Lust for Life

iTunes Review

The big toothy smile Iggy Pop sports on the cover of Lust for Life sets the tone for this surprisingly optimistic album. Like its predecessor The Idiot, this set bears the stamp of David Bowie’s cool yet spiky production touch. But these songs find Iggy forsaking his typical urges towards masochistic nihilism in favor of more positive (though still skewed) depictions of modern life. Spurred on by the relentless rhythms of the Sales brothers, Pop leers and mugs his way through odes to unbridled lust (“Sixteen”), illicit thrills (“Some Weird Sin”) and pure materialism (“Success”). True, the album lurches into ominous terrain on the slow-grinding “Turn Blue” and the doom-tinged “Neighborhood Threat.” But more typical is the title track, a joyous affirmation of existence set to an insistently throbbing beat. If there’s a transcendent moment here, it’s found in “The Passenger,” a bouncy number with an evocative William S. Burroughs-like lyric. Lust for Life captures this punk godfather looking forward with a grin, rather than backwards with a scowl.