On
The Idiot
,
Iggy Pop
looked deep inside himself, trying to figure out how his life and his art had gone wrong in the past. But on
Lust for Life
, released less than a year later,
Iggy
decided it was time to kick up his heels, as he traded in the midtempo introspection of his first album and began rocking hard again. Musically,
is a more aggressive set than
, largely thanks to drummer
Hunt Sales
and his bassist brother
Tony Sales
.
The Sales
proved they were a world-class rhythm section, laying out power and spirit on the rollicking title cut, the tough groove of "Tonight," and the lean neo-punk assault of "Neighborhood Threat," and with guitarists
Ricky Gardiner
and
Carlos Alomar
at their side, they made for a tough, wiry rock & roll band -- a far cry from the primal stomp of
the Stooges
, but capable of kicking
back into high gear. (
David Bowie
played piano and produced, as he had on
, but his presence is less clearly felt on this album.) As a lyricist and vocalist,
rose to the challenge of the material; if he was still obsessed with drugs ("Tonight"), decadence ("The Passenger"), and bad decisions ("Some Weird Sin"), the title cut suggested he could avoid a few of the temptations that crossed his path, and songs like "Success" displayed a cocky joy that confirmed
was back at full strength. On
managed to channel the aggressive power of his work with
with the intelligence and perception of
, and the result was the best of both worlds; smart, funny, edgy, and hard-rocking,
is the best album of
's solo career. ~ Mark Deming