Warthur Buyer beware - the original release of Metallic KO, the one whose track list is reflected above, was mislabelled, with only the second side actually coming from the final Stooges show and the first side hailing from a worse-sounding gig at the same venue from some four months earlier. So for this purpose, my rating of this will be based on that issue - go look at my review of Metallic 2xKO, one of several versions of the release to include the full final show (and, in its 2CD configurations, the full version of the earlier show too), for my thoughts on that.

Really, though, if you are enough of a collector to want this material, the best way to get it these days is on Cherry Red's You Think You're Bad, Man? box - a modestly-priced 5CD collection which will get you both those shows, plus three others, coming to about as much Raw Power-era live Stooges as anyone could possibly want.

Warthur The I'm Sick of You sessions have been released in various formats now - the definitive one being that offered on the first disc of the Heavy Liquid boxed set (rereleased more recently on the Born In A Trailer boxed set), from which you can take whichever version of I Got a Right and Gimme Some Skin you prefer, add a brilliantly filthy Louie Louie, Money, Scene of the Crime and of course the brilliant I'm Sick of You itself to get a definitive version of the set. Punk rock in all but name, these aggressive, stripped down, and angry as hell garage rock numbers rank among the very best of the Stooges' output.

siLLy puPPy Quite a hard rocking album for 1969. To me this sounds like THE STOOGES are using The Rolling Stones as their blues rock template but ramping up the adrenoline with a harder edge and a tasty wah-wah lead guitar. This debut album was a commercial flop at the time but the balls-to-the-wall rock they were delivering became a cult hit and would eventually catch on almost a decade later in the form of punk and metal. In particular I tend to hear influences on Alice Cooper and AC/DC.

This first album is a strange mix as it drifts from hard rock to psychedelia and back again. They originally only had five songs but needed more and actually had to lie to get the record deal by telling them they had needed to record them. The three tracks "Real Cool Time", "Not Right" and "Little Doll" were written overnight and improvised on the spot in the studio. This album feels a little controlled compared to the next one where they unleash their aggressive energy and capture the raw live performance vibe. Despite the material varying in quality this is a decent debut that certainly has made more of an impact in retrospect than it ever did when it was released.

Warthur When the first track on the legendarily confrontational Stooges' long-awaited reunion album is called "Trollin'", it's hard not to raise an eyebrow. Iggy Pop sings in the track in question about how "Rock critics wouldn't like this at all", and it's hard not to take that as a direct admission that as far as a followup to the band's legendary proto-punk releases at the dawn of the 1970s goes The Weirdness simply isn't up to scratch.

On albums such as Raw Power and (especially) the incredible Fun House the Stooges sounded like nothing anyone had heard before, and precious little that has come since; on The Weirdness, they sound like any other third-rate garage band. In fact, the closest point of comparison is Skull Ring, Iggy Pop's preceding solo album (on which the Stooges reunion first manifested), a piece which showed a similar total lack of good ideas. In short, I am left with the profound impression that Iggy got the Stooges back together simply because he ran out of better ideas, not because there was any material worthy of the band's illustrious past for them to perform.

UMUR "Raw Power" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US hard rock act The Stooges. The album was released through Columbia Records in February 1973. After the original Stooges lineup broke up after the release of their 2nd album "Fun House (1970)", Iggy Pop and guitarist James Williamson relocated to London after meeting David Bowie, who helped them get a deal with Columbia Records. After unsuccessfully searching for a bassist and a drummer, Pop and Williamson asked original Stooges members Scott and Ron Asheton to fly over to London and become members of the band again. Ron Asheton who had originally been the band´s guitarist, switched to bass. The band were still completely out there on drugs though and after/during touring in support of the album The Stooges split for a second time.

While the cover artwork depicts Iggy Pop in a sort of glam outfit, the music on "Raw Power" is anything but glam influenced. This is filthy and raw rock´n´roll delivered in an absolutely caustic fashion. Highly aggressive and adrenaline pumped, it´s no wonder "Raw Power" is almost universally hailed as one of the seminal proto punk albums. Iggy Pop sounds positively mad on the album. One moment on the verge of an emotional breakdown and the next commanding and aggressive. I don´t know if he didn´t shoot up for a couple of days before recording the album, but this sounds almost scary at times. Tracks like "Search and Destroy", "You're Pretty Face Is Going To Hell(Hard To Beat)" and the title track were definitely among the most aggressive sounding music released up until then. The band haven´t completely forgotten their jamming psychadelic past though and there are longer jamming type parts on the album too (and a couple of eerie and dark power ballads in "Gimme Danger" and "I Need Somebody"), but the tracks are generally shorter and more edgy than the earlier material by the band. The feeling that the music threatens to beat you to a pulp is not exactly diminished by the ultra raw sound production. If anyone thought the sound on the first two albums was raw, take a listen to this one.

Ultimately "Raw Power" is not the most consistent album and there are tracks that aren´t as great as the best ones on the album, but when the band hit the right notes, they do it with such conviction and fierce energy, that I´m left completely in awe. It´s not an easy album to rate but a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating isn´t all wrong.