Customer Reviews

New York Dolls [Vinyl]

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It was 30 years ago today (27 Jul 2003) that The New York Dolls debut album hit record store shelves. I think it's safe to say, these thirty years would have been much different had that record not come out.

It has been suggested that The New York Dolls emerged in 1973 just as The Rolling Stones relavence was ebbing (a point I might argue if provoked). And, as if things don't happen all on their own, one might look at The Dolls and see a trashier, dumbed-down lip-stick-smeared drag-queen version of Jagger and Richards (especially David Johansen and Johnny Thunders - it's uncanny!) but musically made up of equal parts Iggy Pop swamp-monster sleaze, Lou Reed's gritty street-sense, T. Rex's jangly mess, and the charging glam-jam of David Bowie. The result was The New York Dolls were louder, and even more strung-out than their peers.

Iggy Pop once said that he single-handedly killed the sixties. That may be so, but it wasn't until July 27th, 1973 that The New York Dolls came kicking and screaming, in their high heels and track-marked arms, it wasn't until then that they showed us how good and gritty bad music can sound.

The punk scene would have been much different minus The Dolls. It's unlikely The Ramones would have done it quite the way they did, and The Sex Pistols certainly wouldn't have happened. In fact, Malcolm McLaren managed the tail end of The Dolls before he moved back to England to create The Sex Pistols. Malcolm dressed The Dolls in patent red leather and draped giant sickle & hammer red flags behind them on stage, all this to upset the American public. None of his antics seemed to work with The Dolls, as they were nodding out of consciousness more than half of the time. It may have been easier for Malcolm McLaren to go from a band with two zonked junkies to a band with only one.

'I was trying to do with the Sex Pistols what I had failed with the New York Dolls' --Malcolm McLaren

In fact, Malcolm wanted to hire either Sylvain Sylvain of The New York Dolls or Richard Hell (then of Television) to front his incomplete Sex Pistols.

'Malcolm...he always wanted me to come over and start a group called the Sex Pistols' --Sylvain Sylvain
...and in retrospect:

'It was a stupid idea of mine...no way Hell or Syl would have fit in with the Pistols. Hell and Syl had years on the Pistols...the Pistols were incredibly naïve.' --Malcolm McLaren

The Sex Pistols, on the other hand, perhaps spawned at least partly by The Dolls, rejected the accusation completely on their song called New York. Johnny Rotten explained he and the rest of the band were sick and tired of Malcolm McLaren endlessly going on about The Dolls and The New York scene, which the Pistols felt was too poetry based and arty. New York was their reaction against The New York Dolls.

Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan, after the demise of The New York Dolls, formed The Heartbreakers with Richard Hell (who didn't stay long). Amoung the many great punk songs that Johnny Thunders is responsible for, one is a response to The Sex Pistols nasty New York called London Boys. It was more brutal than the flimsy musical fight Lennon and MacCartney employed on their albums.

But it was with their debut album, only 11 songs, that the Dolls created all that haggard, whacked and wasted neo-Euro clumsy art rock. A fantastic set of stripped down freak-out garage-boogie.

Ah, the Dolls. More than any other band, they were the epitome of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle (them and The Stooges..but that's another story). They didn't just burn the candle at both ends--they used a blowtorch on the middle. All the drug-crazed, trashily androgynous, Rolling Stones-in-drag insanity of the New York Dolls was woefully short-lived, but the result was a breakthrough 1973 LP that was a huge influence on the future punk movement. The Ramones (guitarist Johnny Thunders was a friend of Dee Dee Ramone's) and the Sex Pistols (Malcom McLaren managed the Dolls before there even was a Johnny Rotten) probably wouldn't have existed without Johnny Thunders and David Johansen to show them the way.

Way grittier and wilder than their glam rock kin (David Bowie and T. Rex), the Dolls basically updated the early rock 'n' roll of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. What the Dolls lacked in instrumental prowess they made up for in reckless sexual abandon and crazy R&B swagger. Thunders' guitar is HUGE, sloppy, and manic, and his filthy riffs and solos are what make this album. But let's not forget the trashy wit and great singing of Johanson, Sylvain Sylvain's piano, Jerry Nolan's crashing drums, and bassist Arthur Kane...well, he sucked, but you barely heard him over the wonderfully shambolic boogie anyway.

The opener Personality Crisis establishes everything the Dolls were about--stomping piano, riproaring guitar, and Johanson's cocky swagger and crazy vocals. The 1-2-3 punch of Personality Crisis, Looking For A Kiss, and Vietnamese Baby is then followed by the short reprive of Lonely Planet Boy. The epic Frankenstein brings the rawk back, and it is immediately followed by the insanely addictive sing-a-long Trash. The album ends with Jet Boy, which hooks you with the biggest freakin' chorus ever. Filler? What filler? Every song rules. They're so good that you will almost forget about Todd Rundgren's godawful production. Almost.

The New York Dolls' first release ranks up there with The Stooges' Fun House and The MC5's Kick Out The Jams as the definitive proto-punk album. Barring that, it may be the greatest pure rock 'n' roll document EVER. You need this one.

It's hard to believe that any self-respecting rock fan would actually give this album anything less than five stars - it's simply perfect.
There's already so many reviews here giving the details, so to cut to the chase let me just add a few points: 1) David Johanson was an incredibly charismatic frontman, his lyrics abounding with brilliant, trashy wit; 2) Johnny Thunders' guitar licks are worth all the praise one hears of him - the inventiveness of his electrifying, divebombing guitar style runs rampant throughout this disc; 3) the overall songwriting on their debut is awesomely consistent - every song here is a killer, everyone a classic; 4) this album hasn't dated a second since its release, if not now sounding more alive and vital than ever; and 5) this platter is an absolutely essential purchase if you're at all inclined towards pure rock'n'roll a la "Nuggets", Velvets, 'Stones, Yardbirds, Stooges, MC5, Sex Pistols, Damned, Black Flag, Germs, etc., or if you're just a newcomer to the scene brought in by the current popularity of bands like the White Stripes, Strokes, etc. If so, then dig in here to get the roots of where your faves are coming from.
If it wasn't for the fact that every critic and his mother constantly hails this as one of rock's all-time essential meisterwerks, I'd say it's possibly the most under-rated album of all time; as it stands, I'll simply say that its sheer brilliance is still greatly undervalued by the general record-buying public, OK?

Having just re-listened to this album a few days ago, the same recurring thought hit me every time the record ends: why can't they make 'em like this anymore?

From beginning to end, this is uber-classic rock'n'roll at its finest, and what's still amazing is that over 30 years later, it's still as vital and fresh as ever.

From the gutter-punk raunch of "Trash", "Personality Crisis", and "Looking For A Kiss", the album subtle melds Chuck Berry to Iggy & The Stooges, but injects more than its fair share of original licks that have yet to be topped even to this very day. "Lonely Planet Boy" is the doo-wop classic that never was, and "Pills" sounds just as potent unplugged as it does here in this steamrolling version.

My personal favourite has to be "Subway Train", which crystalizes the ethos of the Dolls in under 4 1/2 minutes. The follow-up "Too Much Too Soon" is equally good, but less rife with classics. Get 'em both anyway.

The New York Dolls debut album is the exact point where the Rolling Stones intersect with Punk Rock.

In the early 70's, Mick and Company, like mad scientists, had perfected the distillation of Mississippi Delta blues crossed with sleazy urban rock and roll and burned themselves in the process, forcing them to retreat into the comparative safety of reggae and funk experimentation, soul balladry and less inspired rock.

In the mid 70's, the Ramones, Sex Pistols and their ilk through off all pretense of artistry or respect for tradition and fully embraced the nothing to lose vibe of urban decay. They constructed a new sound shot through with angst where speed was prized over craft and irony ruled.

With the 1973 release of their debut album, the New York Dolls tried to have it both ways. David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, Syl Sylvain, Arthur Kane and Jerry Nolan have clearly processed the gutbucket style of rock and roll offered up by the Stones but cannot bring themselves to turn away from the blast they were having in the funky but chic and lowdown quarters of NYC. Madmen running around in garish drag and rocking out with abandon, they were embraced by the bohemian cognoscenti and reviled everywhere else.

The experiment did not work out over the long haul but they made a glorious noise in their moment and left behind this 5-star testament to excess.

All the songs are terrific but I especially love Pills.

I bought this because I have been reading "Please Kill Me" and the New York Dolls are a doomed group just waiting to break up, but still they are the beginning of punk. I had to buy this CD.

It's amazing! Echoes of every band that you've ever loved from the Replacements to Husker Du to glam rock to punk to grunge (which is really just post-punk). The influence spread out and engulfed modern music. Listening to this CD is like reading Nietzche for the first time. At once familiar and unique, you are listening to the source. You have heard this music before only you have heard its imitators.

Every song is great but "Personality Crisis", "Looking for a Kiss" and "Jet Boy" are way cool!

Buy it now.

Back in junior high and high school, Creem magazine was my bible and so it goes to follow, it was where I first heard about The New York Dolls. This album came out when I was in 9th grade and I dutifully rode my bike up to Dearborn Music (in my hometown of Dearborn, MI), plunked down $3.99, and innocently rode off, not knowing that what I would find within those grooves would send me on a life-long quest for some of the quirkiest, most obscure and outrageous vinyl I could get my hands on. Sometimes dismissed as the American Rolling Stones, with Johnny Thunders playing Keith to David Johansen's Mick, the Dolls sounded as if they had some sort of tenuous grasp of how to play their instruments, but it also seemed as if it could all fall apart at any moment. For me, however, therein lay the appeal. After hearing glorious assaults on the senses like "Personality Crisis," "Trash," and "Pills," people would just look at me and shake their heads in pity, but I could not have cared less. But, alas, the Dolls flame burned bright but short. Believe everything you've heard about this band. Important, essential, and highly recommended.

Probably the best tribute to a team of heroes. These are the people who created the kindling wood for the fire of punk rock. The first of an era who kicked the Eagles, Bob Seeger, and Andy Williams off the cliff face. If the Ramones and Blondie were born from the New York Dolls, and the Heartbreakers came from their death (we do not mean Tom Petty!), then they are saints..

I am so tired of reading the bad reviews that the NY Dolls are getting on Amazon. I discovered them while in junior high. After that, I could not get enough of them. It was clean enough so my parents let me listen to it but yet fun. So that was punk rock. That led me to Iggy Pop, Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, the ex-Dolls - Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and progressively harder bands. It got me through my teenage years.

It is all on my ipod and when I need a good song to pick me up, I scroll over to the Dolls and play Trash, Pills, Personality Crisis, etc.

Those that snub the Dolls have no understanding of the impact they made in the early 70s. Just look them up on Wikipedia.

Mick Jagger said of the New York Dolls: "Ugh, the New York Dolls! What Rubbish!"
To which Johnny Thunders replied, "Mick who?" The Dolls picked up where the Stones should have gone if they hadn't been such pussies. The Dolls were/are a slap in the face. God love 'em.