Best known for his stint with The Stooges, insane stage antics, and shirtless, well-defined bod (which has grown leathery with time), Iggy Pop has been an icon for thirty-odd years. If there were ever someone who could rock at the drop of a dime, it's Iggy. But then we have his latest effort Preliminaires. And from the opening track, you are left wondering if you grabbed the right cd or did you accidently snatch your copy of crappy, 60s French pop. The opening track is a jazz-inspired piece of French pop (complete with Iggy in French!). Although the French-sounding trend does not dominate the album (there is a duet with Iggy and some chick whispering in French), his crooning, baritone vocals do. And crooning is not Iggy's niche. This album is Iggy's attempt to show the masses he is not merely a rocker but can make music outside his comfort zone. Preliminaires is his project that shows he can but there is one problem: it's just not that good. He runs the spectrum on this album from the aforementioned French pop numbers (which bookend the album) to New Orleans jazz (one of the better tracks in "King of the Dogs") to lo-fi ("He's Dead/She's Alive") and even dabbling in a little spoken word with the man's-best-friend/what-is-love song "A Machine For Loving." While the lyrics are completely Iggy, the soundscape in which they are added (sans "Nice To Be Dead") and his wannabe crooner vocals are not. As an artist, it is important to try new things; the problem with that is failing. And unfortunately this attempt by Iggy to step outside his realm is, simply put, a failure.
2.7/5.0
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