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10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Powerful Document of an Original American VoiceAug 23, 2004
By Gianmarco Manzione
"Why am I afraid, why am I afraid," Iggy pleads amid the torn maelstrom of sound that is "Hate," easily one of his most distinctive compositions. These songs -- powerfully written and sincerely performed -- are the best Iggy has put to tape since his time with The Stooges. The brilliant Malcom Burn, whose other projects with such acts as Emmylou Harris would suggest that he is the last person expected to work with Iggy Pop, astonishes with the deft hand he displays throughout this masterpiece. Song by song, Burn and Iggy construct a sonic document that echoes not only one man's personal hell, but the true torments of the common man. Like Dylan's equally riveting "Time Out of Mind," "American Caesar" so skillfully walks the line between the private and the public that its harrowing disclosures eliminate that boundary in favor of a lyrical and musical accessibility. More surprisingly, this is done without any compromise of authenticity. From its burst of manic divinity in "Highway Song" and "Boogie Boy" to those softer audible ghosts, "Jealousy" and "F-in' Alone," "American Caesar" solidifies Iggy Pop as one of the most original voices ever to emerge from the American rock scene. While some tracks are more interesting than others, not a single one of them fails to capture the listener's attention. Only the unnecessary cover of "Louie Louie" fails to contribute anything of further value to the album's incredibly varied grab-bag of emotions, moods and confessions. Simply put, Iggy never approached this kind of vulnerability before or after "American Caesar," and the album belongs on every all-time best rock albums list. While I understand that we all come from different musical backgrounds and aesthetical tastes, I have to say that, in this case, rock fans who fail to comprehend this album's flawlessness and power are either not listening or need to check themselves for a pulse.
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Oh Iggy, Oh BabyDec 13, 2000
By Richard Harrold
"Brick By Brick" brought a hard-edged, but highly-polished Iggy. With American Caesar, Iggy gets deliciously raunchy again. Some of my favorite titles on this include "Wild America," a typical Iggy-style anthem to hedonism that does its best to castigate the thug mentality in some circles of music when he chants "Exterminate the brutes!""Mixing the Colors" is a deliciously mellow trance-like blues heavy beat tune extolling interracial relationships in the face of prudish Americans and racial separatists. And the "Highway Song" is just one happy tune that calls me back to the days of standing at the edge of the road with my thumb out in that classic Lennon-type posture of "Oh that magic feeling, nowhere to go." "Boogie Boy" is quintessential Iggy in all his gyrating and jumping glory, with "Perforation Problems" providing a matter-of-fact comment on the inherrent apathy of drug addiction. And what makes us torture ourselves so much over all this? It's the G--D----- "Social Life"! With all the pop formula out there providing an incessant flow of musical pablum for the masses, it's so refreshing to hear artists like Iggy Pop who are just as in-your-face today as they were when their careers were launched 30 years ago.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
KILLER ALBUMAug 05, 1998
Iggy Pop has some of the hardest hitting rock. He can be angry, funny and cynical all at the same time. This album is one of his best.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A true Rock-n-Roll Album!Jul 08, 2000
By Brian
Rock music does not get much more sincere then American Caesar! This album has each track centered around the most important instrument of rock, the electric guitar. If you didn't think twice, you may think you're listening to an old Stooges album. Each track has that same sincerity and passion that The Stooges albums did. After trying to run from his reputation with The Stooges by self-exile in Berlin, Pop returns to his musical roots with American Caesar. You never know where Iggy will turn to next. This time Iggy turned to the past for answers. And he found them in all the right places. Every track is a great piece of music. But my personal favorites would have to be "Mixin' The Colors", "Wild America", "Highway Song", "Plastic & Concrete", and "F___in' Alone".
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Saluting Iggy....One Last TimeSep 07, 2008
By Bicycle Day
The last solid solo effort by "The Godfather of Punk," the September 1993 release has 17 songs and clocks in at nearly 72 minutes, which fittingly is around the time that Iggy Pop would log on stage as the headlining act.
Wild America is not Pop taking a satirical jab at society; the lyrics are pointed, indicting and brutal. The album smacks into emotions from a guy who has lived in the shadows - Jealousy, Hate, Sickness, Social Life, Perforation Problems - and has crawled out barely alive.
Louie Louie is a concert mainstay, but Pop's performance art has a jagged edge that gets sharper through each number. Not for the feint of heart, Pop is the drum major in a band for tortured souls.
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based on 18 reviews
