for "Tiny Girls" which is possibly the worst thing that Iggy has done, but otherwise it's terrific.

3- Stars (7/15)

I quite enjoyed this - more than Stooges material. Lyrically consistent with expectations but musically more mellow and diverse than first. Entirely first impression but scoring 4 to ensure future revisits. 4/5

It's hard to believe that this 1977 album is almost 50 years old because it hardly sounds dated at all. Contains the original version of "China Girl" which was a big hit for David Bowie in 1983; apparently, Pop improvised the lyrics while standing at the microphone.

Sounds more like a Bowie album. Listened to it 3 times, so I didn’t hate it. Very tough to rate. .

Muy chido :D

I understand how iconic Iggy Pop's voice can be, but I wouldn't say it's what I'm looking for in an album. That being said, the music is fine. There's definitely a lot of David Bowie in there, which is a plus. But it's not peak Bowie stuff.

Fyren kan knapt synge. Dårlig miksa, og lite interessant musikk. Lite pluss for at det ikke varte for lenge. 1.4/5

Kjem nok ikkje til å høyre igjen, men heilt OK.

Det har et interessant sound, som jeg på mange måter ikke liker. Det gir meg ikke så mye. Det føles litt meditativt dog.

Clearly felt Bowie's style, and I'm not sure if that's a compliment, given that I'm not a fan of his albums so far. Some tracks like Sister Midnight and China Girl were nice and I will probably listen to them again sometime, but overall it was... Meh.

Iggy croons dark lyrics with his typical raw punk attitude, while Bowie adds an unmistakable richness and accessibility. You can hear both artists clearly, and easily place where this fits within both their careers.

Not really for me, but I do now wonder who wrote “China Girl”. I thought it was David Bowie. Wouldn’t listen to the full album again.

Great album

It’s alright

I didn't like this at all. I expected more energy from Iggy Pop, but he sounds dull here, and his lyrics just aren't interesting. The tracks plod, plod, plod. The last two songs get a little more interesting, but I probably should have quit by that point. So I'm stunned by all the 5-star reviews here, describing these songs as basically the opposite of what I heard. Amazing how we can all hear music so differently. The reviews informed me this was a collab with David Bowie. I didn't know that until after I listened, and honestly this did not sound like a Bowie record to me at all. There's Bowie I like and Bowie I hate (including his later version of China Girl), but at least all of it is inventive. This was boring.

This is kinda shitty

not really my vibe, don't understand why this album is considered worth listening to...

I’ve always been aware of Iggy Pop, but never listened to his music. If this is indicative of his whole catalog, I really don’t get the appeal.

Geht so

Very well done album. Pleasantly surprised.

I don't mind Iggy Pop and like some of the Stooges stuff, but this album can be a chore to listen to at times. The last track, especially, seems to go on forever. I think that's the point, but it doesn't necessarily make for a great listen.

Highlights: Nightclubbing, Tonight, Sister Midnight. In a nutshell: 70s sleaze This is what happens when you bunker down with your new best friend to dry out and make music- osmosis. Half the time I had to remind myself that this is Iggy Pop singing, not Iggy Pop imitating Lou Reed. Maybe it was my headphones. Overall: 5/10

Goddddd meget interessant lyt!

ok, nicht schlecht.

Pretty good but not my favorite

3+

Chill

Liked this one! Reminds me of like an alt version of david bowie? Is that a hot take??

The Bowie influence is obvious throughout but just I find Iggy just... worse. I don't get along with Iggy's voice. Couldn't say if the lyrics are any good because I can't understand them (in most songs at least). I don't mind the music itself, though it's a bit too sludgy/plodding for my taste; granted I think that's deliberate within the theme of the album. Mass Production strikes me as the most creative song, but I didn't particularly enjoy listening to it. Highlights: - China Girl - I still think Iggy's voice is my least favourite aspect of this song, but he does do a decent job of conveying emotion, and I think the backing is interesting and varied, with some well done deliberate dissonance that manages to not be unpleasant. Not an album I'd choose to listen to again.

Standouts: China Girl Mass Production I feel like Iggy has 2 vocal styles in this album, more traditional 70/80's rock music grating voice and a more baritone style. I really enjoy his baritone voice, it feels like it's got so much depth and makes me feel warm. The most traditional voice stops this album from being rated higher I enjoyed the varied instrumentation, lots of layers to dig into here and it was produced in a way that the instruments kind of blend together but still keep a certain separation. Big fan. China Girl is a good example of how good his vocals could be, wish they were this consistent throughout the whole album. High 3

sí suena a dos cabrones que se drogaban un chingo dejando de drogarse un chingo. pesado pesado. si te andas queriendo colgar ha de estar bien potente

🫩🫩

Good funk album. Favourite song was china girl despite the weird nazi type lyrics. Despite that the song is great. Overall album is pretty solid with honourable mentions being baby, nightclubbing and mass production.

Pretty good. 👍 Gives trainspotting vibes pretty tough.

🙂

This one was good, but nothing special. I already knew Iggy Pop, but didnt listen to his songs, and i wasnt losing anything. There that perpecption of old discos, with the vocals being kind of bad, not because of his voice, but for the way it was made. The inatrumentals are nothing special too, cant get any song in specific to keep in my mind.

Not great, I can see why he inspired music though. Nightclub especially seems like a song Uncle Alan would listen to, not sure why but it gives that vibe.

An interesting listen, I enjoyed it for what it was. Good to hear how he was influenced by Bowie and changed his sound overtime, some Jim Morrison vibes and other influences were pretty neat. 3 stars.

Good

One of a kind voice. Love the Bowie influence on this one.

You know what I didn't hate this but I would never choose to listen to it

Interesting

It’s not quite as good as Lust for Life, but thank goodness Iggy and David Bowie were friends. Stellar, even if Bowie’s influence was a little *too* strong.

1/8 Not bad. Never heard anything from Iggy Pop before. Very David Bowie-esque

Decent album. Much more accessible than I thought it would be.

This is the debut album for Iggy, with major input from friend David Bowie. Bowie’s influence is obvious, although his saxophone playing on “Tiny Girl” is not something you hear often. I agree with one of the record reviewers, who commented that Iggy sounds like Jim Morrison sometimes and Lou Reed other times. This is the original version of “China Doll”, although Bowie’s cover is better. Overall a good devut album.

Good album cover. I support self-identified idiots. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about this album, but it seemed mostly Fine.

Perfectly fine. Not a fave yet a good listen. 4/5 but not a regular spin.

My mind is blanking on how to start this review, so I'll just skip to the fun part of the review, that being the review itself. This album is great! I've had great experiences with albums from Iggy Pop as well as the Stooges over the course of this project so far, and The Idiot is no different. I'd say it's pretty much on par with Fun House and especially Lust For Life (the two that I've heard so far), but it might be my favorite by a slim margin. The Idiot is just such a cool album. Iggy's vocals delivery has a distinct disinterest in it, but I think it fits the vibe on songs like "Funtime" pretty well. The whole album has this artsiness and experimentation that I think is really cool. Everything from the writing to the music itself goes beyond the roots of Iggy Pop's career up to that point. But of course, I can't just praise Iggy Pop for this, as there's someone whose presence is arguably even more important for this album than Iggy Pop himself. That's right. We've got a major collab going on here between Iggy Pop and the GOAT himself, David Bowie. Between the production, experimentation, and lyrical themes. Bowie's presence can be felt all throughout the project. In fact, David Bowie would end up covering this album's best song, "China Girl," on a later album of his. Maybe that's why I enjoy this one so much, although he was also present on Lust For Life which I enjoyed as well. The songs are all good. As stated earlier, "China Girl" is my favorite of the bunch. I think it's the chord progression. It's just so... cool! "Nightclubbing" is neat. It's probably the most emblematic of this album's strengths. Good song. Overall, I had a great time with this one. I can't go all the way with a 5, but it's definitely one of the best albums that I've gotten in 2026 so far. High 4/5.

Without knowing anything about this album before I started listening, I thought "Wow, this has a really strong David Bowie vibe". Then I read the Wikipedia page... and yeah, it all made sense. I liked it, didn't love it. (I have the same reaction to much of Bowie's catalog as well).

Standing out for me were Nightclubbing, China Girl and Tiny Girls, but the rest was just a meh album to me. Not bad but not something I’d give more than a mediocre review for. Enjoyed taking a deeper dive into iggy though as I’d never heard nearly all of these songs.

If David Bowie was from the Midwestern United States and went long periods of time between showers, I think this is what he would sound like. And I actually mean that in a positive way for Iggy.

No hits here; but comparing this version of “China Girl” to Bowie’s, it’s so much more interesting in its rawness. That’s the way of the entire album. Rounding up.

Better than other Iggy/Stooges I've heard on this list. Probably because he collaborated with Bowie. 3.5*

more production and complexity than i had expected from an iggy pop album. Very good listening

J'étais pas très concentrée mais j'aimais bien les sonorités, je connaissais déjà Iggy pop de toute façon

Je ne connaissais pas cet album, sympa, un peu sombre mais pas le meilleur

C'était très cool, très chill. J'avais jamais trop écouté Iggy pop

I first listened to The Idiot and Lust for Life at the same time and it was Lust for Life that stuck with me, but The Idiot is really really good. I probably should have been more open to it. Some of the songs aren't as catchy, but it's more cohesive I think.

2.5

“China Girl” is definitely the standout for me on this. Cool to learn that this was made with Bowie. Overall Rating: 7/10

Nie dla mnie.

I didn't expect to like this as much as is did

i know listening to this in the club high off coke in the 70s/80s would’ve been so fun

Love the song Dum Dum Boys feels like a Peter Panish reflection on The Stooges. China Girl makes me uncomfortable.

i couldn't make it all the way through, about 2/3 done and rating this a 2.

4-star album brought down by the vocals. 3 stars.

Må indrømme jeg synes det her var super godt.da jeg lyttede det vidste jeg med det samme, at det måtte være lavet i David Bowies Berlin periode. Det har bare den der lyd, men det her er meget Dark og industriel som jeg super godt kan lide. Det er åbenbart proto post-punk og har inspireret mange deraf. Også Nine Inch nails. Man kan også høre noget af guitarspillet som minder om sioxie and the banshees som jeg sjovt nok lige har hørt. Synes faktisk ikke der er et eneste dårlig track og kan meget bedre lide det end den anden plade jeg har lyttet til med iggy pop.

It’s ok.

This album’s reputation exceeds its quality, in my opinion. Bowie and Iggy are legends, but this collaboration is a bit of a slog. The songs plodding and not engaging. The sound of the album is also muddled and drab. Dum Dum Boys is the highlight for me.

I’ll always prefer Iggy with the Stooges. But there’s still a lot to love here. I love Bowie, so this might land a little differently for me than with other fans. But where would we be without Iggy Pop?

Genius stuff. The sound of this record is fascinating, I love it. David Bowie’s production and compositions are great, the man could do any genre he wanted. I was pretty surprised when I learned that Iggy Pop improvised a significant portion of the lyrics, but it does make sense and contributes heavily to the vibe of the music. I wasn’t expecting Iggy’s version of China Girl to completely blow Bowie’s version out of the water. 4/5

Combining the geniuses of Iggy Pop and David Bowie, nothing can go wrong. The album would already deserve five stars only for China Girl (that, with its threatening atmosphere, sounds way better than Bowie's pop version) plus here there are Dum Dum Boys, Sister Midnight, Nighclubbing...

Eh, I did not like this. Not even a 3 because a 3 in my view is that it had some good tracks and was not mediocre like a 2.

Bowie without the glam.

Sounded like Jim Morrison if Jim Morrison started late

Wonderful album. It's dark and weirdly sexy at times. A big departure from his work with The Stooges, but it's a killer album from start to finish.

Happy Christmas day listening a few days late. Really enjoyed this. Bowie's influence/ input/collab is thickly spread throughout. I like the tempo - feels like a good laid back Summers album - although its currently deepest darkest winter.

The Idiot This kicks off with the instantly recognisable sound of Bowie/Alomar with the excellent Sister Midnight, with a tight, threatening groove and then continues with the also excellent Nightclubbing and Funtime. Looking back I was a little ambivalent about Lust for Life, whereas after these first three songs I was well into this one. Reading about it, and listening to it, it’s clear the hand of Bowie lies heavier on this than on LFL, and it shows itself in the energy, atmosphere and quality. As a lot of critics seem to note, and as he said himself, this is clearly a Bowie project, and definitely feels like a bridge between the sinister art rock-funk-r’n’b of Station to Station and the ominous atmospherics of Low. Truthfully I’ve never found Iggy Pop to actually be that interesting or compelling as an artist, and although his excellent gravelly tones suit the music, this probably appeals to me more because of the innate Bowieness, in a way that LFL, with his lighter hand on the tiller, doesn’t. China Girl here is also excellent, obviously a muddier, darker sound than the shiny disco-pop of the Let’s Dance version, and although I really like that version, I probably prefer this one. Dum Dum Boys is great as well, I love the sludginess of the overall sound, with excellent guitars, bass and drums. Mass Production is superb too, dark and unsettling and discordant, a brilliant combination of the feel of Station to Station and Low. They are good songs, but I felt Baby and Tiny Girls to be a bit of a dip relative to the rest. The descending fuzz bass and piano of Baby is great, but as a whole I’m not quite sure. Although I don’t think it's at the same level as Station to Station or Low I think this is still a 5. I actually think you could replace Iggy with someone else and this would still be a 5, as it’s probably more interesting due to Bowie masterminding it with his band and in the context of his career at the time. But either way it's a great album 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪 Playlist submission: Nightclubbing

With distorted semi-funky Alomar guitar-hooks, disco-adjacent basslines, and a drawled baritone deeper than the Mariana trench, this album has a unique place on the musical ven diagram - it feels a bit punk, a bit Berlin trilogy, a bit garage rock, a bit cabaret, without submitting to any of them. That is to say it's the perfect blend of each. This is part of a defining movement that starts with Can, Neu and Kraftwerk and is developed by Bowie and Pop. It obviously owes much to Bowie - the alienation of Station to Station, soul touches of Young Americans, detached ambience of where the Berlin trilogy would go - but this is a defining album in its own right and Iggy's snakey character gives this another angle. Outstanding.

The greatest thing David Bowie ever did.

Certainly was unique, not really my jam

Nothing special about this album.

Pretty chill, see why he’s such a big name in the scene. Kinda dig his vocals, instrumentals are great too. 3.5

Surprise Bowie album, and a good one at that.!

Oh man… it’s just a peak era Bowie album I’ve never listened to before. Excellent.

Mjoah, ganz solide

Manche Albencover regen mich richtig auf. Hässlich Scheiße, wer will das im Regal stehen haben?

boring as everything about Pop

Interesting sound.

Klingt teilweise schon ziemlich nach David Bowie. Besonders natürlich "China Girl". "Mass Production " ist recht schräg und unharmonisch. Trotzdem interessant zum Anhören.

5/10

Iggy Pop and David Bowie unite and use their mediocre musical talent to make an underwhelming mediocre album.

I’m trying to think of what to say about it…

Like _Lust for Life_ which I heard for the first time as part of this challenge, I've not had the time to gather any coherent thoughts but just like that, I really enjoyed listening. I knew _Nightclubbing_ and _China Girl_ coming in and they're probably the best 2 tracks on here. _Post Pop Depression_ was the first Iggy album I'd heard and I've liked each subsequent album I've heard. He might e a bit good at this music malarkey!

Not bad, but not something I'd strive to listen to again.

Interesting that David Bowie wrote so many (all?) of the songs. That backstory is more interesting than the songs themselves. (Bowie's later "China Girl" was much better.)

Definitely feel the Bowie influence

More albums should be 38 minutes long. Amaing

I thought I liked Iggy and The Stooges but this did little for me

The Idiot is Iggy Pop's first album away from his Stooges. Quite the stark contrast in terms of mood when compared to the fantastic, Raw Power album. The Idiot has a heaviness to it, a dark, damp depressing tone to it but it's fantastic in its own right. David Bowie teams up with Iggy Pop for The Idiot, not only the production but the songwriting, backing vocals, musical arrangements and the instruments themselves, his fingerprints are all over this and it’s got Iggy Pop’s name on the cover but Bowie’s could be tossed on there as well. This may not grab people the same way some of Iggy’s other work may but it’s a genius piece of work, his best album cover from his solo releases as well. 5 stars

iggy scho en weeeirdo. aber d songs sind bis etz groovy und recht igängig. ha no denkt alles tönt noch bowie denn chunt china girl. nöd mis lieblingslied. ok de schlussteil isch seeehr geil. bass uf dum dum boys ischeeega geil. mass production isch d weirdness woni vom iggerdougg erwarte. guet so. vieri

ohh nöd das woni erwartet han! okee de david bowie ghöri aber usse uhhh nightclubbing findi na cool, di apathischi atmosphäre clasht sochli mitem thema vode lyrics uiii s sax am schluss vo tiny girls hani HEAVY gfunde das schräge gedudel findi flichzitig na cool mite schleppende bassline aber halt doch suchli weird for weirdness sake joaaaa scho nöd ganh warm worde demit aber d stimmig vom album hani na cool gfunde?

Not sure I've ever heard this album in one sitting. Not the biggest fan of Iggy Pop, but this was great.

Iggy's collaborations with Bowie are fascinating. This one is more like a Bowie album fronted by Iggy, and I miss some of Iggy's usual energy, but it's good and it points ahead in a few gothy directions

I didn’t learn anything from this experience besides David Bowie’s “China girl” isn’t his at all.

Great stuff, this album is a nice tight length (ahem) with some memorable bangers - love Nightclubbing and China Girl especially, but it's all good

Allright, cool vibe, but kind of the same energy through the whole thing

A crap Bowie

The combination of Iggy and Bowie did not work for me, seems it was more of a Bowie album.

This is far more experimental than Iggy's other album on this list. While that was mostly tight, hooky 70s rock, this features heavy use of synthesizers and is less accessible. Unfortunately for this album, the lack of catchy hooks make it less enjoyable than the other album. It tries too hard to be different and ends up not really doing much for me.

Album No. 0085 on my list. The first Iggy Pop album on my journey. This was actually a mostly fresh one for me - I’ve obviously known some of his songs (hard as they are to avoid, not that I would have wanted to). But “The Idiot” contained 8 completely new songs for me. Well, 7 actually, because I’ve known David Bowie’s version of “China Girl” for a long time and learned that they’ve actually written the song tougher, and that Bowie actually played an important roll overall in the making of this album. Anyway, this is one of the better post-punk albums I’ve encountered so far. I’ve had my troubles with the genre. Some albums I found okay, one not so much. This is an okay one. Besides “China Girl”, I also liked “Nightclubbing”, and “Dum Dum Boys”. Solid album! 3/5 stars.

Hearing a lot of Bowie in this one, obviously

I've never been a big fan of Iggy Pop or The Stooges, although I respect their contributions to the proto-punk, alternative, glam scene in the 70's. When hearing this album today for the first time, I said, Wow, this sounds like a bad Bowie ripoff. and sure enough I saw that Bowie had produced it, so there you go. Bowie is Bowie, Iggy Pop should stay out of his lane, did not enjoy. 2.5/5 stars = 3 on this scale.

This album was pretty alright but I really just couldn't get over how miffed I was on the main singer's voice. Not much that stood out although I did like the sudden pivot to jazz in the second to last song, which is no surprise if you've followed my music journey up to this point

4.

Band is good. Voice makes me want to die

Watched Trainspotting too much as a teenager to give this any less than 5*. Bowie puppeteers Iggy Pop to do the best work of his life.

Not necessarily intolerable but not exactly my favorite.

I've never listened to this record before. I've heard the "hits" that Pop has had over the years, but not listened to any albums. I was aware of the Bowie connection, and I'm unfortunately not a huge fan of his to begin with. I started this with some trepidation, and Sister Midnight didn't really help matters. It was fine, but not one I could really get into. Then I really liked Nightclubbing and thought maybe things were going to turn around. What I found, in the end, is that there were songs I liked, but also ones I just didn't care for at all. They weren't bad, but not ones I'd really want to listen to again. So overall this was a hit or miss album for me. As a side note, I knew that David Bowie's version of China Girl was co-written by Iggy Pop, but I had no idea there was a previous version of the song. I thought it was pretty cool on this album, and it's also one of the Bowie songs I do like.

Wasn't at all familiar with Iggy before this. It's got depressed, even-more-drug-addled David Bowie vibes. Taking off a star because Tiny Girls was so uncomfortable

ANOTHER DEBUT? anyway as an AFAB asian person (or a literal china "girl"), i agree, like everybody, that this album consists of nightclubbing, china girl, and other mid to bad songs. a tad bit letdown for me. 4/5

Awe shit! This one has Night Clubbin!! Can't believe how big of an impression Trainspotting left on me.

my quintessential berlin album. joy division suicide beat.

Last album that Ian Curtis listened to before hanging himself, says it all. The best version of China Girl before Bowie glamorized it.

Good album. Enjoyed the electronic elements and influence from Bowie.

Y'know, I don't wanna come out here and undermine Iggy Pop — after all, this is his album, with his name on the front. He's not one of those artists where you can say, "Yeah, but someone else **really** deserves all of the credit here." He **did** write all of these songs, after all. But at the same time, I listen to this and what I come out mostly thinking is, "So — Bowie's Berlin trilogy, huh?" I'm very familiar with Bowie's Berlin trilogy as, like ... a piece of history, though not so much as actual albums. I mean, to this point I've only heard two of them, 'Low' and '"Heroes"'. But I don't think anyone's told me that there was a secret fourth part to it. To the point where I've seen some people opine that **this** is actually a main part of the trilogy, and that something like 'Lodger' is more of an epilogue. That's not nothing, you ask me. I mean, honestly, listening to this album, I hear Bowie all over it. Of course he produced it, but I swear there's just something in the melodies that screams **BOWIE**. Even Iggy Pop's vocals sort of sound like him in places. If you'd given this album to me without telling me who it was by, I think it'd take me a while to have my suspicions that it was anyone else. I mean, jeez, Bowie on later albums Bowie would even rewrite "Nightclubbing" and re-record "China Girl". And seriously, it's not just me and a couple of Iggy Pop fans thinking this; even Bowie himself has said he felt bad for using Pop as a "guinea pig" for this sound. And none of this is to even say that this is necessarily a bad thing, by the way. Of course it sucks for Iggy, I'm not denying that, but, again, this record still ended up being considered an unofficial part of the Berlin trilogy. That is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. And it's good stuff, too! Like, honestly, Bowie's Berlin sound is a good sound. Plus, there is one thing Iggy Pop adds to this that Bowie couldn't have on his own: his punk sensibilities. It's been a while since I've heard 'Low' or '"Heroes"', but I don't recall either of them sounding as punk as this one does. And not even that it sounds like a Sex Pistols record or whatever; there's just a looseness and a bit of an energy here that I don't recall hearing anywhere else. And I gotta tell you, it's quite the nice addition. Makes the album worthy of being an experience by itself, rather than just a tangent to the trilogy. So ... yeah, I ain't got much of a conclusion here. Sure, this album might lean more in favor of one of its collaborators over the other, but it's still a good listen. Besides, if I want some true Iggy Pop action, my group's still got all three Stooges albums to get through. And, goodness me, y'wanna talk about raw power? I can tell you about raw power...

Y'know, considering Bowie produced this record, it's very obvious that it'd be similar to his own Berlin Trilogy, but this has more of a punk leaning, fitting for Iggy. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

I’m at a 5. It might be the 302 albums we’ve gotten since “Lust for Life” & a newfound penchant for the avantgarde speaking, but I found myself really enjoying the atmosphere this album brings. It’s founded on a sort of “electronic rock / blues” vibe that slowly grows moodier & more intense over the course of the album, eventually culminating in the sirens at the very end of “Mass Production”, & that slow burn approach works very well here. David Bowie’s production work is fantastic, with a lot more layers to it than I was expecting, especially for synthier stuff circa 1977. Windier tones, some pulsating drum beats, & a lot of heavier, yet muted guitar work sets the stage nicely on a lot of the tracks, and while it’s sort of adjacent to “Low”’s style, it’s a much different energy, leaning into some poppier rock & roll tones without getting too "happy". I haven’t heard “Heroes” yet, so maybe those comparisons will become rather obvious down the line. The music tells most of the story here, with Iggy Pop’s vocal performance only serving to enhance that atmosphere – he’s usually pretty deliberate in taking a more monotone approach, making his higher pitches feel like they have extra force behind them, and it works really well. I do hear how this one might be more hit & miss – I listened to it with headphones in, so some of the interesting layering on a track like “Nightclubbing” or “Dum Dum Boys” might not come across as well on pure speakers. It’s an album that rewards paying attention to its instrumental choices, but it’s not a necessity to do so. Lyrically, I’d say these are pretty strong, enhancing the tracks, but they barely matter as much; “Dum Dum Boys” is the only one where the extra emotional weight of his breakup with the Stooges makes the lyricism feel sort of necessary, though his vocal style gives most of the emotional pull regardless. If all of those add up in a way that doesn’t mesh with one’s style, I can hear how this could be as low as a 2 for someone, as it might come across as a bit too safe or plain. I know it hit me at one point; “Baby” is a fine track that just didn’t fully click for me, so that could easily spread to a lot of the album. For my tastes though, this is a pretty damn good project, with great moody tracks that know exactly when to flip an energetic switch. Seriously, listening to it as background noise while writing this has made me realize just how damn good the guitar work is here. I’m glad it’s on the list, and it’s a very strong 5. This is the last solo Iggy Pop album we’ll be getting, but against all odds (literally a 4.68% chance), we’ve yet to get any of his work with the Stooges, and that’s 3 more albums for Iggy Pop to impress me with. I gave Lust for Life a 4, I’m gonna give this a well-deserved 5, and I can only hope that those Stooges albums live up to expectations now.

Iggy Sings Bowie.. The Heroin detox tour. It's a fine album just not great.

Really more of a Bowie/Pop record. Slow and plodding but not a difficult listen.

It's a big change from the Stooges. I could definitely hear the Bowie influence. Post-punk Iggy is still enjoyable.

The album that Iggy an Bowie collaborate on that eventually leads them to the greatness of Lust for Life. This one is still good, but it has moments of *huh?* It's probably a 3.5 but I'll round up.

Wow

Iggy Pop an idiot for making this album

Second Iggy Pop album I've enjoyed, although I really didn't know him beforehand. It's just a good, fun vibe and a really listenable experience. He goes from the rocky and immediate tracks like Sister Midnight and Nightclubbing through to the sludgy, experimental chugging of Mass Production. And I found something to like about pretty much all of it.

Really enjoyed this. Bowie's influence/ input/collab is thickly spread throughout. I like the tempo - feels like a good laid back Summers album - although its currently deepest darkest winter.

It's David Bowie! Actually a decent collaboration, but sounds much more Bowie than Iggy.

Did not know this album. But liked it. Not very much. But too much to give a 3. So it'll be a 4. Furthermore it reminded me of David Bowie. That has not really happened before with music by Iggy Pop.

This album was good at first. Then Iggy’s voice just sounded monotonous. The musicians are great. But the whole thing is just ok. Ok, the last song “mass production” is really cool. But that’s the only standout on this album for me.

I mean, if I had a $1000/day heroin habit, maybe I could be this brilliant, too!

This is basically a David Bowie album minus some of his flair. I really wasn’t expecting Iggy Pop to sound this good

I didn’t warm to this. Not a single track that I didn’t want to skip.

I didn't enjoy this. I didn't hear anything compelling enough to ever want to hear it again.

Splendid

01) Sister Midnight - 8,0 02) Nightclubbing - 7,5 03) Funtime - 7,5 04) Baby - 7,5 05) China Girl - 8,0 06) Dum Dum Boys - 7,5 07) Tiny Girls - 7,5 08) Mass Production - 7,0 TOTAL: 7,56 (76/100) Current ranking: 305/735

Iggy is always cool and so is this album. What brought it down for me is the China Girl cover. But still, this sounds like Bowie just like a Bowie record.

Iggy!!!

Cover 3 He already sounds 80 yrs old. It's not all together bad, except China Girl. Hate that song. Dum Dum Boys is probably the most interesting song. Especially don't it inspired Dum Dum Girls.

This was different from what I expected. More like The Doors. I didn't love it.

Bad album cover and bad record

I own this one, and I like it. Iggy isn't for everyone, but he made this one with Bowie! Worth checking out.

75

Didn't enjoy this one as much as Lust For Life Wasn't terrible though 3 ⭐️

My thoughts on Lust For Life are similar here. A diet David Bowie experience. I didn't hate it, but if I wanted to listen to something Bowie-like, I'd just listen to a Bowie album.

Cool production, but I prefer vocalists with decent vocals.

Mostly good apart from the bluesy bit.

Not sure where I've been to be missing this album and his VOICE!

Ojämnt både låtmaterial och insatser. Det bästa är fantastiskt bra. China Girl i en version som jag tycker är bättre än Bowies t ex. Men runt det är det sämre. En svag fyra, för att det är en gammal hjälte. Detta är inte hans största stund.

Pretty much awful in every way. Bad singing, badly produced, badly written. And then it went on to influence some of the worst groups ever.

Influential. For example, I hear the riff of smells like teen spirit in Mass Production.

Solid.

I don’t understand Iggy. This album sounds like listening to Bowie, not a big fan of either.

No

At first I was thinking this could be a 3, but his voice is just too wonky and the songs are just kinda rambling nonsense for like half the album. It's not as weird as some of his Stooges stuff (he wasn't incoherently screaming or moaning) which I suppose is a plus, but this wasn't particularly enjoyable. The last song was particularly painful which I suppose was the point given the title.

don't get the appeal.

Different in a good way. Very raw but polished up as it goes along. The sax on Tiny Girls is butter. The finale was a bit out there. Solid album but I thank it for its brevity. I don't think it would be such a favorable review if it was an hour long. 3.2 outta 5