The second record by The
Stooges, released in 1970. Musically it bears some resemblance to their previous self-titled effort, though the songs are longer and more cohesive in mood. This was apparently one of
Miles Davis's favorite records, and there are perhaps some
jazz influences floating way beneath the basic greasy riffage.
The record is named after the house in Detroit where the Stooges all lived at the time.
It opens with "Down on the Street", which sets the pattern for things to come. Over a brutally repetitive three-note riff that sounds like a cross between Black Sabbath and Neil Young's "Opera Star", Iggy screams half-intelligible phrases such as "I'm down on the street with a face that shines", and guitarist Ron Asheton lays down the law with his superb overuse of cheesy effects.
"Loose" and "TV Eye" follow, and they all seem to blend together into one 12-minute song. "Loose" is perhaps the best-known song off of "Fun House", with its profound chorus of "I'm stupid, and deep inside, I'm loose!!". "TV Eye", incidentally, is shorthand for "Twat Vibe".
The mounting tension is then dispelled by the record's centerpiece, a brooding seven-minute semi-ballad called "Dirt". This time the riff is played on bass by Dave Alexander, and Iggy sings fine fuck-the-hippies sentiments such as "I'm DIRT, and I don't CARE".
This is followed by two longer jams, similar in mood to the opening songs, but stretched out, and saxophonist Steve Mackay goes apeshit all over the title track, wherein Iggy keeps screaming to the band, "let me in!!! bring it down!!!! let me in!!!!", and the motherfuckers ignore him completely, and play louder, and finally Iggy just starts singing anyway, and this particular sonic assault takes almost eight minutes to stop knocking you about the face and head.....
But nothing can prepare you for the final track, "L.A. Blues", which is a five-minute noise collage of drum rolls and nearly unlistenable dissonance. On the previous six tracks, The Stooges bothered themselves just enough to write a simple riff and jam around it, and this time they didn't even care enough to write the riff! They manage to spend five minutes jamming on absolutely nothing at all, which in my opinion anyway (possibly no one else's) is the mark of a great band.
The Tracklist:
1. Down on the Street
2. Loose
3. TV Eye
4. Dirt
5. 1970
6. Fun House
7. L.A. Blues
The Musicians:
Iggy Stooge--Vocals
Ron Asheton--Guitar
Dave Alexander--Bass
Scott "Rock Action" Asheton--Drums
Steve Mackay--Saxophone on some songs