The Stooges have christened their first studio album since 1973 "The Weirdness" and will release the set March 20 via Virgin. The set is presently being mastered at London's Abbey Road Studios.

"At times, [the songs have] a lot of going for the fences," frontman Iggy Pop told Billboard.com last month. "But there's a great deal of structure and attention to detail. We were very prepared, and we always have been any time we stepped into a studio. Even the song 'L.A. Blues, the last cut on 'Fun House,' was pretty much exactly what you would have heard if you'd seen us live the week before we recorded it."

Pop admits being in the studio with the Asheton brothers after a three-decade hiatus rekindled some bad memories of the band's demise. "Some of it is exciting and some of it is scary, and I don't care to go over there," he says. "But at the end of the day, I know these guys. I don't know anybody else quite that way."

The 16-track set will feature such songs as "Trollin'," "ATM," "You Can't Have Friends," "My Idea of Fun," "Greedy Awful People" and "Free and Freaky," which boasts a guest turn from the Raconteurs' Brendan Benson.

The Stooges will hit the road this spring in support of "The Weirdness," highlighted by a March 17 appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.