A-side Trash Length 3:41 | Released August 1973 | |
Format vinyl record (7"), 12", CD single Recorded The Record Plant, New York City Genre Glam rock, punk rock, hard rock | ||
"Personality Crisis" is the lead track from the New York Dolls' self-titled debut album. It was written by Dolls lead singer David Johansen and guitarist Johnny Thunders. An early demo version of it appears on the 1981 collection Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972.
Contents
Release
Mercury Records originally released "Personality Crisis" in 1973 as a double A-side single with "Trash" to coincide with the album's release. Promo singles of "Personality Crisis" were also distributed to radio stations. Following the band's break-up, it was rereleased by Bellaphon Records as a double A-side with "Looking for a Kiss" in 1978. In 1982, a 12" single of "Personality Crisis" & "Looking For A Kiss" b/w "Subway Train" & "Bad Girl" was released by Kamera Records. The same track listing appeared on the See For Miles Records CD single released in 1990.
Reception
Jack Douglas, who engineered New York Dolls, named "Personality Crisis" as his favorite song on the album. Music journalist Tony Fletcher called it an "instant glitter rock anthem", while writer and historian David Szatmary called it an anthemic and dynamic protopunk song. In Rolling Stone magazine, Tony Glover wrote that "Personality Crisis" serves as "a jumping companion piece to classics" such as The Doors' "Twentieth Century Fox" and "Cool, Calm & Collected" by the Rolling Stones. It is number 267 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (#271 on the 2010 list).
The song and the group were introduced to new listeners by a successful sampler album called "New Wave".