A glass crash occurs midway through Metallic KO. A beer bottle has been thrown from the crowd in the sweltering Michigan Palace. brink of fever point, a beer bottle has been hurled from the crowd. It explodes against the strings of Ron Asheton’s guitar, sending out a wail of fuzz and a howl of authenticity as Iggy Pop, the bloodied, shirtless frontman, almost inadvertently heralds perhaps the greatest live album of all time.
The second half of the record is from February 1974. It captures The Stooges’ final performance as a punk band. It delivers a warts-and-all blitzkrieg that captures exactly why the band was so important and is still so revered. Iggy Pop’s hatred of polish and love of all things authentic was exemplified by the album.
Unfortunately, by the 1990s, the frontman felt that the more highfalutin ways of classic rock had persisted. In 1995, when discussing the music scene with Joshua Berger, he said, “The music’ is mostly 60’s and 70’s rehash. Especially Led Zeppelin, who I never could stand in the first place.” Also, ‘folk-rock’ is back as ‘alternative’, give me a break.”
Iggy Pop continued with his tirade, saying: “The ‘bands’ dress this mess up in various ‘HIP’ clothes and ‘political’ postures to encode a ‘lock’ on social belonging which you can open by purchasing a combination of products. Especially their product and none of them have fuck-all to say.” And he blamed it all on poor old Robert Plant and his gang’s pompous ways.
In reality, it’s not surprising that Mr Pop has never been a fan of Led Zeppelin’s music. He has always preferred raw sounds. Once he claimed that The Stooges’ and other such bands’ gutsy analog roar was like “throwing an amp into the spirit of man.” And he reasoned that Led Zeppelin’s high output was the polar opposite of this.
He’s not alone either. Cream was against them. Kurt Cobain called them sexist, and Pete Townshend was even harsher than Pop in 1995. “I don’t like a single thing that they have done.
“I’ve just never liked them. It’s a real issue for me because I think they’re really, really nice people. I’ve never been a fan of the band. And I’m not sure if I have a problem or a block. It’s because they became so much bigger than The Who in so many ways, in their chosen field, that I’ve never liked them.”
