Customer Reviews

Born to Be Bad

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The quality of musicianship on these tracks is pretty raw since they were recorded live at some kind of house party in 1975, and were probably never intended to be heard by the world. This is the Runaways as a 3-piece. Joan Jett on guitar and Micki (Michael) Steele as bassist/vocalist. Michael used to be bassist in The Bangles. But the girls are about 15 years old on these recordings, and it sounds like it. If anyone wants to hear The Runaways at their best try these CDs: The Queens of Noise; Waitin' For The Night; and Live In Japan.

Listen to the bad reviews. Just listen.
The sound quality is among the worst you'll ever hear on a cd. Literally, as another reviewer stated, sounds like it was recorded on a $10.95 home recorder. Bangle fanatics might give it a listen, as you can hear Michael (barely) doing the vocals.

That was the very first performance of the Runaways, immediately after the forming of the band (just Joan Jett on guitar, Sandy West on drums, and Micki Steele on bass - the last one later went to the Bangles, but that's another chapter). This live concert is very rough, punky, crazy, playful and joyful. I can't believe how good they already were at the beginning. It is not studio quality, but it is lots of life!

Yes, this is rough and raw and even hard to hear at times, but it's a great slice of history for fans of Joan Jett, Micki Steele, Sandy West, or The Runaways in general. These are the original three members of the band recording demo tracks and it is a fun comparison for their later work with Cherie, Lita, and Jackie/Vicki/Laurie. Kim Fowley's voice is in there, too, as the Svengali of the whole experiment. Please take it for what it is. If you're just a mild fan of The Runaways who loves Cherie's vocals and Lita on lead, don't buy this album. If you're a true fanatic, however, and want to hear some raw music with three budding musicians, it's a purchase you'll cherish. If nothing else, it's a great place to hear Joan play a little lead guitar, which is a rarity in and of itself considering she is the quintessential rhythm guitar player.

Yes it's true that the quality of the recording is not great, but as a fan of the Runaways, I found it entertaining from a historical perspective. It's very raw and gives you an up close feel in the development of the band with Micki Steele (future Bangle) in the line-up. It is not something I listen to on a regular basis as I do the other albums, but I'm glad I have it. I would recommend it for true Runaways and Joan Jett fans.

I love The Runaways, and bought this because the first review listed here was a good one and gave me hope! LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS!! THOSE GUYS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT! The quality is so bad...this CD sounds like it was made with one of those seventies Panasonic red yellow or blue roundish shaped tape recorders, and all done over the course of an hour in someone's basement. And I COLLECT Runaways stuff, I love them so much...but this is not meant to be listened to...It's just plain BAD!

Sounds like it was recorded on a $19 cassette recorder in the back of a noisy bar. Deleted it from my music library.

I am an avid Runaways fan, and yet this was never meant to be released. Poorly recorded, this is an attempt by someone to cash in on Joan Jett's later success. For those interested in The Runaways, try their self titled debut, their second, Queens of Noise, or "The Best of...".

hey...listen up...to all of you who are bad-mouthing this disc, let me just start by saying...'GROW UP'...what's with you people...did you all grow up in the horrible eighties, and need everything 'digitally remastered' and all that nonsense...this is raw music, the way it should be heard...and this is a rarity that more bands should try to emmulate...and, if you've ever been in a band, you know that, yea...it probably was recorded on a $10 tape recorder (probably about $7.50 at the time this was recorded, but, i digress..)...what did you think...they had multi-tracking-high-tech equiptment five days after being a band...true, maybe nowadays with all the available 'gizmos' on the market for everyone to sound like they have talent that they don't, but back then, you had to bring something to the table, and, if all you had was a reel-to-reel player to record ya', that was about as high-tech as it got...so lighten up...take the last century outta your ears and listen to some rock-n-roll the way it was meant to be heard...peace...

Guys, like the other reviewers noted, this is NOT a professionally recorded album. The quality is not very good (this was likely thrown together on outtakes with a handheld tape recorder) right after the orignal band had just started out (Joan Jett, Kari Krome, Sandy West and that lead singer from The Bangles). I really like a few of the songs they never recorded with the formal Runaways group (like Let's Party Tonight) and it's very cool seeing how some of the songs evolved into what made it onto their first two albums.
So for me, perfect. For others wanting a professional album and a good picture of what the Runaways were like in their heyday, well, probably not your best choice ;-)