New York Dolls - Personality Crisis Live Recordings & Studio Demos 1972-1975 (2018)

It is commonly perceived that the essence of the New York Dolls was never satisfactorily captured by their two albums for the Mercury label, both of which many believe suffered from unsympathetic production. Fortunately for us all, the band's untutored rawness, unencumbered strength of purpose and unique vision is better served by the recordings that are gathered together for the first time on Personality Crisis: Live Recordings & Studio Demos 1972-1975. A trio of pre-Mercury demo sessions - arguably as close as the Dolls ever got to nailing their sound in the cold austerity of the recording studio - are joined by a collection of incendiary live shows (including two American radio broadcasts) that, despite the variable sound quality, capture their unfettered outrageousness and life-affirming vitality.

This package serves, then, as an alternative view of one of the few genuinely essential Rock'N'Roll bands to emerge from the early Seventies wastelands.