Good stuff on disc 2, worthy reissue
Carter | Australia | 09/30/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Basically disc 2 will be the one that attracts interest here. Disc 1 is full of rehearsals which will really be of nothing new to most who have made it this far. My Girl Hates My Heroin is the same song as Wild Love and How It Hurts is the same as Rubber Legs, both with different lyrics. Most of the others are fairly common, particularly Head On, Death Trip and Raw Power. A rehearsal version of Gimme Danger may be of some interest, and Hey Baby (also on found on Wild Love). The tapes seem to have been left alone and not remastered though which for me means that I can hear the same stuff on other cds at a sound quality which is much better on the ears.
Disc 2 is good though. What You Gonna Do is about 3 mins longer than the version on Live 1971, which is great because it's one of the only pre-Raw Power live recordings around, infact it is pre-self titled I believe, and it actually gives you something to listen to after reading a fair bit about what their early early live shows were like. To be specific it's 8:34 compared to the other version which is 5:26 and the sound quality is quite listenable. TV Eye and 1970 are the versions from the Cincinnati Festival with the commentator, and they aren't the full songs. It's just the sound from the video that is easily downloadable. Sound quality is good though. Then we have a concert (tracks 4-10) which is from Max's Kansas City in 1973 (exact date unknown I think). Pretty standard setlist for the tour but it has never been released before and it's a good performance. Sound quality wise it's about on par with Double Danger, just a few notches above unlistenable. Lastly the interview with Iggy, it is a phone interview, from 1973, so you can guess what the sound quality is like. Not to mention the fact that there is pretty loud traffic in the background so it's kinda hard to hear what he is saying in parts. Still, it's pretty cool and Iggy does come off as a smart guy.
Hopefully I laid down enough facts to allow you to make your own decision on this. Lastly let me comment on the packaging, which is a big double foldout digipack which is a lot better than your standard jewell case. If you're into The Stooges it's probably worth getting for the stuff on disc 2."