Beat 'Em Up, recorded at Hit Factory Criteria studios in Miami Beach, Florida

Miami Beach, Florida

Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...

, is the first Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...

 album in which The Trolls

The Trolls

The Trolls are an American musical group, the members of which consist of Iggy Pop, Whitey Kirst, Pete Marshal, and Alex Kirst. The band were first labeled as such on Iggy's 2001 album Beat 'Em Up, and they also appear on 7 tracks on Skull Ring. Drummer Alex Kirst was killed in a hit-and run near...

 were credited. The Trolls

The Trolls

The Trolls are an American musical group, the members of which consist of Iggy Pop, Whitey Kirst, Pete Marshal, and Alex Kirst. The band were first labeled as such on Iggy's 2001 album Beat 'Em Up, and they also appear on 7 tracks on Skull Ring. Drummer Alex Kirst was killed in a hit-and run near...

 were: Iggy Pop, Whitey Kirst, Pete Marshall, Alex Kirst, Lloyd 'Mooseman' Roberts.

Background

Beat 'Em Up was the first self-produced album by Iggy Pop. Art Collins, Pop's manager, said on the work: "I'm not saying this is another Raw Power

Raw Power

Raw Power is the third studio album by American rock band The Stooges. Though not initially commercially successful, Raw Power gained a cult fanbase in the years following its release and, like its predecessor , is generally considered an influential forerunner of punk rock.-Recording history:After...

, but if Raw Power is a true Iggy album, then this is another true Iggy album". He added there would be some "ranting on the album, some humor, some rock on it."

Release

The album was released on June 18, 2001, and included as an unmentioned bonus the song acknowledged as "Sterility" on tour playlists, featured right after "VIP". "Sterility" was a rhythmic rant, but not in the aggro-core vein of "Mask", "L.O.S.T", "Howl", or the title track. "Sterility" is about those who do disdain the current landscape of American popular music, and culture, and exemplifies Iggy Pop's ability to contemporize country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 and soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

. Iggy asks "Where is the soul?" in "Mask", which is complemented in "Sterility" which answers that there isn't a home for the soul in contemporary American culture.

Reception and Aftermath

"Mask" was included on the compilation A Million in Prizes: The Anthology

A Million in Prizes: The Anthology

A Million in Prizes: The Anthology is a 2-disc greatest hits collection of Iggy Pop, released in 2005. It supersedes the compilation Nude & Rude: The Best of Iggy Pop. The title comes from the lyrics of "Lust for Life"...

'. The murder by drive-by shooting

Drive-by shooting

A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...

 of bassist Lloyd 'Mooseman' Roberts, a former member of Ice T

Ice T

Tracy Marrow , better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor.He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years...

's Body Count

Body Count

Body Count is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1990. The group is fronted by rapper and actor Ice-T, who founded the group out of his interest in heavy metal music, taking on the role of vocalist and writing the lyrics for most of the group's songs. Lead guitarist...

 and a member of The Trolls at the time of his death, postponed plans to tour, though "Mask" was performed to great effect on the David Letterman Show, cementing Iggy's place as a rock favorite for people who disdain the current landscape of American popular music, regardless of genre, and the eventual Spring and Fall Beat 'Em Up tours were well received.

Track listing

All songs composed by Iggy Pop and Alex Kirst, except where indicated.

1. "Mask" (Iggy Pop, Lloyd "Mooseman" Roberts, Alex Kirst, Whitey Kirst) - 2:53
2. "L.O.S.T." - 3:24
3. "Howl" - 5:05
4. "Football" - 3:52
5. "Savior" - 4:37
6. "Beat 'Em Up" - 4:26
7. "Talking Snake" - 4:28
8. "Jerk" - 3:44
9. "Death is Certain" - 4:38
10. "Go for the Throat" (Pop, Mooseman, Kirst, Kirst) - 3:56
11. "Weasels" - 2:59
12. "Drink New Blood" - 4:33
13. "It's All Shit" - 4:57
14. "Ugliness" - 5:37
15. "V.I.P." (Pop, Mooseman, Kirst, Kirst) (includes bonus track "Sterility") - 13:11

Personnel

• Iggy Pop - vocals

The Trolls

The Trolls

The Trolls are an American musical group, the members of which consist of Iggy Pop, Whitey Kirst, Pete Marshal, and Alex Kirst. The band were first labeled as such on Iggy's 2001 album Beat 'Em Up, and they also appear on 7 tracks on Skull Ring. Drummer Alex Kirst was killed in a hit-and run near...

• Whitey Kirst - guitar
• Pete Marshall
  Samhain (band)
  Samhain was an American rock band formed by singer Glenn Danzig in 1983, immediately following his departure from the Misfits. Samhain played in more of a deathrock and heavy metal-infused style of horror punk than Danzig's previous band. By 1987 Samhain's membership evolved into a new band,...
  
   - guitar
• Alex Kirst - drums
• Lloyd "Mooseman" Roberts - bass