This three-CD package rounds up two of the most misunderstood (yet, at the same time, successful) albums in
Iggy Pop's catalog, the late-'80s duo
Blah Blah Blah and
Instinct, that marked his return from the lay-off that consumed the first half of the decade. They are joined by a third album, the promotional Live at the Channel, recorded in 1988 and capturing a typically fiery live set recorded in Boston. Of the two studio packages,
Blah Blah Blah is probably the hardest for old fans to get their heads around, as the initial promise of the single "Real Wild Child" gives way to a clutch of songs that say more for where co-conspirator
David Bowie was heading, than for anything
Iggy had in mind. Indeed, the series of collaborations with former
Sex Pistol Steve Jones that preceded
Bowie's arrival might be considered more telling -- the pair reunited for
Instinct, and turned in a disc that carves a straight line through the divisions between punk, metal, and hardcore, to create an album that is still almost painfully loud. Both albums are appended here with bonus tracks, four apiece, drawn from the 12" singles that accompanied each album. The extended versions really don't add much beyond minutes to the standard LP takes, but this is their first-ever appearance on CD, so that has to count for something. But the live show makes up for any disappointments that the rest of the collection might be packing, a seething set that mixes old with new, and defies you to spot the difference. The opening "Instinct" was from his latest album, the closing "I Wanna Be Your Dog" came from his first, 20 years earlier. But both are unmistakably
Iggy. ~ Dave Thompson