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Don’t be fooled by the cover of Beat ‘Em Up…it’s
not as nasty on the inside as it is on the outside. Yes, it
rocks and it rolls and so on, but why is Iggy’s sound
so fresh and clean? He’s always had a beautiful voice,
and he’s made a career of abusing it in delightful ways,
and that voice, often times, stood out in contrast to the
raw sounds that his bands produced (most famously, of course,
The Stooges). Even on the Beat ‘Em Up tracks
that at least threaten the listener with a good sound
beating, the twinkle and sparkle of polished production soften
whatever blows might have connected.
Beat ‘Em Up does have its moments. "Mask"
opens it up with Iggy ripping on America’s soul-crushing
corporate culture over a throbbing rhythm, asking "where
is the soul…where is the love?" What comes next
is a whole lot of filler…tracks that go nowhere for far
too long. In "Weasels", Iggy (predictably) rails
that "Weasels control rock and roll," and yeah,
sure, that’s been obvious for ages, but hey…do weasels
control Iggy as well? Virgin has as many rodents running around
in suits as the next Entertainment Giant, so I have to wonder…is
Iggy bitching in general about the weasels that run Rock Manufacturing
Inc., or is he straining against the leash he’s on?
Honestly, folks…the sound is soooo benign on a few of
these tracks, you’d think that this was Ozzy’s
latest dopey opus if not for Iggy’s pipes.
GG Allin was a newer, more frightening model of what
Iggy was in an earlier age, hatched a mutant to entertain
a meaner generation. GG never got any real respect because,
when he wasn’t masturbating onstage or cutting himself
up and bleeding all over everyone, he was macing all the people
in the front row with one hand and flinging his own poop toward
the folks in the back with the other. He wasn’t a very
good singer either, HOWEVER…GG always had a great
rock band behind him. The Murder Junkies come to mind…they
seemed to play on raw instinct, knowing exactly where
to go at exactly the right time. When they went into the studio
to record, they played with the same sort of precision recklessness
that propelled their live shows. Since there were no suits
around, (GG smelled pretty bad and if he maced his fans, imagine
what he’d do to record company weasels…) there was
no filter, and the result was great and powerful rock music.
GG eventually died for his sins, but Iggy’s been clean
longer than GG was alive, and he’s still here making
records so…I wonder if The Murder Junkies are available?
Beat ‘Em Up ends up being more threat than promise,
although Iggy’s old moves still flash into sight. On
"Ugliness", easily the best track on the record,
you can barely hear Iggy clapping in time just below the mike
while he describes all the bad and awful things people deal
with on a daily basis. Just when you expect to hear another
tired guitar solo smack dab in the middle of the thing, he
lays into a one note car horn instead, and the track comes
off as totally spontaneous…the way rock music should
sound.
—Jeff Noise
Track Listing:
Mask
L.O.S.T.
Howl
Football
Savior
Beat ‘Em Up
Talking Snake
The Jerk
Death Is Certain
Go For The Throat
Weasels
Drink New Blood
It’s All Shit
Ugliness
V.I.P
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