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Johansen & Sylvain now priceless Dolls

These Dolls are antiques now, but they’re priceless.

Formed in 1971, The New York Dolls helped launch the glam-rock movement along with Kiss, David Bowie and Alice Cooper, yet they imploded long before any of their peers, breaking up in 1977 after two seminal albums.

Reformed in 2004 with original members David Johansen (vocals) and Sylvain Sylvain (guitar), the Dolls’ second album since then defies easy categorization. The title track blends Ron Wood-ish guitar riffs with a snarling punk sensibility. “Better Than You” evokes The Ramones’ cover of “Needles And Pins,” and Johansen even sounds like Joey Ramone on the track.

“Lonely So Long” revolves around country steel guitars, while Johansen whistles the main melody line of “Temptation To Exist” over a cha-cha beat. And if drunken staggering had a soundtrack, it would sound exactly like “This Is Ridiculous,” in which a down-and-outer bemoans his lot in life.

“Drowning” blends a Stones-like “Paint It Black” mysticism with Johansen’s own “We Gotta Get Outta This Place” vibe. The album also includes a ska remake of “Trash,” which was on their 1973 debut disc.

“Exorcism of Despair” closes the album with flail-and-wail guitar and drums fury.

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The New York Dolls

“‘Cause I Sez So,” (Atco)

Genre: rock

Grade: A

Citizen Online Archive, 2006-2009

This archive contains all the stories that appeared on the Tucson Citizen's website from mid-2006 to June 1, 2009.

In 2010, a power surge fried a server that contained all of videos linked to dozens of stories in this archive. Also, a server that contained all of the databases for dozens of stories was accidentally erased, so all of those links are broken as well. However, all of the text and photos that accompanied some stories have been preserved.

For all of the stories that were archived by the Tucson Citizen newspaper's library in a digital archive between 1993 and 2009, go to Morgue Part 2

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