Former-Stooges member James Williamson and Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek re-interpret four songs Williamson co-wrote in the ‘70s, using only acoustic instruments.
Tek’s doing the lead vocals on this disc, and his voice is absolutely fine. But considering that Raw Power has truly demented vocals, these renditions sound quite smooth, which quickly becomes quite confusing. The original I Need Somebody is one of the ugliest sounding riffs ever heard. It’s blues-indebted without sounding familiar or conventional.But with Tek’s more conventionally ‘bluesy’ voice, it almost sounds like Tom Waits.
Without the driving backbeat, Penetration sounds a bit lounge jazz-y.The original Night Theme is only about a minute long and creates such fleeting beauty with very little. This new version is the only track to feature the 30-odd members of the Awesöme Orchestra, who take Night Theme on a bombastic odyssey that tramples the theme’s subtle powers and adds very little emotional substance. No Sense of Crime is the most successful outing, as it’s probably the least obtrusive reworking of the original. Williamson and Tek can do as they please, and this recording project is really just for them.
By Lee Parker
