Band : The Dresden Dolls

Album Title : No Virginia

Label : Roadrunner Records

Distributor : CNR

Release Date : 22/05/2008

Release : CD

“No Virginia” is a compilation album from Boston's Brechtian punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. It's the first new material the band has put out in the last two years. But the tracks are all b-sides or unreleased tracks. The reason for it can be the solo album of Amanda Palmer. This rather dull album has too much filler lengthy, repetitive piano breaks and most of the time they're copies of the band's older material. Amanda Palmer's tomboyish voice yelps and shouts about sex changes, hermaphrodites, drug addicts while occasionally going into a normal female singing range. The unsettling and unique vocals contributed a great deal to the band's identity, but they have almost completely disappeared on this new album. The same stories start telling themselves again. “The Gardener”, a track which carries a traditional The Dresden Dolls style is pretty much the same as “Slide”. The majority of the album is tamer than past material. The band seems to be losing the edginess they are known for. The best song on this album is “Lonesome Organist Rapes Page-Turner”, a song that focuses on Palmer's childhood experiences with pedophilic piano teachers. It's catchy yet dark and somewhat horrifying. Fans of The Dredsen Dolls will be very disappointed by this latest album. It misses more than it hits and diverts more than it evolves. Although it's just a compilation album it does not meet up with the expectations delivered by the band in their previous albums.

55/100

Guido Claes.