Lust for Life Album

LUST FOR LIFE
 
 
Lust for Life  is the second studio album by Iggy Pop, his second solo release and his second collaboration with David Bowie, following The Idiot earlier in the year.  As well as achieving critical success, it was Pop’s most commercially popular album to date, and remains his only Gold-certified release in the UK.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
By the time Kill City was finally released, Iggy Pop had already collaborated with David Bowie on two solo albums, The Idiot and Lust for Life. The title track of the latter album, “Lust for Life” was used as the theme song for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for several years, beginning not long after Peggy and I had our honeymoon on one of their ships.  
(December 2016)
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After the Stooges broke up in early 1974, and before his first post-Stooges tracks were finally released by Bomp! Records as Kill City under the name Iggy Pop and James WilliamsonIggy Pop continued the collaboration with David Bowie that he had begun on Raw Power with his first two solo albums, The Idiot and Lust for Life.  Both are ranked 5 stars by Allmusic; the latter album includes what is probably Iggy Pop’s best known song, Lust for Life (it is sometimes mistaken for a Stooges song).  He was working fast, with all three of these albums released in 1977; all told, Allmusic lists a remarkable 26 solo albums in the Iggy Pop name, not counting the Stooges albums or Kill City
  
In his Allmusic review of Lust for Life – featuring a smiling Iggy Pop on the front cover (unlike the fierce persona he presented on the Stooges album covers) – Mark Deming writes:  “On The IdiotIggy Pop looked deep inside himself, trying to figure out how his life and his art had gone wrong in the past.  But on Lust for Life, released less than a year later, Iggy decided it was time to kick up his heels, as he traded in the midtempo introspection of his first album and began rocking hard again.  Musically, Lust for Life is a more aggressive set than The Idiot, largely thanks to drummer Hunt Sales and his bassist brother Tony Sales.  The Sales [brothers] proved they were a world-class rhythm section, laying out power and spirit on the rollicking title cut [‘Lust for Life], the tough groove of ‘Tonight’, and the lean neo-punk assault of ‘Neighborhood Threat’; and with guitarists Ricky Gardiner and Carlos Alomar at their side, they made for a tough, wiry rock & roll band – a far cry from the primal stomp of the Stooges, but capable of kicking Iggy back into high gear. . . .  On Lust for LifeIggy Pop managed to channel the aggressive power of his work with the Stooges with the intelligence and perception of The Idiot, and the result was the best of both worlds; smart, funny, edgy, and hard-rocking, Lust for Life is the best album of Iggy Pop’s solo career.” 
 
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Writing for AllmusicMark Deming notes:  “Brick by Brick refined Iggy [Pop]’s gifts without watering them down, adding a polish that focused his talents rather than blurring them.  Working with a mixture of L.A. session heavyweights (Waddy WachtelDavid Lindley) and rock stars paying their respects (Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns N’ RosesKate Pierson from the B-52’s)Brick by Brick leans to tough, guitar-based hard rock, leavened with a few more pop-oriented tunes that still speak of a hard-nosed lyrical approach.  But the triumph here is Iggy’s; he’s rarely sung better on record, finding a middle ground between precision and abandon that honors both and surrenders to neither, and as a lyricist he reached a new level of maturity that proved he could expand his boundaries without losing touch with his roots. . . .  Smart, tough, and impressive on all counts, Brick by Brick was Iggy Pop’s strongest work since Lust for Life, and marked a new high point in his career as a songwriter.” 
 
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Against the odds, Iggy Pop turns 70 next month, and his music is as vital as ever.  His most recent album, Post Pop Depression (2016), ranks 4 stars from AllmusicMark Deming writes:  “When it was announced that Iggy Pop would be collaborating with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, the music press buzzed with anticipation about the project.  What would the proto-punk icon and the snarky hard rock smart guy come up with?  The surprise answer is 2016’s Post Pop Depressionin many respects an unwitting but loving tribute to Pop’s friend and collaborator David Bowie.  Post Pop Depression arrived two months after Bowie’s death, and was completed before his health problems became common knowledge.  More than anything, though, this music evokes the sound and feel of Pop’s first two solo albums.  1977’s The Idiot and Lust for Life were cut with Bowie in Germany as Pop struggled to make sense of his life and career after the Stooges collapsed.  With the reunited Stooges gone following the deaths of Ron [Asheton] and Scott AshetonPost Pop Depression finds Pop returning to the work he made in 1977, in ways that count the most.  Post Pop Depression is smart and thoughtful, intelligent without being pretentious, and full of bold but introspective thinking.” 
 
(March 2017)
 
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Iggy Pop had moved on and had previously released two solo albums in 1977The Idiot and Lust for Life; but Kill City was the music that Iggy had created right after the third Stooges album came out, Raw Power.  As it happened, James Williamson stayed until the end; besides being in the 21st-Century tour with the Stooges, he was in the line-up when the band created its last album, Ready to Die (2013). 
 
(September 2017)
 
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Still, Kill City – and the other albums in The Iguana Chronicles for that matter – has comparatively low marks from some critics.  While the previous two albums by the StoogesFun House and Raw Power, as well as the first two solo albums by Iggy PopThe Idiot and Lust for Life all have 5-star ratings by AllmusicKill City is at 3½ stars.  Robert Christgau of Village Voice gave the album a B. 
 
(December 2017)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021