The Dead Boys - We Have Come for Your Children

Much like the Sex Pistols, the Dead Boys enjoy an outsized reputation among punk rock enthusiasts despite having made very few recordings and that is because, like the Sex Pistols, what they recorded was so good! This is the second of the two albums they released during their short career, and it's a slice of prime late-'70s punk, especially the classic "Ain't It Fun". Album Description

True Punk, must buy this cd

If you love good old skool punk you'll love this one. I can listen to the cd over and over again, Ain't it fun is one of my favorite's. February 25, 2008

There ain't no future and there ain't no past

Despite the fact that Cleveland's The Dead Boys' "Young Loud & Snotty" is considered a punk rock classic and "We Have Come For Your Children" a lesser effort, you shouldn't sell this CD short. It's even reflected by the fact that Sire has yet to release this CD stateside. Ignore the naysayers. If "Snotty" never existed, "We Have Come For Your Children" would be placed on the pedestal it deserves.

Attempting to channel all their nihilism and violence under producer Felix Pappalardi's over-slick production, this album is still loud, fast and chaotic. Stiv lets loose with his Iggy Pop idolization on the classic "3rd Generation Nation," and "Son Of Sam" is an exercise in Alice Cooper worship (circa "Killer"). "Son Of Sam" is harrowingly theatrical, complete with screams, gunshots and dog barks punctuated by Bators' snarl.

Bators had the full support of his bandmates. Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero may be two of Punk's most under-rated guitarists. They could pull off the Ramones Roar on "3rd Generation Nation" and "I Won't Look Back" but also had a rarely mentioned sophistication that underpins "Son Of Sam" and "Ain't It Fun." There is also a great deal of irony of Stiv Bators singing "Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young" (since he really did) and the haunting voice of co-writer Peter Laughner moaning "I'm dead" as the song fades. (He died from pancreatitis brought on by drug and alcohol abuse before the song was released.) "Ain't It Fun" is a classic moment where the irony and punk-theater matched up perfectly, stellar enough for Guns and Roses to have recorded it.

So forget all the bad stuff you heard about this album. With only two studio albums in their library and (with the exception of Bators solo and Lords Of The New Church albums) none of the other band members having a career to speak of afterwards, "We Have Come For Your Children" remains a memorable document of the CBGB's scene. May 8, 2007

One of the Best Rock albums of the 70s

As you've read from numerous reviews, this album doesn't exactly capture the DBs in their brutal element.
Sire attempted to market them as some kind of Post-Glam, New Wave act in the hopes they could have a hit like so many British acts of the day. Add to this the fact that Felix Pappalardi literally had it in for them and you get a production that wants to bleach out any traces of life.
So it's a tribute to the fire and invention of the Dead Boys that this album succeeds despite it all. Think about how Bowie's nearly inept production of "Raw Power" still managed to yield a classic.
The DBs always stressed a muscular guitar sound. Here the guitars are pared back to hollow squeals. The bass is pushed way up in the mix. The drums sound like mechanical clicks. Stiv's voice sounds oh so brittle and there's a strange reverb spread over everything. A definite New Wave/Power Pop tone results.
Rather than sabotage, the songs come off ironically more modern and timeless. Regardless of what the band themselves say about this, it seems to make perfect sense when you compare it to Stiv's later work. Don't pass it up. December 1, 2006

what was he thinking?

Felix P. screwed this LP from the get go. Way to 'radio friendly' as other reviewers have noted. On 'Young, loud..', Genya Raven captured their sound. Great bass, guitars in front (and LOUD) and Cheetah Chrome's lead even louder!
'..Children' production is just too homoginized--too slick. The tunes are DB classics though, Tell Me, Ain't it Fun, Catholic Boy, and of course Son Of Sam.
After Stiv's death, the scope of unreleased studio/live/rehearsal material of the Dead Boys became a fact.
Some good---most barely tolerable
get the 2 DB studio LP's to start and then get the Live @ CBGB.
Although video of the DB is semi-rare, try to find it and then match up the live versions with the studio versions and you can see that they were a GREAT live R & R band July 15, 2006

A Good 2nd LP

While I agree with most of the reviewers that the Dead Boys first LP is the better of the two. This, their 2nd LP, is not without it's moments. Son of Sam and Ain't It Fun are two great songs. If you have the first LP and still want more Dead Boys, give this one a try. February 4, 2006

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