Album Review: PARTY

Wow...this is boring as hell! Slow tempos, antiseptic instruments, and there's no "oomph" on any of the tracks. As for the horns...ugh!

Sorry, but I really don't have anything else to say about this piece of crap!

I love Party !

do you like Birdhouse ? its great too

seriously? i think its a great album, pleasure, rock n roll party, eggs on a plate is cool too, i esp love houston is hot tonight, bang bang and sea of love, and i know ppl hate it but i like time wont let me, actually looking back on it, i love that album!

ive had sea of love stuck in my head all day, great song

I always thought the three albums at Arista are too underrated. They are all good with more or less only excellent songs.

I cant think of one song on Party that are crap and I just wished that the extra songs on the CD was on the vinyl when it first came out.

At the time, I knew people at Arista. Iggy's sales had been poor, and they were desperate for the hit, so I think Iggy took the easy route and played a few formulaic cuts for airplay. Not bad songs, just more sanitized and radio friendly. I really like this one, of course being a huge Iggy fan at the time, I almost had to. He finally had the same band for a time, which was nice, and was playing everywhere in the NY area, so got to see these songs a bunch. Eggs On Plate stands up, Pleasure is real good too. I remember when the LP first came out, he did this big showcase at the Ritz, and he had the Uptown Horns there on a riser to play the new stuff. Great show. There's also a number of remix versions of Bang Bang on a promo 12". All the Arista records were great. I remember winning a copy of New Values at the Palladium 1979, a radio station gave away 102 autographed copies to people in costume. Luckily, I heard the announcement the day before & wore a costume. I wish Iggy hadn't removed Steve New's guitar tracks on Soldier, the rehearsal tape sounded real good & what could have been?

think Ivan Kral had a pretty big influence on the songs of this album..he was the one into making hits!
For a not so clear reason..I blame him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpygvcJx9CA
man this Kral is a jerk

Ah Mindless; lucky guy!!

Yes, Ivan was a popstar:) He was a pretty cool guy though. I remember he got Richard Sohl in the band at one point, and Iggy hated him. He played in the Meadowbrook, and stopped the show, climbed onto Sohl's piano, and lay there looking him in the eyes, yelling at him that his name was Soul, and why didn't he have any in his playing? This went on for about 10 minutes, with Iggy making the band restart the song again & again. .I thought Richard was going to cry, really edgy moment. 80-81 was Iggy at his most raw, he even would ask the audience for drugs after the shows. You definitely had a feeling the train could come off the rails at any moment.

mindless wrote:

Yes, Ivan was a popstar:) He was a pretty cool guy though. I remember he got Richard Sohl in the band at one point, and Iggy hated him. He played in the Meadowbrook, and stopped the show, climbed onto Sohl's piano, and lay there looking him in the eyes, yelling at him that his name was Soul, and why didn't he have any in his playing? This went on for about 10 minutes, with Iggy making the band restart the song again & again. .I thought Richard was going to cry, really edgy moment. 80-81 was Iggy at his most raw, he even would ask the audience for drugs after the shows. You definitely had a feeling the train could come off the rails at any moment.

What a GREAT story Mindless!!! You were there?!
This is fun of the record information! wow! thnx!
I appreciate this thing that Iggy let things 'get off the rails' those days

And I'm sure now that the Ivan - Iggy chemistry was BAD
Ivan's not cool at all to me that's maybe because I'm also Czech.
what he says about working with Iggy in the interview, in Czech language, is anoying

ZinZin wrote:

what he says about working with Iggy in the interview, in Czech language, is anoying

what does he say?

(or are there subtitles, i cant remember0

Yeah, I was there, wish I had a tape of that show, it was painful to watch. Don't worry, I've got a bunch more crazy Iggy stories, sooner or later I'll remember them all:)

homesickjameswilliamson wrote:

what does he say?
(or are there subtitles, i cant remember0

Yes there are subtitles (the link I posted in this thread is the interview)
but it's slightly different translated...can't resume it word by word..in Czech language Kral's putting down Iggy's songs, Iggy's wishes and attitude in making music... in a humiliating somewhat bored way of speaking. As if he was far beyond the whole. In a tone like; 'told you he's a looser' or 'always knew the boy (Iggy) didn't had it all together'
anyway; a jerk!

mindless wrote:

I've got a bunch more crazy Iggy stories, sooner or later I'll remember them all:)

Mindless i'm sticking to ya...wanna hear all the stories

Sorry to hear that about the Ivan interview, he had a very different mindset in the time he was in the band, or at least seemed he did, and was the easiest to talk to of the band, the night Iggy kicked me by accident, Ivan came out & apologized and said Jim felt very bad to have done it. Don't worry, we'll get to them all sooner or later, but I warn you at least 1 will make Iggy seem to be a monster, but as we know, it was the drugs causing the actions.

I can handle it mindless ...understand that Iggy could/can be a monster..and you can blame the drugs. of coarse.
well...sometimes a monster and sometimes an angel..is'nt it?
the question is.. was Iggy a monster in your opinion in those days?

Well, I could never say he was a monster as a person, he was very easy to approach, but any bad interactions were because of drugs.

mindless wrote:

Well, I could never say he was a monster as a person, he was very easy to approach, but any bad interactions were because of drugs.

yeah thought so!
do you also (like Kral) think it was really bad with the drugs use of Iggy during the time Party was recorded?
I thought it was the worst in times just in times of Metallic KO.. and before David B. came with his plans to go to Berlin.
I mean..do you think it was because of the drugs that Iggy was influenced to make this poppie music like in Party..not making the best decisions?

Like I said above, this was his last chance with Arista, so there was a lot of pressure to make a pop record that would sell. They pushed the shit out of Jill & Bang Bang, but just couldn't make it work. The Uptown Horns were just becoming known, and I think added a lot to the songs. Iggy's drug problems in 1980 was with cocaine. In some ways I think it's way worse than heroin, because you think you are god when you are high enough, and care for no one but yourself. When Party first came out, he went thru a period of relative cleanness, but by 1981, when the LP failed to sell & Arista dumped him, he got really bad, he was doing so much blow he looked ill, and would shoot snot rockets out all night. I saw him at the Malibu late in '81, and he was going around to the fans after the show begging for coke, this was the lowest I ever saw him myself. But at that time, no one really thought coke was bad, people would carry around vials on their necklaces, and everyone was doing it. Times were very very different.

ok yeah..true..forgot that about the difference between heroin and coke..yeah.
if you realize how low he got
people like Kral worked with him in the utter gutter time.
This must have been hard times! tough learning time...
still think Kral didn't had to smear it out in an interview.
ok Mindless thnx for all yr answers giving context to stuff!

I think Ivan might have been upset too, as it seemed things ended rather abruptly with them, and maybe even with still some anger over the way he treated his good friend Richard Sohl. Ivan always seemed like he was kind of by himself onstage, he really didn't interact all that much with the other players, or even the audience.
It was an odd dynamic for sure, at the time Iggy still somewhat needed the sidemen to write the music, maybe there was some anger from him as well over that, not being able to express himself as he could later after he started playing? I don't know, it's all theory. But whatever was happening, the things they were taking only helped to amplify any problems or slights in the time, and looking back at such craziness years later, some people will still harbor anger. Sorry to hear Kral spoke so ill of Iggy, as he was certainly a talented player, but a better fit with Patti Smith.

I went for a meal with Ivan in AA a couple of weeks ago, and I think he's over it now. Yes, there was some bitterness, Ivan wanted to help Iggy 'cross over' and Iggy repaid him by, in Ivan's view, sabotaging the album. ANd then Iggy slags him off in I NEed More. So Ivan has to carry the burden of working on "The Worst Iggy Album Ever (TM)").

I do remember when these albums were being reissued, Ben Edmonds did the sleevenotes for New Values and delegated the job of Soldier and Party to me. It was hard to put a positive spin on them. Of course, if you have real affection for that time, then there are nice moments, but after the joyous likes of Lust For LIfe, or even The Idiot, this is very thin fare.

I know I've been slagged off for being predictable and slating Party, but one listen to HAppy Man pretty much tells you all you need to know. It's not just a lowpoint in Iggy's career, it would be a lowpoint in anyone's career.

(Zombie Birdhouse is a much better album, for all its faults. it's honest).

I'm still baffled as to why songs like "Happy Man" ended up on the album when clearly much better tunes like "Brakes On" or "Speak To Me" didn't. How on earth anyone thought "Happy Man" was a good tune is beyond me...

But I still rather like some of Party. "Houston Is Hot Tonight" at least sounds committed and fiery, and "Bang Bang" has a fair bit of sparkle and energy, and a cracking tune too.

Cheers,

Richard

I really don't like it when Iggy sings in that whiny voice that he uses for a lot of Party (Sincerity's a good example). Saying that I really do like Pleasure.

Happy Man could have been good if Iggy had put in some satirical classic Iggy twisted lyrics. Expanded on the "she's my only machine" aspect. I always found it disturbing

And what's with all the mentions of wine? Not drugs, not hard booze, not premiscuos sex but wine! How rock n roll. he wild man of rock is a coniseur.

But even with all that there are still some decent songs on it, there seems to be no Iggy album with all bad songs on it. What really annoys me about Party though is the album art. It's HORRIBLE.

I don't think it's the worst Iggy album (I'm going to be unpopular) I think the worst Iggy album is Blah Blah Blah. I can't stand Real Wild Child or Cry For Love.

where or on wat boot is brakes on from?

My only favorite track from that album is 'Rock'n'Roll Party' - fantastic!

Seriously JW82? i love that album my favourite tracks are pleasure, rnr party, eggs on a plate, houston, sincerity, pumpin for jill, bang bang, sea of love, time wont let me, speak to me and happy man isnt that bad! lol i fuckin love that album - i love hearing what other ppl think of albums it makes me rethink my own views and i love that album, im gunna give it another round of plays!!

thanks JW82!


HJW

I really love that album, I just wish that the production on that one and soldier where a little bit more distortion on the guitars and a little bit more rock and rolly!... Party is much better than soldier in my opinion! when we're talking about these early underrated releases i think think this is the beste albums

New Values
Party
Soldier
and Zombie Birdhouse being pure crap!...