Review Summary: What the hell is this?
My first exposition to Iggy Pop was in my brother’s car, listening to Lust for Life, a record that would stay in regular cycle while we drove to and from school or other places. Lust for Life was the kind of exciting record that you didn’t need to pay full attention to; perfect for driving. At the time that the record was released, Iggy was young and raw; fresh with ideas. Now, skipping forward, Iggy Pop, a decidedly past-his-prime artist, has released Préliminaires, his first album since 2003’s Skull Ring.
Iggy Pop, an artist associated with the punk act of the ‘70’s, suddenly took a turn with his career and decided to release a jazz album, stating he was “sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music”. This sort of world-weary, cynical reflection highlights Préliminaires, an album that shows an artist who has no idea what to do next.
The first emotion I felt when listening to Préliminaires was fear. The opener, “Les Feuilles Mortes” (a cover of the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”), is a literally scary cabaret-fare croon; Iggy Pop’s deep vocals, bizarrely warbling French lyrics, being backed up by a Spanish guitar. It almost seems like a self-parody. The second song’s subject matter seems more fitting (“You can convince the world that you’re some kind of superstar, when an asshole is what you are”), but is no less freaky. The rest of the songs continue in this line, from songs that are simply mediocre to songs that legitimately seem like jokes (what the hell is “Party Time”?).
Iggy Pop’s low, gravelly voice remains the same throughout the album: weary and misanthropical. The music that backs him up differs, but only slightly, switching from New Orleans-style barrelhouse (“King of the Dogs”) to ludicrous dance tracks (“Party Time”). However, all the tracks are the same in what they convey: an out-of-touch artist struggling to find some kind of musical identity.
Beyond this theme, some songs try to hold some kind of continuity, like “Je Sais Que Tu Sais”, which repeats itself in the 11th track, “She’s a Business” (albeit with one small change: an outré vocalist delivering French remarks is removed in the latter). The first and last songs are both titled “Les Feuilles Mortes”, with one of them having the subtitle “Marc’s Theme”. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t tell any difference between the two tracks. Which is bad.
The album isn’t a complete failure, in that it has its own kind of weary charm, but it’s a strange experience for anyone expecting anything remotely like Lust for Life. Or anything that resembles a good, coherent record. In its own confines, the album has a few songs worth your while (“King of the Dogs” is undeniably fun and “Nice to Be Dead” is somewhat of a decent rocker diversion), but overall, the album just doesn’t add up, neither as a collective whole nor as a collection of songs.
If this is a joke, I don’t get it.
