IGGY AND THE STOOGES: RAW POWER

SCORE: 98/100

The Stooges took one more 70s victory lap before moving into a new gear - but this album manages to build up off of their previous two in the most impressive way possible,

'Raw Power' does suffer from some mixing issues - but the sheer force of the album is an undeniable thing. This project takes everything that was great about The Stooges' previous two albums and expands upon those elements to make their magnum opus - one that is more fronted around the solo star of the group, Iggy Pop. This would be the start of his solo career with the album being released under "Iggy and The Stooges" rather than just The Stooges. Iggy was moving on to bigger things - but he had to leave one bigger; biggest thing as a final salute with The Stooges under his belt.

The mix of noisy rock and softer sounds make this album deeply immersive and genuinely enjoyable to listen to. The vocal efforts from Iggy Pop are unique and highly interesting to listen to; and his persona adds a level of depth to this album that you couldn't find from any other band. This album manages to sound like other music from its era while still sounding ahead of its time, and it's an absolute essential in the greater sphere of rock music.

Shifting into harder, more rock-steady anthems for this album was the right move. It keeps the previous style of the band in check while turning it into something completely new - and it's a hugely exciting departure from the sounds present on their first two albums. There's a more refined style and edge to this album that makes it there most cohesive, and it feels like their most iconic in every sense possible.

For this album, the people working on it (band and mix team, etc.) were given only a day of time to mix the album - leading to the gritty, murky sound present throughout the entire album. This led to multiple mixes being made later in time in attempts to change the somewhat muffled sound of the album; but this edge gives this album something that makes it that much more memorable. It sticks out due to the sheer amount of grit present within it, and adding incredible songs and performances to the mix just made the entirety of the project as good as it could get.

This album was a big influence on many artists to come after the conception of 'Raw Power' (Nirvana, The Smiths, Sex Pistols), and the hard sound used by The Stooges is considered to be one of the earliest examples of punk rock before it became an established genre some years later. The band was doing punk before it was even truly a concept; and rock music would never be the same without this album and their previous two albums from the years before. The sheer magnitude of The Stooges goes unspoken about often - but there's no denying the power that the band has and how they helped to shape an entire genre into its highest peaks.

The atmosphere present on 'Raw Power' is one that you can only find within this album - and every hard, murky riff leads into gorgeous segments and tracks that all keep the same level of quality and consistency. It's an album where every element comes together so smoothly it's hard to pick and choose certain points of highlight from - but the entire album makes itself known in just about every way possible.