Iggy Pop - American Caesar (1993)

Boasting a big-name producer and appearances from a handful of actual mainstream rock stars, Brick by Brick was a remarkably successful attempt (critically, if not commercially) to create an "event album" around Iggy Pop, so the follow-up came as a surprise “American Caesar” was cut fast and loose in a New Orleans studio, with Malcolm Burn (hardly known for his work in hard rock) in the producer's chair and Pop's road band backing him up. But the real surprise was that “American Caesar” ranks with Pop's very best solo work.
Dark, loud, and atmospheric, it's a far riskier album than “Brick by Brick”, lyrically following that disc's themes of America teetering on the edge of internal collapse with the same degree of hard-won maturity, but adding a wacked-out passion and force that recall the heady days of Raw Power. While Pop's group doesn't play with the subtlety of the studio cats on “Brick by Brick” (I'll leave it to others to debate if they won't or they can't), they also sound tight and forceful, like a real band with plenty of muscle and some miles under their belts.
Eric Schermerhorn's guitar meshes with Pop's vocals as well as anyone he's worked with since Ron Asheton, and Malcolm Burn's production is clear and detailed but adds subtle textures that season the formula just right. The hard rockers are full-bodied ("Wild America," "Plastic and Concrete"), the calmer tunes still bristle with tension and menace ("Mixing the Colors," "Jealousy"), the few moments of calm sound sincere and richly earned ("Highway Song," "It's Our Love"), the manic rewritten remake of "Louie Louie" actually tops the version on Metallic K.O., and the title cut is a bizarre bit of spoken-word performance art that's as strange as the entirety of Zombie Birdhouse, and a rousing success where that album was a brave failure.
In a note printed on the CD itself, Pop says of “American Caesar”, "I tried to make this album as good as I could, with no imitations of other people and no formula sh*t." And Pop succeeded beyond anyone's expectations; “American Caesar” is an overlooked masterpiece.

Track listing

01.  "Character"  (Pop, Eric Schermerhorn)  - 1:07
02.  "Wild America"  (Pop, Eric Schermerhorn)  - 5:52
03.  "Mixin' the Colors"  (Iggy Pop)  - 4:49
04.  "Jealousy"  (Iggy Pop)  - 6:04
05.  "Hate"  (Iggy Pop)  - 6:56
06.  "It's Our Love" ( Iggy Pop)  - 4:09
07.  "Plastic & Concrete"  (Iggy Pop)  - 2:55
08.  "Fuckin' Alone"  (Pop, Eric Schermerhorn)  - 4:56
09.  "Highway Song"  (Iggy Pop)  - 3:44
10.  "Beside You"  (Steve Jones, Pop)  - 4:29
11.  "Sickness"  (Iggy Pop)  - 3:15
12.  "Boogie Boy"  (Iggy Pop)  - 4:53
13.  "Perforation Problems"  (Iggy Pop)  - 3:15
14.  "Social Life"  (Iggy Pop)  - 4:12
15.  "Louie Louie"  (Richard Berry)  - 3:47
16.  "Caesar"  (Pop, Eric Schermerhorn)  - 7:09
17.  "Girls of N.Y."  (Iggy Pop)  - 4:15

Credits
Iggy Pop - guitar, vocals
Eric Schermerhorn - guitar
Malcolm Burn - guitar, keyboards, harmonica
Hal Cragin - bass
Larry Mullins - drums, percussion
Jay Joyce - guitar
Bill Dillon - guitar
Darryl Johnson - percussion
Henry Rollins - backing vocals
Katell Keineg - backing vocals
Lisa Germano - backing vocals
Producer - Malcolm Burn

Notes
Recorded sy Kingsway Studio, New Orleans and Bearsville Studios, NY
Genre: Rock, Pop
Length: 71:32

© 1993 Virgin Records