The House of Dolls (album)

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The House of Dolls
The House of Dolls (album).jpg
Studio album by
Gene Loves Jezebel
Released1987
Genre Rock
Label Beggars Banquet/Geffen
Producer Peter Walsh, Jimmy Iovine, Chas Sandford
Gene Loves Jezebel chronology
Discover
(1986)		The House of Dolls
(1987)		Kiss of Life
(1990)

The House of Dolls is the fourth album by the British band Gene Loves Jezebel, released in 1987. [1] [2] It was the last Gene Loves Jezebel album the Aston brothers recorded together. [3] The first single was "Motion of Love". [4] The band supported the album with a North American tour that included shows with Flesh for Lulu. [5] It peaked at No. 108 on the Billboard 200 and No. 81 on the UK Albums Chart. [6] [7] "Twenty Killer Hurts" appeared in an episode of Miami Vice . [8]

Contents

Production

The album was produced primarily by Peter Walsh. [8] After the difficult sessions for their previous album, Gene Loves Jezebel focused on writing pop songs for The House of Dolls. [9] The Dolls sessions were also strained, due to the relationship between the Aston brothers, with disagreements over vocals and songs. [10] The band did not enjoy working with Iovine, who they thought was inattentive and expensive; they claimed that it took six weeks to record two tracks with him. [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Alternative Rock 7/10 [12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
The Great Indie Discography 5/10 [14]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Tamworth Herald Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [16]
Telegraph & Argus Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [17]

The Los Angeles Times said that "Gene Loves Jezebel has combined its pseudo-mystical post-punk beginnings, a tad of the ol' glam rock, a guitar sound partially copped from U2 and a solid backbeat to create a bridge between New Romanticism and New Metal." [15] The Washington Post noted that "in planing the edges of their sounds, Gene has lost some of its atmospheric depth", but stated that The House of Dolls is the band's "most consistent" album. [18] The Whig-Standard called the band "a group of heavy rock-popsters in the vein of Bon Jovi." [19]

The Sun Sentinel considered the album to be "a bit on the shrieky preachy side". [20] The Tamworth Herald praised the opening two tracks, opining that the choruses "deserve to slaughter the charts." [16] The Morning Call panned the vocals, which often turned to "screams, whoops and hollering". [21]

The Trouser Press Record Guide noted the "clearly articulated and tuneful arena guitar rock". [22]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Gorgeous" 
2."The Motion of Love" 
3."Set Me Free" 
4."Suspicion" 
5."Every Door" 
6."Twenty Killer Hurts" 
7."Treasure" 
8."Message" 
9."Drowning Crazy" 
10."Up There" 

References

  1. ↑ Kim, Jae-Ha (12 February 1988). "Twins help Gene Loves Jezebel to surmount an identical crisis". Weekend Plus. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 23.
  2. ↑ MacDonald, Patrick (19 February 1988). "Lulu and Jezebel". Tempo. The Seattle Times. p. 3.
  3. ↑ The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). Rough Guides. 2003. p. 421.
  4. ↑ Erskine, Evelyn (2 October 1987). "Rock". The Ottawa Citizen. p. D5.
  5. ↑ Griffin, John (21 January 1988). "It's All in the Genes". The Gazette. p. E5.
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2001). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001. Record Research. p. 328.
  7. ↑ British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records. 2005. p. 209.
  8. 1 2 3 "The House of Dolls Review by Jo-Ann Greene". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  9. ↑ Stoute, Lenny (29 January 1988). "Retro-glammers offer no apologies for new pop sound". Toronto Star. p. E5.
  10. ↑ Britt, Bruce (19 July 1990). "Gene Loves Jezebel loves its brand new unity". Chicago Tribune. p. 11C.
  11. ↑ Ensminger, David A. (2014). Mavericks of Sound: Conversations with Artists Who Shaped Indie and Roots Music. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 140.
  12. ↑ Thompson, Dave (2000). Alternative Rock. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 388.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. III. MUZE. p. 2113.
  14. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography (2nd ed.). Canongate. p. 347.
  15. 1 2 Lee, Craig (15 November 1987). "Ambitious Astons". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 77.
  16. 1 2 Holliday, Sam (16 October 1987). "What a Selection!". Tamworth Herald. p. 29.
  17. ↑ Maguire, Chris (10 October 1987). "House pop". Telegraph & Argus. p. 18.
  18. ↑ Jenkins, Mark (22 January 1988). "Blanded Down for the USA". Weekend. The Washington Post. p. 12.
  19. ↑ Burliuk, Greg (13 February 1988). "The House of Dolls Gene Loves Jezebel". Magazine. The Whig-Standard. p. 1.
  20. ↑ Wilker, Deborah (18 March 1988). "Rock to the New Beat This Week". Features Showtime. Sun Sentinel. p. 3.
  21. ↑ Valois, Diana (19 December 1987). "Records". The Morning Call. p. A75.
  22. ↑ Robbins, Ira A., ed. (1991). The Trouser Press Record Guide (4th ed.). Collier Books. p. 275.
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