Johnny Thunders
So Alone

To review a solo album by Johnny Thunders, one inevitably has to take a step back a few years, specifically to 1973, the year of the eponymous debut of the NEW YORK DOLLS, universally considered a timeless rock masterpiece and a link between the '70s rock of the STOOGES, ROLLING STONES, and RAMONES, and thus, punk.

Thunders was the guitarist, and after a second album with the Dolls—which was, incidentally, quite lackluster compared to the debut—it wasn't easy to replicate that success. With all the band members caught up in excesses of every kind, the band dissolved angelically; it's 1975, and it's the moment for the HEARTBREAKERS, formed by Thunders with his trusty sidekick Jerry Nolan and Richard Hell on bass. The latter was still a novice but determined that it was time to break through. Unfortunately for him, living with Thunders would prove impossible and he would be forced to leave. Stubbornly, he thought it was just a small hurdle, and Hell tried again, this time with Tom Verlaine to form Television, but the cohesion lasted very briefly and he left. The young man would succeed by forming his own band, the Voidoids, and leaving a mark with the masterpiece "Blank Generation."

We were at Hell's departure from the group, then replaced by Walter Lure. Now the Heartbreakers just had to find a record deal, which wasn't easy for a band with a reputation for chaos and hardcore drug addiction. They managed it, but in England, memorable were the concerts supporting the Clash, Damned, and Sex Pistols, practically bringing a breath of fresh air to the scene, alongside heroin and groupies, including Nancy Spungen, Vicious' future girlfriend. They managed to record the album "L.A.M.F. (like a motherfucker)," 12 tracks more rock 'n' roll than punk but with a strong appeal; among the most famous are the anthem "Born to Lose", Chinese Rock, One Track Mind, I Wanna Be Loved, recorded in '77 but with poor sound quality and re-released in '84. By 1977, the Heartbreakers also fell apart. Johnny decided to go solo, and in '78, he immediately released his masterpiece "So Alone," regularly ignored by critics at the time despite featuring artists like Steve Jones, Phil Lynott, Paul Cook, and others called to play on the record. Compared to the past, the rock boldness blends more with soulful touches in the 14 tracks, resulting in great rock with "Great Big Kiss", "Leave Me Alone", "London Boys", but the album's true masterpieces are in the slower songs like "Untouchable", "So Alone", and the beautiful "You Can't Put Your Arms Around", where all the desolation and anger of a life spent always and only in contact with heroin as the only true companion come to the surface.

After this album, Johnny was musically and personally marked, releasing two or three more albums and dedicating himself only to concerts, often so high that he couldn't stand. His journey would end in 1991 in a hotel room, alone as a dog, dying of an overdose, not of heroin, but of a mix of methadone and alcohol. Never renouncing the creed of the self-destructive rocker of the worst kind, it's that "Born to Lose" song with which he went down in history.