![]() It will only become more important and more badass as time goes on, and this remastered edition of the album is a perfect example of why it will remain that way. This record showed me what true grit and punk rock were all about, and it was released in a time where nobody had any idea what that even was. If songs like Raw Power, Search and Destroy, and ∽eath Trip did not exist, I would probably not be the asshole I am today. That is, if I had to pick one in that classic who started punk argument. Raw Power is by far the most important punk record ever. Its a jam like this that makes you realize how ahead of their time the Stooges were, and why this record deserves a quality reissue. At the start of Search and Destroy, Iggy asks them to turn the lights out while the band blasts through their most classic song (other than I Wanna Be Your Dog). Gimme Danger sounds darker than ever, as it reminds me more of a Doors jam rather than the dude who used to cut his chest up on stage while screaming obscenities (although thats not too far off from what Jim Morrison would do). I feel like the piano is much more apparent in these recordings, but it shows the live side of the young Stooges that modern kids wont get to ever experience. Raw Power rages on for about nine minutes, an epic shredder of a jam that would make Phish weak in the knees. The first nine tracks are Raw Power tunes performed in its rawest and most sincere form: live. ![]() If the remastered Raw Power isnt enough for you, maybe the second disc will knock your socks off. As the track closes out with Williamsons guitar solo over the rest of the band pounding and screaming their hearts out, you can see why this record is the punk rock Bible. ∽eath Trip is still as shrill of a closer ever, with its sound that makes you think the end is near. Each note thumps with fury, and the drums pick up more and more in a sense that was unknown to my ears before the remastered tapes. On Shake Appeal, somebody has turned up the bass a bit. It sounds like its ready for a whole new generation of punks to rip it in the pit. The powerful crunch on Raw Power, the epic title track, makes you want to travel back to the early ’70s and show the punks back then what modern slam dancing is all about. The drums sound like pure chaos, while Iggy screams louder than ever over one of albums most intense songs. Your Pretty Face is Going Straight to Hell sounds like the place your pretty face is going. This is the danger that Iggy was trying to warn us about years ago. Gimme Danger makes you more paranoid than ever, as every note rings out into the night, and the wood block sound has been toned down a bit more than the original. As the song closes out, while Iggy chants about being the forgotten boy, you can feel every blood vessel within your brain bursting. Each note that James Williamson plays is accented to the point where its shrieking in your ears. The guitar sounds gritty as hell, and Iggys vocals contain a sense of youth that you couldnt pick up in the initial release. The updated Search and Destroy gets me just as amped as it did in seventh grade when I saw Anthony Van Engelen skating to it in the Alien Workshop video. And that record sounds just as fresh and furious today as it did almost 40 years ago. It’s when Iggy Pop and his gang, the Stooges, released their album Raw Power that punk started sounding like punk. The Velvet Underground were avant-garde from Andy Warhols subterranean lair, the New York Dolls were all about the glam, and MC5 were just kicking out the jams. But none of those bands (with the exception of the MC5) sounded like what we classify as punk. ![]() People (for some reason) forget about bands like the MC5, the New York Dolls, and the Velvet Underground when discussing this. The common debate is between the Sex Pistols and the Ramones (see SLC Punk!), but anybody with punk expertise knows that it goes back further than that. My favorite musical debate in the history of time is the topic: Who started punk rock? Its a pretty standard argument to have with anybody who ever at one point had either a nose piercing or a Mohawk (I only had one of these).
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