New York Dolls "Too Much Too Soon"
$20.98
FORMAT | LP
IMPORT
Too Much Too Soon is the second album by the American hard rock band New York Dolls. It was released on May 10, 1974, by Mercury Records. The Dolls recorded the album earlier that year at A&R Studios in New York City with veteran producer Shadow Morton, who was enlisted by the band's lead singer David Johansen after they felt dissatisfied with the recording of their 1973 self-titled debut album. Morton had been disenchanted by the music industry, but the band's energy motivated him to undertake the project as a challenge. Although the Dolls shared an affinity for Morton, they produced little original material with him. To complete Too Much Too Soon, they covered older songs and re-recorded their past demos. Johansen impersonated different characters while singing some of the novelty covers, and Morton incorporated many studio sound effects and female backing vocals in his production. For the album, lead guitarist Johnny Thunders wrote and recorded "Chatterbox", his first recorded performance singing lead. Too Much Too Soon sold poorly and only charted at number 167 on the Billboard 200. After a problem-ridden national tour, the New York Dolls were dropped by Mercury and disbanded a few years later. The album received positive reviews from most critics, some of whom felt Morton's production highlighted the group's raw sound and made it a better record than their first. Like their debut album, Too Much Too Soon became one of the most popular cult records in rock music and has since been viewed by music journalists as a precursor to punk rock.