New York Dolls: David Johansen (vocals, harmonica); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar, piano, background vocals); Johnny Thunders (guitar, background vocals); Arthur Harold Kane (bass instrument); Jerry Nolan (drums).

Additional personnel: Buddy Bowser (saxophone); Todd Rundgren (piano, Moog synthesizer).

Along with the Stooges, the New York Dolls were largely responsible for pioneering the sound and attitude of punk, and this, their self-titled debut, is one of the founding documents of post-'60s rock. Outrageous, shambolic, and bursting with energy, the Dolls borrowed from the amped-up, bluesy swagger of the Rolling Stones, the pop confections of Phil Spector, and the campy theatricality that would flower with the glam movement, yet brought it all together with a visceral impact that recalled the jolt of early rock & roll.

Rolling Stone (4/27/00, p.74) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Captures both the glory and sorrow of glam, the high jinx and wasted youth, with electric photorealism....[It] remains definitive glitter, the perfect eulogy for a short, spangled era..."

Q (5/02 SE, p.139) - 5 stars out of 5 - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums" - "...A lurid clarion call to the musically disaffected."

Mojo (Publisher) (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #13 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "...Oozing with seedy, late-night NYC glamour, it has fared excellently with age..."