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Rating:
It breaks my heart to criticize an Iguana record, but this time I feel the duty to do it, this review has been stuck in my throat for a while.
It was 1986 and Iggy was going through one of his many troubled periods, he surely couldn’t figure out which way to turn. As in many other occasions, his lifelong friend David Bowie stepped in to try to pull him out of a situation where Iggy was completely lost. Thus, the attempt to transform one of the most instinctive rock 'n' roll animals into just another almost easy-listening singer for the charts. Economically, the attempt was successful because Iggy Pop had with this album one of the few true sales successes of his career.
Artistically, however, the record is a disaster. It was practically as if Iggy Pop was trying to imitate David Bowie who was trying to be Iggy Pop. In short, a mess from which the only song truly worth saving is a thrilling cover of Jerry Lee Lewis, "Real wild child (I'm the wild one)", strategically placed at the beginning of the album. The rest are all compositions by both, but the White Duke's hand is TOO prominent for it to seem like an Iguana record. An utterly colossal mistake, because Iggy has always been great only when he could be nothing else but himself and not a (poorly achieved, by the way) clone of someone else.
Yes, here and there one can, with effort, hear something that somewhat recalls the past fury and those that, fortunately, will return soon enough, but here Iggy's performance is extremely forced and, objectively, doesn’t make him look good. In certain tracks, you can even hear heavy electronics (the title-track), in others ("Isolation", "Shades") Iggy even reaches an almost kitsch vocality, and that is not the best from him. As the album plays on, one becomes disheartened by a big missed opportunity, indeed in other instances the help of David Bowie had proven to be very beneficial even artistically (see “The Idiot” and “Lust For Life”), but this time it's absolutely not the case.
The thought of Iggy Pop trying to transform himself into a tender crooner almost suitable for a suit and tie gives me chills. It’s an absolute paradox, and fortunately, after this, he never tried it again. No offense, Iggy.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Real Wild Child (Wild One) (03:37)
I'm a real wild one
wild one
wild one
wild ane
wild one -
Well
I'm just out of school like a real
real cool
Gotta dance like a fool
got the message
That I've gotta be a wild one
oh yeah
I'm a wild one.
Gonna break loose
gonna keep a movin' wild
Gonna keep a swingin'
baby
I'm a real wild child.
Gonna meet all my friends
gonna have myself a ball
Gonna tell my friends
gonna tell them all
That I'm a wild one
oh yeah
I'm a wild one.
Gonna break loose
gonna keep a movin' wild
Gonna keep a swingin'
baby
I'm a real wild child.
I'm a real wild one
and I like wild fun
In a world gone crazy everything seems hazy
I'm a wild one
oh yeah
I'm a wild one.
Gonna break loose
gonna keep a movin' wild
Gonna keep a swingin'
baby
I'm a real wild child.
I'm a wild one
I'm a wild one
I'm a wild one
oh baby
I'm a wild one!
Gonna break loose
gonna keep a movin' wild
Gonna keep a swingin'
baby
I'm a real wild child.
05 Isolation (04:33)
Needed you, you were only using
Needing you just tore me down
And here I stand in isolation
Feeling emptiness and doubt
Walking down the broken highway
Sucking sugar plain and sweet
Did your mother ever tell you
That the joyful are free
I need some lovin'
Like an inmate needs a dime
I need some lovin'
Like a poet needs a rhyme
Here I stand in isolation
My empty hands in isolation
Walking down the broken highway
Sucking sugar cause it's my way
Find me one heart to complete with
Heading for the farthest reaches
I need some lovin'
Like a body needs a soul
I need some lovin'
Like a fastball needs control
Here I stand in isolation
My empty hands in isolation
Strike up the band
In this proud land
Got a lot to do
Got a lot to say
Got a life to live
Here I stand-
In isolation
06 Cry for Love (04:29)
Status seekers -
I never cared
Once I found out
They never dared
To seize the world and
Shake it upside down
And every stinking bum
Should wear a crown
Sayin' I
Cry for love
Till all the plates are broken
Cry for love
Until my eyes are soakin'
Yeah I
Cry for love
Oh every sammy morning
Yeah I
Cry for love
'Cause imitation's boring
Cry for love
Bad TV that
Insults me freely
Still I know what
I'm dyin' to see
In searching for
A meaningful embrace
Sometimes my self-respect
Took second place
An' I
Cried for love
I did what my heart told me
Cried for love
Can't stand it
When they scold me
Yeah I
Cried for love
On every sammy morning
Yeah I
Cry for love
'Cause imitation's boring
Cry for love
Surfers ride for love
And wipe out when it hits 'em
Soldiers kill for love
And nobody admits it
If you're cryin' for love
Well, that's ok
Don't sweat it
If you're cryin' for love
Then there's still a chance
You'll get it
Cry for love
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