Doll Revolution is the fourth studio album by American pop rock band The Bangles. It was released in March 2003 in Europe and Japan, and in September of that year in the United States. It is the first album by the group since their 1998 reunion. It is also the final album to feature bassist and vocalist Michael Steele, who left the band following the promotional tour and was subsequently replaced by Annette Zilinskas, the group's original bassist whom Steele had replaced.
Background
The Bangles initially disbanded in 1989 following the disappointing sales of their album Everything. They reunited in 1998 and released the song "Get the Girl" on the Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack, the success of which enabled them to return to touring for the next four years to finance their next record. The group self-released Doll Revolution through their independent label Down Kiddie Records, which had been largely defunct after releasing their debut single "Getting Out of Hand" in 1981.
Doll Revolution was first released on CD in Europe and Japan in March 2003, and distributed through deals with the EMI subsidiary Liberty Records and Victor. The record came out in the US in September of that year, on Koch Records. It was also released on cassette in Thailand and Indonesia, and on CD in the UK, Australia, South Africa and Taiwan.[13]
Doll Revolution contains 15 songs and is the group's lengthiest album. All tracks were composed or co-written by members of the Bangles, with the exception of "Tear Off Your Own Head," written by Elvis Costello and debuting on his 2002 album When I Was Cruel. Previous versions of some of the songs were released and performed by band members with other groups they worked with: "Mixed Messages" by Vicki Peterson and "The Rain Song," written by Vicki and Susan Cowsill, both appeared on Continental Drifters albums; while "Ask Me No Questions," written by Debbi Peterson, was released by her band Kindred Spirit. "Nickel Romeo" and "Between The Two", while never released, had been debuted by Michael Steele with her band, Crash Wisdom, in live shows starting in 1994.
The album spawned three singles. The lead single, "Something That You Said", reached No. 38 in the UK,[14] and was a minor hit elsewhere in Europe. "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution)" and "I Will Take Care of You" were next released as singles, the latter reaching No. 79 in the UK.[14] All three songs had lead vocals by Susanna Hoffs.
In the US, a bonus DVD was included with one version of the album, containing interviews, a photo gallery and the "Something That You Said" video. The Japanese CD in 2003 included as bonus tracks both songs from the Bangs'/Bangles' 1981 debut 7-inch single, "Getting Out of Hand" and "Call on Me" (the first time they had been released on CD), as well as an alternate mix of "Something That You Said." All of these tracks are featured on the audio player on the US bonus DVD as well.[13]
In 2020 and 2021, the album was reissued in a 2-LP format in the US on four different colored vinyl editions by Real Gone Music.[13]
