This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Anyone who believes rock ’n’ roll is strictly a young man’s game needs to spend some quality time with the one and only Iggy Pop.
At 56, the former James Osterberg of Ypsilianti, Mich., remains the iron man of rock — a self-appointed streetwalkin’ cheetah with a heart full of napalm, an untamed baritone, and a take-no-prisoners attitude. All of which the godfather of punk puts to good use once again on his thundering 14th solo studio album Skull Ring.
After decades of having his sound, style and stance pilfered by no-talent punks, The Ig sets out to reclaim his throne and show the kids how it’s done on this 17-song barnburner. That he succeeds handily on both counts is due in no small part to the fact that Skull Ring serves as the vehicle for a four-song mini-reunion of the original dum-dum boys — Iggy’s seminal and revolutionary ’60s guitar-rawk bruisers The Stooges. Iggy, guitarist Ron Asheton and his drumming brother Scott (aka Rock Action) last played together three decades ago, but it might as well have been yesterday, judging by the swaggering choogle, groovy handclaps and whoo-hoo! exclamations that propel tunes like Little Electric Chair, Loser, Dead Rock Star and the title cut.
Along with the old guard, Iggy teams up with some younger turks on Skull Ring, enlisting Green Day for a couple of snot-punk shuffles (Private Hell), Sum 41 for some propulsive power-pop (Little Know It All), and electro-skankstress Peaches for a double dose of her raw, raunchy sexuality (Rock Show and Motor Inn). Toss in half a dozen crunching riff-fests from Iggy’s current henchmen The Trolls and Skull Ring adds up to yet another awesome display of raw power from the world’s forgotten boy.
Not bad for an old man.
