Zombie Birdhouse

Zombie Birdhouse is the sixth solo studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in September 1982 by record label Animal.

Zombie Birdhouse
Studio album by
Iggy Pop
ReleasedSeptember 1982
RecordedJune 1982
StudioBlank Tape Studios, New York City, United States
Genre
Length42:08
LabelAnimal Records
ProducerChris Stein
Iggy Pop chronology
Party
(1981)		 Zombie Birdhouse
(1982)		 Blah-Blah-Blah
(1986)

Recording

Zombie Birdhouse was recorded on 16-track in June 1982 at Blank Tape Studios in New York City. Chris Stein of Blondie produced the album.

Release

The album was released in September 1982 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
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]
Sounds[3]

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'."[2]

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".[1]

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."[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except "Ordinary Bummer" and "Street Crazies", written by Pop.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Run Like a Villain"3:00
2."The Villagers"3:46
3."Angry Hills"2:55
4."Life of Work"3:44
5."The Ballad of Cookie McBride"2:58
6."Ordinary Bummer"2:40
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Eat or Be Eaten"3:14
2."Bulldozer"2:16
3."Platonic"2:39
4."The Horse Song"2:57
5."Watching the News"4:10
6."Street Crazies"3:53
Reissue bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Pain and Suffering"3:39

All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except where noted.

2003 reissue bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Villagers" 3:59
2."Fall in Love with Me"David Bowie, Hunt Sales, Tony Sales3:06
3."Ordinary Bummer" 3:04
4."The Horse Song" 2:26
5."Angry Hills" 3:02
6."Bulldozer" 2:20
7."The Ballad of Cookie McBride" 3:47
8."Platonic" 2:41
9."Life of Work" 3:56
10."Kill City"Pop, James Williamson2:36
11."Loose"The Stooges2:52
12."Search and Destroy"The Stooges3:05
13."Run Like a Villain" 3:34
14."Bang Bang"Pop, Ivan Král3:37
15."Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell"Pop, Williamson3:16
16."Eat or Be Eaten" 3:44
17."Sixteen"Pop3:00
18."Street Crazies" 3:35

Personnel
  • Iggy Pop – vocals
  • Rob Duprey – guitar, keyboards, background vocals
  • Chris Stein – bass on A5, A6, B2, B3, B6, art direction
  • Clem Burke – drums, percussion

Technical

  • Joe Arlotta - session engineer
  • Butch Jones - mixing engineer
  • Esther Friedman - cover photography

References
  1. Deming, Mark. "Zombie Birdhouse – Iggy Pop | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  2. Puterbaugh, Parke (November 11, 1982). "[Zombie Birdhouse review]". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  3. Robertson, Sandy (September 25, 1982). "Iggy Pop: Zombie Birdhouse (Animal Records/Chrysalis) ***". Sounds. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  4. Robinson, Charlotte. "The Weird Trilogy: Iggy Pop's Arista Recordings | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
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