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**Iggy Pop - New Values**
★★★★☆

By 1979, James Newell Osterberg Jr. had already died and been resurrected more times than a comic book superhero. The man who became Iggy Pop had crawled through the wreckage of The Stooges, survived a legendary heroin addiction that nearly killed him, endured psychiatric hospitalization, and somehow emerged from his Berlin exile with David Bowie clutching two critically acclaimed but commercially disappointing solo albums. When he walked into Rockfield Studios in Wales to record "New Values," the Godfather of Punk was facing a crossroads: evolve or become a museum piece.

What emerged was Iggy's most cohesive and accessible album to date – a streamlined collection of songs that managed to preserve his feral essence while acknowledging that 1979 wasn't 1969. Gone were the sprawling, experimental soundscapes of his Bowie collaborations "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life." In their place was something leaner, hungrier, and surprisingly radio-friendly. This was Iggy Pop's bid for mainstream acceptance, and remarkably, he pulled it off without selling his soul to the corporate devil.

The album opens with "Tell Me a Story," a deceptively gentle acoustic number that finds our protagonist in an unexpectedly vulnerable mood. It's a far cry from the chest-beating primalism of "Search and Destroy," but there's something deeply unsettling about hearing Iggy croon like a lounge singer who's seen too much. The real statement of intent comes with "New Values" itself, a driving rocker that splits the difference between punk aggression and new wave sophistication. Over a hypnotic bassline and crisp drumming, Iggy declares his independence from both his past and society's expectations with typical snarling conviction.

But it's "Loco Mosquito" that serves as the album's twisted centerpiece – a paranoid, jittery anthem about feeling like a pest in your own life. The song captures that peculiar late-70s anxiety perfectly, with Iggy's vocals alternating between whispered confessions and full-throated howls. It's simultaneously his most neurotic and most relatable moment, proof that beneath all the chest-cutting and crowd-surfing theatrics lived a genuinely gifted songwriter.

The album's secret weapon is "Five Foot One," a surprisingly tender love song that showcases Iggy's often-overlooked romantic side. Sure, his idea of romance still involves lyrics like "You're my little baby, you're my little doll," delivered with the intensity of a man describing a religious experience, but there's genuine affection beneath the obsession. It's the kind of song that reminded everyone that this wasn't just some leather-pants-wearing caveman – this was an artist capable of real emotional depth.

Musically, "New Values" finds Iggy working with a tight band that includes former Stooges guitarist James Williamson alongside new collaborators who understood how to harness his energy without diluting it. The production is crisp and punchy, with none of the murky atmospherics that sometimes obscured his previous work. Every guitar slash and drum hit lands with precision, creating a sonic framework that lets Iggy's personality shine through without overwhelming the songs themselves.

The album's commercial success – it actually charted, a rarity for an Iggy Pop release – proved that there was indeed an audience for intelligent punk rock that didn't sacrifice its edge for accessibility. Songs like "I'm Bored" and "Don't Look Down" became staples of his live shows, while the entire album served as a blueprint for countless post-punk bands who were trying to figure out how to grow up without growing soft.

Nearly five decades later, "New Values" stands as perhaps Iggy's most underrated achievement. While "Lust for Life" and "The Passenger" get all the soundtrack placements and classic rock radio spins, this album represents something equally important: proof that punk's founding fathers could adapt and survive in a changing musical landscape. It's the sound of an artist refusing to become a nostalgia act, instead choosing to push forward into uncertain territory with characteristic fearlessness.

In an era when many of his contemporaries were either dead, irrelevant, or embarrassingly trying to recapture their youth, Iggy Pop delivered something rare: a mature album that never forgot how to bite.