In 1980, every punk rocker in Christendom cited
Iggy Pop
as a key influence, and
Soldier
was the album where he started asking for some payback. Original
Sex Pistols
bassist
Glen Matlock
,
Rich Kids
' guitarist
Stella Nova
Ivan Kral
of
the Patti Smith Group
, and former
XTC
keyboardist
Barry Andrews
all signed on to back
Iggy
on
, but the result was hardly the full-frontal rock assault one might have hoped for. Reportedly, conflicts between producers
James Williamson
and
David Bowie
led to both of them walking out on the project, and
is said to have gotten along so poorly with
Nova
that he stripped most of her lead guitar from the mix (which would explain why keyboards and acoustic guitar dominate the album). While 1979's
New Values
showed
growing as a lyricist with a number of tough but introspective songs,
sounds goofy by comparison, featuring oddball throwaways like
"Dog Food,"
"Get up and Get Out"
(whose lyrics are mostly cribbed from old R&B tunes), and the political "satire"
"I'm a Conservative."
But
's in great voice throughout, and on the few songs where the band fully catches fire (like
"Knocking 'Em Down (In the City)"
"Loco Mosquito"
), he leaves little doubt that his powers as a performer were still with him.
Buddha
reissued the album in 2000 with two non-essential bonus tracks,
"Low Life"
"Drop a Hook."
[
was released as a limited-edition LP in 2014.] ~ Mark Deming