¡Adios Amigos! Part One

For a member of a band to quit and continuously contribute songs to which half of band's final album consists of  this ex-member's material, and half of those songs are covers of his previous solo albums, not only speaks about the level of respect and importance this member is to the band, but it also speaks of the position in which the band is in that requires that member's aide.

Adios Amigos is a strong album, but there is an unavoidable shadow that looms on this album - Dee Dee's material. About half of the songs on this album are Dee Dee's, making it the most Dee Dee filled album since Brain Drain. If you put in Mondo Bizarro as the only other post-Dee Dee album filled with original material, it still feels as if Dee Dee never left the band. This would not have been so problematic if it wasn't for two things:

1. Dee Dee's talents had eroded considerably since his early days with the group. Compare the simplicity of Rocket to Russia's "Locket Love" to the abstract writing in Too Tough To Die's  "I'm Not Afraid of Life". It appeared that Dee Dee's mental well-being affected his songwriting. Some of my favorite Dee Dee-written tracks on the later albums ("Bop Til' You Drop", "I Wanna Live") have moments where the lyrics are just plain wretched and abstract and/or his focus wasn't strong enough to be on topic for a whole song. Also, Dee Dee had a habit of writing way too many songs about his problems which plagued the later albums, and some of them were also filled with the abstract lyrics. He still had a gem or two in every album, but you would have to sit through the rest of his material to get into any of it.

2. Three of the songs he contributed were already available, and there is almost no difference between those versions and the Ramones covers. It all comes down to whether or not you prefer to listen to Dee Dee sing.

Dee Dee's material, quality-wise, is all over the place. Starting with the worst song on this album, and in all of the Ramones discography, comes "Cretin Family". It's the laziest songwriting and musical arrangement of any Ramones song with the "Psycho Therapy" hook completely ripped off that song and pasted here as if no one would notice, combined with the saddest attempt at remaking an anthem in the vein of "Cretin Hop", "Blitzkrieg Hop", and the already mentioned "Psycho Therapy". It's insulting that they would try to pass this off as something fresh and new when they continuously played those anthems for most of their careers, with fans memorizing every lyric, hook, and chord change. What were they thinking?

In the middle lie "Making Monsters For My Friends", "It's Not For Me to Know", and "Take the Pain Away". "Making Monsters For My Friends" is a goofy song  with Dee Dee's abstract lyrics about something that's not entirely based on the title. It's not a bad song, but it is puzzling that they allowed this one on the album. The next two share the "Dee Dee's problems" theme, and it sounds as if they were meant to be on Brain Drain or Halfway to Sanity instead of Adios Amigos.

Dee Dee's best are "The Crusher" and "Born to Die in Berlin". Music-wise, "The Crusher" is not as different compared to the version on the Standing in the Spotlight album, but CJ's enthusiasm and the focused lyrics of wrestling in Madison Square Garden make it a winner. "Born to Die in Berlin" is similar to the "problems" themed songs, but it's a focused song, the band doesn't sound as bored as they did in prior work, and this might sound strange, but this song has a feeling of unfortunate fatalism and the narrator's allowance of it that works well with the album itself. Unlike Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" in which the narrator plays with his fate, "BtDiB"'s narrator accepts the fate but is helpless in attempting to fix them. It's a surprisingly strong effort from Dee Dee at this point and one of the highlights from the album.

To say that this album would have been better without Dee Dee is not entirely wrong, as all but two songs were more of the same material that has appeared on all post Subterranean Jungle albums. Still, you'd have to take into account the rest of the material on the album to get a full picture. Was the band better off writing their own material?

NEXT: PART TWO!!!

About Adios Amigos

I started writing the review in August, but it seems that every time I write it, I find something new that I have to write more on, and it seems that this will take me longer than I thought. Hopefully, I'll finish this by next week.

Adios Amigos Addendum

Extras

Th extra on this album is either the hidden track "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." or "Spider-Man", and the addition of those tracks depends on what region you bought the album from and/or which album printing edition it is. My copy, a North American CD, doesn't have "Spider-Man" nor "R.A.M.O.N.E.S.". Captain Oi! Records has their version with "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." on it and the CD also includes liner notes by Monte Melnick.

"R.A.M.O.N.E.S." is easily available live with Lemmy as a guest on We're Outta Here, as a bonus studio track on Greatest Hits Live, and it's also on numerous compilations.


The version of "Spider-Man" on Adios Amigos is the elusive studio cut that's currently only available on the complete Weird Tales of the Ramones box set. This cut is not available as a stand-alone MP3 purchase.


Album Info


All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.


Album Length: 33.9 minutes

Shortest Track: "Have a Nice Day" - 1:39
Longest Track: "Life's a Gas" - 3:34


No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.


This post wraps up my album reviews, as there are no more studio albums after this one. The last two major releases during the band's active life were the live albums Greatest Hits Live and We're Outta Here. 


UP NEXT: GREATEST HITS LIVE

Acid Eaters Addendum

Extras

The only extra from this recording session was the cover of the Beach Boys's Surfin' Safari, an exclusive bonus to Japanese and Brazillian pressings. However, Captain Oi! Records has the album with this track included, but I don't own it. This track is the only region bonus not easily available in MP3 stores.

It's a good cover, and one that should have been on the album.

The song:




Album Length:

All time references are based on my iTunes setlist.

Album Length: 31:02
# of Tracks: 12
Shortest Track: "The Shape of Things to Come" - 1:47
Longest Track: "When I Was Young" - 3:16

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.

NEXT: ADIOS AMIGOS!!!

Acid Eaters

It's a common occurrence in rock 'n' roll to return to your roots with a cover album - Metallica has Garage Inc., Bob Dylan has Good as I Been to You, and John Lennon made Rock 'n' Roll. The Ramones took their favorite old tracks and made Acid Eaters, their tribute to the 60's music that influenced their style. The risk with making cover albums is the temptation of making a note-by-note copy of the original track instead of something akin to your style. The Ramones, having a good hit-to-miss ratio with covers, unfortunately fell into the temptation and copied many of the original songs to a tee.

Take "Journey to the Center of the Mind" as an example: The first few seconds sound like a familiar Ramones production with Marky's drums, Johnny's buzzsaw, and CJ's crunchy bass lines in full gear, but  there's the lead guitar playing a familiar fill followed by a note-by-note performance of Ted Nugent's original solo. The song continues, with CJ singing competently and the band sounding like they normally do, but Nugent's second solo is played and I swear it's almost as pitch perfect as any of Nugent's performances of that song. It's an enjoyable cover but it sounds just like the Amboy Dukes's original with no real changes aside from Johnny's downstrokes.

There are more examples of this form of "covering", but the most horrifying is the inclusion of Pete Townshend to sing the background vocals for "Substitute". It's the same thing he did in the original and he still sounds just as nasally as he did before!What's the point of covering a song if the end product will be nothing more than a replica of the original?

The only bright spot on this album is the cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages" that almost brings the boys back to their deconstructive roots. There's a solo in the middle of the song, but I don't mind it that much as the original doesn't have one and it doesn't sound awful. Did the song need the solo? No. However, this is a late-era Ramones song, therefore nothing is shocking about the solo's inclusion. This song is fast, well-sung, and as close as you're going to get to a classic Ramones cover.

Barring the cover of "My Back Pages", this is an overall disappointing album. Some of the covers are enjoyable, but the end product has the appearance of a cover band instead of the Ramones covering tracks in their own style.

A Faster, Modern Take:
The Ramones play well and everything is well produced, but there's no need for emulations when the originals are easily available and accessible. They might have been hard to find in the early 90s, but you can find all the songs on your favorite MP3 store online and skip most of this album, barring the cover of "My Back Pages".

NEXT UP: ADIOS AMIGOS!!!

Mondo Bizarro Addendum

Extras

There isn't anything extra on the CD or vinyl editions of this album unless you buy the Captain Oi! Records CD. From what I've gathered, Captain Oi! Records is an England-based record label that focuses on 70's and 80's punk rock. They recently re-issued the last 4 Ramones studio albums: Brain Drain, Mondo Bizarro, Acid Eaters, and Adios Amigos. Each one comes with liner notes by longtime Ramones tour manager Monte Melnick (who wrote the great book On the Road with the Ramones), one bonus track, and lyrics to every song. They're a bit expensive, so I'll buy one soon to check out if it's worth the purchase.

I don't know if there were any B-Sides released during Mondo Bizarro's run but I've come across the song title "The Ballad of Tipper Gore". I haven't found the song, but it may be a tamer name for the song "Censorshit".

"Spider-Man"

The extra track on the Captain Oi! edition is the studio version of "Spider-Man", the cover of the classic theme song from the 1967 cartoon. This is the version that's available on the Weird Tales of the Ramones box set and the bonus on the initial pressing of Adios Amigos. You can't get it without buying the whole MP3 box set in iTunes and Amazon which omit the comic book and the DVD, so it's probably worth buying the Captain Oi! CD or the physical copy of the box set. I've yet to see a copy of Adios Amigos with "Spider-Man" in it, so those are your choices.The album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits contains the song, but it is a different, slightly longer version.

The song was sung live and recorded for both Greatest Hits Live and We're Outta Here. It is not the same performance released twice as those were two separate concerts.

There are also two videos for the Saturday Morning version. One video is animated in the style of the Greatest Hits Live album art which makes sense why the cover of that album has a spider web behind the band. The other video has clips of the cartoon show mixed with clips of the actual band perfoming the song on a rooftop, and Drew Barrymore and other people are shown talking about Spider-Man.

Album Length

All time references are based on my iTunes setlist.

Album Length: 37:10
# of Tracks: 13
Shortest Track: "Anxiety" - 2:04
Longest Track: "Poison Heart: - 4:04

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.

Mondo Bizarro

CJ makes his studio album debut along with the return of Ed Stasium as producer (this being his last time working the guys) in what is often considered the beginning of the Ramones's last stand, Mondo Bizarro.

I often find myself at odds with some of the opinions of this album. Mondo Bizarro is seen as a good album and it's sometimes considered a great album (but nowhere near the first 4). The band sounds better and livelier than in previous efforts as those were horribly produced affairs with questionable songwriting and performances by the band. Mondo Bizarro, produced by old Ramones producer Ed Stasium, is a cleaner, sharper effort. Stasium was great at bringing out the best of the band's pop sounds, and Mondo Bizarro continued his impressive streak with the band. My only qualm would be that the band sounds too slick compared to their other work, but that's a minor issue.

The music is still Ramones-esque. Johnny still plays like it's 1974. Marky plays as if it's 1978. CJ's emulates Dee Dee without failing. The only one that's changed is Joey. At first listen, it's Joey Ramone without the depressingly cathartic sludge he burped out for many albums and live shows. After repeated listening, I feel as if his voice was cleaned up a bit, as "The Job that Ate My Brain" sounds way too good to be a late career Joey. It's still great that he was singing again, but did he need that cleanup? Speaking of singing, this album continues the tradition of the singing bassist with CJ getting three songs to sing. His voice is better than Dee Dee's, but I find myself skipping his songs as his voice is whiny and the songs they chose for him are annoying to begin with.

The heart and soul of the band is the songwriting, and most of it is acceptable. There's nothing mind blowing or new in this venture as the guys always found a way to make a great hook in even their most horrible of songs, therefore they would always do their best to make each song a possible radio hit. Marky brings out a few goodies with "The Job that Ate My Brain" and "Anxiety", songs that would have found a home 15 years earlier in the first album due to the subject matter, simplicity, and length. Dee Dee "contributed" three songs on this album (for bail money as the stories go), and I skip most of them as they're not great ("Strength to Endure" has good riff, but that's about it). Dee Dee did contribute the 4-minute bloated Joey song on this album, "Poison Heart". It is the sequel to the equally bloated "Pet Sematary", and it shares the same cheesy production as its brother. Joey brings a ton of work into this album, but most of it is mediocre. They're not bad, but the songs aren't as engaging or well written as previous efforts (similar to Dee Dee's material). There is one cover on this album, "Take It as It Comes", but it sounds so similar to the original that it almost comes off as if the Ramones were a cover band - a bad sign of things to come.

"Touring" and "It's Gonna Be Alright" are the songs that are just negatively effortless. The Ramones understood the art of music-making, and they also were masters of pulling off numerous songs with the same chord progression. However, there were few times in their career where they rip themselves off by having similar sounding songs. "Touring" was not only a completed 11 year old song at the time of Mondo Bizzaro's release, but if it was released then, the connection between it and "Sheena is a Punker"/ "Rock 'n' Roll High School" would have still been as noticeable as the sun. "Its Gonna Be Alright" may get away with its copying as it comes from Too Tough to Die's "Daytime Dilema (Dangers of Love)", a song whose popularity is nowhere near the levels of "Sheena" or "RnR High School". The funniest part of the copying on "Its Gonna Be Alright" is that the song is about fan loyalty, and I think that only the most loyal of Ramones fans will get the connection between the two songs. Both "Touring" and "It's Gonna Be Alright" are listenable songs, but it sucks that they borrow so much from older songs.

Mondo Bizarro was the band's strongest effort in years, but it was nowhere near their best efforts. The album was just better than mediocre. What saves this album is the production values, as the band had not sounded as alive in years. The songwriting is sub-par with only two songs I'd consider classics, 7 uninspired songs, and 4 stinkers. It's better than Animal Boy or Brain Drain, but most albums are better than those two. This would be their penultimate album of original material, as the next album would be a cover album.

NEXT: ACID EATERS

Loco Live Addendum

Loco Live was recorded in Barcelona, Spain but I don't know if it was done on the same night or if it was cut and pasted from a few concerts. I do know that the recording had to be cleaned up due to a bad production.

There's two versions of Loco Live that are available to the public:

The 1991 Chrysalis Edition

• The cover art is a wide shot of the stage, with the band playing after removing their jackets (Joey still has his on). The bottom of the picture has the words "Loco Live" in white, bold letters with a red star on the second O in Loco.
• The back cover has the track list separated by stars (i.e. Durango 95*Teenage Lobotomy*Psycho Therapy*etc.) The picture is of the band playing while encased in smoke and lit with red, white, and blue lighting. The colors are over-saturated bordering on the smudgy, with the white light coming off as yellow. The bottom has the usual copyright info with "Chrysalis" written in larger font size.
• The four tracks exclusive to this edition are "Too Tough to Die", "Don't Bust My Chops", "Palisades Park", and "Love Kills".
• The CD has the full track list with the length of each song printed as well.
• It is available internationally and it is also part of "The Chrysalis Years" compilation.

 The 1992 Sire Records Edition

• The cover art is of a farther wide shot of the band in concert, but Johnny and CJ are still wearing their jackets. The top of the picture has the word "RAMONES" written in bold, red letters with "LOCO LIVE" written in bold, red, white, and blue letters. (LOCO LIVE)
• The four tracks exclusive to this edition are "I Just Want To Have Something to Do", "Havana Affair", "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement", and the hidden "Carbona Not Glue" that plays on the same track as "Pet Sematary"
• The back cover has a numbered track list with three differences: 

1. The upper part of the cover has a production credit and recording location.
2. The picture is the same as the one on the Chrysalis edition (band playing while covered in smoke and red, white, and blue lights.) However, the colors are not over-saturated, making this picture clearer and sharper than the Chrysalis edition.
3. The copyright information is smaller and the Sire Records logo is added instead of "Chrysalis".

• The liner notes include a brief introduction by Debbie Harry of Blondie fame. 
• This version is the one that's easily available in the United States.
• The CD has the same production credits and copyright information as the back cover.

Here's my commentary on the CDs:

• If you want choose between the two instead of buying both, then the purchase will depend on the exclusive songs. Both CDs sound about the same with only slighter louder sound on the Sire edition and it's almost indistinguishable to the ears.
• The Chrysalis edition has a more comprehensive look the band's career with a mix of both old and new tracks. While "Love Kills" is available on We're Outta Here, it is still the only CD with the officially released live versions of "Don't Bust My Chops" and "Palisades Park". It also has the only easily available live version of "Too Tough to Die" to purchase, as the Smash You: Live '85 is hard to come by.
• The Sire Records edition clearly goes for the nostalgic/familiarity route with tracks that should be known to those who listened to the the first four albums. The hidden "Carbona Not Glue" was a bit of a bonus treat for audiences who bought Leave Home after the first printing and prior to the release of the Expanded Edition of that album. This album still holds the distinction of having the only official live recordings of "Carbona Not Glue" and "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement". A live cut of "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do" is also available on We're Outta Here, and "Havana Affair" is available live on It's Alive, NYC 1978, and the Expanded Edition of Leave Home.
• If you're interested in the the Harry letter on the Sire edition: it's bad. There have been better liner notes in the Expanded Editions and the guest letters included in We're Outta Here.  This should not be a deal breaker.
• In the end, you're getting 33 tracks on any version so enjoy your choice. I bought both and put the all the tracks together for a 36 track behemoth!

Album Length

Times are taken from Windows Media Player and my iTunes track list.

Album Length
Chrysalis - 69 minutes
Sire Records - 67 minutes

# of Tracks
Chrysalis - 33
Sire - 32 ("Carbona Not Glue" is on the "Pet Sematary" track but it is not listed)

Longest Track
Chrysalis: "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?" - 2:59
Sire: "Pet Sematray" - 4:16 (If it wasn't for the bonus, "RnR Radio" would also be the longest)

Shortest Track
Both Editions : "Durango 95" - 0:47 (Chrysalis lists it as 0:48, but it always appears as 0:47 on my players)

Length of "Blitzkrieg Bop": 1:45

NEXT: MONDO BIZARRO!

Loco Live!

With Brain Drain gone, we have officially made it to the fourth and final era of the Ramones -

Legendary Ramones, an era fueled by nostalgia and a younger worldwide fan base focused in their final attempt to recapture their earlier sounds in order to achieve the one goal that fueled their entire careers - Mainstream Success.

The band's final era got off to a bumpy start with the departure of Dee Dee Ramone. Dee Dee was carrying the group with the ridiculous amount of contributions in each album from Too Tough to Die all the way to Brain Drain, but the endless touring and the abuse from other members made him quit. In typical Ramones fashion the show went on without him, but he still gave the band material for their later albums. His replacement was C.J. Ward, a young chap who grew up listening to the band. C.J. would be the final addition to the band, thus cementing him in the final Ramones line-up of Johnny, Joey, Marky, and C.J.

C.J. would make his debut on Loco Live, the second Ramones live album released during the band's lifetime. The last live album, It's Alive, showcases the band's idealized peak as the four young men from Queens who assaulted the ears of British audiences with blistering minimalist rock and roll. Twelve years later, two of the young men were gone, and the two that were left continued the band despite their deep-rooted hatred for each other and the years of wear and tear that the road had given them. The Ramones that were captured playing in Barcelona for Loco Live are older and brutally fast, lacking the playfulness of their younger selves in exchange for the quickness that can only come from years of experience and continuously playing the same songs.

By this point in the timetable, Johnny and Joey have played Blitzkrieg Bop more than a thousand times. The song had become as intuitive as sleeping than another bit of muscle memory. What started out as a two minute-13 seconds long song, Blitzkrieg Bop was becoming shorter and faster each year they played it. In Loco Live, the band reached a milestone by making the song 1:45 seconds long. Marky and C.J. were probably happy to go along with the speed increases as both held their own ground without skipping a beat. Anything that was on Loco Live will have a noticeable speed increase.

The speed increase is not bad if not for the few pieces were Joey doesn't completely sing the songs and instead stretches the chorus or does some sort of scat singing. He does have his growl on some of the tracks, but it does not offend as it did on the later studio albums. Another issue with the speed increase is actually something that has bothered me since End of the Century. Johnny Ramone was an excellent rhythm guitarist, but he had some trouble playing lead guitar pieces. If a song had a complicated, note-driven riffs on the studio tracks, they most likely would have been recorded by someone else and later played offstage by a roadie live or pre-recorded. The faster playing has resulted in some of their later songs losing their riffs and solos, such as "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" and "I Believe in Miracles". I enjoy these stripped versions as that's probably the way those songs would have been played during their minimal years. The songs that benefit from this arrangement are "Pet Sematary" and "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg", songs that were so overproduced and long on the albums that the reduction makes them tolerable, and in "Sematary"'s case, enjoyable.

I can't complain much about the setlist. The first nine songs, minus "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" were the Ramones standard from Loco Live on to We're Outta Here. They never changed position and were ingrained in their subconscious, so there's nothing much to add. Ramones is mostly represented here, followed by Rocket to Russia and the rest. Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle, and Halfway to Sanity are the least represented with one song each. It's unfair to both Pleasant Dreams and Halfway to Sanity, as those albums had more than one good track on them. Two omissions that I found interesting were "California Sun" and "We're a Happy Family", songs that have been played live for years. "We're A Happy Family" would return in We're Outta Here, but "California Sun" was gone. They still played it around that year and it was actually part of the Greatest Hits Live full recording, but it doesn't appear again on future live recordings.

In general, the band as it's portrayed in Loco Live are men who have mastered their craft of live playing. While Loco Live may not have the acclaim or romanticism of It's Alive (or the gritty authenticity of NYC 1978), what you're getting is a good album full of rare songs that you would not have heard them play again, mixed with the usual Ramones repertoire that had been sped up a bit.

Brain Drain Addendum

Extra Material

I could not find any extra material that was made for this item's release. If anyone finds foreign-only singles or any info of note, I'd gladly post it.

Album Length

All time references are taken from my iTunes tracklist.

Album Length: 35 minutes
# of Tracks: 12
Shortest Track: "Learn to Listen" - 1:51
Longest Track: "Come Back, Baby" - 4:02

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.

Brain Drain

Ramones album covers sometimes give away the quality of an album. Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle, Animal Boy, Acid Eaters, Adios Amigos - they all are flawed albums with craptastic covers. Brain Drain joins the group as another album whose cover says too much about the album than it has any right to. The cover portrays a man screaming as he's fading away from his head, colored in brown, red, yellow, and black. This cover is not as ugly as the previously mentioned albums, but there was a member or two of the band who probably felt like the man on the cover.

Dee Dee Ramone had enough of the Ramones by the time this album was done. In the documentary End of the Century, Richie Ramone remembers that Dee Dee and him were thinking of leaving after Halfway to Sanity. Richie did leave after that album, but Dee Dee decided to stick for one more year. His last full album with the Ramones is Brain Drain, arguably the band's darkest album. The songs are still fast and some are even catchy, but when only half of the album is about things other than relationship issues, you have a problem.

It all starts with "I Believe in Miracles",  a song about (presumably Dee Dee) being lucky at being alive and touring with band with love at his side. This song is better compared to the trail of mentally draining relationship songs the album will soon dish out, but this track is an ominous sign of what's to come. It reminds me more of "Mental Hell" and "I Wanna Live" in that the tracks sound great, but Joey's vocals and the chords sound confessional and dire.  The song is followed by "Zero Zero UFO", a  fun song about UFO sightings and nothing else.

Nothing on this album is as disturbing as the lyrics to "Don't Bust My Chops". You listen to this song with no prior knowledge of the band's work and still be shocked with its misogyny and harsh language. The Ramones had songs where a girl would meet an unfortunate end (Glad to See You Go, Chain Saw, You're Gonna Kill That Girl), but their love songs far outweigh the number of violent songs. "Don't Bust My Chops" comes across as a song where a man doesn't know how to properly end a relationship and instead lashes out on his significant other in the worst way possible. I think this song even has the most cursing of the Ramones's entire catalog. Joey sings this song with vitriol unlike any songs prior as if he's actually cursing you out of his life. With all it's negativity, this song is quite catchy....it's complicated.

"Punishment Fits the Crime" has Dee Dee singing his last Ramones song (prior to Adios Amigos), and he goes out with a wacky song about...crime, death row, and destiny. Yes, Dee Dee is still writing wacky lyrics but at least he has a Lou Reed-like delivery that works. Pleasant surprise on the album.

"All Screwed Up" is, by now, the typical bloated 4-minute Ramones song, but this one is about, from what I can understand, the harm a girl is doing to her lover and the pains of not having her back. I'm not sure who wrote this one as there's a lyric about hating the music business and how the person admires his woman's hip shaking in the same verse (Dee Dee-style wackiness), but has Joey, Marky (he's back), and Daniel Rey as writers, so take it for what it's worth.

Next is a cover of "Palisades Park", a song about the Palisades Amusement Park that was located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The amusement park was closed in 1971, about 9 years after this song was first recorded and about 18 years after the Ramones covered it. Therefore, if you ever decide to make a tour of locations referenced in the Ramones discography, be prepared to see condominiums where the park once stood (I think they have a monument in the park's honor.) Back to the cover - it's another fun song with a fantastic circus-sounding riff. Unfortunately (and obviously), that riff will not make it to any live album.

"Pet Sematary" debuts and it was the Ramones most successful song since "Baby, I Love You" and that is a shame as this song sucks on the album. If you want to hear a song that's spooky and atmospheric, try "Garden of Serenity". The movie of the same name gave it the popularity, but get a live version instead as it's upgraded in speed and palatable. After "Pet Sematary", is "Learn to Listen", a song whose riff is 99.5% ripped from "Eat That Rat" from Animal Boy. This is not only a copy of an older song, but its lyrics are so nonsensical and unfocused that it makes "I Wanna Live" feel like Homeric poetry. This may also sound repetitive, but the chorus is catchy. There was one mondegreen for me on "Learn to Listen". I always though Joey said "stay out of Tijuana" instead of the correct "stay out of deep water". I think Tijuana is better.

The last third of this album is Joey based material. If you own the expanded Pleasant Dreams, then you would have listened to "I Can't Get You Out of My Mind", a previously unissued song that made its "debut" on Brain Drain as the awkwardly titled "Can't Get You Outta My Mind". They didn't change "Touring" into "Tourin'" on the next album, so the name change was probably not well thought out. The version on Brain Drain sounds flat, lifeless, boring and forced. The version done 8 years earlier sounds better by leaps.

"Ignorance is Bliss" is a goofy political track, but the riff is fantastic. Joey is straining his voice a bit, but everyone else is in high gear. I think Richie's drumming might have been made for this track as Marky should have sped it up and probably add a fill or two. Next up is "Come Back, Baby", bloated track number two and one where the boredom probably kicked in for everyone as it just drags into tediousness. This could have been done in two minutes instead of four. Finally, the album ends with "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna fight Tonight)" in what could only be a Ramones Christmas song in an album released in May! It's a depressing song that hides itself on the upbeat sound it gives off. What else did you expect on this album? "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"?

This album is not as good as Halfway to Sanity and marginally better than Animal Boy. Besides the depression almost everyone on the band was in during this album, what dampers it the most is that the sound is flat. There are good riffs, catchy choruses, and the usual crap you come to expect on an album of this era, but it sounds as if it's coming from a filter. Maybe this album (and a few others as well) needs a good remixing to boost it out of its rut. I don't want a raising of volume that will just cripple the sound, but a genuine clean up to fix the muddiness of it all. Overall, its another album in which a few tracks are of interest and the rest is skippable.

NEXT: CJ debuts in the tale of two versions of LOCO LIVE!

Halfway to Sanity Addendum

Extras

This album is bare-bones, so I did some research and found that there was an extra track that was only available on the "Real Cool Time" single. It's entitled "Life Goes On", a song about going on after rough times, a classic Ramones songwriting topic.



If anyone knows about moving on in life, it's the Ramones.... I don't enjoy the song one bit as I find Joey's vocals to be as tired as his work on "Real Cool Time". The clapping on this song irritates me as much as the clapping on "Sheena is a Punk Rocker", and "The Return of Jackie and Judy". (I remember these things.)

Album Length

# of Tracks: 12
Album Length: 30 minutes
Shortest Track: "I Lost My Mind" - 1:34
Longest Track : "Bye Bye Baby" - 4:35

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.

Halfway to Sanity

The "Tough Ramones" era reaches its ultimate stop with Halfway to Sanity, one of the band's misunderstood works and it also marks Richie Ramone's last album as drummer.It's a sad departure as Richie was the best drummer the band ever had and probably the most musically talented Ramone out of them all. It's a shame that Richie wouldn't return to the music scene until this decade, as the guy aided the group during this darker period and also cemented their turn from the experimental pop to the speedy hardcore/hard rock sounds of the "Tough Ramones".

I have trouble reviewing Halfway to Sanity because this is the Ramones album I listen to the most. Leave Home is a best album lyrically and musically, Ramones is almost untouchable due to its status, and Too Tough to Die has one of my favorite songs on it (the title track). Halfway to Sanity somehow captures my interest in a way those three albums can't. It's a mess production-wise as sound is tiny and almost lifeless. The band isn't near as energetic as they were on Animal Boy. However, the band somehow makes a product that can survive this down era.

This is not an album that may be easily accessible to new fans or fans stuck in any "era rut". It's the type of album you would own and listen to if you stay with the band for the long haul and faced every small break in the road. You can listen to it and catch some of the goofiness and even pass out laughing after reading the unintentionally humorous lyrics to "I Wanna Live". This is not the band at their most creative or exciting, but it's the band at a point where they just rock for the sake of rocking. In approximately thirty minutes, the Ramones go through every stage in their career and come back with perhaps the most underrated results of any of their work.

This Ramones album is the mash-up of every other Ramones album before it - if you stayed with them for this long, then you know the tricks of the trade:

You want songs about desperation? Got it.
Crave for more mental music? Look no further
You miss the surf rock hits? Got one here.
Enjoy the 60's style Joey love songs? There's one here too.
How about the recent hardcore stuff? Yep.
You want it all in 30 minutes? You got the idea.

The only surprises here is the strength the songs. The first three tracks on Halfway to Sanity are what I consider to be the finest opening tracks on any Ramones album. "I Wanna Live" has a fantastic riff and the melody here is prime Ramones, and Dee Dee's bizarre lyrics don't hinder it one bit (he does have one great line in there about a prince being broken down). "Bop Til' You Drop" is one of my all-time favorite Ramones songs, and I honestly see it as good as any Ramones song during their prime. The lyrics are either about commercial failure or being used and abused, but like "Swallow My Pride" before it, the song's protagonist continues to rock on. The song just kicks ass - it's as close to the original Ramones formula as you get at this point in their career (no solos or leads, fast playing, quick lyrics) and it's a shame that this song is often put under a bus when this album is dissected for compilations (At least it's in Ramones Mania!). "Garden of Serenity" finishes the trilogy with a song reminiscent of their horror film songs but with a stronger atmosphere than previous efforts. While this song is not specifically about a horror movie, the lyrics are about walking in a graveyard at midnight with a psycho. Joey sings with absolute force on this one as the creepiness of it all comes to an awesome resolution with him yelling "IN THE GARDEN OF SERENITY!".

After those songs, you get songs that range from good to poor. I'm not a fan of "I'm Not Jesus" and "Weasel Face" mostly because of Joey's vocals and the overall staleness of those tracks. "I Lost My Mind", the final "hardcore" Dee Dee song, is hilarious, and for once I enjoy Dee Dee's horrible vocals."Go Lil' Camaro Go" is something I listen to with joy in some days or I skip past it in others. I don't mind Debbie Harry's guest appearance, as I enjoy her on this song more than on "Chop Suey", but her voice is so low that you really have to pay attention to hear her. Joey does his "ooh-mow-mow" singing and it's cool, but this song is walking the Cheese tightrope with recklessness. I enjoy "Bye Bye Baby", Joey's song that's a pastiche of 60's/Phil Spector music. It's a sweet song in an otherwise dark album and it stick out a bit. Speaking of sticking out, "Real Cool Time" is another fun song, but it too is sweeter than the norm. Finally, "Worm Man" finishes the album, a song that captures a bit of the early minimalist lyrics infused with their metallic playing style. It's a good surprise ending that I did not see coming and I enjoyed it greatly.

As much I enjoy this album, I am not blind to its faults. There are points in this album where the band sounds tired. I don't know if the band is to blame or if it's the production, but for tracks like "Bye Bye Baby", you can tell that there was potential for that song to sound as close to a Spector song as anything out of End of the Century. The song on this record sounds slow and never reaches a high point. The same goes for "Real Cool Time", a fun song that seems to sound as if the boys ran out of gas late in the album with Joey putting minimal effort on the vocals. In general, the sound on this album is low and not even raising the volume does it justice. It sounds muddy.

Nothing really comes close to giving the complete Ramones sound after Halfway to Sanity. Brain Drain is akin to Animal Boy, and Mondo Bizarro/Adios Amigos is a strange hybrid of their earlier sound with a 90's power pop update. While the band would continue some of the motifs of the "Tough Ramones", Marky's return in Brain Drain would also bring with it a return to softer sounds. Therefore, Richie's departure also marks the end of the band's metalesque/hardcore sounds. I love this album. I can't type all of my emotions as clear I want them to be on this post, but I've tried. There's absolutely nothing new or surprising on this album. It's just the guys doing what they do best - quality songs with catchy riffs and hooks, and that's all there is to it. This may not be a good album for new fans, but older fans should give it a try.

NEXT: Dee Dee Ramones's Last Stand - BRAIN DRAIN!

Animal Boy Addendum

Extras

The Animal Boy CD is the same as the vinyl therefore no extra material. As I wrote in an earlier entry, Johnny Ramone was behind all the Expanded Edition releases. While going over the band's later works, Johnny realized that there wasn't much extra material to be added since they refused to make demos for the executives to choose from by this point in their careers. The only b-sides that I know about are "Go Home Ann", the B-Side for "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" produced by Lemmy (of Motorhead fame and a longtime friend and supporter of the band) and "Can't Say Anything Nice", a Richie Ramone sung track that was a b-side to "Somebody Put Something in My Drink"



"Go Home Ann" is an atypical song lyrics-wise as it's about a girl who slept with one of the band members and refuses to leave the premises after the band member asks her to. While there have been tracks like "Glad to See You Go" and "You're Gonna Kill That Girl", the band rarely turned the romance songs to the opposite direction as this song does. The closest song that compares to this is probably "Don't Bust My Chops". Musically, it has a sad, eerie mood to it that borders on their creepier tracks like "Garden of Serenity".


The second B-Side, "Can't Say Anything Nice", is rare in that RICHIE RAMONE SINGS! If it wasn't for this blog, I would have never known about this track and others where he had sung. Holy crap does he sound more like a punk kid than Joey or Dee Dee. For what it's worth, I like his vocals more than Dee Dee's but he's a different singer compared to Joey. The lyrics are about leaving a hateful relationship with some girl who is described to be an animal. (Youtube users think it's about a band member or the band in general). Music-wise, the riff is similar to "Hair of the Dog", except the the last few notes change a bit. It's also out of the norm for the group, but an interesting bit of history nonetheless.

I don't know why these songs are not easily available for purchase, but problems with Richie may the the reason why "Can't Say Anything Nice" won't be released anytime soon. As for "Go Home Ann", it's probably a contract issue, laziness, or a presumed lack of interest in the track.



Album Length  

All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.


Length - 39.2 minutes
# of Tracks - 12
Shortest Track: "Freak of Nature" - 1:34 
Longest Track: "Something to Believe In" - 4:07

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.

Before I end this post, I should point out one thing. This album marks a brief return to the short songs the band used to play. Three songs are under two minutes ("Animal Boy", "Eat That Rat", and "Freak of Nature"), but "Animal Boy" is the only track of those three that feels as if it was completed. "Eat That Rat" and "Freak of Nature" both come off as fragments and not as well-written as the short songs found on the earlier albums. It's not completely fair to compare "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" to any of these three as the band had changed the way they write and played since that era, but the difference in quality is apparent. They had a longer song mentality and the days of minimal lyrics and fast playing were relegated to their live shows.

Animal Boy!

At the moment of this writing, Animal Boy has reached its 29th anniversary (released in May, 1986, recorded on December, 1985), and I have a feeling that no one will commemorate its release with a special 2-CD edition. Prior to Animal Boy, most Ramones albums barely hint at the age of their conception. The first four, for the most part, sound as good and timeless as they did in the Seventies. End of the Century was probably as retro then as it is now due to the efforts to make their album sound like it was made by Phil Spector in the 60s. Pleasant Dreams continues the retro sound with a few songs that stand out of that theme, and Subterranean Jungle was stuck in the '60s-'70s hard rock/pop sound for most of the album. Too Tough to Die has some '80s influences in it, primarily in the synth-driven "Howling at the Moon" (and "Planet Earth 1988" just on title alone), but there's enough tracks to make the album free of the decade it was made in.

Animal Boy wears its age on its sleeve like no album before it. Look at the cover and tell me that it was not made in any era other than the '80s. Those horrible pastel blue letters should be the warning sign, and the script used to write Animal Boy could not have been used prior to the decade. After you get over the cover, the album is a mixed bag. Animal Boy is not as bad as Subterranean Jungle, but not as good as the album preceding it, Too Tough to Die. The album starts well, but the quality plunges towards the middle and never comes back.

It's quite a shame that it's nowhere near as good as Too Tough to Die, as that album was supposed to be a comeback of sorts after the experimental pop era. Half of the songs here are clearly influenced by the pop of the era and whatever is left ranges from tolerable to good. The album itself opens with the fast rocking "Somebody Put Something in My Drink", a catchy tune made by Richie Ramone about receiving a spiked drink (LSD?). Joey starts his growling vocals in this album, and it works for this song. Next is the title track, "Animal Boy", and it's another fine track. The lyrics are the usual Dee Dee nonsense for a Ramones song in this era, but it's just dandy. Those two tracks are the best on this album and they give the impression of a promising album. It's all smoke and mirrors as the rest of this album collapses on the weight of its overproduction.

The Sid and Nancy ballad "Love Kills" irritates me with Dee Dee's annoying hardcore voice and I really couldn't care for this song past the subject matter (Dee Dee was good friends with couple). The same goes for "Eat that Rat", as Dee Dee is just barking everything to the point of it being incomprehensible. I didn't like "Wart Hog" on the last album, and while I understand the context of his voice on those tracks, it just stinks.
The first bomb on this album is "She Belongs To Me", a bloated love ballad that is so synth-ridden and cheesy than not even Joey's vocals can save it from the cesspool. "Crummy Stuff" is a song that I wish would have a live version that I could listen to as it's probably ten times better than the crap that was put on this album. It starts off well and sounds like a genuine Ramones track, but then the synthesizers hit. I don't understand what happens next but let's just say it's the closest to a musical suicide as the band would get. It's a shame that they butchered that song without thinking twice about playing it straight.

"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" suffers of the same problems that "She Belongs to Me" has - long, bloated with every '80s bell and whistle and barely a hint of the Ramones's sound. While I'm in the subject of bloated tracks, "Something to Believe In" is another poor song that just becomes a chore to listen to. Both tracks are commentary on then current events, ("Bonzo" is about Reagan, "Something" is supposed to be a satire of "We Are the World") and they both suck. It doesn't mean that boys can't do good political tracks, but they didn't cut it on this album. "Planet Earth 1988" is an example of a good current events track, and those two are not as good as that song.

Special mentions should go to "Mental Hell" and "Apeman Hop"."Mental Hell" is tolerable musically, but Joey's vocals save the day. "Apeman Hop" has a good riff, but the stupid animal noises get irritating (I think Dee Dee is one of the apes, I can't tell who the other ape is.)

As for the rest of this album, Joeys barks out the lyrics to "Freak of Nature" and it's just short enough to be forgetful in the "I'm glad that's over" way. "Hair of the Dog"'s opening is similar to "Daytime Dilemma" from the last album, and Joey sounds bored while singing which pains me because it makes the song banal (in a Ramones-esque way) and a little oomph on his part could have made it fun. (Yes, it's another song that could probably be better live.)

With all said and done, I count 2 good tracks, 3 tolerable ones, and 7 stinkers. My praises go to Joey, as he makes some of the worst songs sound tolerable, but even he couldn't save this album's production problems. The synthesizer kills songs like "Crummy Stuff" and the ape noises on "Apeman Hop" are tripe, and some of the production choices make bad songs like "She Belongs Me" brutal to listen through. Animal Boy is one of the Ramones's worst albums, but the good tracks on this album should be on any Ramones fan's collection. Give those songs a shot.

NEXT: Halfway to Sanity
-------------------------------

NOTE
When I write that some tracks may sound better live, they probably would. Live tracks prior to Loco Live are generally faster, energetic, and it's usually the four dudes playing their instruments. (Unless there's a complex solo or riff other than the riff on "California Sun") The crappy bells and whistles are gone, leaving the boys alone to rip through tracks as best as they can.

Pleasant Dreams Addendum

Expanded Edition



A few of Pleasant Dreams's extras are of major historic interest as three songs on the extras are early editions of future tracks.

In the case of "Touring", you are almost listening to the same track that's available in Mondo Bizarro. It has the same drum opening and the vocals are about the same with only CJ adding his backup vocals on the later cut. The only difference is that the guitars are noticeable on the Mondo Bizarro cut, as they are loud! (Honestly, you can't hear them on the original.)

"I Can't Get You Out of My Mind" is brighter and professional in tone than the stripped down, dark sound of the track when it's re-done for "Brain Drain". Joey's double-tracked vocals the main interest here as it gives the impression of someone recalling a memory (It goes with the song.) Of course, Brain Drain omits that and it doesn't sound as good compared to this cut.

"I'm Not An Answer" also makes it's debut here, a track with a similar chord arrangement to "You Sound Like Your Sick", but with different lyrics and tougher in mood. This track sounds tough, but not as tough or quick like the Too Tough to Die bonus track edition with Dee Dee taking over the vocals(and Dee Dee does his hardcore voice, so it's quite a song).

"Sleeping Troubles" wouldn't be of any interest if it wasn't for the way that Joeys sings the verses as it is similar to the CJ-sung "Strength to Endure". The similarities end after that as this has a different riff and musical arrangement.

After that, the other tracks are not of much interest. I hate "Chop Suey" for its obvious cheesiness. It's the kind of song that tries hard to sound appealing, but fails to do so and lands on its face. "Kicks to Try" and "Stares In This Town" are milquetoast and almost add nothing to the extras other than being extra tracks.

Album Info

All time references are taken from my iTunes tracklist.

# of Tracks: 12 (original), 19 (Expanded)
 
Album Length : 34.9 minutes (original), 54.2 minutes (expanded)
Shortest Track: "All's Quiet on the Eastern Front" : 2:14
Longest Track: "7-11" - 3:36

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.

Note
This is the last CD that I review that has an Expanded Edition. CDs past Too Tough to Die are the same as the original LPs, therefore nothing changes between formats.

Pleasant Dreams

Before I formally begin, here's a small paragraph on the album cover...

If you ever go to a record shop or search for Pleasant Dreams in any online store, you'll probably notice that
this album has one of the band's worst cover art pieces. It with a bizarre painting of a man hidden by a light, forming a silhouette with a trench coat and hat (Is it a noir detective? Maybe it's the Boogieman.). The Expanded Edition of the album has the original cover art on the back of the album's booklet; a black and white photo of the boys together with a dream-like appearance due to the smoke surrounding them. It was a creepier cover art that wouldn't have fit the music on the album, but it was ten times better than the horrendous art they stayed with.

So...



The era of Pop-Ramones began with End of the Century, the collaboration between Phil Spector and the Ramones, and ended with Subterranean Jungle, the closest the band ever got to giving up their original style. In between those albums was Pleasant Dreams, an album that has a poppier sound than End of the Century's attempted retro sound, but the sound is closer to the boys in spirit than Subterranean Jungle's misguided hard rock. I won't disregard this album as nothing more than the K.K.K. song album, as there are few tracks that are worth a listen.

I won't discuss the musicianship on this album in much detail as a Pop-Ramones album usually raises my bullshit meter with the intricate guitar and bass playing. Did John and Dee Dee really play those riffs and solos? Probably not. There are some extra bells and whistles that come out in the poppier tracks, like the alarm in "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)" and the weird sounding guitars on "We Want the Airwaves". Listening to these albums back to back makes me miss the band's original sound, but this album has "The K.K.K. Took My Baby Away", a song that sounds akin to the earlier material (in simple terms - they can actually play this song without help.) Joey gets double tracked in a bonus song, and Marky bangs the drums like he should, so yeah...This album has a cleaner sound than albums before it, but the boys have tightened up their production since Rocket to Russia, so it isn't much of a factor. One thing I do have to point out: Dee Dee should have been put aside for "All Quiet on the Eastern Front". The song is not the band's best, and Dee Dee's vocals make it worse to listen to.

Songwriting-wise, this album is a mixed bag (Pure 50/50 for me. I can listen to about half of this album and discard the rest.). I love the opener "We Want the Airwaves", a song about their lack of airplay on radios (and TV by this point). "The K.K.K. Took My Baby Away", whose title is basically the song's whole premise, is one of my favorite Ramones songs overall and it's the highest point on this album.

"7-11" is an unheralded track as it works more as a pastiche of 60's death rock ballads, complete with a talking bridge a la the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack". (It's a brilliant homage with great lyrics..."Oncoming car went out of control. It crushed my baby and it crushed my soul" This song is Joey's finest on the album.) There's a few stinkers in here. I've discussed "All Quiet on the Eastern Front", but "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)" is close to vile. The lyrics are nothing but endless name drops (Stephen King, Spector, Clint Eastwood...really) with crappy music backing it. If you ave free time to search for stuff online, this song also has a music video which makes it about 10 times worse. "You Sound Like Your Sick", "Come On Now", "Sitting in My Room", they all go under the category of bad filler. Every song on this album has its hooks, but the way they are presented make all the difference - and the songs I named are skippable. You can live without ever hearing those tracks (and most of the stuff on Subterranean Jungle...)

Pleasant Dreams is better than Subterranean Jungle, and it's as equally retro as End of the Century. Unlike Subterranean Jungle, there is a legitimate classic on this album, "The K.K.K. Took My Baby Away", and a minor goody, "We Want the Airwaves", plus the deep cut "7-11". There is some major filler on this album, but most of the songs are tolerable and a few caught my attention. It's fun album, and while it won't easily compare to band's finest moments, it's not an album that deserves most of its negativity.

-----------------

Having looked back at Pleasant Dreams, I am done with the Early Ramones and the Pop Ramones era. After this, the Ramones become darker and edgier (in Ramones terms - it gets personal) with the Tough-Ramones era, symbolized by the drumming sounds of Richie Ramone and Dee Dee's lyrical takeover. I already looked back at Too Tough to Die, therefore our next album will be Animal Boy.

Road to Ruin Addendum

Expanded Edition

The big addition to this album are the "Rock 'n' Roll High School" soundtrack songs. Aside from the Ed Stasium cut of the title track, you also get "I Want You Around" (which I hate..), and the mini-concert that was performed in the movie. The mini-concert includes "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Teenage Lobotomy", "California Sun", "Pinhead", and "She's the One". I think this mini-concert is the only official live release of "She's the One", and the guys play the songs without much pause so you're getting a small taste of what a concert might of been like. You also get demos of "Come Back, She Cried A.K.A. I Walked Out", and "Yea, Yea", but those have been available on previous compilations.

Album Length

All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.

# of Tracks: 12 (original), 17 (Expanded)

Album Length: 31.1 min (original), 52 min (Expanded)
Shortest Track: "I'm Against It" - 2:07
Longest Track: "Questioningly" - 3:22 (original)/ Mini-Concert - 11:00 (Expanded)

The mini-concert includes "Blitzkrieg Bop", but due to it being one whole track and not separated tracks, I can only guess that it starts around 0:15 and ends on 2:14-2:15, which makes it about two minutes in length, thus being the average run time for "Blitzkrieg Bop" in this era.

Road to Ruin

Road to Ruin is the "I Wanna be Sedated" album, complete with several songs to keep your mind at bay while waiting for "I Wanna Be Sedated" to play...


Road to Ruin is actually one of the Ramones' best albums and a successful experiment towards a poppier sound.This is the 4th Ramones studio album, with Marky making his drumming debut and the team of Tommy Ramone and Ed Stasium take the helm as producers.The album is slower than the prior three albums, but it does not make the boys sound any less stronger than they were before. In fact, I would say that some songs benefit from the decreased speed as it helps them add moods.

There are great songs on this album - I find the opener, "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do" to be one of the boy's finest songwriting  and musical moments. The song gives a cool, desperate vibe despite it being a slower than the usual Ramones song. The cover of "Needles and Pins" is something that could have worked in End of the Century, but I found it a bit of out place  if it wasn't for the mental theme that permeates this album. Joey is great on those types of songs and it's still a good cover, but I can't say that it feels like a Ramones song. "Questioningly" troubles me because it's another good song, but the sound is more of a Joey thing and I think there's even an acoustic guitar and solo in there (even though Dee Dee wrote this song...). "Bad Brain" is a bit lazy, but it's short so no long-term damage is done. "She's the One" is my personal favorite as it's a short, sweet love song but done in the classic Ramones speed and it's over before you know it. Finally, "I Wanna Be Sedated" is the classic Ramones track (and the only Ramones song other than "Blitzkrieg Bop" that's in rotation on the radio stations in my area.) about Joey's boredom and willingness to be knocked out of consciousness. The song still packs the punch without a bit of staleness and age.

If you listen to the Ramones chronologically, this album is clearly the beginning of the inevitable change towards the Pop-Ramones. The boys still had a good grasp with their situation as the songwriting has all the crispness as before, but there are parts where a few bells and whistles are added and I strongly think there's a few solos in here (or maybe they're extended leads...Johnny probably didn't do those). The problem that this album has is that it is always bundled with the first three as the best albums the boys would ever make, but the sound is different enough to push towards the Pop era, thereby forcing its position in a type of limbo between the Early Ramones and Pop-Ramones. Outside of "I Wanna Be Sedated", "I Just Want to Have Something to Do" survived on live shows, and "It's a Long Way Back" is more of a fan-classic than a huge song. The album is good enough without having to bundle it with the first three or just mentioning it because of "I Wanna Be Sedated".

UP NEXT: We return to the Pop-Ramones era with Pleasant Dreams...

It's Alive / NYC 1978 Addendum

Extra Material

Both albums have no demos or rehearsal tracks. NYC 1978 includes a short essay by Kurt Loder describing the concert and the band. It's Alive includes a few photos of the boys playing in the concert.

Album Length

All time references are from my iTunes tracklists.

1. It's Alive (recorded 12/31/1977, London)
# of tracks - 28
Album Length: 53.5 minutes
Shortest Track: "Judy is a Punk" - 1:14
Longest Track: " Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" - 2:55

Length of "Blitzkrieg Bop" - 2:05

2. NYC 1978 (recorded 1/7/1978, New York City)

# of tracks - 27

Album Length: 55.6 minutes
Shortest Track: "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" - 1:31

Longest Track: " Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" - 3:14

Length of "Blitzkrieg Bop" - 2:05 (w/ cheers), 2:00 (without cheers)


About "Blitzkrieg Bop"

By this point in their career, the boys have the fastest recording of "Blitzkrieg Bop" at 2:05, beating Leave Home's bonus concert recording. However, the cut on It's Alive is faster and it includes cheers, so removing them gives the length of the song to be about 1:58-2:00 in length making it the shortest before the "Loco Live" era.

It's Alive / NYC 1978: Please Define "Live"

(Important Note: NYC 1978 was re-released a while back under the title Live January 7, 1978 at the Palladium, NYC with a new album cover as well. My iTunes account changed the NYC 1978 album's name and cover to fit the re-release.)



Judas Priest has a live album called Unleashed in the East, recorded live in Japan but cleaned up in studio. Allegations were that the band completely re-recorded the album and/or gave it a "live" feel (some fans mock the album as "Unleashed in the Studio"). One fact is that lead singer Rob Halford returned to the studio to re-record his vocals, so there was some tinkering involved. According to Wikipedia, live bootlegs from the same era indicate that the band could pull off their sound live as they did on the album, so no major harm is done.

What does this have to do with the Ramones? 


It's often been the consensus that the Ramones hit their energetic peak around the the last years of the 1970's, with the band ripping through live sets faster than their first three albums combined with the technical precision and clarity that would make most bands, past and present, jealous. The main evidence for this opinion comes from the recording of the December 31, 1977 live show in England known as It's Alive, a concert that was both filmed and recorded for an album. One week later, the boys would return to New York City for a concert recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, a radio show. While the "It's Alive" concert has been in circulation since 1979, the King Biscuit performance was released in 2003 under the title NYC 1978, making It's Alive the album with most press and praise due to its lengthy availability and presence.

Both shows were recorded one week apart, therefore they share similarities:
1. Joeys says the same introductions to each song, and barely changes them to fit the location.
2. The band plays the same setlist, with NYC 1978 excluding "Judy is a Punk". (This shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone.)
3. Both albums are under an hour long.
4. The guys play like they ought to: loud, fast, and short.

5. Some songs are improved live ("Rockaway Beach", "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"), but don't expect the band to change any of the song's arrangements as they're faithful to the album cuts.
6. The concerts both document Tommy Ramone's last stint as the band's drummer, as he would go one to be a producer.

The major difference is the sound.

It's Alive does has severe tinkering in that all the vocals and instruments but the drums was re-recorded. The sound is in fact cleaner and sharper and everyone plays in note with no guitars going off-tune. The fans cheer and applaud and a few bells and whistles are heard between songs. I won't deny that this does sound great, as the producers (T. Ramone and Ed Stasium! YAY!) did a fantastic job putting this all together. It's Alive gives off the impression of a live album, but it's sad to know that everything had to be redone in studio, as looking at the recently released It's Alive footage (from the It's Alive 1974-1996 DVD set) makes me wonder if they even went back and put the re-recorded audio into the footage. I think of It's Alive as a great album that represent the ideal Ramones, but the Ramones were great without the need to romanticize them as this album does.

With the Ramones's "Unleashed in the East" out of the way, we can now look into a "bootleg" to see if they band could cut it live without the post-production. NYC 1978 is as real a live album as the boys would get. The loudness of this album is ridiculous as it must be at least a step or two up compared to It's Alive's leveled sound. Johnny's guitar will sound like a chainsaw that is ripping through your headphones or speakers without a sign of decline in intensity for the 55 minutes of this concert. I never saw the band live, but I can imagine that the sound of this album probably is the closest anyone would be to hearing the Ramones live in the front row as it's that intense.

The band sounds great, but I do think there's some problems with Johnny's guitar  as the sound is a bit out of tune every once in a while. It's almost unnoticeable until he slides from chord to chord. I really can't tell if Dee Dee's even playing on most tracks as Johnny makes him mute. You can hear the bass during the end of Blitzkrieg Bop, but when the two of them are playing together, it's hard to track Dee Dee. As for Joey, his singing gets some heavy mic feedback in every few songs, therefore there wasn't any cleanup as the job on It's Alive. Dee Dee also gets a bit left out in the vocal tracks as you here him every once in a while and not as in unison as in the It's Alive concert. With every Ramone recording out there, the other noticeable instrument is the drums, and Tommy does a good job banging his 4/4 notes like a pro. As for the audience, they sound well-miced and they don't disappoint. They cheer after each song but mostly remain quiet when the band plays. As noted in other reviews, there is a guy with an air horn which is not as annoying as it's made out to be. I find it humorous that someone had the gall to bring an air horn to a concert, but this was New York circa 1978 so I make it out to be as part of the audience's unique ambiance.

If I had to choose between It's Alive and NYC 1978, I would lean towards NYC 1978. Sure, the band didn't didn't play "Judy is a Punk" that night, and the concert sounds as loud, raw, and gritty as any Ramones concert could get, but those are the qualities that make it a product that arouses my interest. Without expanding the discussion with future live albums (with the exception of You Don't Come Close as I don't own it at the time of this writing), this is as real a live Ramones album will get. It's Alive is the cleaner, sharper product and well on its own, but I've often felt that it comes off as a perfected Ramones sound and not the sound that came off the band's speakers on any given night. NYC 1978 is as close to a genuine live sound as you can get from the boys at their youngest and at their peak.

NEXT - Marky debuts in Road to Ruin!!



EXTRA!!
I found the air horn man to be hilarious and went back to find his appearances.

The Air Horn Man's cameos in NYC 1978
1. I think you first hear him during the applause after Pinhead is finished
2. After Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
3. After Let's Dance
I think someone confiscated the horn or beat him into a pulp when he was found. Maybe he just stopped after reflecting on his motives. Who knows?

Ramones Smash You: Live '85

Loud Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits had a bonus disc included in the original 50,000 print run. The bonus disc is entitled Ramones Smash You: Live '85, a live show that featured Richie Ramone on the drums, thus making it the only officially released live recording with Richie on the drums! This bonus disc is basically fan territory/completion material and can be skipped by a causal fan or someone who has the complete show and doesn't care for an official partial copy.

The show was recorded on February 25, 1985 at the Lyceum Theater in England as a part of the Ramones' comeback tour following the release of Too Tough to Die. This bonus CD gives us a quarter of that show, as research has found me another blog which gives more details about this concert. (Great blog!)

The Tracklist

1. "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio"
2. "Psycho Therapy"
3. "Suzy is a Headbanger"
4. "Too Tough to Die"
5. "Smash You"
6. "Chinese Rock"
7. "Howling at the Moon"
8. "I Don't Want to Go Down to the Basement"

It's not far-fetched to say that this tracklist is chopped up and out of order ("Psycho Therapy" was always played before "R'n'R Radio".) It's the only Richie live record out, so let's give it a listen, shall we?

The first thing that pops out is the sound as it's not crisp and a bit muddy and it's mostly audible with Joey's voice. The recording is not up to par with NYC 1978 or even Loco Live, but it's still audible and enjoyable. Joey had not reached the growling era when this concert was recorded as he sings each song well. Johnny and Dee Dee do what they do best, with Dee Dee popping every now and then to count down the next song. Of course, my main interest with this bonus is Richie, and he sounds just as good live as he did on Too Tough to Die. I really do think he shifted the band towards their later speed runs as they zipped past 8 of the lengthier Ramones songs in about 18 minutes.

(Example: "Too Tough to Die" is about 30 seconds shorter here than on the album it was named after and it's also shorter than the recording on Loco Live. "Suzy is a Headbanger" is about 35-40 seconds shorter than the Leave Home cut. "Howling at the Moon" was a four minute epic reduced by a minute and a half! PURE SPEED!)

What I find funny about this bonus being on the "Toughest Hits" compilation is that the songs for the most part are tougher than the ones on the disc, and the coolest part is that the live versions of "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio" and "Psycho Therapy" are actually enjoyable, especially with "RnR Radio" transcending the sentimentalism that the album cut reeks of. I enjoyed all the tracks on this disk, as they really are well played and improved from the album versions in general.

Bottom line, it's a fun piece of history and fans (especially Richie fans like myself) will find this a fun sampler of the Ramones during the Too Tough to Die tour. Now if they only released this concert in full...


UP NEXT: It's Alive and NYC 1978

Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits

(Since I reviewed Too Tough to Die, I thought it would be appropriate to write about Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits and the rare bonus Ramones Smash You: Live '85 live recording. The It's Alive/ NYC 1978 live albums will be discussed next week.)

Let's get one thing out of the way: The Ramones rarely had HITS! The only big singles they had were "Baby, I Love You" (A UK-only hit), "Pet Sematary", and "Poison Heart" - and the latter two were helped by being on the soundtracks of the Pet Sematary films and only reached the Top 10 Modern Rock Charts, not the Hot 100. None of those songs appear on Loud, Fast Ramones!

Loud Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits is a compilation CD by Johnny Ramone that chronicles the Ramones's 30 "toughest" tracks. When I bought this album last summer, I didn't buy it for the compilation as I own every album. The reason I bought this compilation is because of the awesome bonus CD the first 50,000 copies had: Ramones Smash You: Live '85. As of this writing, it is the only official live release with Richie Ramone on the drums. Since the album sans the bonus is still in the market, I'll just go ahead and write about it.

Right away, the "Toughest Hits" moniker is suggesting that this compilation should exclusively have all the headbanging, rough tracks that show the guys at their cutthroat best, and no songs of the saccharine variety should be included (as we have enough inclusive compilations...). After all, this had the magnificent militaristic bastard Johnny Ramone doing the compilation work and not sweet Joey or the tragic Dee Dee (or CJ and the replaceable drummers). So...what did we get?

I broke this compilation down by album and the tracks that represent it. Any songs that I find that stand out negatively will be marked in red (purple means a replaceable track):

Ramones
"Blitzkrieg Bop"
"Beat on the Brat"
"Judy is a Punk"

Leave Home
"Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment"
"Commando"
"Glad to See You Go" *
"Pinhead"

Rocket to Russia
"Rockaway Beach"
"We're a Happy Family" *
"Sheena is a Punk Rocker"
"Teenage Lobotomy"

Road to Ruin

"I Wanna Be Sedated"

"I'm Against It" *
"I Wanted Everything" *
"I Just Want to Have Something to Do"
"Rock 'n' Roll High School" (Ed Stasium version found on the Expanded Road to Ruin and the soundtrack Rock 'n' Roll High School)

End of the Century
"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio"

Pleasant Dreams
"The KKK Took My Baby Away"

Subterranean Jungle
"Psycho Therapy"
"Outsider" *
"Highest Trails Above" *

Too Tough to Die
"Wart Hog" *
"Mama's Boy"

Animal Boy
"Somebody Put Something in My Drink"

Halfway to Sanity
"I Wanna Live"
"Garden of Serenity"

Brain Drain
"I Believe in Miracles"

Mondo Bizarro
"Main Man" *
"Strength to Endure" *

Adios Amigos
"The Crusher" *

* - Denotes tracks that were not available in Hey Ho Let's Go: The Anthology.
------------------------------------------------

Ramones
"Judy is a Punk" - The song is weak compared to half of that album. "Chainsaw"? "53rd & 3rd"? Even "Loudmouth" would have worked.

Leave Home
I have no major qualms as to what was added, as Leave Home is an early example of the guys at their darkest (even toughest). You could have also added "You're Gonna Kill that Girl" and "You Should Have Never Opened that Door", as those songs aren't as well-known as those four, but I'm okay with the chosen tracks.

Rocket to Russia
"Sheena is a Punk Rocker" and "Rockaway Beach" are fan favorites and not the toughest, loudest songs on that album. How about "I Don't Care" instead of those two.

Road to Ruin
"I Wanna Be Sedated" is a Ramones classic, but I think that its inclusion on this compilation is arguable. "Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a fan favorite that doesn't show the band at their toughest. "Go Mental" is tougher. "I Wanted Everything" could be exchanged for something else.

End of the Century
This album's absence would have brought no ill will whatsoever. A live cut of "Chinese Rock" is included on the bonus disk, but it should have been added on the compilation instead."Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" should have never crossed the mind of anyone when discussing the track selection to this compilation. There may be bad choices on this compilation and some that I disagree with, but that song is the worst choice of them all. Is there any hint of "toughness" on that song?

Pleasant Dreams
Why exclude "We Want the Airwaves"? Everything else is skippable.

Subterranean Jungle
There isn't much to go by as "Psycho Therapy" is it. "Highest Trails Above" is swappable, and "Outsider" is more sweet than tough, but Johnny really liked that song as he often mentioned it on interviews.

Too Tough to Die
"Wart Hog" is tough, but this is criminal. When you have "Danger Zone", "I'm Not Afraid of Life", and "Too Tough to Die", is your only option "Wart Hog"? "Mama's Boy" is fine. The bonus CD includes live cuts of "Too Tough to Die" and the single from this album's recording sessions, "Smash You", both songs that crush "Wart Hog". My only guess for its inclusion is that "Wart Hog" was one of those songs that stayed on the band's set list until their retirement.

~(Too Tough to Die, Animal Boy, Halfway to Sanity, and Brain Drain are basically Ramones albums where the boys are at their TOUGHEST! It doesn't mean that the tracks are great, but the sound is rougher in comparison to most of their recordings prior and after these records.)~

Animal Boy
There was more than "Somebody Put Something in My Drink". How about "Mental Hell"?. Better yet, why didn't he add the title song!

Halfway to Sanity
While I enjoy the fact that "Garden of Serenity" and "I Wanna Live" are represented, I find it odd that "Bop Til' You Drop", a great, tough song was omitted. Then again, there were a few more that were tough as well.

Brain Drain
This album has "Don't Bust My Chops" and "Learn to Listen", songs with toughness that wipe the floor with "I Believe in Miracles" and about 50% of this compilation!

Mondo Bizarro
Mondo Bizarro suffers of being a happy Ramones album, and the songs that Johnny selected are pale in comparison to most tracks on this compilation.

Adios Amigos
I have no qualms with "The Crusher but "Born to Die in Berlin" is also great and it's not in this compilation.

--------------------------
When we talk about "tough" in the sense of word as expressed in this compilation, it probably means something that is resilient, endurable. The classics would easily fit the bill but the rest of the tracks would be put under the bus. The "tough" I though of - rough, troublesome - is probably not the definition Johnny was aiming for. However, some of those tracks are not tough in either of those definitions ("Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio", "Highest Trails Above" the Mondo Bizarro cuts, etc.)

The "Toughest Hits" moniker suggests whatever Johnny enjoyed that also was an already familiar song. Some fan favorite songs are tough, but there are some that are best left in other expansive collections where career retrospective compilations require the fan songs to be added. Yes, that even included Johnny's love for those Subterranean Jungle tracks (He really loved "Outsider").

In conclusion...



The idea that every track was closely chosen should be thrown out of the window when the majority of liner notes were copied and pasted from the Hey Ho Let's Go: The Anthology compilation, and 21 of the chosen songs are on that compilation. Where is the discussion of Johnny's decision making for this compilation? What guidelines did he put in order to pass up songs like "Bop Til' You Drop" and "Don't Bust My Chops" in exchange for "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" and the antithesis of all sorts of "tough", the horrendously saccharine nostalgic kitsch epic, "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"? This was a wasted opportunity on what could have been an introduction to some of the Ramones darker, edgier, and/or roughest tracks.


Unless you are searching for the bonus CD or you are a Ramones collector, this is a major rip-off. Don't purchase it if you're new to the band or even remotely familiar with them, as there's better compilations with better track lists and bonuses.

This compilation is a joke.

UP NEXT: Ramones Smash You: Live '85!!, followed by the battle between It's Alive and NYC 1978!

TOO TOUGH TO DIE ADDENDUM!!!

Expanded Edition



After Leave Home's excellent bonuses, Too Tough to Die is the closest competitor as the extras on this album are grand. You are getting 2 singles (the excellent "Smash You" and a ripping cover of "Street Fighting Man"), 8 demos, and two unreleased tracks ("I'm Not An Answer" and "Out of Here"). The demos are way more interesting than the usual fare, as a few of these are either stripped bare-bones renditions ("Howling of the Moon" sounds different!) or Dee Dee sung tracks. Now, I've written that I'm normally not a fan of Dee Dee's vocals, but he does do a great job on a few of these, even with his monotonous singing ("Too Tough to Die" is my favorite.). I'm only disappointed that "Out of Here" has a barely audible vocal track, as that song has a great riff and the lyrics might have been interesting to listen to.

Note No.1


Only the first eight studio albums were remastered, so anything after Too Tough to Die was left untouched. I recently read an old interview with Johnny Ramone (click here) that mentioned how it was getting harder to find extra material because, after this album, he was becoming tired of making demos for executives to listen to choose from and own. Also, Johnny passed way in 2004, thereby making any any further remasters of this quality improbable. I believe that the last things he did merchandise-wise were choosing the tracks for the compilations Weird Tales of the Ramones and Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits, and the commentary track for Ramones: Raw, so he probably didn't get to do anything else. Also, it would be hard to only interview Marky and CJ for the liner notes, as Joey and Johnny had the most input after Dee Dee quit the band.

Note No.2

It's actually bittersweet to review this CD, as the three main band members are dead and have been for over 6 years now (Johnny was the last to go in '04) and this album title always reminds me of that. The title Too Tough to Die is ghastly as it's the music that has survived and the boys themselves did not. Only the 4 drummers (yes, I include Elvis Ramone) and CJ are left. To make matters worse, it's the heart and soul of the group that's buried. I can't listen to this album today without thinking of the depressive undertones of that title. Even the Johnny Ramone tribute DVD is named Too Tough to Die, and while they discuss him, the bands paying tribute to the group are playing Ramones music. In the end, the phrase "Too Tough to Die" isn't exactly describing the group or any one member, it's about the music. Thinking on it, it may have always been about the music as this was the album that brought them back to reality (or at least tried to). The album cover shows them as nothing more than silhouettes, with their name and the albums title more prominent than them in big, bold white lettering contrasting the navy blue background color. That is "Too Tough to Die".

Note No.3 (Added June 4, 2010)

It has come to my attention (via searching on Youtube), that Richie Ramone had done vocal tracks for the band for this album. The two tracks that have surfaced are "Chasing the Night", and "Humankind". I have not found "Humankind", but here's "Chasing the Night".


Album Length

All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.

# of Tracks: 13 (original), 25 (w/ Bonuses)

Album Length: 36.6 min (original), 1.1 hours (Expanded)
Shortest Track: "Durango 95" - 0:55
Longest Track: "Daytime Dilemma (Dangers of Love)" - 4:32

No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.


NEXT: A live album extravaganza, as I compare the famous IT'S ALIVE and its lesser known cousin NYC 1978!

TOO TOUGH TO DIE!!

Subterranean Jungle was the band at a low point. They sacrificed their earlier sound for a chance to reach the pop charts, only to find themselves in a worse position than the one they left. Going back to their loud, fast style was not an easy option, as their sound was now commonplace amongst the hardcore punks and heavy metal bands. The Ramones chose an alternate, yet necessary route: All our classic stuff but louder, faster, and put in whatever works with it!

Too Tough to Die does not necessarily mark of the return of the earlier Ramones sound but it does bring them back to what is considered to be their meat and potatoes. They play fast, loud, and some songs are actually short on this record. The solos and leads do return, and there's a 3 song stretch on the album with each song passing the 4 minute range, but it's well-executed. With Tommy Ramone and Ed Stasium back in production, the boys managed to combine their classic sound with the lessons learned from the Pop-Ramones era and Too Tough to Die is the best of both worlds.

Sound-wise, this album represents the band at its strongest. Joey voice sounds appropriately darker on this album as it has in fact matured nicely since the early days, and he could still pull of the sweetness when called for. Johnny, as usual, fiercely rips every chord and there are in fact pieces where I think he plays the lead (maybe "Mama's Boy", for one). Of course he doesn't do all the lead work because there's always someone helping him out (Walter Lure makes his return in some tracks, because I bet Johnny didn't play some of those parts in "Chasing the Night"), but it's nice to know that the guitar sound does not come off as strange or as forced as in Subterranean Jungle. Aside from his guitar work, Johnny's major contribution to the album is the only instrumental the band ever made, "Durango 95". It's a short piece piece, but it doesn't overstay its welcome and it would later be the opener for their concerts. As for Dee Dee, I never enjoyed the idea of him singing an entire song as his voice is borderline monotonous, but his singing is adequate for his "hardcore" songs. Finally, Richie Ramone makes his debut replacing Marky and he does not disappoint. He's a faster, metalesque drummer, and I think you can hear in this album the influence he brings in terms of the band's future speed runs. The only negatives I can think of are the synthesizers and KEYBOARDS on "Howling at the Moon", as I find that they make that song a bit dated and whatever that beeping noise on "Chasing the Night"'s chorus comes from is annoying. Finally, there's a piano riff on "Planet Earth 1988", which really sounds non-Ramones, but this album is really one bizarrely effective work the more I think about it.

(The boys have some great atmosphere on the tracks. The darkness of "Mama's Boy" and the tired feelings evoked on "I'm Not Afraid of Alive" really stand out.)

The songwriting on this album is stronger than previous efforts, but the lyrics have become stranger than even the song "Highest Trails Above". Dee Dee's material has the weirdest moments as he had become a bit political and aware of the world outside of the military/communism, but the stuff just go off the wall. (Some of my favorites include "Guerilla armies rule the street, no more Christmas or trick or treat." and "I see an old lady with a shopping bag, and I wonder if life's a drag."on "I'm Not Afraid of Life") "Mama's Boy" and the title track are great tracks, but what the hell was Dee Dee writing about? The first two verses on "Mama's Boy" are about an outcast and/or snitch, but then the song shifts about not wanting to work in different jobs in an abstract world. I think the lyrics on the title track were just written to get to the chorus because they too jump to different subjects without much coherence. His "hardcore" tracks are wacky, but I've read somewhere that "Warthog" was supposed to be about a rehab meeting he went to, so that makes some sense (still sucks). "Planet Earth 1988" and "Howling at the Moon" are Dee Dee's most focused works as he stays on subject and they're great because of it. I wouldn't make a big deal out of Dee Dee's work if it wasn't for the fact that it's so dominant on this album. 

Joey has fewer contributions than usual on this album, but his pieces are also entertaining. Always the romantic, Joey wrote "Chasing the Night" and "Daytime Dilemma". "Chasing the Night"  is similar to "In the Park" as it's topic is hanging out, but the song has an annoying chorus which I blame the instrumental side of things and not lyrics themselves. "Daytime Dilemma" is about some girl who fell in love and her life got unruly. It has a pretty catchy chorus and bridge, but I feel Joey was stressing his vocals a bit. Joey also wrote "No Go", the final track on the album and a fun little ditty to end the album.

(I didn't forget the Richie-penned track "Humankind", but it's lyrics are equally as bizarre as the stuff Dee Dee wrote and not as effective. If I remember correctly, he also wrote "Smash You", which is on the extras on the remaster and that is better.)

This album really is wacky, full of nonsense and pure stream of consciousness in a few areas - but it still rocks. A major, major upgrade from the wretched Subterranean Jungle by leaps and bounds, and one of the Ramones's finest moments. There may be keyboards and synthesizers, the lyrics may have expanded beyond the minimalism and humor of Ramones, and some songs are longer than the usual. Where else can you get love songs, hardcore tracks, politically aware lyrics, and an instrumental in one non-career retrospective album? All those pieces add up to a surprisingly tight album that's worthy of a listen. Plus, the Expanded Edition has a ton of added bonus that makes the album a must-buy!

NEXT: We're back to our chronological studies with IT'S ALIVE/NYC 1978!