Brick by Brick

Production and content

After attracting mixed reviews for much of his 1980s output, Pop hired longtime Stooges fan Don Was as producer, who would later produce Avenue B, and opted for a hard rock sound. Many songs on the album incorporate a lyrical theme of the United States facing dangers of cultural decay and implosion. Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses fame were featured on the album as songwriters and performers. The cover was drawn by American cartoonist Charles Burns. The album's personnel includes studio musicians Waddy Wachtel and Kenny Aronoff. The album is the first studio album that features Pop contributing guitar. He plays a majority of the guitar parts along with Wachtel and Slash.

Release

The album peaked at number 90 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the charts for 37 weeks. The song "Livin' On the Edge of the Night" was released before the album as a soundtrack for the hit movie Black Rain starring Michael Douglas and Andy García. The song reached number 16 on Modern Rock Tracks. "Candy" reached number 30 on Mainstream Rock Tracks, number 5 on Modern Rock Tracks and number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The first single from the album, "Home", reached number 2 on Modern Rock Tracks.

Brick by Brick became Iggy's first RIAA certified gold album with more than 500,000 copies sold. After completing the album, Iggy conducted a successful world tour; his 1991 performance in Paris was recorded and later released on DVD. Several famous fans appeared on stage with Iggy during the tour, including longtime fan Johnny Depp.

Reception

The album gave Pop some of his strongest reviews since his David Bowie collaborations, and "Candy", with the B-52's vocalist Kate Pierson, became his first MTV hit. The video for the song found fairly heavy rotation on that station. Videos were also made for "Home", "Butt Town" and "Livin' On the Edge of the Night".

Track listing

All songs written by Iggy Pop, except where noted.

1. "Home" – 4:00
2. "Main Street Eyes" – 3:41
3. "I Won't Crap Out" – 4:02
4. "Candy" (with Kate Pierson of The B-52's) – 4:13
5. "Butt Town" – 3:34
6. "The Undefeated" – 5:05
7. "Moonlight Lady" – 3:30
8. "Something Wild" (John Hiatt) – 4:01
9. "Neon Forest" – 7:05
10. "Starry Night" – 4:05
11. "Pussy Power" – 2:47
12. "My Baby Wants to Rock and Roll" (lyrics: Pop; music: Slash) – 4:46
13. "Brick by Brick" – 3:30
14. "Livin' on the Edge of the Night" (Jay Rifkin) – 3:38

Personnel