New York Dolls - New York Dolls / 45RPM 2LP Mobile Fidelity

The extroverted mixture of attitude, energy and ostentation that flows from the self-titled debut album of the New York Dolls is clearly visible on the album cover. Originally released by Mercury Records in 1973,

the album's depiction of the quintet in their trademark flash-and-trash attire and drag looks scared off a significant number of potential listeners, but it also caught the attention of a wide audience who recognized the

band for what they were: pioneers of the zeitgeist! Voted #301 on Rolling Stone's list of the 301 greatest albums of all time and #49 on Mojo's list, “New York Dolls” is finally getting the audiophile treatment it deserves

from Mobile Fidelity.

Far from containing the crude elements associated with the punk scene, “New York Dolls” benefits from careful production, supervised by none other than Todd Rundgren. Although he was used to working with far more

accomplished musicians, Rundgren captured what was going on at the New York Record Plant with a keen mix of live-on-the-floor feeling, raw authenticity and professional acumen. With their debut single, “Personality Crisis,

” which Rolling Stone named one of the 500 best songs of all time, the band made clear their dissatisfaction with suburban life. The lipstick-wearing protagonists – singer David Johansen, guitarists Johnny Thunders and Sylvain

Sylvain, bassist Arthur Kane and drummer Billy Murcia – nevertheless bring cheerfulness and melody to the stage, along with a talent for knowing how and where to take a song within three and a half minutes. The New York Dolls

pride themselves on their cheek and naughtiness. The wild effort that earned the band the distinction of “Best New Group of the Year” and “Worst New Group of the Year” in Creem Magazine shows a deliberate reverence for the blues

without drawing attention to the style. The folky “Lonely Planet Boy” is nothing more than a collision of emotions, with the heart on the tongue. With his performance, which is full of exaggerated fun, playful disrespect and sheer decadence,

Johansen is the equivalent of an open fire hydrant that gushes at will. He is both tender and vicious, serious and ironic. In what is arguably his finest hour on the album, Johansen's phrasing, passion and lyrical ambiguity make “Trash” a haunting

bar, Moog synthesizer passages, Buddy Bowser's honking saxophone – that enhance the songs' appeal without compromising their architecture. The double LP, lovingly mastered at MoFi's California studio and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing

on 180-gram vinyl (45 RPM), comes in a gatefold cover by Stoughton Printing and proves why “New York Dolls” is considered an influential forerunner of the 1970s punk rock movement and one of the best debut albums in rock music and one of the

greatest rock albums ever.

Title

LP 1

Side A
1.    Personality Crisis
2.    Looking for a Kiss
3.    Vietnamese Baby

Side B
1.    Lonely Planet Boy
2.    Frankenstein (Orig.)

LP 2

Side C
1.    Trash
2.    Bad Girl
3.    Subway Train

Side D
1.    Pills
2.    Private World
3.    Jet Boy