So said the publicity at the time of its release, this despite these four girls being, “Every mother’s nightmare, every school boy’s dream,” according to Spin magazine. Spin also reckoned they were, “The coolest band in America,” whereas Kerrang! recognized their “Grimy, glorious rock ‘n’ roll… dripping star power and packing irresistible pop-rock.”

Taking inspiration from the punky pop rock of the Ramones and The Runaways, mixed with the classic rock of Bachman-Turner Overdrive and KISS, they signed to Atlantic in 2002, who proclaimed they were, “Inspired by AC/DC, the Sex Pistols and Madonna, Donna A’s lipstick-snarl vocals pummel Donna C’s and Donna F’s furious chug and Donna R’s early Guns n’ Roses’ guitar wall.”

2002’s ‘Spend The Night’ (CD1) saw the band appear on mainstream US TV shows, while taking a mainstage slot on 2004’s Lollapalooza tour. Their punky sound lead to appearances on a number of film soundtracks (including Dodgeball, Mean Girls, Elektra and Herbie Fully Loaded), and computer games, as well as sound-tracking Budweiser, Levis and Rolling Stone advertising campaigns.

‘Gold Medal’ (CD2, 2004) reached #76 on the Billboard 200, continuing the commercial hard rock sound of ‘Spend The Night’, featuring the singles ‘Fall Behind Me’ and ‘I Don’t Want to Know (If You Don’t Want Me)’. Stylus reckoned that The Donnas were, “incapable of playing in anything but the key of badass”, while Rolling Stone reckoned that the band’s “wailing on solos that would make AC/DC’s Angus Young proud”.

CD3 completes all of the recordings released by the quartet between 2002 and 2005 and adds raucous live sets recorded in Boston in 2003 plus three tracks recorded for XFM, along with the single B-sides ‘Hyperactive’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Machine’, ‘Mama’s Boy’, ‘Play My Game’ and ‘Done With You’, plus acoustic versions of ‘Fall Behind Me’ and ‘Don’t Break Me Down’. There’s also a cover of Billy Idol’s ‘Dancing With Myself’ along with ‘Please Don’t Tease’ which is taken from the film New York Minute.

Disc One: SPEND THE NIGHT (2003)
1. It’s On The Rocks
2. Take It Off
3. Who Invited You
4. All Messed Up
5. Dirty Denim
6. You Wanna Get Me High
7. I Don’t Care (So There)
8. Pass It Around
9. Too Bad About Your Girl
10. Not The One
11. Please Don’t Tease
12. Take Me To The Backseat
13. 5 O’Clock In The Morning
14. Do You Wanna Hit It?
15. Big Rig (Japan Bonus Track)
16. Backstage (Japan Bonus Track)

The Donnas are an American rock band who (to put it quite honestly) are the female equivalent of the Ramones. Their songs are short, energetic, and about partying, guys, and sex.

On their major label debut album Spend The Night, the girls haven’t changed much, and that’s perfectly fine! The energy is greatly appreciated, but how much is too much? Let’s take a look.

The album, which is 13 songs, and 40 minutes long spans everything from the raw energy and distortion of the Ramones, to the glitzy and (even) ballsy sounds and libido of 80’s hair metal. With this in mind, I did not expect a serious rock record, rather a good punk album that is fun to play at parties. To judge this as a serious record would be unfair to anyone who has never heard of the Donnas, or to anyone who doesn’t mind party music as such.

The album is filled with immediately catchy hooks on many of the tracks (“It’s On The Rocks,” “Take It Off,” “Who Invited You,” “Too Bad About Your Girl,” to name a few) but where it all falls flat is on the last half of the album where obviously the songs sound forced, and it basically sounds like filler to help constitute a full-length LP.

Even songs such as the 4-minute closer “5 O’Clock In The Morning” (coincidentally, the longest track on the record) feels like it stretches out more and more until it feels like you can’t wait for it to be over. In fact, the last three songs (“Please Don’t Tease,” “Take Me To The Backseat,” and the aforementioned “5 O’Clock In The Morning”) are where the party feeling turns sour for myself.

The album’s energy runs thin, and inevitably the same sounds are what bring this album to it’s downfall. It’s not the worst way to end an album, so I can’t tell any of the Donnas how to feel or what to do, but I do think they could have changed it up a bit to make the album’s close feel like something worth putting on repeat over and over again.

That said, logically, for a major label debut, Spend The Night is worth the money if you’re into party punk and glam rock like some people are. With rapid-fire guitars, low chugging bass lines, intense drumming reminiscent of Marky Ramone or Tommy Lee, and the vocals of a punk Katy Perry before Katy Perry was a thing combined with the energy and youthfulness of Joey Ramone, The Donnas are a band who are worth all your attention.

Disc Two: GOLD MEDAL (2004)
1. I Don’t Want To Know (If You Don’t Want Me)
2. Friends Like Mine
3. Don’t Break Me Down
4. Fall Behind Me
5. Is That All You’ve Got For Me
6. It’s So Hard
7. The Gold Medal
8. Out Of My Hands
9. It Takes One To Know One
10. Revolver
11. Have You No Pride
12. Lost And Found (Digital Bonus Track)

The Donnas used to wrap up their tracks within two minutes. Their songs were cheeky punchlines -- “Skintight”, “Do You Wanna Hit It”, and “All Messed Up” -- and they all had the same set of purrs, sneers, and distortion. Albums titles like Turn 21 and Spend the Night were equally problematic -- nodding and winking, they seemed to trace the band’s career alongside websites tracking the Olsen twins’ crawl toward legal age!

Even after Spend the Night’s sole thrill, “Take It Off”, afforded The Donnas some grown-up success and MTV exposure, the group still seemed happy playing the role of teen-movie house band here on the majority of their tracks.

Gold Medal tries to remedy that reputation with richer songwriting and a thicker sonic tip. In other words, it’s not all riffs and swears. New ideas have appeared inside the Donnas’ old put-up-your-dukes, pull-down-your-pants swagger; instead of constantly rewriting rock ’n’ roll radio, they’re dutifully working towards a unique sound.

“Don’t Break Me Down” burns slow and pays off with a chorus as subtle as the chilly bassline which runs throughout the track. It could be one of those occasional gems you hear on Loud 107’s “Turn Back the Rock” weekend, right after the 700 millionth spin of “Sweet Emotion”. Even a track like “Friends Like Mine” -- despite placeholder lyrics and a pick-slide opening -- has more going for it than the typical Donnas songs.

Much of the credit goes to Allison Robertson (formerly Donna R. -- the girls have finally done away with the Ramones-baiting aliases), whose guitar work has grown stronger with each album, but here she’s really tearing it up, giving Gold Medal a more dynamic feel.

Disc Three: SINGLES, B-SIDES & LIVE
1. Hyperactive (B-Side) 2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Machine (B-Side) 3. Mama’s Boy (B-Side) 4. Play My Game (B-Side) 5. Don’t Break Me Down (Acoustic) 6. Fall Behind Me (Alternate Acoustic Mix) 7. I Don’t Want To Know (If You Don’t Want Me) (Alternate Acoustic Mix) 8. Done With You (B-Side) 9. Too Bad About Your Girl (Radio Remix) 10. Dancing With Myself (Billy Idol cover) 11. Please Don’t Tease (New York Minute OST) // Live at The Paradise, Boston Aug 2, 2003 12. Do You Want To Hit It 13. Take Me To The Backseat 14. Hyperactive - Too Bad About Your Girl 15. All Messed Up 16. Take It Off 17. 5 O’Clock In The Morning 18. Who Invited You // Live XFM Oct 3, 2003 19. On The Rocks 20. Take It Off 21. Who Invited You

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