Reverting to the wrongfooted in real-time mode with this mistaken take on The Stooges's second album by Roy Hollingworth of the Melody Maker.
Mind you, even Lester Bangs didn't like it at first.
(And Roy gets megakudos for his ahead-of-the-pack recognition of New York Dolls)
The Stooges
Fun House
(Elektra)
Melody Maker, December 26 1970
by Roy Hollingworth
Next to Grand Funk Railroad, this is the worst album I've heard this year. In truth it's a muddy load of sluggish, unimaginative rubbish heavily disguised by electricity and called American rock.
I've heard a few tales about the Stooges. Singer Iggy Pop (that's daft enough) apparently spends evenings throwing himself into the midst of audiences and getting beaten up by the aforesaid tribes of poor people. Well, maybe that's about the best thing you could do to the guy.
Ron Asheton on lead guitar sounds as though he badly injured both hands. There's really no excuse for turning out such bloody rotten stuff.
I'm trying desperately to think of one good think about it — maybe the bass of Dave Alexander offers a little fluent power. But again, in truth, this album only goes to show up the gullible efforts of record companies, and the people who raise such groups to an absurd status.
I'm willing to believe that the stage act is a gas to watch, but on record, EEeecchh!
One album which -from memory - just about everyone bar yourself was wrong-footed on was Aphex's SAW vol.2. I think you effusively praised it in the Maker, but the reaction from the rest of the music press ranged from bafflement to dismissal...As I recall, The Wire didn't even give it a feature review, just lumping it in a brief review with a couple of other ambient albums of the period.
ReplyDeleteFor me, after Maxinquaye, probably my favourite album of the 90s.
It's weird, I've seen this said previously, that SAW2 got a poor critical reception - for some reason I remember it getting positive reactions for the most part. But I could be wrong - might just be my own parochialism of that time. I am surprised to learnt that The Wire didn't single it out for lavish praise.
DeleteI do remember some American critics who had quite liked the first one and then been totally thrown by #2 - one I recall dismissed as "just vapor" or something like that.