New York Dolls

No amount of production sheen or back-up singers could clean up the New York Dolls in the early 1970s. Their 1974 sophomore album kicks off with the back alley grime of "Babylon," and continues on through to some fantastic tribal, voodoo slop. Johnny Thunders gets his due on "Chatterbox," a snarling showcase of sloppy guitar power that shows just how great the band was.

The New York Dolls' first album expanded their cult from Manhattan to the rest of
hard-core, hard-rock America. As a result, Too Much Too Soon is less specifically rooted in
Manhattan, though its bluster and swagger are no less urban. Rather than the specifically
New York City "Subway Train" of their first LP, there's "Babylon," the town on Long Island,
the Philadelphia soul of "There's Gonna Be a Showdown," and the Chinese accen... More >

Like so many cocky songwriters, David JoHansen overloaded his debut with originals and then found that record promotion wasn't a life activity that inspired new ones. But his stock of golden oldies is so private--Leiber & Stoller's "Bad Detective" could have been written to order, and he steals "Showdown" from Archie Bell--that this expresses his innermost self and locates him in history simultaneously. It also avoids such mundane follow-up perils as excess ambition, minimal material, and isntant tedium. Follow-up producer Shadow Morton has psyched him into recutting the vocals until his full talents as an impersonator shine through. He's also added gongs, gunshots, and girlie choruses to JoHansen's usual slew of sound effects. Greatest sound effect: Johnny Thunders's buzzsaw, destined to vie with heavy-metal fuzz in the hearts of rock and rollers everywhere. Greatest non-JoHansen song: Johnny Thunders's mewling "Chatterbox." (Grade - A+)