The original Pop mix did not see official release until 2010 (on CD), although a pirate disc, titled Rough Power, circulated before that time. Pop agreed, mostly because Columbia was going to remix it with or without his involvement. More than a decade later, during the CD era, Columbia demanded the album be remixed for digital. His mix served as the official release mix in 1973. Bowie recalls mostly spending time adjusting vocal levels. The Thin White Duke remixed all but the opening cut, “Search and Destroy,” in a single day. The sound did not please everyone, so Bowie was brought in to remix. Pop initially mixed the album by throwing the vocals on one track, guitar solos on a second track, and more vocals on a third track. If the collective’s history seems convoluted, the mixing of Raw Power is even harder to follow.
Among other issues, the friction caused by Williamson taking over the guitar and writing chores from Ron Asheton contributed to the band’s second breakup in 1974. The reconfigured group became Iggy and the Stooges and entered the CBS Studio in London to make Raw Power. Ron reluctantly switched to bass from guitar. When the musicians did not work out, Pop brought the Asheton brothers to England. In London, Pop began plans to record a new album involving guitarist and writer James Williamson as well as a revolving door of other players.
Pop started a bromance with David Bowie, who got the singer to sign up with his manager and helped him get a recording contract with Columbia. By the second album, 1970’s Fun House, the group added Steven Mackay on tenor saxophone. The band started in 1967 as the Stooges with singer Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg, Jr.), bassist Dave Alexander, guitarist Ron Asheton, and the latter’s brother, drummer Scott Asheton. In many ways, almost all Raw Power has in common with the two Stooges albums that preceded it is its primal sound, but while the Stooges once sounded like the wildest (and weirdest) gang in town, Raw Power found them heavily armed and ready to destroy the world - that is, if they didn't destroy themselves first.With the exception of a few 21 st-century-reunion comeback releases, the Stooges released just three LPs-the first two as the Stooges and one more as Iggy and the Stooges. Whether quietly brooding ("Gimme Danger") or inviting the apocalypse ("Search and Destroy"), Iggy had never sounded quite so focused as he did here, and his lyrics displayed an intensity that was more than a bit disquieting. But the most remarkable change came from the singer Raw Power revealed Iggy as a howling, smirking, lunatic genius.
From a technical standpoint, Williamson was a more gifted guitar player than Asheton (not that that was ever the point), but his sheets of metallic fuzz were still more basic (and punishing) than what anyone was used to in 1973, while Ron Asheton played his bass like a weapon of revenge, and his brother Scott Asheton remained a powerhouse behind the drums. By most accounts, tensions were high during the recording of Raw Power, and the album sounds like the work of a band on its last legs - though rather than grinding to a halt, Iggy & the Stooges appeared ready to explode like an ammunition dump. By this point, guitarist Ron Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander had been edged out of the picture, and James Williamson had signed on as Iggy's new guitar mangler Asheton rejoined the band shortly before recording commenced on Raw Power, but was forced to play second fiddle to Williamson as bassist. In 1972, the Stooges were near the point of collapse when David Bowie's management team, MainMan, took a chance on the band at Bowie's behest.