I noticed that Mr. Case beat me to the punch on this one, but I am going to add my voice in agreement to his on this box set.

I was excited when I first saw this offering, as another of my favorite artists, Frank Zappa, had done a similar effort with his "Beat The Boots" box sets. These sets were released in order to, well, "beat the bootleggers" (who derive income from work that doesn't belong to them) at their own game - FZ cleaned up the sound on the bootlegs, re-packaged them and released them in several sets at cut-rate prices. They made a fine addition to his authorized catalog.

Along comes this Iggy Pop set which appears to do the same - but don't be fooled, these recordings almost universally stink, to the point of being unlistenable. No cleanup has been done - I found myself giving up in mid-play on most of the six discs.

This is a shame - the song selections on here are superb - I was at a few performances from these tours, and would have loved to have heard decent versions of this material. Not happening with this set.

Money-grubbing record companies have released more than a few Iggy titles of questionable quality, but this is by far the biggest rip-off of them all. At the list price of this set, a fan shoud expect MUCH more than it delivers.

In summary, STAY AWAY FROM THIS LIKE THE PLAGUE. And SHAME on the record company that released this dreck.

OK, first off, I do have my own "differences of opinion" re Easy Action's approach to sound on their releases - which often seem to be, oh here's an old tape, let's slap it to disk without bothering to check if any better versions exist, that'll do...

BUT...

This set does have some very worthwhile things for the Iggy fan.

The real bonus points here, and it would get five stars if the audio presentation were better :

* A fantastic selection of Iggy in concert pictures, I believe the best I have ever seen in fact!

* Superb commentary on the concerts as they progressed from the main musicians involved!

These comments were taken from Paul Tryncka's prepatory interviews for his brilliant "Open Up and Bleed" book. Note, preparatory interviews...the latter book is a fantastic book, but I'm pretty sure each interview comment is not reproduced within it. This not part of some conspiracy to get you to buy more...think about it, no matter how long and weighty a book is, not every interview carried out would need to be reproduced as is. The comments presented here, giving a snapshot of the shows and what was going on behind the scenes make a fascinating and exciting read!

Now to the music, it is as follows -

Disc 1: Aragon Ballroom Chicago 28th March 1977

This is the single biggest howler here, I think what the f*** were they playing at??

I was furious about this...I got a tape in the mid 90's that I got sent to the company's forerunner, Trident music, that they didn't use! Since then, other similarly high quality recordings of this show - a rehearsal set (inc Bowie on keyboards) that was broadcast on FM radio - have been shared on torrent sites in recent years.

So, Easy Action use this "recorded in the toilet" version instead. Diabolically stupid.

However things get better...

Disc 2: San Diego State University 16th November 1977

This is good. I personally think it sounded better on bootleg LP, but the latter is expensive and hard to find, so at a few pounds (or "bucks") per disc with the fabulous photos and interviews (and they are! ask an Iggy fan on the Stooges forum if you doubt me) it's not bad value.

Disc 3: Domino Club Stockholm Sweden 24th May 1978

This is a good gig, with an unusual line up - inc Fred "Sonic" Smith from the MC5, and Scott Asheton. Sadly the sound isn't great, BUT none of the 1978 gigs were recorded with state of the art equipment, and I don't think 'tweaking' could improve this a lot, so for bootleg fans it's a good listen anyway.

Disc 4: Stardust Ballroom, Los Angeles 30th November 1979

Similar comments to disc 2 apply...in this case it's a fantastic gig...ultimately I think the Heroin Hates You CD of this gig sounds better, but only slightly so. So this makes sense as part of the set.

Disc 5: Picadero Barcelona Spain 15th May 1980

There are better quality recordings of 1980 gigs, but Easy Action did want to bring us great Iggy performances that hadn't been bootlegged much where possible. So fair play to them there...I've mislaid my disk of this for now, so I cannot currently go back to it for reference, but I agreed that it's a good performance.

I personally would still prefer to listen to the Chicago Waves Club and Detroit Bookies Shows from 1980, so much so that I think Easy Action should put those out : I've also noted there were FM broadcasts Palasport Pesare on the 18th May 1980, and Lyon, Palais d' Hiver on the 23rd May 1980.

Possibly getting the mastertapes or rights to these shows may prove hard, but I truly hope Easy Action consider compiling these some point...aside from this one show on this box, there are no official releases of live 1980 material. On the basis the album from that year, Soldier, gets its critical knocks here and there, it would be nice to put the record straight with a package compiling some of the fantastic live performances from that year...it's not as if there haven't been several Iggy concerts from other years released here and there...

Disc 6: Palasport Bologna Italia 18th June 1981

A fine recording...again possibly other higher quality recordings could have been considered (there were FM and TV broadcasts made of Iggy shows made in 1981), but this is a worthy addition to the box and one of the better discs all considering.

So, definitely a fans only item, but looking over the book and the box, any fan who appreciates good photography and pictures of their musical heroes, biographical and historical detail should not overlook this one, worth seeking out!

I should add the Faces Shine Vol 2 is a great buy and more of a good deal all round - less amazing pictures, and no interviews with all involved, but a good essay (by Kris Needs), and very good quality recordings overall - still being Easy Action I have to say (sorry Easy Action but I'm a very truthful person) there's the odd slip up with the sound (audible scratches from material sourced from vinyl - there's been great software to clean that up for the last 5 years!!), but to balance that there's some great quality gigs, including two brilliant quality ones from 1982 and 1983 on that set.

The expensive "Where The Faces Shine" CD set is truly unacceptable.

It sounds as if it was recorded using a circa 1970's personal cassette recorder by a common concert-goer at several of Iggy's early concerts.

You can trust me on avoiding this offering!

I will return my order to Amazon in a few days.

You have the studio albums, right? Some you love and some sound a little stiff, I get it.

As we all know Iggy Pop and his gravity-defying music are a much different animal onstage. You may have even seen Iggy in concert in the late 70's.... no?

Here's a glimpse into it.

It's not perfect but your ears will adapt to the fascination pretty quickly.

The quality... not quite as bad as my fellow reviewers are moaning about and compared to the versions I own these are in fact cleaned up and do sound better.

I almost went as far as to say "they really do not seem to get the concept"..... glad I didn't!

This box set looks good - fantastic booklet featuring some very candid liner notes from the assorted touring musicians, Iconic Iggy portraits we have not seen and hours of punk rock insanity! Uh oh, too Entertainment Weekly, huh?

I enjoyed the different band lineups and ever-changing set lists while noticing how the energy never falters. Added Bonus:

You WILL sit up and take notice every time "Lust For Life" kicks in which is a certain thrill you are not going to get from the brand new pro-tools-polished release from any number of studded belt, spikey hair "punk rock" clowns from MTV.

We all know Iggy was insane a good part of the time and the legendary excess comes through loud and clear on all 6 discs - many over 70 minutes in duration. If Iggy were that nuts then what of David Bowie who sits in on keyboards for one of the shows? OK that was a bit too Rolling Stone but at least I didn't say "Godfather Of Punk" for the 700th time.

Of course the word "bootleg" carries a stigma while "IGGY BOOTLEG" is pure gold to me (GET IT FOR HIS STAGE RAPS ALONE. REALLY, ASK ANYONE.)

Compare the price to other 6 disc sets and it's not too bad considering. Considering all the other crap you've bought and hated.

True this is bootleg (see there's the scary word again, put the kids to bed) quality but nearly impossible finding everything here. I haven't until now.

I have never seen a bad Iggy Pop show and from these late 70's/early 80's performances have yet to hear one.

It does not make you any less of an Iggy fan if you decide against purchasing.

But it is SOOOOOO COOOL!

rb

These discs are as cleaned up as bootlegs get. There are no known acceptable recordings except these and the best possible job was done with them.

Go out and find better versions if you can, I will keep these thank you.