Beat 'em up

Beat 'em up (also known as brawler) is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and an improbably large number of underpowered enemies. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, though some later games feature more open three-dimensional (3D) environments with yet larger numbers of enemies. These games are noted for their simple gameplay, a source of both critical acclaim and derision. Two-player cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of the genre.

The first influential beat 'em up was 1984's Kung-Fu Master, with 1986's Renegade introducing the urban settings and underworld revenge themes employed extensively by later games. The genre then saw a period of high popularity between the release of Double Dragon in 1987, which defined the two-player cooperative mode central to classic beat 'em ups, and 1991's Street Fighter II, which drew gamers towards one-on-one fighting games. Games such as Streets of Rage, Final Fight and Golden Axe are other classics to emerge from this period. The genre has been less popular since the emergence of 3D-based mass-market games, but still some beat 'em ups adapted the simple formula to utilize large-scale 3D environments.

Beat 'Em Up

Beat 'Em Up, recorded at Hit Factory Criteria studios in Miami Beach, Florida, is the first Iggy Pop album in which The Trolls were credited. The Trolls were: Iggy Pop, Whitey Kirst, Pete Marshall, Alex Kirst and Lloyd 'Mooseman' Roberts.

Background

Beat 'Em Up was the first self-produced album by Iggy Pop. Art Collins, Pop's manager, said on the work: "I'm not saying this is another Raw Power, but if Raw Power is a true Iggy album, then this is another true Iggy album". He added there would be some "ranting on the album, some humor, some rock on it."

Release

The album was released on June 18, 2001, and included as an unmentioned bonus the song acknowledged as "Sterility" on tour playlists, featured right after "VIP". "Sterility" was a rhythmic rant, but not in the aggro-core vein of "Mask", "L.O.S.T", "Howl", or the title track. "Sterility" is about those who do disdain the current landscape of American popular music, and culture, and exemplifies Iggy Pop's ability to contemporize country music, blues and soul. Iggy asks "Where is the soul?" in "Mask", which is complemented in "Sterility" which answers that there isn't a home for the soul, or soul, in contemporary American culture or musics.