Dancing Backward in High Heels
by New York Dolls
Metascore
67

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 3 out of 18
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. The Boston Phoenix
    Mar 17, 2011
    88
    Here, Dolls II make their move, surging forward while simultaneously nodding to a time that predates even that first über-influential incarnation.
  2. The Telegraph (UK)
    Mar 16, 2011
    80
    This third comeback album unearths some of the band's less visible roots, in Broadway musicals, soul balladry, Stones-y orchestral pop and Fifties R&B.
  3. PopMatters
    Mar 15, 2011
    80
    Generational obligations aside, it would be dishonest to report that, aside maybe from one reggae track too many, they're in anything but top form.
  5. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    Mar 14, 2011
    80
    With new recruit Earl Slick on guitar they've made a third reunion album filled with ramshackle glam and girl-group trash, reverberating with street-corner romanticism and hard-won wisdom.
  6. Spin
    Mar 11, 2011
    80
    Featuring Farfisa, sax, strings, anything but loud guitar, Dancing Backwards doesn't even try, and that's its virtue.
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    Apr 8, 2011
    75
    Every vocal shoo-bop and doo-lang is sweetly affecting, in a time-warped way. [18 Mar 2011, p.75]
    All this publication's reviews
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Mar 15, 2011
    75
    The man of seemingly a thousand alter egos - including bawdy-yet-urbane uptown bandleader Buster Poindexter and grizzled old bluesman - Johansen weaves elements of his catholic musical tastes in with the brash Bowery-bred punk that's always been the heart of the Dolls' music.
  9. Filter
    Mar 17, 2011
    72
    The latest album from the resurrected version of seminal glam-punk band New York Dolls is a weird little gem full of vintage organ grooves, doo-wop harmonies and bluesy undertones.
  10. AllMusic
    Dec 19, 2011
    70
    While the New York Dolls struggled to balance past and present on their previous reunion albums, Dancing Backward in High Heels is a product of the here and now as defined by two guys following their muse in their own way, which is just what they should be doing at this stage of the game.
  11. New Musical Express (NME)
    Mar 21, 2011
    70
    The fact is, there's a vitality, a shamelessness, an energy retained throughout here that shows why they mattered so damn much, and why they shouldn't – and couldn't – ever consider doing anything else.
  12. Rolling Stone
    Mar 15, 2011
    70
    Under the lipstick and howling-Stones guitars, the Dolls always aspired to the rough-granite poise and battle lessons of great blues and soul.
  13. The A.V. Club
    Mar 15, 2011
    67
    The result might have been sharper if someone other than Louis XIV's Jason Hill produced it; his washed-out murk and puddles of reverb render the whole thing a mess. Luckily, there's just no stopping Johansen and Sylvain.
  14. Mojo
    Apr 22, 2011
    60
    It's a pity that the set plays out with a hat trick of dreadlock holiday stinkers. [Apr 2011, p.98]
    All this publication's reviews
  15. Uncut
    Mar 29, 2011
    60
    Once the shock subsides, it's quite charming. [Apr 2011, p.89]
    All this publication's reviews
  16. BBC Music
    Mar 15, 2011
    50
    Reanimated glam-punk pioneers get dafter as they get older.
  17. Chicago Tribune
    Mar 14, 2011
    37
    It's the end of something, alright, and Johansen and Sylvain – as great as they once were as the backbone of the Dolls -- should get the message and move on.
  18. American Songwriter
    Mar 15, 2011
    20
    Dancing Backward sounds more like a Buster Poindexter album than a Dolls one.
  19. The Independent (UK)
    Mar 14, 2011
    20
    It lacks both unity and quality.

User Reviews

All reviews »

There are no user reviews yet.