Zombie Birdhouse
Zombie Birdhouse | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1982 | |||
Recorded | June 1982 | |||
Studio | Blank Tape, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 42:08 | |||
Label | Animal | |||
Producer | Chris Stein | |||
Iggy Pop chronology | ||||
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Zombie Birdhouse is the sixth solo studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in September 1982 by record label Animal.
Recording
Zombie Birdhouse was recorded on 16-track in June 1982 at Blank Tape Studios in New York City. Chris Stein of Blondie produced the album.
Musical style
Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters writes that "Zombie Birdhouse [...] has reached near-legendary status for its oddity", and that it is "full of droning synthesizers, Afro-style beats and pseudo-poetic, free-associative lyrics". She also wrote that the album "marked the end of an intriguing and experimental if erratic period of Pop's career."[1] Jeffrey Ramos of Minor Clash Publications called it Pop's final new wave-era album and "[o]ne of Pop's most obscure and experimental releases that was decades ahead of its time. Filled with a strong punk rock ethos, as Pop rambles through poetic verse over introspective and experimental beats."[2] According to writer Ross Horton, the album exhibits "a kind of greasy, sweaty, sleazy rock 'n' roll fitted with a sharp electronic edge," with sporadic musical comparisons to Suicide, Throbbing Gristle and Talking Heads.[3]
Release
The album was released in September 1982 by Stein's record label Animal Records.
In 1991 the album was remastered by Mike Reese and included one bonus track, "Pain and Suffering", from the original Blank Tape Studio sessions. The track was used in the 1983 film Rock & Rule.
In 2003 the remaster was reissued as a double disc which included a concert recording from 28 October 1982 at the Masonic Temple Theater in Toronto, during Iggy's 1982 Breaking Point tour.
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
The Great Rock Discography | 4/10[7] |
The Line of Best Fit | 8/10[3] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
Sounds | [10] |
The Village Voice | B−[11] |
Zombie Birdhouse has received a mixed response from critics. Parke Puterbaugh of Rolling Stone called the album "a brainy, well-plotted collection with more depth than could have been expected from the author of 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'."[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, naming it Iggy's most experimental album to date, praised "music-meister" Rob Duprey's interesting stylistic continuity, but panned Pop's "slogans, social theory, in-jokes, bad poetry, and vocal dramaturgy."[11] Sandy Robertson of Sounds felt although the album was "hardly challenging like early Pop overdosed-and-on-his-knees binges," Chris Stein courageously provides little of his familiar style; "instead it's a bespectacled text."[10]
In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of
Track listing
All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except "Ordinary Bummer" and "Street Crazies", written by Pop
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Run Like a Villain" | 3:00 |
2. | "The Villagers" | 3:46 |
3. | "Angry Hills" | 2:55 |
4. | "Life of Work" | 3:44 |
5. | "The Ballad of Cookie McBride" | 2:58 |
6. | "Ordinary Bummer" | 2:40 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Eat or Be Eaten" | 3:14 |
2. | "Bulldozer" | 2:16 |
3. | "Platonic" | 2:39 |
4. | "The Horse Song" | 2:57 |
5. | "Watching the News" | 4:10 |
6. | "Street Crazies" | 3:53 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
13. | "Pain and Suffering" | 3:39 |
All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Villagers" | 3:59 | |
2. | "Fall in Love with Me" | Pop, Ivan Král | 3:37 |
15. | "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell" | Pop, Williamson | 3:16 |
16. | "Eat or Be Eaten" | 3:44 | |
17. | "Sixteen" | Pop | 3:00 |
18. | "Street Crazies" | 3:35 |
Personnel
- Iggy Pop – vocals
- Rob Duprey – guitar, keyboards, background vocals
- Chris Stein – bass on A5, A6, B2, B3, B6, art direction
- Clem Burke – drums, percussion
Technical
- Joe Arlotta – session engineer
- Butch Jones – mixing engineer
- Esther Friedman – cover photography
References
- ^ Robinson, Charlotte (5 February 2003). "The Weird Trilogy: Iggy Pop's Arista Recordings". PopMatters. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ^ Ramos, Jeffrey. "Zombie Birdhouse: Iggy Pop's Experimental Masterpiece". Minor Clash. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c Horton, Ross (July 4, 2019). "This reissue of Iggy's Zombie Birdhouse is every bit as frustrating and fascinating as the original". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ a b Deming, Mark. "Zombie Birdhouse – Iggy Pop". AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Gittins, Ian (2019). "Reissue Review: Iggy Pop – Zombie Birdhouse". Classic Pop. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ISBN 1-84195-827-1.
- ^ a b Puterbaugh, Parke (November 11, 1982). "Zombie Birdhouse review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ a b Robertson, Sandy (September 25, 1982). "Iggy Pop: Zombie Birdhouse (Animal Records/Chrysalis)". Sounds. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (March 29, 1983). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
External links
- Zombie Birdhouse at Discogs (list of releases)