The Stooges LANDMARK: The Stooges by: Dean Van Nguyen Mon:22-Oct-07 Label: Year: 1969 WB rating 78 out of 100

Upon its release The Stooges didn’t sell, but it can still be considered the right album at the right time. Flower power was beginning to unravel, kids were bored, rock ‘n’ roll was being pulled back to its most primitive. Then James Newell Osterberg appears. He becomes known for his bizarre onstage behavior, takes up the moniker Iggy Stooge, then Iggy Pop, and finally, The Godfather of punk.

It’s unfair to pin the influence of an entire genre on one act, but if The Stooges did leave one lasting impression on punk it was their do-it-yourself aesthetic. This influence makes their self titled debut an important signpost for not just punk, but all guitar genres that followed, from metal to glam.

In 1969 The Stooges simply came across as a dirtier, murkier, Rolling Stones. The Stones had just released Begger’s Banquet and were about to release Let It Bleed, leaving behind their flirtation with the psychedelic sixties sounds and hitting their creative peak by returning to their blues-rock sound. The Stooges took that style, dragged it into the garage, added a thick layer of rust, and accidentally helped invent punk. Everything about The Stooges was dirty. Fuzzy, distorted guitars, Pop’s screeching vocals and an “any instrument we can use” mentality only complimented the feelings of frustration that are laid bare on the album.

Opening with the instantly recognizable wah-wah guitar, the classic ‘1969’ batters the listener’s senses by riding on cymbal-less drums and a thudding bass line. “Last Year I was 21, I didn’t have a lot of fun” sings Pop, who swaggers with all the panache of Mick Jagger, but snarls twice as hard. Almost 40 years on this one still reeks of teen spirit, an anthem for the bored male dismayed by his surroundings – Pop over the course of four minutes becoming the voice for disillusioned youth.

It’s followed by the stunningly raw ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, a desperate plea from Pop to win over a girl’s affections. Featuring a violently bashed out-of-tune piano and some sleigh bells, the bizarre instrumentation underlines the song’s garage roots. Live versions of this track are known to last in excess of 20 minutes and the cut-back is most probably due to the influence of producer and former Velvet Underground member John Cale. Musically Cale was miles away from where The Stooges were at the time, and placed a leash on the band that hurt them, particularly when you compare this album to their pure adrenaline-rush follow-ups. The worst instance of this occurs during ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, as Cale bizarrely opts to fade out Ron Asheton’s guitar solo just as it is gathering pace.

Track three and The Stooges were already experimenting, albeit with a style they would never revisit. ‘We Will Fall’ is a 10 minute-plus, eastern flavoured epic, much like The Door’s ‘The End’. Pop even sings it like Jim Morrison, although with lyrics like ‘tonight, I’ll hold myself tight. I won’t fight, I won’t fight” at 21, going on 22 (“oh my and a boo hoo!”) he wasn’t yet the poet Morrison was. The turgid drones make it a trying listen, the only real change over the 10 minutes is in the final 30 seconds when Cale makes a guest spot playing the viola. It’s a shame because after the five-star classics ‘1969’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ it lowers side A’s scoring average.

Famously, their record company Elecktra rejected the first edit of the album as it was too short. Because of this, the band wrote three more songs; ‘Real Cool Time’, ‘Not Right’ and ‘Little Doll’; overnight and recorded them the very next day. Feeling more like off-the-cuff sketches than songs, it could be said they fit the definition of ‘filler’, if they weren’t so good. ‘Real Cool Time’ comes off as The Stooges take on the breezy good vibrations of The Beach Boys. Pop toys with the listener before underlining his actual intentions; ‘we will have a real cool time...tonight’. Closer ‘Little Doll’ rehashes many of the elements of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, although this time we are treated to more of Asheton’s guitar work as he proves himself to be quite an accomplished blues guitarist.

While The Stooges would go on to record louder, bigger selling and ultimately better albums before spectacularly imploding, their debut remains a solid a record in its own right. A thousand bands were taking notes.