Iggy Pop: Mr. Punk as Emperor

It's been many years since rock music was still important and extremely relevant. Artists were not pop bunnies who sang with computer voices, but stars with guitars, poets, explainers of the world.

It was different 30 years ago - tough guys had big messages with them - like Iggy Pop on his album "American Cesar".

Appearances are deceiving. Here, Mr. Punk does not act as an American counterpart to the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, but instead slips into the role of a critical observer in difficult times.

Iggy makes political comments without falling into the moralistic tone of a preacher. He talks about life after Bush and Gorbachev, about the fall of the wall and about the fact that something was lost.

The poet reveals what he means by this in his very own version of the gutter song “Louie Louie”. A title, by the way, that stands out pleasantly from the many uninspired cover versions of other pop classics.

In addition to all the seriousness, Pop, the aging star, also behaves like the snotty rock 'n' roller of yesteryear on AMERICAN CAESAR. In such moments, the self-indulgent Stooges times come to life again, albeit with slightly reduced foam.

More appropriate for Iggy's advanced age is a song that he performs on acoustic guitar and in which the wild man from before muses about increasing loneliness. The mature rebel defiantly exposes socializing as torture masked by fun.