Pitchfork

Normally coughing up more money to get albums you already own sucks, but the good folks at Rhino make sure it's a worthwhile investment with their lavish reissues. Such will be the case on August 16, when deluxe editions of the Stooges' first two albums, The Stooges and Fun House, are unleashed.

Each expanded version will feature the original album, plus a bonus disc of demos and rarities. The bonus CD of the self-titled debut has 10 previously unreleased cuts, such as producer John Cale's original mixes of "No Fun", "Little Doll", "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "1969", a full version of "No Fun", and three alternate vocal takes.

The Fun House edition contains demos for "Slide (Slidin' the Blues") and "Lost in the Future" (both tracks did not make it to the original album), single mixes of "1970" and "Down on the Street", and three alternate takes. In 1997, frontman Iggy Pop himself oversaw the remastering of the Stooges' masterpiece, Raw Power, which was originally mixed by David Bowie. No word as to whether Iggy Pop or the other members of the Stooges were involved in these reissues.

The Stooges snarled like a teenager with its anthems for the young and discontented, "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "1969", "No Fun", and "Real Cool Time". Trying to recreate the band's chaotic live shows, 1970's Fun House is a garage rock classic and helped set the stage for punk's advent later on in the decade. It boasts the stomping ravers, "Loose" and "TV Eye".

Although the Stooges only released three albums, they influenced a generation of underground acts. Of the Stooges' audience, Iggy Pop said they were "high-school drop-outs, troubled drug kids." Speaking as neither a high-school dropout nor a troubled drug kid, I think these albums rule.