CD: Iggy Pop, A Million In Prizes - The Iggy Pop Anthology

Having sailed triumphantly through an encounter with a suitably bemused Melvyn Bragg, Iggy Pop can rightly feel entitled to celebrate the teetering edifice of his career. This twin-disc compilation runs the gauntlet from the Ig's first album with the Stooges in 1969 through to the present day, taking in his eccentric duets with Debbie Harry and Kate Pierson (from the B-52's) as light relief from the brawl and swagger of his core material. Even the oldest pieces sound more urgent than tomorrow's news, and merely reading through the tracklisting is enough to get the adrenaline pumping. 1969, No Fun, I Wanna Be Your Dog, Search and Destroy and Raw Power only take you halfway through disc one, with Nightclubbing, Lust for Life and The Passenger still to come. Disc two features lesser-known songs, but the quality control rarely slackens. And if there's some conspicuous David Bowie production polish on the songs from Blah Blah Blah, it successfully portrays a warmer and wiser side of Ignacious (shame they omitted the title song, though). Great, basically.