i never actually heard their reunion song from Skull Ring so I don't know what to expect from the 21st century Stooges. But with Albini producing and Watt on bass this could be great. I would like to see them live (Radcliffe, you did see them didn't you, was it good?)

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From Pitchfork:

Iggy and the Stooges Recording New LP, Planning Tour

Kati Llewellyn and Amy Phillips report:
Grandma might want to bring earplugs on this year's Florida getaway, because Iggy Pop and the reunited Stooges are currently working on a new album in a Sunshine State cottage, Billboard.com reports.

Steve Albini in slated to produce, with Jack White helping out on several tracks. The disc will be the Stooges' first release since 1973, and it's set to land via Virgin next year. In support of the as-of-yet-untitled album, the crew will embark on their first-ever extensive reunion tour.

Of writing with Scott and Ron Asheton again, Pop told Billboard.com, "All the same passions and problems are there, but the problems are in a more muted style. I'm still the showoff in the group that gets all the attention. Everyone has their role. It's pretty much the way it was in high school."

"We experimented a lot," he continued with regard to the record's sound. "We're stubborn people. We could have just started out and in 10 minutes we would have sounded like us, but that would have been too easy. We'd have these get-togethers every two or three months for four or five days and bang out stuff. As time went on it started to sound more and more like us."

Bass god Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, etc.) will continue to fill in on the four-string for original Stooges bassist Dave Alexander, who died in 1975. Watt wrote Pitchfork via email, "Last week, I got a CD-R from Iggy with thirteen tunes-- "secret plan" was written on it. They were demos with Iggy singing into a MiniDisc, with Scotty on a little kid drum set, and Ronnie on a tiny guitar amp, all done in Iggy's pad in Miami. Ig told me to get some bass lines going but plan on three days with just me and him in August there in Miami to nail down what he wants on bass."

Pop admits that at this point in his career he has "sort of run out of ideas" and that the prospect of a Stooges reunion was an outgrowth of his 2003 studio album, "Skull Ring."

On that effort, he "just threw it open and did a guest-oriented album. I had resisted doing a Stooges reunion, but when I was putting 'Skull Ring' together, [the Ashetons] were getting really active on the road playing Stooges songs. Suddenly they were in sight and in mind. I thought, 'If I'm going to try a couple tracks with Green Day, why not get the original band?'"

Gonna suck. Don't tell me it's not. Yeah I know MINUTEMENGODPLUSORIGINALLINEUP. It's still going to suck.

This says it all: Pop admits that at this point in his career he has "sort of run out of ideas"


...is he out of money too?

I love Ig, but I don't think he really had a lot of ideas to begin with, so this is pretty much square one. If he needs money, this is probably a good way to scare of some dosh. I'll always be interested, especially if its Stooges related.

I love Iggy too but these reunions are nearly always a result of wanting the cash and as a result tend to turn out badly. At least the briefly reformed Sex Pistols were honest about what they were doing.

WE WANT YOUR MONEY!

they were stil great live, but yeah...another album? not so sure

;rolleyes: (on purpose)

I love the live album. Reserving judgement until I hear the new one. Watt could bring a lot to the table, but it depends on what tone they go for. Watt's on the Listing Ship album and that's pretty much all mellow:

http://www.indieworkshop.com/music.php?id=2406

If the Dolls go for the rock and don't try to be adult alternative, it could be very good.

They were okay live, but more for nostalgic reasons than anything. They didn't offer much hope for their new material. I thought everything off Skull Ring sucked massively - it sounded like a bunch of soccer dads pretending to be outraged.

Ron Asheton is a shitty guitarist. Er, I mean, in Pitchfork parlance, he's a master of the minimal. He knows 3 chords, but, please, only one per song. And whatever swing existed back on Funhouse has been steamrollered into plodding drudgery.

I think Iggy reunited the wrong bunch of Stooges. I'm holding out for the return of James Williamson.

Good to know, I guess. I'll still be interested in hearing where they go with this, but yeah, nowhere special is the ultimate destination.

I love Iggy, but I have to agree with DJ--Iggy never really had ideas himself, but was always around very talented people, which in itself is a tough thing to do year in and year out. What made Iggy cool was his snarl, and his esteem towards rocking the boat. With that said, I'd say Iggy has been more than successful so far in securing a place in the rock lore book, and has remained busy, so to say this is for the money might be a bit shortsighted. Perhaps I'm just naive to think that Iggy would've at least hired by now an accountant. Ashton though I've heard was close to gutter patrol before the previous reunion took place. So, this could all very much be a "hey lets help out Ron, but let's not forget our cake as well" type of thing.

Watt is another hero of mine, and he is sincere in all he does. For that fact alone, I believe this won't be horrid. He wouldn't be part of it, nor endorse it if it was a mockery. Once again, I could be naive, but track records with him don't deviate.

Will it be as good as Funhouse? Probably not, but then again I can't name many albums of all-time which are either. I, for one, am looking forward to this and hopefully see some glimmer of a tour date.

LooGAR just had to choke back vomit.

Heh, I thought the same thing, god bless him.

I disagree with the notion that Iggy never had any ideas himself. If you're buying into the greatness of the Stooges at all, then you've got Iggy alone to thank for it.

And there's a whole lot of ground between "mockery" and "as good as Funhouse". They'll undoubtedly land somewhere in the middle. And that probably won't be good enough.

terrible idea

oh whatever this'll still be better than 90% of the shit that'll come out next year. No, it won't sound all that original anymore and I'm sure it won't be that innovative, but it'll surely be shot to the gut and at least a straight up rock album.