Iggy Pop - Soldier

From his Motor City days with the band first known as the Psychedelic Stooges, or glamming it up with Reed and Bowie or the occasional binge of onstage self-mutilation, Iggy Pop has always done what he damn well pleases. Album Description

In the Bunker with Iggy

With so much drama surrounding the sessions that produced perhaps the strongest post-Stooges album, it is somewhat surprising that Iggy Pop - given his uneven track record - was the one who kept things together.

David Bowie and James Williamson each abandoned the production chores, with Bowie reportedly getting into a heated exchange with guitarist Steve New before bidding adieu. Pat Moran was enlisted to pick up the pieces, with Bowie limited to a backing vocal appearance - with the Simple Minds - on Play It Safe.

With an all-star cast of musicians - Glen Matlock (b), Ivan Kral (g, key), Klaus Kruger (d), Barry Andrews (key), New - Pop made his second album for Arista Records one solid effort, which also set the stage for a critically-acclaimed tour to support the February 1980 release.

Pop slaps hard with biting lyrics in I'm a Conservative, I Snub You and Play It Safe. His performance art is keen on Mr. Dynamite and the silly Loco Mosquito. Knocking 'Em Dead (in the City) is unbridled energy, while Ambition and Dog Food are Pop at his tongue-in-cheek best. Low Life and Drop a Hook are bonus cuts.

This was an ambitious project with plenty of egos involved. Pop kept it real and delivered the real deal.
September 5, 2008

somewhat on the mellow side...sort of

Iggy Pop has put out some of the most controversial songs ever recorded to disk, and tracks like DOG FOOD, KNOCKIN' THEM DOWN (IN THE CITY) and I SNUB YOU are no exception. Sadly, those are the best three on the entire album. To be fair, it's not a bad album, but some of the songs are rooted in keyboard-driven garage rock (LOCO MOSQUITO)that lessens the impact. The two bonus tracks are pretty good, the second one an instrumental. Either way, if you're into Iggy doing garage rock, or if you wanna hear three ripping tracks that could've come straight off a Dead Boys album, then get this. September 26, 2007

4 1/2 stars... Iggy's best

A relatively unknown Iggy release, "Soldier" proves to be one of his most diverse and unusual collections of songs. Due to some personnel shake-ups during the recording, the finished product contains a lot less heavy guitar than almost any other Iggy Pop album - but the resulting sparse arrangements end up enhancing the songs. For example, the killer opening track "Loco Mosquito" draws much of its punch from Barry Adamson's brilliant swirling, merry-go-round keyboards and strumming acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is utilized to excellent effect on several other tracks as well, such as "Ambition."

The only real drawback to this outstanding album is that the production on some of the songs does sound a bit dated. "Dog Food," for example, contains a powerful riff and a great lyric, but the backing track hasn't really stood the test of time.

This album contains some really infectious hooks - which is not surprising considering he had Glen Matlock (who wrote almost all the best Sex Pistols tunes) in the band. "Take Care Of Me" is just plain gorgeous - it sounds like the kind of punky, edgy track that Bowie would have been proud to write.

You've got rockers, like "Knocking "em Down In the City"; slower, more sinister numbers like "I Need More" and "Mr. Dynamite"; pure weird fun like "Get Up and Get Out" and "I'm A Conservative"; and prime Iggy vitriol (most notably on "I Snub You") throughout.

The only thing this is missing is a bonus live disc like the reissue of Zombie Birdhouse. But on its own merits, this album holds its own - an Iggy classic, a "new-wave" classic, and just a rollicking good time. April 29, 2006

3 all time masterpiece songs here, 1 of 2 of Iggy's finest solo albums.

The other being New Values. Neither album has classic songs all the way through. However, any album with: 2. I'm A Conservative 3. I Snub You and 11. Dog Food is, by definition, a masterpiece simply because these are three of the finest songs ever crafted and sung by any human being. "I like the small black marks on my hands." There's never been a song, lyrically, like I'm A Conservative. I always blare that song. I Snub You is so Iggy. The backing vocals, "He snubs you" with bratty vocal effect, I mean, come on, what more can one ask for from pure rock. And, Dog Food is, clearly, lyrically possibly the finest song ever. "Dog Food come pose as my wife." I mean, come on, what more can one ask of a lyric? (Turns out a massive Iggy fan, Todd, emailed me to let me know that the lyric sheet says, "Dog food composes my wife." I'm still sinking my teeth into that. I think I like both. I made a classic mishearing-of-lyric blunder that I've believed for about 25 years! Ha. Still gets me. Thanks Todd!) These three songs are so perfect I still get as excited any time I hear them today as I did when I heard them in the late 70's. That's standing the test of time folks.

1. Knocking 'Em Down (In The City) 6. Take Care Of Me 10. Play It Safe 7. I Need More These four songs are great songs. Not the masterpieces the other three are but way better than most of the songs on most other people's albums. The first three are like Iggy anthems of how he lives, or aspires to. Naked emotionally and vocally.

4. Get Up And Get Out 5. Ambition 8. Loco Mosquito 9. Mr Dynamite. I don't consider these songs to be essential but I sure listen to them when playing the full album. Nice.

I actually purchased this CD from amazon.com and am glad I got to hear these two additional songs. You can see they could have fit on the original album nicely. Definitely worth not kicking out of bed. 12. Low Life 13. Drop A Hook

New Values and Soldier. Take the finest songs from each of them and they make the single best album Iggy ever did. chrisbct@hotmail.com March 12, 2006

One of THOSE albums.

It seems pointless to write too much here.
This record started out for me as something new; nothing more.
Every single day since then, I have listened to it at least twice.
Like I said, pointless to write too much. January 25, 2006

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