A Million in Prizes: The Anthology

Born James Newell Osterberg in Muskegon, Michigan in 1947 (like Eminem he was raised in a Detroit trailer park), Iggy Pop has inspired everyone from to the Sex Pistols, Nirvana, The White Stripes and Green Day. If you have never heard of Iggy Pop, then there’s probably something wrong with you. Because Iggy has been in the spotlight as a Rock & Roll all-star since his first band, The Stooges graced radio stations in the 60s and 70s. Searching and destroying all things that got in his way, Iggy has definitely shown the world that his work is definitely worth a million in prizes. Aptly titled A Million in Prizes: The Anthology confirms what many rock fans already know, that singer, songwriter, provocateur, and Rock & Roll shaman Iggy Pop was a force of nature, who collected the molecular essence of the music and gave it back to the audience in a purer, more powerful form. Suspicions that such claims overstate the case will be put to rest by one listen to this career-spanning retrospective that encompasses Iggy's work with the Stooges and as a solo artist (up to 2003). It collects 38 tracks from nearly 40 years (!), including alternate takes, non-album tracks, and live cuts.

Commencing with 1969, I Wanna Be Your Dog and No Fun from the Stooges' trailblazing debut album, the first half of the disc provides a ringside seat to the band's keg-of-dynamite demise Raw Power (Search and Destroy, Gimme Danger, and the title track, though omitting the spellbinding Shake Appeal), the David Bowie-led Pop restoration (Nightclubbing, China Girl) and Iggy's solo pinnacle (Lust for Life, The Passenger). While the second half is patchy (spotting synthesizers for guitars too often) and erratic (missing notable songs from the Soldier and Party albums), it does include duets with Debbie Harry (Well Did you Evah) and the B-52s Kate Pierson (Candy), 1993 live versions of the Stooges TV Eye and Loose, and the first Stooges studio partnership in 30 years, Skull Ring. It really would be pointless to start naming all the tracks that stand out in this anthology. Listening to it all the way through, fans and listeners are able to see how Iggy has changed from his earliest recordings.

If Iggy Pop had died of a drug overdose in 1971 or sometime shortly after Raw Power had come out (which he miraculously did not), he would still be a legend. As it stands, he's a living legend and A Million in Prizes: The Anthology is the only dissertation anyone will ever need to prove it. Not only did he redefine Rock & Roll for a new, angrier, more disaffected generation, he continued to make memorable songs that still creep into our daily lives through television, movies and commercials. Bursting with light, darkness, energy, and raw animal emotion, Iggy has burned a black hole in music that sucks in and eradicates mediocrity with a passionate void. A Million in Prizes: The Anthology is a rare glimpse into the vastness of space and the miniscule profundity of a man. While not every album is represented on this collection, it offers an accurate and compelling look at the Iggy time line, and the mastering is strong, clear, and loud. A Million in Prizes: The Anthology is hardly the final and definitive statement on Iggy Pop's life and music, but as an introduction and career overview it's near unbeatable. It tells a story that's greater than the individual tracks themselves, one that elevates even the dimmest of material. This superb anthology not only reveals Iggy's tireless energy – that's a foregone conclusion – but how relevant, vital, and necessary his music remains.