The Stooges - Fun House

1.    Down On The Street
2.    Loose
3.    T.V. Eye
4.    Dirt
5.    1970
6.    Fun House
7.    L.A. Blues

“Do you feel it?”, Iggy Pop asks in “Dirt”. The answer is obvious to anyone who comes into contact with The Stooges’ “Fun House” – an album where unrestrained emotion, wild abandon and raw energy take center stage. The electrifying chaos on the Detroit band’s second studio album, originally released in July 1970 on Elektra Records, is almost impossible to put into words. Robert Christgau, the legendary Village Voice journalist, even admitted that “language was not designed” to convey what many critics and artists regard as the ultimate rock ’n’ roll statement. More than 50 years after Iggy Pop and company let loose, “Fun House” still leaves listeners stunned. Ranked by Rolling Stone at number 94 on its list of the greatest albums of all time, described by Jack White as “the greatest rock ’n’ roll record ever made” and celebrated by renowned critics such as Lester Bangs and Ben Edmonds, as well as musicians including Henry Rollins and Steve Albini, “Fun House” simply feels good.

From beginning to end, the live-in-the-room qualities that define “Fun House” and Don Gallucci’s acclaimed production are unmistakable: the relentless groove, the sheer force of the rhythms, the unrestrained volume, Pop’s fiery vocals, the hard-boiling bass lines… The roughness and grit created by the four band members and saxophonist Steven Mackay seem intent on breaking through into another dimension – with gripping presence, physicality and power. Intense, cohesive and aggressive, “Fun House” differs from The Stooges’ groundbreaking debut in several ways and even surpasses it. First of all, the quartet developed nearly all of the songs over the course of several months. This time, they were not under pressure to write additional material. Equally important was their encounter with Gallucci. The Stooges’ instinctive trust in Gallucci paid off, as the producer immediately set out to capture their unique live atmosphere. He defied convention and removed all curtains, carpets and other sound-absorbing furnishings from Elektra Sound Recorders – the studio located just a short walk from the group’s temporary lodging at the Tropicana Motel. He also had Pop sing, grunt, scream and bark live through a handheld microphone routed through two Marshall amplifiers, serving as his personal PA system. Engineer Brian Ross-Myring was the final piece of the puzzle for a recording destined to make history. Gallucci and Ross-Myring had another brilliant idea: they planned to have The Stooges record one song per day in the studio, in the same order as the tracks would appear on the album. First, they invited the band to run through the songs – essentially a preparation day to fine-tune levels, baffles and positions. Then they got to work and achieved the goal of capturing one song each day, providing Gallucci with roughly 15 to 25 takes from which to choose the official version. Reportedly, apart from two guitar overdubs, every note of “Fun House” was created exactly as it is heard today.

MFSL now presents “Fun House” for the first time as a high-end Hybrid SACD, offering the finest sound quality the album has ever received. This collectible reissue sets new standards in soundstage, transparency and dynamics. No previous version bursts with as much energy, immediacy and power as MoFi’s strictly limited Hybrid SACD, restricted to just 2,500 copies.