"Johanna" and "I Got Nothin'" were both performed live during 1973β74 by the Williamson-era Stooges.
Recording
Kill City was originally recorded in 1975 after the disintegration of the Stooges. It was to be used as a demo to give to record labels in hopes of getting Pop a new contract. His vocals were recorded on weekends when he received permission to leave a mental hospital he was staying in at the time for treatment of his long-standing heroin addiction. The original 1975 "demo" mix of the album remains unheard, with the exception of three tracks which have been released on various compilations : "Johanna", "Consolation Prizes" and "Kill City". These tracks sound markedly different from those on the final version of the album, with different guitar parts and, in the case of "Johanna", no saxophone.
Release
There would be no takers for the album until 1977 when, following the success of Pop's solo albums The Idiot and Lust for Life, Williamson got an advance from Bomp! to release the album, some of which was used to fund studio time to finish off the original recordings by adding overdubs and remixing. The master tapes were lost shortly after the release of the original album and all subsequent CD releases were mastered from the original poor quality green vinyl pressing. This partly accounts for the somewhat muddy sound of the album. Pop appeared as himself, performing the album's title track, on the "For Cryin' Out Loud" episode of the Tales from the CryptTV series, aired on May 22, 1990. In 2010, Williamson and engineer Ed Cherney remixed the album once more from the original multitracks. The resulting mixes formed a new version of the album, released on Bomp! on October 19, 2010.
Reception
Kill City has been generally well received by critics. Nick Kent of New Musical Express called it "a great album". Mark Deming of AllMusic called the album "a minor triumph", writing: "The music is more open and bluesy than on Raw Power, and while Williamson's guitar remains thick and powerful, here he's willing to make room for pianos, acoustic guitars and saxophones, and the dynamics of the arrangements suggest a more mature approach after the claustrophobia of Raw Power". Martin Aston of BBC Music praised the album, calling it "Iggy's most underrated album" and one that "helped him get back to real life".
