Soldier
Studio album by
Iggy Pop
ReleasedFebruary 1980 (1980-02)
RecordedAugust 1979
StudioRockfield (Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales)
GenrePunk rock, new wave
Length37:00
LabelArista
ProducerPat Moran
Iggy Pop chronology
New Values
(1979)		 Soldier
(1980)		 Party
(1981)

Soldier is the fourth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in February 1980 by record label Arista.

Recording

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 Stella Nova for hitting on her girlfriend of that time, Patti Palladin.[1]

Release

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".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Robert ChristgauB+[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]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Loco Mosquito"Iggy Pop3:13
2."Ambition"Glen Matlock3:25
3."Knocking 'Em Down (In the City)"Iggy Pop3:20
4."Play It Safe"David Bowie, Iggy Pop3:05
5."Get Up and Get Out"Iggy Pop2:43
6."Mr. Dynamite"Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop4:17
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Dog Food"Iggy Pop1:47
8."I Need More"Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop4:02
9."Take Care of Me"Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop3:25
10."I'm a Conservative"Iggy Pop3:55
11."I Snub You"Barry Andrews, Iggy Pop3:07
2000 remastered reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Low Life"Ivan Kral, Iggy Pop2:57
13."Drop a Hook" (instrumental)Iggy Pop4:25

Alternate track listing

Specific regions and the 1991 Arista CD reissue had the following alternate track order:

No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

with:

  • Simple Minds (Jim Kerr and Derek Forbes) – backing vocals on "Play It Safe"
  • David Bowie, Patti Palladin, Glen Matlock, Steve New, Ivan Kral, James Williamson – backing vocals on "Play It Safe"
  • Henry McGroggan – chorus on "Loco Mosquito"

Technical

Charts

Chart performance for Soldier
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

References

  1. ↑ "Clean on the Dirty: An Interview With Steve New". 5 December 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Soldier – Iggy Pop | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Iggy Pop". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Iggy Pop". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  5. ↑ Nicholls, Mike (9 February 1980). "Raw recruit". Record Mirror. p. 14.
  6. ↑ Coleman, Mark; Kemp, Rob (2004). "Iggy Pop". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York City: Simon & Schuster. pp. 645–46. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. ↑ Robinson, Charlotte (February 5, 2003). "The Weird Trilogy: Iggy Pop's Arista Recordings | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ Fricke, David (February 7, 1980). "Soldier – Album Reviews – Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  9. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 236. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ↑ "Charts.nz – Iggy Pop – Soldier". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Iggy Pop – Soldier". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Iggy Pop – Soldier". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Iggy Pop Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2021.

Trynka, P. (2007). Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed. New York: Broadway Books.

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