The Weirdness

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 44/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[2]
Alternative Press 0.5/5[3]
BBC Music (very favorable)[4]
Entertainment Weekly B−[5]
NME 7/10[6]
Pitchfork 1.0/10[7]
PopMatters 3/10[8]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[9]
Slant Magazine 2.5/5 stars[10]
Uncut 2/10[11]

The Weirdness is the fourth studio album by American proto-punk band The Stooges. It was released on 6 March 2007. It is the first studio album of new material The Stooges have released since Raw Power (1973), and is also the final album to feature Ron Asheton, who died in early 2009. The album features founding members Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron Asheton (guitar), and Scott Asheton (drums) along with new band member Mike Watt (bass guitar), formerly of Minutemen, and returning guest musician Steve Mackay (saxophone), who appeared on The Stooges' 1970 album, Fun House.

Recording

The album was recorded by Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, Illinois during October 2006, and was mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, England in December. Bassist Mike Watt posted a day-by-day diary of the recording sessions on his website, but this was deleted without explanation. Watt referred to the album's title as Secret Plan in his diary entries.[citation needed]

According to Watt's online diary, the songs recorded during the sessions included a finalized version of "My Idea of Fun" (first heard on the live CD Telluric Chaos) and a cover of The Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" (more faithful to the Rolling Stones version), while a 20 November article on the album, derived mainly from an interview with Pop, also gives the following song titles as appearing on the album: "Trollin'", "ATM", "You Can't Have Friends, "The Weirdness", and "Greedy Awful People". Further titles were announced in December after the album was mastered, and the final track listing was announced by Virgin Records on 30 January 2007.

Release

Two singles, "My Idea of Fun" and "Free & Freaky", were released on the iTunes Store on 20 February 2007. The album was also released as a vinyl LP with four bonus tracks.

"My Idea of Fun" was performed on the reality television show Bam's Unholy Union.

Reception

The album received mixed reception, but mostly negative. According to the aggregate review website Metacritic, the album received a score of 44, which indicates mixed reception, from 32 critic scores. Pitchfork gave the album an exceptionally low 1.0/10 rating, writing that it "hideously disgraces the band's original work."[7] PopMatters wrote "Like every other inferior album by a defunct cult band that has unexpectedly reunited, it is a danger to the band's legacy. Every assessment or endorsement of the Stooges must now be made with The Weirdness somewhere in the equation, and most fans will no doubt reference it with either apology or dismissal. Exactly why was this album made?"[8] Drowned in Sound wrote "Devoid of inspiration, lacking in any edge, this is pathetic."[12]

BBC Music, on the other hand, wrote "Fast, tight, and ready for action, [The Weirdness is] entertaining, exuberant and fun."[4] Mojo called the album "a brash, modern-sounding rock record that also sounds more vital than most bands 40 years The Stooges' junior."[13]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, and Scott Asheton, except where noted. 

Standard edition
No. Title Length
1. "Trollin'"   3:05
2. "You Can't Have Friends"   2:22
3. "ATM"   3:15
4. "My Idea of Fun"   3:17
5. "The Weirdness"   3:45
6. "Free & Freaky"   2:39
7. "Greedy Awful People"   2:07
8. "She Took My Money"   3:48
9. "The End of Christianity"   4:19
10. "Mexican Guy"   3:29
11. "Passing Cloud"   4:04
12. "I'm Fried"   3:44
Bonus tracks
No. Title Writer(s) Length
13. "O Solo Mio" (Vinyl edition and Japanese edition-only bonus track)   6:18
14. "Claustrophobia" (Vinyl edition-only bonus track)    
15. "I Wanna Be Your Man" (Vinyl edition and iTunes editions-only bonus track) John Lennon/Paul McCartney  
16. "Sounds of Leather" (Vinyl edition-only bonus track)    

Personnel

The Stooges
Guest musicians
Production
  • Steve Albini – engineering
  • Nick Webb – mastering
  • Chris Wujek – technical assistance
  • Rob Vester – assistant engineer
  • Henry McGroggan – production coordination
  • Eric Fischer – production coordination
  • Sean Mosher-Smith – art direction and design
  • Chapman Baehler – photography
  • Robert Matheu – photography (of The Stooges live at the Hammersmith Apollo, London)

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 89
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 78
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[16] 37
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 53
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 65
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 88
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 35
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 81
US Billboard 200[22] 130
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[23] 47
US Top Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[24] 3

References

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External links

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  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Stooges – The Weirdness" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Stooges – The Weirdness" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Stooges – The Weirdness" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Stooges – The Weirdness". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – The Stooges – The Weirdness". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Stooges – The Weirdness". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ "The Stooges – Chart history" Billboard 200 for The Stooges. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  23. ↑ "The Stooges – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for The Stooges. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  24. ↑ "The Stooges – Chart history" Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums for The Stooges. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
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