10 Perfect Garage Rock Albums With No Bad Songs
3. The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)
On a technical level, this album is rough. The guitar playing is explosive but sloppy; the whole thing is oversaturated with fuzz and wah wah pedal; they barely ever use more then three chords; and Iggy couldn't have dumbed down his lyrics more if he tried. Half the time he sounds so disinterested you can almost hear the contempt he has for the status quo. Oh, and he constantly drops out of tune.
For all that, however, this is a f**king brilliant record.
Opening up with 1969, the album instantly tells you what time it is. A tripped out, wah-infused guitar riff kicks everything off, but soon it's replaced by a simplified chord riff. Psychedelia was out and early punk was in. Pretty soon, your eardrums are being perforated by the sinister guitar drone of I Wanna Be Your Dog. Iggy's lyrics speak about a sordid relationship that feels just as filthy as the guitar. John Cale (The Velvet Underground) contributed a single repeated piano note that rings constantly amidst an equally incessant set of slay bells. These elements shouldn't go, but they do. No fun and Real Cool Time only continue to smash your senses in the most enjoyable way.
Along with the MC5 these guys were reinventing the mould. This was blueprint for heavy metal and punk rock.