Iggy Pop describes James Williamson as a ''brutal'' guitarist.

The Stooges frontman notices distinctive differences between his bandmate's instrumental skills compared to original guitar player Ron Asheton, who passed away in 2009, and feels there is more ''control'' in James' performances - unlike the late rocker's ''intuitive'' approach.

He said: ''With early Stooges, half of Ron's contribution was intuitive in that he just let the guitar and the amp talk in the spirit of [Brison] Gysin and [William] Burroughs' cut-ups.

''He was a volume player, but didn't control it like Blue Cheer or Ted Nugent. He found some beautiful places to go. James was a very controlled, brutal player.

''Later in life, Ron became a terrific live player, because he never stopped playing, but he also became a lot more like everybody else.

''Williamson had 37 years off so he still has a lot to say - and he's articulate about what he wants to do. My contribution to this record is mostly in melodies.''

The band have recently released their new album 'Ready To Die' and the final song on the record, titled 'The Departed', makes references to their journey over the years as well as reminiscing about former members they have lost.

Iggy, 67, added to Mojo magazine: ''[It wasn't written] so much Ron as for a group of people. In Ann Arbor and Detroit in the late 60s, early 70s, some of us were more 'us' than others, with some dying a little on the young side.

''This was the first new piece James sent me after we started touring as Iggy & The Stooges again, and it was a giant pain-in-the-ass bitch m**********r epic to do! It started out as an instrumental, just James on dobro, and he called it 'Ron's Tune'.

''I didn't wanna write a personal song, so it's more like, 'The party's over,' or, 'It's getting late'.''