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New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973)

Track listing:
  1. Personality Crisis 3:42
  2. Looking For A Kiss 3:19
  3. Vietnamese Baby 3:38
  4. Lonely Planet Boy 4:10
  5. Frankenstein (Orig.) 6:00
  6. Trash 3:09
  7. Bad Girl 3:05
  8. Subway Train 4:21
  9. Pills 2:52
  10. Private World 3:40
  11. Jet Boy 4:45

Notes


There are hints of girl group pop and more than a hint of the Rolling Stones, but The New York Dolls doesn't really sound like anything that came before it. It's hard rock with a self-conscious wit, a celebration of camp and kitsch that retains a menacing, malevolent edge. The New York Dolls play as if they can barely keep the music from falling apart and David Johansen sings and screams like a man possessed. The New York Dolls is a noisy, reckless album that rocks and rolls with a vengance. The Dolls rework old Chuck Berry and Stones riffs, playing them with a sloppy, violent glee. "Personality Crisis," "Looking for a Kiss," and "Trash" strut with confidence, while "Vietnamese Baby" and "Frankenstein" sound otherworldly, working the same frightening drone over and over again. The New York Dolls was the definitive proto-punk album, even more than anything the Stooges released. It plunders history while celebrating it, creating a sleazy urban mythology along the way.