Customer Reviews

We Have Come for Your Children

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite Felix Papalarddi's frankly hideous/generic production values, the listener cannot ignore the power of the Dead Boys performance. The group as a whole had matured into a true musical powerhouse with a tag-team, fairly intricate guitar duo like Chrome and Zero, and a rhythm sextion as tight as Jeff Magnum and Johnny Blitz (pre-knife fight). The true magic is exuded by Stiv Bators though, with his slurred, under-enunciated, pure-attitude vocal performance. "I Won't Look Back," "Third Generation Nation," and the cover of the Stone's "Tell Me" stand out as my favorites, but the clincher of the album is the closer, "Ain't It Fun." (Later covered by the now defunct Guns N' Roses on the album 'The Spaghetti Incident?!') With a band as volatile and dangerous as the Dead Boys, "Ain't It Fun" stands as a great coda to the most underrated band in rock n' roll.
The only thing that could've improved this album is the absence of Pappalardi, but you can find versions of these songs at their rawest on live recordings. I found the alternate takes of the sessions in the hopes that it could be a repeat of the YL&S mixes, but sadly, they aren't any better. I prefer this mix, and these songs are favorites. Don't bother beong bogged down by Felix, just know that all the Dead Boys probably called him a load whenever his back was turned.

Felix P. screwed this LP from the get go. Way to 'radio friendly' as other reviewers have noted. On 'Young, loud..', Genya Raven captured their sound. Great bass, guitars in front (and LOUD) and Cheetah Chrome's lead even louder!
'..Children' production is just too homoginized--too slick. The tunes are DB classics though, Tell Me, Ain't it Fun, Catholic Boy, and of course Son Of Sam.
After Stiv's death, the scope of unreleased studio/live/rehearsal material of the Dead Boys became a fact.
Some good---most barely tolerable
get the 2 DB studio LP's to start and then get the Live @ CBGB.
Although video of the DB is semi-rare, try to find it and then match up the live versions with the studio versions and you can see that they were a GREAT live R & R band

I didn't even know this was still available, my copy is an old vinyl record, and I got it at a time when I bought and taped recordings by numerous punk bands, and was WIDELY criticized for doing it. I must've been precocious, because the music I liked back then earned me a lot of ridicule, only for the same people to come around later, and actually see something in it.

The Dead Boys have all the elements of late '70's punk; torn clothes, weird hair, disheveled all-around appearance, violent reputation, and so forth. But underneath, is a top-notch band. I admit to not knowing all the specifics about the knife fight that nearly killed drummer Johnny Blitz, but listen to him here; he plays as well as anyone I've heard elsewhere. I remember reading that the person (people?) who attacked him "tried to cut his balls off," and I've always wondered how he fared after.

This was a band that could play anything they put any effort into, and did it well. Their version of "Tell Me" is every bit as good as, and I think a little better than, the Stones' original. The opener of this set, "Third Generation Nation," sets the mood, they were what was happening at the time, even though they weren't chart-toppers. Real talent often isn't.

They show that they had no sacred cows, as you hear in "(I don't want to be no) Catholic Boy," and the addition of two guys from The Ramones is a nice touch. "Ah-Men!"

My own personal two favorites are "Son Of Sam," and "Ain't It Fun?", "Sam" being about the killings at the time by serial killer /prison inmate turned minister (imagine my surprise), David Berkowitz. The section in the middle has a mini-depiction of one of the killings, footsteps, a gunshot, and this scream that will make you cringe, and the tribal sounding drums, peppered with sirens, has this surreal effect, reflecting the fear that hovered over Yonkers, New York at the time, really heavy-hitting stuff.

"Ain't It Fun?" is, I guess what could be called a ballad, it's got an emotional melody, really expressive guitar solos (Cheetah Chrome is a very good guitarist), and heart-felt lyrics about someone befriended by the band who lived a short, tragic life, with lines like "I punched my fist right through the glass, and I didn't even feel it, it happened so fast," just a summing-up of someone's life, with a voice at the end, in the distance, saying, "I'm dead, I'm dead..."

You know they were onto something pretty good when, this many years later, I can still remember their stage names; Cheetah Chrome, Johnny Blitz, Jimmy Zero, Stiv Bators, and Jeff Magnum.

And it took me by surprise a little while ago, to hear that Stiv Bators mysteriously died; though I guess it shouldn't have, with the Johnny Blitz incident and all, but it usually is a surprise when something like this happens.

All said though, The Dead Boys had a good, solid band, worth listening to.

While I agree with most of the reviewers that the Dead Boys first LP is the better of the two. This, their 2nd LP, is not without it's moments. Son of Sam and Ain't It Fun are two great songs. If you have the first LP and still want more Dead Boys, give this one a try.

It's been reissued by Cheetah Crome as "Third Generation Nation" but this is the original 2nd Dead Boys Lp, in the correct order (no bonus tracks though). The first album is brilliant, definative punk rock, this ain't the first album. Both the songwriting and production are noticably weak, however, it's still the Dead Boys and that makes it better than your average band. Buy this Lp for "Aint It Fun" and "Son Of Sam" if for no other reason, these two are undeniably killer punkrock tunes in a slow-but-mean-and-cruel way.

Gotta say, this album is definitely not as strong as "Young, Loud and Snotty." The attitude is missing as is the Raw Power. Some excellent songs with potential, had they been recorded properly.

We Have Come For Your Children is a full speed follow up to Young Loud And Snotty!
These two discs should be sold together,for any person into the PUNK scene.
The Dead Boys where at the head of the game, with Stiv Bators vocals and the great
band to back him up. I recommend If you can get a DVD of the Dead Boys, get it.
You will not regret it, only if you could have scene them LIVE.Stiv Bators was
one great entertainer,with him cutting himself on stage. His career didn't end
with the demise of the Dead Boys. He had a great SOLO career also!

yeah it's nowhere near as dope as young, loud and snotty but it's not the worst record ever. i mean, just stiv's 'accent' or whatever makes it totally worth a few spins, and since they only have a few records you kinda have to get them all. if you're reading this you probably already have young/loud/snotty so just know not to expect the pimposity of sonic reducer, i want lunch, or hey little girl. ya know. whatever.

If you love good old skool punk you'll love this one. I can listen to the cd over and over again, Ain't it fun is one of my favorite's.

Despite the fact that Cleveland's The Dead Boys' "Young Loud & Snotty" is considered a punk rock classic and "We Have Come For Your Children" a lesser effort, you shouldn't sell this CD short. It's even reflected by the fact that Sire has yet to release this CD stateside. Ignore the naysayers. If "Snotty" never existed, "We Have Come For Your Children" would be placed on the pedestal it deserves.

Attempting to channel all their nihilism and violence under producer Felix Pappalardi's over-slick production, this album is still loud, fast and chaotic. Stiv lets loose with his Iggy Pop idolization on the classic "3rd Generation Nation," and "Son Of Sam" is an exercise in Alice Cooper worship (circa "Killer"). "Son Of Sam" is harrowingly theatrical, complete with screams, gunshots and dog barks punctuated by Bators' snarl.

Bators had the full support of his bandmates. Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero may be two of Punk's most under-rated guitarists. They could pull off the Ramones Roar on "3rd Generation Nation" and "I Won't Look Back" but also had a rarely mentioned sophistication that underpins "Son Of Sam" and "Ain't It Fun." There is also a great deal of irony of Stiv Bators singing "Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young" (since he really did) and the haunting voice of co-writer Peter Laughner moaning "I'm dead" as the song fades. (He died from pancreatitis brought on by drug and alcohol abuse before the song was released.) "Ain't It Fun" is a classic moment where the irony and punk-theater matched up perfectly, stellar enough for Guns and Roses to have recorded it.

So forget all the bad stuff you heard about this album. With only two studio albums in their library and (with the exception of Bators solo and Lords Of The New Church albums) none of the other band members having a career to speak of afterwards, "We Have Come For Your Children" remains a memorable document of the CBGB's scene.