Released September 1982 Length 42:08 Artist Iggy Pop Producer Chris Stein | Recorded June 1982 Zombie Birdhouse
(1982) Blah-Blah-Blah
(1986) Release date September 1982 Label Animal Records | |
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Studio Blank Tape Studios, New York, United States Genres Rock music, New wave, Post-punk Similar Iggy Pop albums, Rock music albums | ||
Zombie Birdhouse is the seventh solo studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in September 1982 by record label Animal.
Contents
Recording
Zombie Birdhouse was recorded on 16-track in June 1982 at Blank Tape Studios in New York City. Chris Stein of Blondie played guitar on the album as well as handling production duties. Clem Burke, another member of Blondie, played drums.
Release
The album was released in September 1982 on vinyl and compact disc by Stein's record label Animal Records.
In 1991 the album was remastered by Mike Reese, and included one bonus track, "Pain and Suffering", from the original Blank Tape Studio sessions. The track was used in the 1983 film Rock & Rule.
In 2003 the remaster was reissued as a double disc which included a concert recording from 28 October 1982 at the Masonic Temple Theater in Toronto, during Iggy's 1982 Breaking Point tour.
Reception
Zombie Birdhouse has received a mixed response from critics. Parke Puterbaugh of Rolling Stone called the album "a brainy, well-plotted collection with more depth than could have been expected from the author of 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'."
In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote "sadly, Iggy himself didn't rise especially well to the occasion here; his lyrics are often a bizarre mélange of free-association without any clear focus, and one senses that Stein was a bit too awed by working with his hero to have the nerve to tell him when his vocals were wandering off-pitch (or out of tune altogether). [...] ultimately, this album's a failure, but it's certainly one of the most interesting and ambitious failures of Iggy's career".
Musical style
Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters writes that "Zombie Birdhouse [...] has reached near-legendary status for its oddity", and that it is "full of droning synthesizers, Afro-style beats and pseudo-poetic, free-associative lyrics". She also wrote that the album "marked the end of an intriguing and experimental if erratic period of Pop's career."
Track listing
All tracks written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except "Ordinary Bummer" and "Street Crazies", written by Pop.
All tracks written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except where noted.
Personnel
Technical
Songs
1Run Like a Villain3:01
2The Villagers3:48
3Angry Hills2:56