Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5 and the Stooges, the New York Dolls' debut album provides a blueprint for the foundations of the burgeoning Punk Scene that was brimming from within New York, Detroit and Los Angeles, and while the group were destined for failure in the commercial acceptance of the masses, this stunning debut remains an unsung classic of the genre. The sound of the Dolls' is definitely good time rock and roll, albeit from a rawer, street-cred and grittier origin. Their appearance as a unit, is also a signal of irony, in that, they mix a sense of androgyny with the hard attack of their collective as a group.

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Todd Rundgren produced this record and although some of the members of the band would later dismiss his recording methods, I think Rundgren captures the band quite well with what he was handed to work with; as the Dolls were quite the opposite of a polished and slick band of musicians. David Johansen and Johnny Thunders were sort of a cartoonish caricature image of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Sylvain was the Dolls' solid rock rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist that provided a balance for the group, and Arthur Kane and Jerry Nolan were the perfect rhythm section that provided an unsteady, yet solid anchor to round out the group's overall sound.

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From the opening crash of Personality Crisis to the reckless, break-neck churn of the album's closer, Jet Boy, this album simply personifies the future of rock music, while also giving an ultimate homage to the simple beginnings of rock and roll itself. The songwriting team of Thunders/Johansen provides ample testimony of the Dolls' repertoire with a couple of Sylvain/Johansen songs, namely Frankenstein and one of the band's anthems, Trash as well as a cover of Bo Diddley's Pills; creating a sound that is direct, simplistic and has a street rouge-ish quality in its intents. Looking For a Kiss, Bad Girl and Subway Train display all of these qualities to the band's dimensional sound and Johansen's, Lonely Planet Boy, one of the "lighter" songs on this set, also offers a softer approach within the group's collective songwriting style. Thunders and Sylvain's guitars run rampant throughout on numbers like Frankenstein, Jet Boy, Private World, Bad Girl, Pills and Trash, whilst Johansen's vocals careen and throb with excitement, earnestness and unbridled aggression.

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Years ago I had checked out the follow-up Too Much Too Soon as a taster for what the Dolls were like, and unfortunately, I was still discovering music at a young age and didn't fully understand or appreciate the overall impression as far as innovation and style was concerned.  It's a fair summation that while, all these years later, the Dolls are looked upon as precursors of the punk revolution, it should also be noted that they were responsible for keeping rock music to its basic musical origins; while lyrically, giving a unique spin on the genre with slapdash lyrics of a nonsensical nature and a feel of youthful naiveté.  The Dolls didn't last long in their heyday(despite the "re-union" of the present day surviving members' Johansen/Sylvain-led incarnation) and sold few records within their time period, but history has been kind to them  and, with the gift of hindsight, they have been acknowledged as adding a great footnote to rock music, overall. As a result, this album is a garage-band classic in every sense of the word.

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Rating Grade- A