| Soldier | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1980 | |||
| Recorded | August 1979 | |||
| Studio | Rockfield (Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales) | |||
| Genre | Punk rock, new wave | |||
| Length | 37:00 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Producer | Pat Moran | |||
| Iggy Pop chronology | ||||
| ||||
Soldier is the fourth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in February 1980 by record label Arista.
For the album Iggy collaborated with ex-Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock.
Ex-member of The Stooges James Williamson was originally hired to produce the album, but a conflict between Williamson and David Bowie (who was assisting as a friend of Pop) over recording techniques led to Williamson walking out on the project.
Bowie and Simple Minds provide backing vocals on "Play It Safe".
There has been some debate over the lack of lead guitar on the final mix, which has been criticized by Glen Matlock. In Pop's biography, Matlock claims that the lead guitar was stripped after Bowie was punched by Steve New for hitting on his girlfriend of that time, Patti Palladin. [1]
Soldier was released in February 1980 by record label Arista. The album peaked at number 125 on the Billboard charts. Videos were made for the songs "Loco Mosquito", "Knocking 'Em Down (In the City)" and "Dog Food".
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [3] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| Record Mirror | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [6] |
Soldier has received a mixed-to-favorable reception from critics.
In her retrospective review, Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters wrote "Instead of a punk masterpiece, [...] Soldier turned out to be an uneven and sometimes plain silly recording." [7]
Rolling Stone's David Fricke reviewed the album positively, calling attention to Iggy Pop's successful weathering of his own self-destructive persona. Of the album, Fricke wrote: "Soldier, like all of his albums, is a hard-fought battle in a war that Iggy Pop is determined to win. Call him Ig noble." [8]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Loco Mosquito" | Iggy Pop | 3:13 |
| 2. | "Ambition" | Glen Matlock | 3:25 |
| 3. | "Knocking 'Em Down (In the City)" | Iggy Pop | 3:20 |
| 4. | "Play It Safe" | David Bowie, Iggy Pop | 3:05 |
| 5. | "Get Up and Get Out" | Iggy Pop | 2:43 |
| 6. | "Mr. Dynamite" | Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop | 4:17 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Dog Food" | Iggy Pop | 1:47 |
| 8. | "I Need More" | Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop | 4:02 |
| 9. | "Take Care of Me" | Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop | 3:25 |
| 10. | "I'm a Conservative" | Iggy Pop | 3:55 |
| 11. | "I Snub You" | Barry Andrews, Iggy Pop | 3:07 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Low Life" | Ivan Kral, Iggy Pop | 2:57 |
| 13. | "Drop a Hook" (instrumental) | Iggy Pop | 4:25 |
Specific regions and the 1991 Arista CD reissue had the following alternate track order:
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Loco Mosquito" | 3:13 |
| 2. | "Ambition" | 3:25 |
| 3. | "Take Care of Me" | 3:25 |
| 4. | "Get Up and Get Out" | 2:43 |
| 5. | "Play it Safe" | 3:05 |
| 6. | "I'm a Conservative" | 3:55 |
| 7. | "Dog Food" | 1:47 |
| 8. | "I Need More" | 4:02 |
| 9. | "Knocking 'Em Down (In the City)" | 3:20 |
| 10. | "Mr. Dynamite" | 4:17 |
| 11. | "I Snub You" | 3:07 |
with:
Technical
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [9] | 78 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [10] | 20 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [11] | 36 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [12] | 27 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [13] | 62 |
| US Billboard 200 [14] | 125 |
Raw Power is the third studio album by American rock band the Stooges, released on February 7, 1973 by Columbia Records. The album departed from the "groove-ridden, feel-based songs" of the band's first two records in favor of a more anthemic hard rock approach inspired by new guitarist James Williamson, who co-wrote the album's eight songs with singer Iggy Pop. Pop produced the recording sessions himself and David Bowie assisted with post-production work, though the team were allotted only one day to mix the album and the resulting fidelity was poor. Later reissues have attempted to either correct or enhance the original mix, most notably Pop's 1997 remix which became notorious for its extreme volume and compression.
Women and Children First is the third studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 26, 1980, on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ted Templeman and engineered by Donn Landee, it was the first Van Halen album not to feature any cover songs, and is described by critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "[the] record where the group started to get heavier, both sonically and, to a lesser extent, thematically."
Lust for Life is the second solo studio album by the American musician Iggy Pop, released on September 9, 1977, through RCA Records. It was his second collaboration with English musician and friend David Bowie after The Idiot, released in March the same year. Shortly after Bowie released his own album Low in January, Pop went on a tour to support The Idiot with Bowie as his keyboardist. At the tour's conclusion, Pop and Bowie regrouped in Berlin to record the former's next solo album.
Party is the fifth solo studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in June 1981 by record label Arista. For this record, Pop collaborated with Ivan Kral, who is best known as the guitar and bass player for Patti Smith in the 1970s.
Minute by Minute is the eighth studio album by American rock band the Doobie Brothers, released on December 1, 1978, by Warner Bros. Records. It was their last album to include members John Hartman and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
Brick by Brick is the ninth studio album by American singer Iggy Pop, released in June 1990 by Virgin Records.
Live Licks is a 2004 double CD by The Rolling Stones, their ninth official live album. Coming six years after No Security, it features performances from the 2002–2003 Licks Tour in support of the career-spanning, fortieth anniversary retrospective Forty Licks. The album includes "an entire side of songs never before recorded live", and features only one song recorded after 1981's Tattoo You.
New Values is the third studio album by American musician Iggy Pop. It was released in July 1979 by record label Arista.
Gone Again is the sixth studio album by Patti Smith, released June 18, 1996, on Arista Records. The production of the record was preceded by the deaths of many of Smith's close friends and peers, including her husband Fred "Sonic" Smith, her brother Todd, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Sohl and Kurt Cobain, with whom Smith had sympathized. In addition to this, Gone Again also features the last studio performance of Jeff Buckley, released before his death less than a year later.
"Loving the Alien" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie. It was the opening track to his sixteenth studio album Tonight. One of two tracks on the album written solely by Bowie, an edited version of the song was released as a single in May 1985, nine months after the release of lead single "Blue Jean" and eight months after the release of the album. "Loving the Alien" peaked at No. 19 in the UK Singles Chart. "Loving the Alien" inspired the title of Christopher Sandford's 1997 biography of Bowie and the 2018 Bowie box set release, Loving the Alien (1983–1988).
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Instinct is the eighth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in June 1988 by A&M Records.
"Bang Bang" is a song written by Iggy Pop and Ivan Kral in 1981 for Pop's Party album. It was released as a single, charting at #35 on the Billboard Club Play Singles chart. According to Pop's autobiography I Need More, he wrote "Bang Bang" as Arista Records wanted a single and he promised them a commercial album. He originally wanted Phil Spector or Mike Chapman to produce the song. Instead, songwriter Tommy Boyce was brought in. Pop claimed he got the idea for the song from reading The Right Stuff at a local bookstore.
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Bop Till You Drop is Ry Cooder's eighth album, released in 1979. The album was the first digitally recorded major-label album in popular music, recorded on a digital 32-track machine built by 3M.
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"Funtime" is a song written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie, first released by Iggy Pop on his 1977 album entitled The Idiot. It reflects Iggy and Bowie's growing fascination with the German music scene, and bears marked similarities to "Lila Engel" by krautrock band Neu!. It has since been covered by multiple artists including Blondie, Boy George, Bebe Buell, Peter Murphy, R.E.M. and The Cars.
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Trynka, P. (2007). Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed. New York: Broadway Books.
