The Weirdness

In terms of reunions, The Stooges' The Weirdness is an honorable effort, if inevitably bound to fall short of the crazy perfection of their three essential releases: the self-titled debut, Fun House, and Raw Power. Steve Albini's production is streamlined and slightly flat, making the drums sound as if they'd been recorded in an empty warehouse. Ex-Minuteman Mike Watt fills in on bass and adds a quickness to the group. Ron Asheton's guitars are filled with the same fury that gave us Fun House, and Iggy Pop sings with the same demonic gleam in his eye and tickle in his throat. Much in the spirit of the four tracks with The Stooges that highlighted Pop's solo album Skull Ring, the songs here have a bracing honesty, both lyrically and performance-wise. There's no touching up the raw display of "You Can't Have Friends" or "Greedy Awful People," while "ATM" gives you some idea that they did this, in part, for the cash. The cover of The Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" is inspired.