I suspect those who give John less than 4-stars have only heard bootlegs of poor shows or are being judgemental 'cause he was a junkie, or just plain don't like real rock'n'roll.

New York Dolls: Rock 'N Roll, Heartbreakers Live at Max's Kansas City, LAMF: The Lost '77 Mixes, and So Alone are  four albums (CDs) that should be in every real rock'n'roll fan's collection.

johnny was punk before it existed,LAMF and the 1st Dolls album are perfect.fave:frankenstein

At his best, he was superb, transcendent, magical. At his worst (and that often depended on how much heroin he had imbibed), he was virtually unlistenable, wretched. I absolutely loved the NY Dolls, but found the Heartbreakers to be an acquired taste. In time, though, I found that their best songs ranked right up there amongst my very favorites. "Chinese Rocks" (John claimed he wrote it; Dee Dee Ramone claimed he did), "One-Track Mind", "Born to Lose", "Too Much Junkie Business"...gritty, raw classics...the band did a version of "So Alone" in London in 1984, with Johnny reciting junkie stream-of-consciousness poetry that was simultaneously ugly and beautiful, a song almost painful in its blistering intensity. Certainly not music for everyone, or even most people, but I love him, and wish he had been able to overcome his addiction problems, wish that he was still alive, and wish that he was still performing music. R.I.P., John.

Johnny Thunders' careening guitar was the special ingrediant that made the NY Dolls one of rock's greatest bands (just like Bob Stinson gave the extra oomph to those early Replacements' records). As a band leader, with the Heartbreakers (not to be confused with Tom Petty garbage), was less inspired, like a poor man's Ramones. But the live records LAMF and Live at Max's KC are pretty great, and Johnny's strange style of good-hearted nihlism makes this stuff lovable when, in anyone else's hands it would be pretty average. I understand that his series of engagements at Max's circa 78-79 was billed as his "Farewell Tour" b/c everyone was pretty sure he was bound to O.D. (He eventually did in 1990, two weeks after I decided I couldn't go see a show of his in Asbury Park b/c of a midterm or something...) Anyway, his solo record, So Alone (with the Only Ones guys playing on a couple tracks), is recommended mostly for "You Can't Put Your Arm Around a Memory" and the cover of the Shangri-La's "Great Big Kiss." I also like a French import record, Hurt Me, on New Rose Records which is Johnny doing simple acoustic folk versions of his songs.