Maps of Music

Post Pop Depression (2016)

Where the lyrics of Post Pop Depression take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in about three weeks of studio time in California, this album gave Iggy Pop, at age 68, his first US top 20 and first UK top 5 albums.

Key places

Main recording sessions at Rancho De La Luna (2016)

Recording site Rancho De La Luna — Most of the album was recorded at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, over about two weeks in January 2015. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Final sessions at Pink Duck Studios in Burbank (2016)

Recording site The Enterprise (Burbank) — The remaining sessions took place at Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, California, in March 2015. The point is set at city centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Post Pop Depression: 17th studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop
• Released 18 March 2016 by Caroline International / Loma Vista Recordings
• Produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age
• Features Queens of the Stone Age's Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders
• Nine songs in total
• Lead single: Gardenia
• At age 68, Pop reached his first US top 20 album and first UK top 5 album

Background

• Homme and Pop began working on the album in January 2015
• Pop first contacted Homme by text message to ask about writing music together
• Pop then sent lyrics by mail, with notes about his time working with David Bowie
• Homme sent lyrics three months later, and they agreed to record songs together in a studio
• They brought incomplete ideas instead of finished songs so they could work on them together
• Pop described the album as dealing with what happens when one's usefulness ends and with one's legacy
• Before this album, Pop's highest peaks were The Idiot at No. 72 in the US and Lust for Life at No. 28 in the UK, both in 1977
• Pop and Homme had already started a US tour in support of the album by its release date

Recording

• Recorded between 12 January and 9 March 2015
• About two weeks at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California
• One more week at Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, California
• Pop and Homme self-financed the album
• Dean Fertita recorded guitar and keyboards; Matt Helders recorded drum tracks
• Homme said making the album helped him cope with the aftermath of the November 2015 attacks involving his other band, Eagles of Death Metal

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• James Newell Osterberg Jr., born April 21, 1947 in Muskegon, Michigan, known as Iggy Pop.
• Began as drummer in Ann Arbor high school bands, including the Iguanas and the Prime Movers, where he got the nickname "Iggy".
• Formed the Psychedelic Stooges with Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander; he became the lead vocalist, nicknamed "Pop".
• Signed with Elektra Records in 1968, following the Doors.

Members

• Original Stooges lineup: Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron Asheton (guitar), Scott Asheton (drums), Dave Alexander (bass).
• Later lineup included James Williamson (guitar) and Scott Thurston; the band reunited with Mike Watt and Steve Mackay in 2003-2005.

Career

• The Stooges' albums sold poorly, but they became known for confrontational live performances, including self-mutilation and stage-diving.
• Raw Power (1973) became influential on the Sex Pistols, the Smiths and Nirvana.
• Solo debut with David Bowie: The Idiot and Lust for Life (1977), with Bowie producing; "China Girl" was later a hit for Bowie in 1983.
• Only Top 40 US hit "Candy" (1990), a duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52's.
• "Lust for Life" was featured in the film Trainspotting (1996).
• The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010; Pop received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
• Also an actor and voice performer in films and television, and hosts the radio show Iggy Confidential on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Clash: Josh Gray was positive, writing that the record is what it says on the tin
• NME: Matt Wilkinson praised the album with a perfect score, calling it an intelligent, sassy garage rock record
• Pitchfork: Stuart Berman said the refined execution does not mean Pop has lost his unhinged side
• The Independent: Andy Gill wrote that Pop wants to be your dog again
• BeardedGentlemenMusic: Aaron Cooper called the album a satisfying bookend to Pop's career

Reappraisal

• Metacritic: average score of 79 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, generally positive
• Critics were mostly positive

Records

• Debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard 200, Pop's highest-charting US album
• Lead single Gardenia peaked at No. 26 on Adult Alternative Songs
• Nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Alternative Music Album in December 2016, losing to David Bowie's Blackstar

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The lead single Gardenia debuted on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on 21 January 2016.
• A Paris show was added on 26 August 2016 during the Rock en Seine festival.
• The tour band included Fertita, Helders, Matt Sweeney on bass and Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar.
• The album debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard 200, becoming Pop's highest-charting album in the US.
• The album lost the Grammy in its category to David Bowie's Blackstar.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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