1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die #172. The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)

172. The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)

Label – Elektra
Producer – John Cale
Art Direction – William S. Harvey
Nationality –USA
Running Time – 34:33

Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)

Side A
969" – 4:05
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" – 3:09
"We Will Fall" – 10:18

Side B
"No Fun" – 5:14
"Real Cool Time" – 2:29
"Ann" – 2:59
"Not Right" – 2:51
"Little Doll" – 3:20

What a fun record. Never taking themselves too seriously, the Stooges unleashed this record on the world in August of 1969, and I’m sure listeners were wondering – what the hell is this!! The ragged fury of the guitar runs, the brutal drum pounding and the fierce solid bass thumps anchor the record allowing front man Iggy Pop to lay his vocals on the listener in a in your face manor from start to finish.
One this is for sure – you either like the Stooges – or you don’t! . The record is widely considered as one of the best punk albums of all time, and I would agree with that assessment.
The record peaked at number 106 on the Billboard album charts. Two songs, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969", were released as singles. In 2003, the album was ranked number 185 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.The same magazine included "1969" in their "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" list.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "I Wanna Be Your Dog" at number 13 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
It is highly recommended.