Gypsy Blood [Original recording remastered]

Doll-by-Doll were not weird but they were not conventional. They can be (and have been) dismissed as nothing special, over-rated, and pretentious. They didn't fit in with punk, the avant-garde, or the mainstream. Some thought that they were brilliant; others thought that they were rubbish. Fence-sitters might say the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle; it doesn't!

I am now 44 years of age and I have seen many, many bands and musicians that are good or great, or not so good or down-right awful. But Doll-by-Doll performing in the late 70's produced what was (and still is) the most visceral and mesmerising music I have ever experienced live. Why didn't they make it?

With the rise of punk, the music press (Sounds, NME, and Melody Maker), or, perhaps more accurately, a new generation of music journalist, gained a lot of influence. Bands were lauded 1 week and top of the charts the next (or so it seemed). Once a previously lauded band had been successful it wasn't long before the music press launched a backlash and once promising careers could easily be destroyed (or so it seemed).

Doll-by-Doll were probably the first band to have been lauded and then experience the backlash before they had actually achieved commercial success. The backlash started well before the release of "Remember" and, although Doll-by-Doll must have been disappointed they must also have realised they were going to have to work very hard to achieve success against the back drop of the uniformly hostile music press they were experiencing.

"Gypsy Blood" was effectively the other half of their blistering live set (with 1 or 2 new tracks) and this album was probably Doll-by-Doll's make or break record. It wasn't a commercial success!

At the time I was disappointed with "Gypsy Blood"; it didn't seem to me to be a move-on from "Remember" and seemed to be an attempt to be commercial that didn't quite work!

It's been a long time since a listened to my vinyl version of "Gypsy Blood" but this CD is a revelation; I can't believe I got it so wrong! (I must have had a bad pressing is all I can say!)

"Gypsy Blood" is certainly punchier than the more thoughtful "Remember", and (like "Remember") it fails to capture the threat and vitality of their live performances (but that was never going to be possible). But it is much better balanced record than I recall, it doesn't seem so over-produced, an obtrusive choir on the vinyl version (on one particular track) seems to sit much, much better on the CD mix, and the newer songs (e.g. Binary Fiction) which seemed like album filler (at the time) are, quite simply, excellent.

"Gypsy Blood" is a great album by a great band but like all great things there will be those that oppose, or just don't get it! Maybe in time they will, but it doesn't matter if they don't!

In terms of commercial success this album was a great failure; but this album offers you great music that means something a hell of a lot more than filling a rock stars pockets.

The only thing that I could ever blame Doll-by-Doll for is setting a standard that I witnessed in my teenage years which (unaware as I was at the time) no other band or musical experience was ever going to match! I have searched nearly 30 years for music as good as that performed by Doll-by-Doll in the 70's; at last I have found what I was looking for and, who would have guessed, it's a Doll-by-Doll CD!

Like a lot of people, I missed Doll By Doll first time round but was alerted by hyperbolic claims in the music press ("lost classic" etc) to the reissue of their vinyl output on CD. So I duly bought "Gypsy Blood" and played it. Got to confess, I was a little baffled, since I seemed to be hearing (as another reviewer mentioned) highlights from the Grease soundtrack being performed by a bunch of punks gatecrashing a Beach Boys concert. Nevertheless, I stuck it out for a second listen, where the lyrics of 'Strip Club' crashed across my synapses. OK, that song's safe, then; indeed, it is on continuous play on my iPod. Once you've anchored on one song on an LP, you can use it as a sort of safehouse from which you can explore the terrain of the surrounding tracks, right? First the title track fell, then 'Hey Sweetheart', then 'Forbidden Worlds'...

Cut to the chase: I now love this album very much indeed. It's not what you expect it to be. The song construction is very intelligent, pretentious almost: it completely lacks the bullet-to-the-temples simplicity of the punk rock of the period. Lyrics are unusual, allusive, owing more to Talking Heads than the Stooges. The band have been described as "ferocious", I suppose by people who remember their live gigs. The album isn't ferocious, but it's delivered with passion and immediacy that compliments the often-romantic lyrics: the contrast provides an _impression_ of ferocity, but only when the listener gives him/herself over in total response. What I'm saying is, here is an album where the whole is very much greater than the sum of its parts.

I suspect DBD have the same problem now as back in the late 70s. Their music does not reward first listening. Their songs are an odd mixture of arthouse intelligence and arch romanticism. The musicianship punches hard in context, but eschews noodling solos or distinctive riffing. If you come expecting the Holy Grail of Lost Punk, you'll leave disappointed. If you're more interested in what intelligent musicians in the late 1970s did when they weren't seduced by punk's charms, this album will win first your head, then your heart.

Not 5-stars then? Well, I thought it sounded a little too dated - but I recognise that is part of its charm. Not the Greatest Album of All Time, but a damn fine one, better than the first two or three offerings by U2 that were such hits in the following years. Makes you wonder what sort of wonderful stadium giant DBD evolved into in a parallel universe where the punters "got" their music. In fact, re-visiting this album and review, I think it was mean-spirited of me to decline a 5-star rating. Let's shake hands on 4-and-a-half stars for a deeply special, unforgettable and unique outpouring of post-punk genius.

Hyperbole? A non-entity band you've never heard of, who never dented the charts, and whose frontman, Jackie Leven has released seventeen albums without bothering the counters of your local Tesco, producing the best rock album of all time?

You'd better believe it! This record, criminally overlooked for decades, is the perfect fusion of literary lyricism, 50s-American rock n' roll rhythns, electrifying lead guitar and the power and earthiness of punk. Topping it all is Jackie's majestic vocals, reaching into the stratosphere to produce the most nerve-shattering falsetto vocals ever. If you're a fan of recent Leven, you'll love this- the power of the Celtic singer-songwriter has never diminished, but here it's allied with a rock-solid powerful band, grounding his poetic pretension with earthy blues and rock. And if all you've heard is recent Leven, then you'll have never heard singing like this-the cruel attack which left Jackie bereft for a couple of years has left us bereft forever- the most unique voice in rock has lost that cataclysmic upper range, like God's angels meeting the Drifters at a Led Zeppelin gig, with The Comets as their backing band.

Jackie's current voice is powerful, rich and resonant, and his melodic skills and thought-provoking songwriting have never left him-check out his latest album "Oh, what a blow that phantom dealt me!" to see just how eloquent and magical a writer he has become-but you can't help listening to this record and feeling a sense of unbelievable loss..

If you love poetry, if you love magic, if you love music which reaches deep inside you and twists your insides around, if you're not ashamed to love early Elvis and the Clash at the same time- this is the album for you!

buy it, believe it, love it!