Instinct is the eighth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in June 1988 by A&M Records. After the relative commercial success of Blah Blah Blah, A&M expected another hit record from Pop; however, he instead decided to go with a heavy and hard-rocking sound for the follow-up album. Instinct features Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, who co-wrote four of the album's songs with Pop, and was produced by Bill Laswell.
Contents
Release
The album performed poorly in the US, peaking at number 110 on the Billboard 200 chart. The first single from the album, "Cold Metal," charted at number 37 on mainstream rock charts and earned Pop a Grammy Award nomination for Best Hard Rock/Metal performance in 1989. Except for a few plays of "Cold Metal" the album was largely ignored by commercial rock radio. A&M released videos for "Cold Metal" and "High on You."
Legacy
The album was ranked number 69 on Kerrang!s "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" list.
The song "Cold Metal" was briefly played in the 1990 science fiction-horror film Hardware, which also featured Iggy Pop as the voice of Angry Bob, a radio DJ.
Alternate versions
"Tuff Baby" (12" version released on "High on You" single) – 6:40
"Tuff Baby" (Dub version) – 5:18
"High On You" (7" edit) – 4:33
"Cold Metal" (Rock version) – 5:05
"Cold Metal" (Dub version) – 4:10
Personnel
Musicians
Iggy Pop – vocals
Steve Jones – guitar
Seamus Beaghen – keyboards
Leigh Foxx – bass
Paul Garisto – drums
Technical
Bill Laswell – producer
Robert Musso – tracking engineer
Martin Bisi – vocal engineer
Jason Corsaro – mixing engineer
Howie Weinberg – mastering
Nicky Skopelitis – keyboard programming
Jeff Bova – keyboard programming
Gary Grimshaw – cover design
Donald Krieger – cover graphics
Paul McAlpine – cover photography