Iggy Pop – Preliminaires
Release date: June 2, 2009
Highlights: Les Feuilles Mortes, Spanish Coast, How Insensitive, A Machine For Loving, She’s A Business
So I can’t say that I have ever been a fan of Iggy Pop nor have I ever disliked him. He always seemed like a cool guy but I never really dove into his material. When I was given a copy of “Preliminaires” by a friend I couldn’t wait to just check it out. There’s a reason Iggy Pop is held in such high regard as a groundbreaking performer and writer. This album is everything that I love about music. It’s an album that is full of diversity and it really kept my attention. So much that by the time the last song ended, I couldn’t believe that it was already over.
You’ve got Iggy and his deep, brooding gothic voice singing in french over a samba on the opening track “Les Feuilles Mortes”. You get Iggy singing jazz on “I Want To Go To The Beach” and you get Iggy sounding like a Jim Morrison fronting The Talking Heads on “Nice To Be Dead.” My personal favorite is “A Machine For Loving” which has Iggy Pop sounding like a cross between Jim Morrison and what could be dialogue from a Clint Eastwood western.
This record does have a concept going on., I’m not quite sure about the concept of this album as the liner notes say that it was inspired by the Michel Houellebecq novel “The Possibility of An Island.” Even going into this album not knowing or understanding the concept I was still able to enjoy this album 100%.
This album possesses a lot of substance quality. This is one of those what I like to call “mood” records. If you are looking for a nice chill out album yet an album that you can zone in on the lyrics, this is it. The songs have a way of pulling you in and taking you deep into the core of each and every one of them. By the time I have written this review I have listened to this album three times and each time I hear something different; I get something out of it that I didn’t the first time. I actually feel that my brain is working while listening to these songs. It’s easy to see just how huge of an influence Jim Morrison is on not just Iggy’s writing but in his delivery as well.
This is an album that everyone should check out and own. It’s more than just an album. It’s a work of art.
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