THE WEIRDNESS
The Weirdness is the fourth studio album by American proto-punk band The Stooges. It was released on 6 March 2007. It was the first studio album of new material The Stooges released since Raw Power in 1973, and is also the final album to feature Ron Asheton, who died in early 2009. The album features founding members Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron Asheton (guitar), and Scott Asheton (drums) along with new band member Mike Watt (bass guitar), formerly of Minutemen, and returning guest musician Steve Mackay (saxophone), who appeared on The Stooges' 1970 album, Fun House. (More from Wikipedia)
Iggy Pop began working with the Stooges again on his 2003 album, Skull Ring that also featured several younger artists: Green Day, the Trolls, Sum 41, and Peaches. The Stooges toured extensively between 2003 and 2008 with founding members Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron Asheton (guitar), and Scott Asheton (drums), along with (at Ron Asheton's suggestion) new bandmember Mike Watt (bass guitar), formerly of Minutemen and fIREHOSE, and guest musician Steve Mackay (saxophone), who had performed on the Fun House album. During these tours, the Stooges released an album of all new material, The Weirdness (2007). Also, Elektra Records reissued the band’s first two albums, The Stooges and Fun House in deluxe 2-CD packages in 2005.
After Ron Asheton was found dead in January 2009 of an apparent heart attack, James Williamson was brought back into the line-up, and the Stooges continued to perform concerts around the world until June 2016, when James Williamson announced: “The Stooges is over. Basically, everybody's dead except Iggy [Pop] and I. So it would be sort-of ludicrous to try and tour as Iggy and the Stooges when there's only one Stooge in the band and then you have side guys. That doesn't make any sense to me." One last album was released by the Stooges in 2013, Ready to Die that was better received by the critics than The Weirdness.
(March 2017)
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The Iguana Chronicles are by no means the only albums by the Stooges that have been released outside of the five major-label albums: The Stooges (1969), Fun House (1970), Raw Power (1973), The Weirdness (2007), and Ready to Die (2013). Because the music was supplied by a Stooges bandmember, James Williamson with the blessing of frontman Iggy Pop, I would view the albums in The Iguana Chronicles as legitimate releases.
(December 2017)
