The Idiot

Recorded primarily at Château d'Hérouville and Musicland Studios before being finished in Berlin, The Idiot represents the first collaboration between Iggy Pop and David Bowie during their shared European exile. While often overshadowed by Bowie's Low, this album was actually the laboratory where the 'Berlin' sound was first synthesized. The production is notable for its 'treated' instrument sounds - specifically the drums, which were heavily processed through an Eventide Harmonizer to create a metallic, unnatural thud. This sonic palette moved Pop away from the guitar-driven chaos of his past toward a more experimental, electronic-inflected art rock. Critics, including those at AllMusic, have noted that while it is a Bowie-led production, it remains one of Pop's most influential works, essentially inventing the template for post-punk and gothic rock. Its influence can be heard clearly in the work of Joy Division, whose singer Ian Curtis was famously found with the record on his turntable.