Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…

David Bowie had a hell of a 1977. He released the first two albums in his “Berlin trilogy,” Low and “Heroes”, experimenting with electronic music and becoming heavily influenced by German bands such as Kraftwerk. I covered both of those records in my Bowie deep dive (and I’m not a huge fan of either) so I’m not featuring them here.

By Bowie’s side throughout that period was Iggy Pop, the American punk artist he befriended years earlier. The two men lived together in Berlin while trying to kick their respective drug habits, and Bowie played a major role in the writing and recording of Pop’s first solo album, The Idiot.

Pop released that album in March of 1977 and got to work on its follow-up, Lust For Life, in time for a September release the same year. That’s four albums between the two men in less than 12 months.

Following Bowie’s heavy influence on The Idiot, Pop sought to make Lust For Life more of a personal statement. While Bowie plays and sings on the album, and had a hand in writing almost all of its songs, Pop steered the sound away from the experimental realm and more toward garage rock. He also wrote the album’s lyrics, sometimes improvising them mid-recording.

Not being a fan of either Bowie’s Berlin albums or punk, I expected not to like Lust For Life, but I ended up very pleasantly surprised. The songs are melodic and musically interesting but never precious. They’re gritty, strange, and stcky.

Of all the new (to me) albums I listened to for this 1977 installment of Decades, this is the one of the few I can see myself eagerly returning to again.