Iggy Pop - Brick by Brick (1990)

Album Review:

While Don Was is best known for his work with mutant funkateers Was (Not Was), he was also a Motor City boy with fond memories of the Stooges' glory days, and when he was hired to produce an album for Iggy Pop, Was said, "The guy is incredibly intelligent, writes great lyrics, is a great singer, and I just wanted to get that across." And he did: Brick by Brick refined Iggy's gifts without watering them down, adding a polish that focused his talents rather than blurring them. Working with a mixture of L.A. session heavyweights (Waddy Wachtel, David Lindley) and rock stars paying their respects (Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns n' Roses, Kate Pierson from the B-52's), Brick by Brick leans to tough, guitar-based hard rock, leavened with a few more pop-oriented tunes that still speak of a hard-nosed lyrical approach. But the triumph here is Iggy's; he's rarely sung better on record, finding a middle ground between precision and abandon that honors both and surrenders to neither, and as a lyricist he reached a new level of maturity that proved he could expand his boundaries without loosing touch with his roots. On Brick by Brick, Iggy's dominant theme is the cultural and moral decay of modern America, and finding the strength to rise above it and reach a place in the world. That might sound a bit grand for Iggy, but as a man who sent himself to Hell and back (and learned a few things in the process), he expresses his ideas with plenty of piss, vinegar, and hard-bitten wit. Smart, tough, and impressive on all counts, Brick by Brick was Iggy Pop's strongest work since Lust for Life, and marked a new high point in his career as a songwriter. –by Mark Deming, allmusic.com.


Album Details:

Artist: Iggy Pop
Album: Brick by Brick
Label: Virgin Records America, Inc. (Europe)
Catalogue #: CDVUS 19, 0777 7 86173 2 7
Matrix #: 786173 CDM01 / 1-2-22-NL
Bar Code: 0 077778 617327 >
Format: CD
Type: Album
Country: Europe (Made in Holland)
Release Date: 1990
Number of Discs: 1
Language: English
Time: 57:29
Rating: 4.5 stars (allmusic.com)
Genre: Pop/Rock
Styles: Hard Rock, Detroit Rock, Album Rock, Dance-Rock, Proto-Punk, Contemporary Pop/Rock


Tracklist:

01. Home - 4:01
02. Main Street Eyes - 3:42
03. I Won't Crap Out - 4:03
04. Candy - 4:14 (vocals duet with Kate Pierson)
05. Butt Town - 3:34
06. The Undefeated - 5:05
07. Moonlight Lady - 3:31
08. Something Wild - 4:02
09. Neon Forest - 7:06
10. Starry Night - 4:02 (vocals duet with John Hiatt)
11. Pussy Power - 2:47
12. My Baby Wants To Rock & Roll - 4:46
13. Brick By Brick - 3:30
14. Livin' On The Edge Of The Night - 3:08

Total Playtime: 57:29


Credits:

Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Electric] - Iggy Pop , Waddy Wachtel
Artwork By [Design] - Steve J. Gerdes
Artwork By [Illustration] - Charles Burns
Artwork By [Painting] - David Wojnarowicz
Bass - Charley Drayton , Duff McKagan
Drums - Kenny*
Engineer [Assistant] - Clark Germaine* , Danny Bosworth* , Eric Rudd , Martin Schmelzle
Guitar [Lead] - Slash (3)
Keyboards - Jamie Muhoberac
Lead Vocals - Iggy Pop
Photography - Michael Lavine
Producer - Don Was
Recorded By, Mixed By - Ed Cherney
Violin, Mandolin - David Lindley


Lineage:

Silver CD -> EAC (Secure Mode / Offset Corrected) -> Test & Copy Image & Create CUE Sheet -> Uncompressed -> WAV (1411 Kbit/s / 44100 Hz / 16 Bits / 2 Channels) -> FLAC frontend -> FLAC (compression level 8) -> AvaxHome


Extra info:

- Codec used for lossless compression: libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917.
- Samplerate: 44100 Hz Stereo / Bitrate: 16 bits.
- Full Scans in 300 dpi, jpg format in highest quality.
- EAC extraction LOG file included.
- Cuesheet files included (WAV & FLAC).
- MD5 checksums included.
- All tracks accurately ripped.