Versions:
LP
CD
Tracklisting:
1. Character
2. Wild America
3. Mixin' The Colors
4. Jealousy
5. Hate
6. It's Our Love
7. Plastic & Concrete
8. Fuckin' Alone
9. Highway Song
10. Beside You
11. Sickness
12. Boogie Boy
13. Perforation Problems
14. Social Life
15. Louie Louie
16. Caesar
17. Girls of N.Y.
Best Tracks:
Fuckin' Alone
Louie Louie
Wild America
Hate
Mixin' The Colors
Iggy Pop's solo career is patchy, at best. I used to feel awfully guilty about this. Being that Iggy is one of my favourite artists (and one of my absolute favourite people in the world), I always felt bad that I didn't like a lot of his solo work. Obviously, there are moments of absolute genius (The Idiot, Lust For Life) and a great number of buried and/or forgotten treasures (this, New Values, Skull Ring). Unfortunately, there's also a bunch of records that, if I'm being honest, just aren't very good (Party, Instinct). I felt, for a long time, that I loved Iggy so much that I should still love his not-so-good albums. It wasn't until I read Paul Trynka's wonderful Iggy bio, Open Up And Bleed, in which the author explicitly notes the flaws in Iggy's back catalogue, that I stopped feeling guilty about it. So, not all of his records are great. Big deal. The ones that are great, are really fucking great. Iggy has always been a risk taker. Sometimes, artistically, those risks don't work out. Sometimes, though, those risks result in moments of greatness. The Stooges aside, Iggy is still highly regarded, and that speaks volumes about the quality of his work when he gets it right. And, with American Caesar, he got it right.
This is probably my favourite of all Iggy Pop's solo records. I love it more than Lust For Life (though, it may be equal with The Idiot). I first bought it after Triple J did their Iggy Pop J Files show, around 1998. They played 'Fuckin' Alone'. I'd never heard it, but instantly fell in love with it. It remains my favourite song on the album. But, it took me a while to really digest American Caesar. For the first few years, I'd listen to the songs I liked and that was it. At 75 minutes, it was certainly a lot to take in. At 16, I somehow didn't have the attention span to give the album the time it warranted. I did, however, love the feel of the album. I always found myself coming back to it, even as I investigated Iggy's solo work further. By the time I was about 25, I'd found my groove with American Caesar. It's a fucking wonderful record.
Hearing it on double vinyl for the first time tonight has given me a renewed appreciation for the album. It really should have been a double album. It certainly feels more immediate, broken over four manageable sides, rather than all lumped onto a single CD (and that could be said for many albums released during the CD era). It's certainly a diverse record, probably the most varied of Iggy's career. It's also surprisingly mellow. The acoustic 'Highway Song' and 'Social Life' are excellent, but there are actually some real tender moments ('Fuckin' Alone', 'It's Our Love', the beautiful 'Mixin' The Colors' and, especially, 'Jealousy'). These moments are particularly moving, showing a vulnerability not often heard - before or since - from Iggy. There is also the weirdness of the wonderful seven minute, spoken word title track. Being an Iggy Pop record (as the warning on the sleeve hilariously warns us), there's also no shortage of rock tracks. 'Wild America' and 'Louie Louie' are highlights (the latter is, somehow, even better than The Stooges' version), while others result in American Caesar's only disappointing moments. While 'Plastic & Concrete' and 'Sickness' are OK, 'Perforation Problems' and 'Boogie Boy' are the albums only bad songs. Which is, however, not a mean feat for a 17 track album.
I had been searching for a vinyl copy of this album for many years. It's been the only one of Iggy's solo records, released on vinyl, that I haven't owned on vinyl. I actually found a copy last time I was in London, at a little record shop I found tucked away in a lane way off Tottenham Court Road. It was £25, so I left it there. I immediately regretted my decision. I went back a few days later to buy it and, of course, it was gone. Much to my delight, Plain Recordings re-released it last year and, this week, I finally have a vinyl copy. And, I haven't been disappointed. This blog was the first listen, but certainly won't be the last. It's a great sounding pressing and, as I said earlier, the album makes a bit more sense as a double record.
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