Iggy Pop - Instinct

Iggy Pop's 1988 album Instinct received mixed reviews, often seen as a gritty, hard rock departure with strong guitar work from Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and production by Bill Laswell, but some critics found it derivative and lacking the spark of earlier work, though fans often praise its heavy, metal-tinged sound and raw energy, highlighting tracks like "Cold Metal" and "Tuff Baby" as standouts.

After the chart success of Real Wild Child, Iggy Pop changed tack and came back with Instinct , a chest-thumping pile of meat ’n’ potatoes metal

Although with Real Wild Child (from 1986’s Blah Blah Blah album) Iggy Pop had tasted mainstream success for the first time in years, his safe-as-milk new image and his art-poppy new songs had strayed so far away from the rabid Stooge of old that he jettisoned the squarehead routine completely, and came roaring back a year later with this chest-thumping pile of meat ’n’ potatoes metal.

Instinct was Iggy’s hardest album in a decade, a bruising clamour of slamming power chords and cold metal. With a crack band that included ex-Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Iggy easily reclaimed his role as a gleefully vicious thug run riot. He got Jones to crank out some seriously ugly guitar on that album and even co-wrote a few of the songs, including the gloriously snotty rebel anthem Squarehead. 

It was the victorious roar of the godfather of punk and his snarliest illegitimate offspring reigniting the fire in their bellies with spit and swagger and Circus of Power riffs.

Ripped to MP3

1. Cold Metal

2. High on You

3. Strong Girl

4. Tom Tom

5. Easy Rider

6. Power & Freedom

7. Lowdown

8. Instinct

9. Tuff Baby

10. Squarehead